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Cel Shaded
Jason Yadao
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Manga among options on day of free comics
Time once more for a "free stuff" alert: Free Comic Book Day is coming up on Saturday. Manga, of course, is a type of comic book -- albeit in black and white instead of color, and with much less of the baggage that comes with years of written, rewritten, rebooted and convoluted continuities that often come with American comic book series.
It stands to reason, then, that Free Comic Book Day also means it's Free Manga Day. Which means that among the DCs and Marvels of the comic book world, two manga publishers will be serving up their wares as free samples as well.
The easier of the two to find likely will be the offering from Viz, which will be a 32-page sampler of series from its monthly manga anthology Shonen Jump. Perennial favorites "Naruto" and "Bleach" will be joined by newcomer "Slam Dunk" as featured series in the collection, but other series, like "One Piece" and "Death Note," will be highlighted as well. Since Viz is a "gold level" sponsor, its sampler is pretty much a lock to be available at all sites hosting Free Comic Book Day.
Drawn & Quarterly's offering, while a bit more niche, certainly looks like it would be worth tracking down for older manga fans as well. Their 24-page sampler will feature "Good-Bye," by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and "Red Colored Elegy," by Seiichi Hayashi, two series from the 1970s that will see full releases next month.
Here are the locations confirmed to be hosting Free Comic Book Day events:
» Aiea Public Library, 99-143 Moanalua Road
» Gecko Books & Comics, 3613 Waialae Ave., Kaimuki
» Hawaii Kai Public Library, 249 Lunalilo Home Road
» Jelly's, 98-023 Hekaha St., Aiea
» Kailua Public Library, 239 Kuulei Road
» Kalihi-Palama Public Library, 1325 Kalihi St.
» Kapolei Public Library, 1020 Manawai St.
» Liliha Public Library, 1515 Liliha St.
» McCully-Moiliili Public Library, 2211 S. King St.
» Other Realms, 1050 Ala Moana Blvd. (Ward Warehouse)
For more information on what else will be available, visit www.freecomicbookday.com ...
ADV's 'Gurren' La-gone
I'll have more to wrap up this year's edition of Kawaii Kon next week, but perhaps the most noteworthy news to come out of the weekend was Bandai Entertainment's pickup of the 26-episode anime series "Gurren Lagann" -- a license that once belonged to ADV Films.
The first episode of the series appeared on ADV's online streaming anime site, and the first DVD volume of five episodes offered for sale to retailers, before mysteriously disappearing earlier this year. Bandai Entertainment President Ken Iyadomi confirmed that any English dubbing work done by ADV will be scrapped and started over with a new studio.
As for ADV's stance? At a "Princess Nine" commentary panel on the last day of the convention, ADV co-founder Matt Greenfield offered what largely amounted to a "no comment," saying it was a business decision ...
Cel Shaded, a look at the world of Japanese anime and manga, appears every Monday. Reach
Jason S. Yadao at
jyadao@starbulletin.com