Maki Side Dish #29 ~ Jason Thompson and his Manga
About to embark on a long long bike ride to a con in San Jose in a bit. Couldn't be helped really as I don't drive. Should be interesting. Got an interview set for later today and there will be panels to record over the weekend. Stay tuned for that.

Jason Thompson took a trip recently. Actually the freelance editor and man behind Manga: the Complete Guide I believe is still in North Africa taking in the sights after working on his huge manga encyclopedia.

I got to sit down with Jason a few days before he left his home in SF and we discussed the Complete Guide. The book contains more than 900 entries covering essentially every licensed title ever to come out of Japan. He has even included some published doujinshi for good measure. As to not bore or overwhelm readers with raw manga data, he is aided by a dozen or so manga enthusiasts who provide blurbs for the majority of the titles featured. And he has also commissioned essays covering the various manga genres and manga related commentary.

The 500+ page book is broken down in alpha-numeric order similar to an encyclopedia. Shounen/Shoujo/Josei/Seinen makes up the large first third, with ero-manga and yaoi also getting their own dedicated thirds. Along the way Thomspon has tossed in a number of the essays I mentioned. They can get pretty specific - phanotm thief manga, transgender and even tokusatsu. Appendixes on racial issues and the Japanese language provide additional insight for newbies. And Thompson himself gives a fine intro to manga in general as he breaks the scene down by decade, demographics and the "two facts about manga."

Just got an advance proof of this two days ago. HUGE is the best way to describe it. But when I spoke with Jason we both seemed to agree this book was not only big on manga facts but it was a big challenge. Obviously it took a lot of work to compile this book. I've had my own manga list at AoD for years but this filled the wholes very quick. But the real challenge here was not in finding all the material or doing the research. When I was done with the recording Jason told me that the book was a challenge to the publishing industry. With all the manga covered and all the different genres discussed throughout this massive book, he wants to continue to see the American industry grow and challenge readers' perceptions on manga. Shounen Jumps and Shoujo Beats aside he is reminded of the gambling manga that ComicsOne used to print. Hentai he appreciates also but we talked about that offline. Yaoi and yuri intrigue him but there have to be more options for real diversity.

Maybe this book will help readers figure out what they have missed over the years and help them realize that they are missing so much more.

This week we look at:

Del Rey's
Manga: the Complete Guide
2007

On sale August 2007

INTRODUCTION

* 60 Years of Japanese Comics
* Manga vs. Comics
* What Makes Manga Different
* Publishers, Magazines and Graphic Novels
* Four Kinds of Manga
* What’s Not in This Book
* How to Use the Reviews

GENERAL MANGA REVIEWS AND TYPES OF MANGA

* Children and Families
* Comedy
* Cooking
* Crime
* Dôjinshi
* Fantasy
* Four-Panel Manga
* Games and Hobbies
* Horror
* Japanese History
* Jôsei
* Magical Girls
* Martial Arts
* Mecha and Robots
* Military
* Musical Performance
* Mystery
* Ninja
* Occult and Religion
* Otaku
* Pets and Animals
* Phantom Thieves
* Politics
* Psychic
* Romance
* RPGs
* Salaryman
* Science Fiction
* Seinen
* Shôjo
* Shônen
* Sports
* Superheroes
* Tokusatsu
* Transgender
* Underground
* Video Games
* Yuri

YAOI REVIEWS
ADULT REVIEWS
AFTERWORD -
-APPENDIX A: AGE RATINGS
-APPENDIX B: THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ARTIST INDEX

This podcast was written and recorded by Ed Chavez for the MangaCast. Listen to FutoMaki Here:
As always, be aware that the review might contain spoilers.

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