From: bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com   
      
   On 12/13/2012 04:24 PM, Kenneth M. Lin wrote:   
   >   
   >   
   snip of my stumbling verbiage.   
   >   
   > Now that you are talking about feudal time, have you ever read Azumi by   
   > Koyama Yu? It's about a mixed-race girl who was raised to be an assassin   
   > around the time Tokugawa Iyeyasu gained control of entire Japan. With   
   > estimated 200,000 former samurais out of work now that the conflicts are   
   > over and roaning around as ronins or bandits, it probably wasn't a fun   
   > time to be the peasants. This manga was very graphic and didn't shy away   
   > from depicting how terrible things used to be for those who didn't carry   
   > a sword.   
      
   	I have not read Azumi but have you read Satsuma Gishiden   
   A brutal tale of the samurai of the outside province which is sent   
   to do manual labor in flood control by the Tokugawa.  Real historical   
   horror story.  Only got 3 volumes in English unfortunately.   
   	Then there is Yagyu Ninja Scrolls which is again a horror   
   story and somewhat historical.   
   	There is a tale too of Ieyasu Tokugawa's private ninjas but   
   it became and excuse to show the great unifier unifying with wives   
   and mistresses.  And never forget the big long story of the Shogun's   
   disgraced executioner who wanders the roads of Japan hiring out   
   to do vengeance on the oppressors.   
      
   >   
   > Yeah, American comics are in perpetual "status quo" where everything   
   > reverts back to original premise. DC just relaunched their entire line   
   > less than two years ago and it was 1985 when they merged all of their   
   > multiverses into one. What's surprising is that neither DC nor Marvel   
   > were able to come up with new viable characters after the so-called   
   > Silver Age and must recycle same company-owned characters years after   
   > years.   
      
   	This is sort of like the time in the stories of the world under   
   the hill as in the story of Thomas the Rhymer who spends a year with   
   the faery queen and returns much later to find his family dead and   
   himself mourned for many years.   
   	But the money men in the USA took control of the classic   
   comic characters long ago and they refuse to let the cash cow die.   
      
   >   
   > In contrast, a manga series is often a work of single individual. The   
   > aforementioned Pataliro has been around since 1978. Many such works   
   > began when the authors were in their early 20s and you literally get to   
   > see how they evolve and mature as storytellers. Considering that most   
   > series are published on a weekly basis (approx. 80 pages a month), it's   
   > truly remarkable that they could stick it out for so long.   
      
   	Well I feel that the best are really the monthly manga which don't   
   suffer from the tight deadlines.  I see lots of former weekly   
   series that run to chapters of 10 pages or so.  They seldom get much   
   done in a 10 page chapter.   
      
   	People like Rumiko Takahashi do their best work in the shorter   
   series and short stories as found in the anthology.  But their   
   creativity is enough that they can spin out a much longer tale once   
   the audience is assured.   
      
   	Well enjoy your reading.  I am waiting on the next scanalation   
   of Genshiken to be released and it will be only about 28 pages.   
      
   	Now I have to get my laundry from the washer in the basement.   
      
   	So later Kenneth.   
      
   	bliss   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)