God Child Licensed by VIZ

[Tia Mia]

Moonlit Masquerade

I don't know if any of you know this, but VIZ has just recently annouced that God Child will be appearing in their new magazine, Shojo Beat. But the magazine won't be released until July of this year but..I CAN'T WAIT xp

*jumps for joy* ^-^ heart  

[Stella_Starwind]

Shura Yukihime

Sai-kun

I dont really like the job Viz and Tokyopop are doing actually.
I think the corporate honchos up there know little and care less about what theyre doing than getting the maximum amount of profit out of it.
At one point, in its early days, maybe Tokyopop had the intention to bring Japanese media to American fans.
These days, now that they see that there is a blossoming market for it, they know they have a cash-cow on their hands and will milk it until it is sapped of all its strength and beauty.

I don't like what theyre doing to my manga. I think the job they do is shoddy and those two companies have been in business for the longest.
(Tokyopop was once the purveyor of Mixx manga...do any of you remember that? and Tokyopop magazine which is now gone).
And Viz is the American counterpart of Shueisha publishing which knocks me over because you'd think that they'd be better at what they did, but no, the two companies are linked only in name...

The only company that commercially translates manga right now that I have any respect for is DelRay...I really love what theyve done, theyve faithfully reproduced the original with high quality, translations that haven't been censored, watered down or DUMBED down. They dont obscure the pages with massive boldfaced sound effects. They dont try to erase the cultural references, rather they explain each one in detail in the rear of each manga.
You can learn from reading DelRay's manga, you can actually get a good feel of what the original had meant to be. The humor is intact, the complex wordplay of the Japanese language is explained.

Viz and Tokyopop have simply generated a genre for the increasingly illiterate youth. Simple language, flashy art, nothing you really have to think about...and I dont think thats what manga should be. Picture books for the lazy and mindless.

It generates misconceptions about the artform both in new "fans" and people who walk into the bookstore and see the shelves and shelves of manga preempting literature.

Yes, manga is escapism, but not all of it has to be like a cheap action flick or a soap opera.
But what attracts more kids better than a cheap thrill...?
Viz and Tokyopop and all the other companies jumping on the gravy train want to capitalize on the fact that young people today are just jonesing for their next quick hit of "cool".

Whoa... I get your whole point. But by taking on mangas like Angel Sanctuary and Godchild, they're taking on a great risk, when one thinks about it.

Angel Sanctuary deals with very controversial themes; Incest, challenging Christianity, and so on... I would hardly place Viz's decision of taking on AS besides their choice of doing a more 'normal' manga like Boys over Flowers, where one could pass off the latter as an easy way to earn money. AS has the capability to repulse as much as it has the ability to attract. I've got friends who find AS just disgusting, due to the incest content, and I think if I showed it to my religious relatives, they'd probably ask me to stop reading it. So by publishing such a manga with hardly commercial content, aren't they taking a potential risk?

I mean, sure, one can say that their earnings from other manga sales can easily recover the cost. But when one thinks about it, they're also helping spread a good artist's masterpieces to the masses. Isn't that what everyone wants for their favorite artist? For her masterpieces to be finally appreciated by those who would have never heard of her otherwise?

Yeah, I know, we get the rabid fangirls too. But for every say, 20 rabid fangirls, there might be 1 who actually appreciates the mangas the way we do, if not more. And well, to me, that makes all the bad translations and SFXs worth it.

But that's just my input. blaugh

*On a fangirly note: Poor Snow Owl... Now one of the most unknown characters ever is going to get fangirls who don't really appreciate his character, only his appearance. Well, there's always that... wink

I totally agree with what you are saying I don't think viz and tokyo pop are the highest quality mangas out there right now. But I can certainly admire the fact that viz is now being brave enough to venture into such conterversial subjects such AS. I love the story of it so far, and I am a very christian person my self. I do a lot of things around my church as far as soicaly going, and a lot of my friends give me disaproaving looks that I read somthing like AS...but at the same time I know that I am strong enough in my faith that by reading this series it will not affect me or my church life in the least. I am actully very impressed with Yuki's creativity of story telling..and that she her self is brave enought to venture into this kind of plot line. I have always been fasnated with Lucifer (the fallen angel my self and think that it makes for a very interesting gothic type of story to tell).
I also think Viz is brave to bring up such names like Yu Watase, while her stories are fantasy like at times. They have very dark undertones to them most of the time, and usually end in very dark and sad situations. (lol which is one of the reason I really like Yu Watase as well as Kaori Yuki).
So like I said no english mangas are not at all as good as the orignals, but the company are not just putting the anime drool, they are welling to take chances on things that probably a lot of other american companies would not go near at all. And that is at least saying somthing on their part.  

[Sai-kun]

Stella_Starwind

Shura Yukihime

Sai-kun

I dont really like the job Viz and Tokyopop are doing actually.
I think the corporate honchos up there know little and care less about what theyre doing than getting the maximum amount of profit out of it.
At one point, in its early days, maybe Tokyopop had the intention to bring Japanese media to American fans.
These days, now that they see that there is a blossoming market for it, they know they have a cash-cow on their hands and will milk it until it is sapped of all its strength and beauty.

I don't like what theyre doing to my manga. I think the job they do is shoddy and those two companies have been in business for the longest.
(Tokyopop was once the purveyor of Mixx manga...do any of you remember that? and Tokyopop magazine which is now gone).
And Viz is the American counterpart of Shueisha publishing which knocks me over because you'd think that they'd be better at what they did, but no, the two companies are linked only in name...

The only company that commercially translates manga right now that I have any respect for is DelRay...I really love what theyve done, theyve faithfully reproduced the original with high quality, translations that haven't been censored, watered down or DUMBED down. They dont obscure the pages with massive boldfaced sound effects. They dont try to erase the cultural references, rather they explain each one in detail in the rear of each manga.
You can learn from reading DelRay's manga, you can actually get a good feel of what the original had meant to be. The humor is intact, the complex wordplay of the Japanese language is explained.

Viz and Tokyopop have simply generated a genre for the increasingly illiterate youth. Simple language, flashy art, nothing you really have to think about...and I dont think thats what manga should be. Picture books for the lazy and mindless.

It generates misconceptions about the artform both in new "fans" and people who walk into the bookstore and see the shelves and shelves of manga preempting literature.

Yes, manga is escapism, but not all of it has to be like a cheap action flick or a soap opera.
But what attracts more kids better than a cheap thrill...?
Viz and Tokyopop and all the other companies jumping on the gravy train want to capitalize on the fact that young people today are just jonesing for their next quick hit of "cool".

Whoa... I get your whole point. But by taking on mangas like Angel Sanctuary and Godchild, they're taking on a great risk, when one thinks about it.

Angel Sanctuary deals with very controversial themes; Incest, challenging Christianity, and so on... I would hardly place Viz's decision of taking on AS besides their choice of doing a more 'normal' manga like Boys over Flowers, where one could pass off the latter as an easy way to earn money. AS has the capability to repulse as much as it has the ability to attract. I've got friends who find AS just disgusting, due to the incest content, and I think if I showed it to my religious relatives, they'd probably ask me to stop reading it. So by publishing such a manga with hardly commercial content, aren't they taking a potential risk?

I mean, sure, one can say that their earnings from other manga sales can easily recover the cost. But when one thinks about it, they're also helping spread a good artist's masterpieces to the masses. Isn't that what everyone wants for their favorite artist? For her masterpieces to be finally appreciated by those who would have never heard of her otherwise?

Yeah, I know, we get the rabid fangirls too. But for every say, 20 rabid fangirls, there might be 1 who actually appreciates the mangas the way we do, if not more. And well, to me, that makes all the bad translations and SFXs worth it.

But that's just my input. blaugh

*On a fangirly note: Poor Snow Owl... Now one of the most unknown characters ever is going to get fangirls who don't really appreciate his character, only his appearance. Well, there's always that... wink

I totally agree with what you are saying I don't think viz and tokyo pop are the highest quality mangas out there right now. But I can certainly admire the fact that viz is now being brave enough to venture into such conterversial subjects such AS. I love the story of it so far, and I am a very christian person my self. I do a lot of things around my church as far as soicaly going, and a lot of my friends give me disaproaving looks that I read somthing like AS...but at the same time I know that I am strong enough in my faith that by reading this series it will not affect me or my church life in the least. I am actully very impressed with Yuki's creativity of story telling..and that she her self is brave enought to venture into this kind of plot line. I have always been fasnated with Lucifer (the fallen angel my self and think that it makes for a very interesting gothic type of story to tell).
I also think Viz is brave to bring up such names like Yu Watase, while her stories are fantasy like at times. They have very dark undertones to them most of the time, and usually end in very dark and sad situations. (lol which is one of the reason I really like Yu Watase as well as Kaori Yuki).
So like I said no english mangas are not at all as good as the orignals, but the company are not just putting the anime drool, they are welling to take chances on things that probably a lot of other american companies would not go near at all. And that is at least saying somthing on their part.

That's really admirable and mature of you :3
It's good of Viz not to stick to the kiddy stuff...but I would much rather have a company who has had a good track record with mature stuff like Dark Horse or DelRay, who despite being young has put out high quality work to handle the more sensitive material.
A lot of people not in the know think manga is trashy and juvenile (that article on manga in school libraries in Maine, bookstore owners not being happy with the sheer amount of manga taking over their stores, people just being baffled over the popularity of these "picture books"), you gotta wonder why people in America have this perception of a medium we know to be deeply engrossing and complex and mature.  

[Sai-kun]

By the way, turns out Viz only intends to publish God Child at least in Shoujo Beat.
I have no idea whether they'll publish the rest of Count Cain in tankoubon form or not.  

[Katinchen012]

Sai-kun

By the way, turns out Viz only intends to publish God Child at least in Shoujo Beat.
I have no idea whether they'll publish the rest of Count Cain in tankoubon form or not.

Sure it's only God Child? Here they started with Count Cain(and never actually got to GC because they thought it's too bad for the poor little readers-.-), but called it God Child from the beginning because they didin't want to change the name after a few volumes.  

[Sai-kun]

Katinchen012

Sai-kun

By the way, turns out Viz only intends to publish God Child at least in Shoujo Beat.
I have no idea whether they'll publish the rest of Count Cain in tankoubon form or not.

Sure it's only God Child? Here they started with Count Cain(and never actually got to GC because they thought it's too bad for the poor little readers-.-), but called it God Child from the beginning because they didin't want to change the name after a few volumes.

I have a couple of people saying that its only the God Child arc in Shoujo Beat.
Frankly, God Child does fit Kaori Yuki's later style, and it has more drama and twists and action than the first part of Cain...and they probably dont want to have to go through 5 other books to get to the pulpy stuff...so yeah -_-;;;  

[Katinchen012]

Sai-kun

Katinchen012

Sai-kun

By the way, turns out Viz only intends to publish God Child at least in Shoujo Beat.
I have no idea whether they'll publish the rest of Count Cain in tankoubon form or not.

Sure it's only God Child? Here they started with Count Cain(and never actually got to GC because they thought it's too bad for the poor little readers-.-), but called it God Child from the beginning because they didin't want to change the name after a few volumes.

I have a couple of people saying that its only the God Child arc in Shoujo Beat.
Frankly, God Child does fit Kaori Yuki's later style, and it has more drama and twists and action than the first part of Cain...and they probably dont want to have to go through 5 other books to get to the pulpy stuff...so yeah -_-;;;

Then I hope they will sell Count Cain too. Good luck to you, I hope you'll get everything. It would be a pity if they didn't publish Cain, even if the beginning may be considered boring by few people, I never wanted to have missed episodes as "Kafka" or "Red Ram"...  

[Shura Yukihime]

But a lot of important stuff is covered in the first few books... Like how Merry fits in, how Oscar came to be part of the group, what Cain's father had done to him and how Cain had supposedly 'killed' him, since there's a mention of Cain killing his father in Godchild...

But yeah, it's true... And KY's earlier style won't be as big a hit with the general public than her later one.  

[Kamikaze Pedestrian]

Shura Yukihime

But a lot of important stuff is covered in the first few books... Like how Merry fits in, how Oscar came to be part of the group, what Cain's father had done to him and how Cain had supposedly 'killed' him, since there's a mention of Cain killing his father in Godchild...

But yeah, it's true... And KY's earlier style won't be as big a hit with the general public than her later one.

Maybe not... But I still think it's beautiful, and that the stories does have some power, if not as much as in her later works. There is a lot to get from CC too.

And, as you said, how would it be to read GC without knowing the background?  

[achromatic grey]

well I wouldn't have gotten as involved with count cain as I did without the first 5 books.

to me they have some of the most touching parts, and most of the fundamental character development happens there.

I was really hoping they were just publishing all of Count Cain under the title of Godchild...I really don't think they first 5 books could be skipped without it impacting on the plot and how much you feel and understand the characters.  

[Katinchen012]

haiiroko

well I wouldn't have gotten as involved with count cain as I did without the first 5 books.

to me they have some of the most touching parts, and most of the fundamental character development happens there.

I was really hoping they were just publishing all of Count Cain under the title of Godchild...I really don't think they first 5 books could be skipped without it impacting on the plot and how much you feel and understand the characters.

It seems to be possible to read God Child only, Kaori Yuki wrote in Volume 6(or GC 1) that most of the readers didn't know Count Cain, there were only a few people who remembered: "Oh, yes, there was this new mangaka years ago..."
All the events from the first volumes are told again, like Jezebel Disraeli wanting to kill Merediana, or his father beating Cain et cetera, but it's much better to read everything...  

[achromatic grey]

Katinchen012

haiiroko

well I wouldn't have gotten as involved with count cain as I did without the first 5 books.

to me they have some of the most touching parts, and most of the fundamental character development happens there.

I was really hoping they were just publishing all of Count Cain under the title of Godchild...I really don't think they first 5 books could be skipped without it impacting on the plot and how much you feel and understand the characters.

It seems to be possible to read God Child only, Kaori Yuki wrote in Volume 6(or GC 1) that most of the readers didn't know Count Cain, there were only a few people who remembered: "Oh, yes, there was this new mangaka years ago..."
All the events from the first volumes are told again, like Jezebel Disraeli wanting to kill Merediana, or his father beating Cain et cetera, but it's much better to read everything...

yeah I know. you don't get the detail or the emotion the same I don't think.

but...at least it's being picked up and more people will get to read it! but I'm sad that this means the sakura-crisis scans will be stopped....it's gonna take me forever to get translations for the last vols...*looks at her untranslated manga sadly*  

[Katinchen012]

haiiroko

Katinchen012

haiiroko

well I wouldn't have gotten as involved with count cain as I did without the first 5 books.

to me they have some of the most touching parts, and most of the fundamental character development happens there.

I was really hoping they were just publishing all of Count Cain under the title of Godchild...I really don't think they first 5 books could be skipped without it impacting on the plot and how much you feel and understand the characters.

It seems to be possible to read God Child only, Kaori Yuki wrote in Volume 6(or GC 1) that most of the readers didn't know Count Cain, there were only a few people who remembered: "Oh, yes, there was this new mangaka years ago..."
All the events from the first volumes are told again, like Jezebel Disraeli wanting to kill Merediana, or his father beating Cain et cetera, but it's much better to read everything...

yeah I know. you don't get the detail or the emotion the same I don't think.

but...at least it's being picked up and more people will get to read it! but I'm sad that this means the sakura-crisis scans will be stopped....it's gonna take me forever to get translations for the last vols...*looks at her untranslated manga sadly*

I really love Count Cain, especially Kafka and Red Ram, and I'm glad they translated it here, but prbably most readers won't know them if only God Child will be published, so they won't miss it...
I suppose that's the way the people from VIZ think if they really sell only God Child.
I think at the end of Cain it just started getting really good, because of the long stories, and it's a pity at the beginning of God Child are almost only short stories, I liked the long ones better.  

[Shura Yukihime]

Katinchen012

haiiroko

Katinchen012

haiiroko

well I wouldn't have gotten as involved with count cain as I did without the first 5 books.

to me they have some of the most touching parts, and most of the fundamental character development happens there.

I was really hoping they were just publishing all of Count Cain under the title of Godchild...I really don't think they first 5 books could be skipped without it impacting on the plot and how much you feel and understand the characters.

It seems to be possible to read God Child only, Kaori Yuki wrote in Volume 6(or GC 1) that most of the readers didn't know Count Cain, there were only a few people who remembered: "Oh, yes, there was this new mangaka years ago..."
All the events from the first volumes are told again, like Jezebel Disraeli wanting to kill Merediana, or his father beating Cain et cetera, but it's much better to read everything...

yeah I know. you don't get the detail or the emotion the same I don't think.

but...at least it's being picked up and more people will get to read it! but I'm sad that this means the sakura-crisis scans will be stopped....it's gonna take me forever to get translations for the last vols...*looks at her untranslated manga sadly*

I really love Count Cain, especially Kafka and Red Ram, and I'm glad they translated it here, but prbably most readers won't know them if only God Child will be published, so they won't miss it...
I suppose that's the way the people from VIZ think if they really sell only God Child.
I think at the end of Cain it just started getting really good, because of the long stories, and it's a pity at the beginning of God Child are almost only short stories, I liked the long ones better.

Hmmm... I really did like quite a few of the short stories... Especially The Mortician's Daughter and Little Crooked House. I found these to be better than Forgotten Juliet and Who Killed c**k Robin... And dare I say, Kafka? 'Cos personally, The Mortician's Daughter is one of those stories I can read and reread... Already done so 5 odd times within the 7 months I've bought them. While I've only reread Kafka twice, Forgotten Juliet and Who Killed c**k Robin once.  

[Sai-kun]

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