Tag - manga

 
 

MANGA

Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu, who was hugely popular across Asia for her leading role in the 2001 television drama "Meteor Garden," died from a respiratory illness during a family trip to Japan over the Lunar New Year holiday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 3, 2025
Taiwan's 'Meteor Garden' star Barbie Hsu dies at 48
The actor, who rose to fame as the romantic lead in a 2001 television drama based on a manga series, died from a respiratory illness during a family holiday in Japan.
“The Rose of Versailles” centers on the real-life Marie Antoinette (voiced by Aya Hirano) and the fictional Oscar Francois de Jarjayes (Miyuki Sawashiro) a few years before the French Revolution.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2025
‘The Rose of Versailles’ opts for empty opulence
Riyoko Ikeda’s seminal manga that tackled themes of political and sexual revolution gets a film adaptation that lacks the depth of its source material.
Fans wait in line to meet Webtoon Entertainment creators during the company’s initial public offering at the Nasdaq Market site in New York in June 2024.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2025
Webtoon invests in Japanese webcomic studio No. 9 as manga booms
Webtoon’s first investment since its U.S. initial public offering in June is meant to strengthen its content pipeline in Japan.
Midori Kato has been voice acting the character Sazae Fuguta in the TV animation series "Sazae-san" since it started in 1969.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 30, 2024
Still sounding young at 85, Midori Kato is the voice of old Japan
The voice actor is the last original member of the cast of “Sazae-san,” a cartoon series that premiered in 1969 and never quite joined the modern world.
Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada attends the red carpet event for FX's "Shogun" at the Academy theater in Los Angeles in February.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 25, 2024
Demand for Japanese content booms after 'Shogun' success
With interest coming from overseas producers, Japan-based companies are trying to help creators get their stories told.
Tokyo Comic Con took place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Dec. 6, 7 and 8.
CULTURE
Dec 18, 2024
Comic cons are far more than just cosplay
The conventions allow fans of comics to meet their heroes — both actors and authors — with manga and anime playing an increasingly bigger role each year.
The Cultural Affairs Agency in the city of Kyoto
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2024
Japan to use AI to tackle online manga and anime piracy
The Cultural Affairs Agency's plan will have AI scour the web for sites pirating manga books and anime, using an image and text detection system.
"Les Gouttes de Dieu" ("Drops of God") took home the award for best drama at the 52nd International Emmy Awards in New York on Monday. Starring Fleur Geffrier (left) and Tomohisa Yamashita, it's available on Hulu Japan, France Televisions and Apple+.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 26, 2024
French-Japanese series takes best drama at International Emmys
The joint French-Japanese-American production “Les Gouttes de Dieu” (“Drops of God”) is set in the world of wine and fine dining.
People visit the "Dragon Ball Daimatsuri" event, to mark the 40th anniversary of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise, at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 20, 2024
Japan's manga powerhouse 'Dragon Ball' turns 40
The anniversary comes months after the death of series creator Akira Toriyama.
Manga artist Kazuo Umezu
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 5, 2024
Japanese manga artist Kazuo Umezu dies at 88
Kazuo Umezu started drawing comics from his childhood and made his debut as a manga artist in 1955, when he was a high school student.
Tetsuya Chiba
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2024
Tetsuya Chiba becomes first manga artist to receive Order of Culture
The other six include cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and environmental risk management expert Junko Nakanishi.
“Patlabor: The Movie” keeps the fun and irreverence of the small-screen series while adding a more contemplative touch.
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Sep 20, 2024
At 35, ‘Patlabor’ now looks awfully prescient
The robot-centric film is back in theaters across Japan in celebration of its 35th anniversary, and the future it paints looks mighty familiar.
An ambitious high school student (Gordon Maeda) devotes all his waking hours to making art in “Blue Period,” Kentaro Hagiwara’s live-action adaptation of an ongoing manga series of the same title.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2024
‘Blue Period’: Gordon Maeda paints a subtle picture of internal struggle
The actor’s performance as an ambitious student pursuing his dreams of being an artist is a highlight in this live-action adaptation of an ongoing manga series.
A Goku balloon from the “Dragon Ball” anime series takes part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan in November 2018. Japan’s creative industries are under threat as AI tools make it easy to mimic anime, manga and other forms of the nation’s artistic output.
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2024
Japan’s soft AI stance is betraying its anime artists
From Studio Ghibli to Pokemon, the country’s creatives have driven its influence and must be protected.
The judge and last year's winner, Lettie Shiels, sits in the dressing room during the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya on Saturday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 4, 2024
Transformative hobby: Going for gold at Japan's World Cosplay Summit
The three-day event in Nagoya drew thousands of fans — many keen to show off their own costumes.
Japan's Yuki Kawamura goes to the basket in the men's preliminary round group B basketball match between Japan and Brazil during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, northern France, on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Aug 3, 2024
Japan's 'Slam Dunk' fans upstaged by 'Brazilian chapulines'
The Brazilians crushed Japan 102-84 in men's Group B to end the Asian side's Olympic dreams.
Horror artist Junji Ito adds just a dash of comedy to his work, though he aims for it to be understated. “If it’s truly a horror story, the humor must be restrained and more veiled,” he says.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2024
Fear still matters to Junji Ito
Currently on view at Tokyo's Setagaya Literary Museum is an extensive collection of the horror master's work, the first large-scale exhibition of it's kind in Japan.
American sprinter Noah Lyles poses with a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card after winning at the U.S. Olympic track-and-field finals on Sunday. The image went viral, once again showing the popularity of Japanese cultural exports like manga.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2024
Blackstone sees billions in manga. You should too.
Investment firm Blackstone's move to buy manga platform Mecha Comics, betting on the strength of Japan's soft power, looks further ahead than other players have.
Blackstone will look to grow original content from Infocom’s network of manga artists, developing more works around themes enjoyed by its reader base of women.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2024
Blackstone taps steamy romance manga fans in $1.7 billion deal
The deal will allow the world’s largest alternative asset manager to tap into Japan’s digital manga market.
The government plans to increase support for the export of anime, manga and other Japanese content while helping content creators expand overseas.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2024
Japan to boost support for anime and manga exports
The government will draw up a strategy to boost the content industry and promote efforts under the strategy through public-private cooperation.

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