Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Hanamichi SMASH!!!
I was re-reading Slam Dunk volumes two through four when it suddenly struck me: Hanamichi is a lot like the Hulk in several respects. In general, both have explosive tempers and get stronger the madder they get, but here are some other similarities that struck me:
Both have the superhuman ability to leap great heights.
The Hulk is able to control his leaps to travel great distances.
Hanamichi has difficulty controlling his leaps, frequently crashing into backboards, teammates, or opponents.
Both characters are fond of boasting about their prowess.
For the Hulk, it's always about how he's "the strongest one there is!"
For Hanamichi, he's always bragging about being "a natural" at basketball.
Both give others nicknames based on defining attributes.
The Hulk referred to Dr. Strange as "Magician" and Nighthawk as "Bird-Nose."
Hanamichi's nicknames include "Judo-Man," "Monkey Boss," and "Four Eyes."
Both join teams even though they're not really team players, and their presence on the team is maintained through subtle subterfuge.
The Hulk was a member of the "non-team" team The Defenders for several years, but he frequently fought with teammates and abruptly quit the team when upset.
Hanamichi joins the basketball team even though he hates sports, and he frequently clashes with teammates. He has threatened to quit several times and often must be flattered in order to remain.
For both, Beauty tames the Beast.
The Hulk always calmed down for Betty Ross.
Hanamichi's mood does a complete 180 whenever Haruko is around.
I could go on (for example, what is it about both Hanamichi and the Hulk that attracts adoring adolescent boys willing to overlook their every flaw in order to idolize their strength and arrogance?), but I'll leave it to others to draw additional parallels between the two brawny brutes. And of course, there are important differences, too. For example, the Hulk is primarily associated with the color green ("Jade Jaws," "Greenskin," etc.) while Hanamichi is identified with his striking red hair. Wait a second... you don't think Hanamichi could be this guy, do you?
I was re-reading Slam Dunk volumes two through four when it suddenly struck me: Hanamichi is a lot like the Hulk in several respects. In general, both have explosive tempers and get stronger the madder they get, but here are some other similarities that struck me:
Both have the superhuman ability to leap great heights.
The Hulk is able to control his leaps to travel great distances.
Hanamichi has difficulty controlling his leaps, frequently crashing into backboards, teammates, or opponents.
Both characters are fond of boasting about their prowess.
For the Hulk, it's always about how he's "the strongest one there is!"
For Hanamichi, he's always bragging about being "a natural" at basketball.
Both give others nicknames based on defining attributes.
The Hulk referred to Dr. Strange as "Magician" and Nighthawk as "Bird-Nose."
Hanamichi's nicknames include "Judo-Man," "Monkey Boss," and "Four Eyes."
Both join teams even though they're not really team players, and their presence on the team is maintained through subtle subterfuge.
The Hulk was a member of the "non-team" team The Defenders for several years, but he frequently fought with teammates and abruptly quit the team when upset.
Hanamichi joins the basketball team even though he hates sports, and he frequently clashes with teammates. He has threatened to quit several times and often must be flattered in order to remain.
For both, Beauty tames the Beast.
The Hulk always calmed down for Betty Ross.
Hanamichi's mood does a complete 180 whenever Haruko is around.
Both shred their clothes whenever they "Hulk out."
'Nuff said.
'Nuff said.
I could go on (for example, what is it about both Hanamichi and the Hulk that attracts adoring adolescent boys willing to overlook their every flaw in order to idolize their strength and arrogance?), but I'll leave it to others to draw additional parallels between the two brawny brutes. And of course, there are important differences, too. For example, the Hulk is primarily associated with the color green ("Jade Jaws," "Greenskin," etc.) while Hanamichi is identified with his striking red hair. Wait a second... you don't think Hanamichi could be this guy, do you?
Labels: Hulk, Manga/Superhero Parallels, Slam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue
3:26 PM | |
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Shonen Jump Special Feature: Spot The Subtext!
Here's another reason to look forward to Viz's upcoming release of Slam Dunk: It turns out I'd totally missed the gay subtext the first time around:
Hmm, hot, sweaty men running around, bumping into each other, patting each other's butts, showering together... Nope, I'm just not seeing where these female fans find any fuel for their forbidden fantasies.
Actually, the whole fujoshi (i.e., "rotten girl") phenomenon is interesting to me. If I understand it correctly, female fans became enough of a force that Shonen Jump started making subtle concessions to them in the magazine, playing up story elements that could be used to construe that various male characters had romantic feelings for each other. Which is pretty impressive if you think about it: Imagine DC Comics doing anything to encourage homoerotic readings of the bonds between any of their male characters. (Or did Devin Grayson already do this?) Also interesting: Khursten suggests that the more SJ indulged the fujoshis' tastes, the less appealing the series became to those very fans:
(I first became aware of the fujoshi phenomenon when a commenter pointed out that Bleach was a favorite among the so-called rotten girls due to all the tortured, angsting prettyboys Tite Kubo populates the series with. I still haven't noticed any homoerotic subtext yet, but that's mainly because whenever I read a new volume of Bleach I get caught up in all the action. Perhaps I'll have to go back and re-read Bleach while making a conscious effort to spot the subtext.)
WARNING: Do not search Google Images for "Bleach yaoi" unless you are prepared to go down a path your brain will never return from.
Here's another reason to look forward to Viz's upcoming release of Slam Dunk: It turns out I'd totally missed the gay subtext the first time around:
Their [Rukawa and Sakuragi's] domestic banter in every panel was so charming and amusing that girls used this as their base for their relationship. Rukawa played the Kichiku-seme in this scenario. He would generally appear cold and uncaring, but in the end he would do anything for Sakuragi. Sakuragi was the wild monkey he had to tame.HOT!
Hmm, hot, sweaty men running around, bumping into each other, patting each other's butts, showering together... Nope, I'm just not seeing where these female fans find any fuel for their forbidden fantasies.
Actually, the whole fujoshi (i.e., "rotten girl") phenomenon is interesting to me. If I understand it correctly, female fans became enough of a force that Shonen Jump started making subtle concessions to them in the magazine, playing up story elements that could be used to construe that various male characters had romantic feelings for each other. Which is pretty impressive if you think about it: Imagine DC Comics doing anything to encourage homoerotic readings of the bonds between any of their male characters. (Or did Devin Grayson already do this?) Also interesting: Khursten suggests that the more SJ indulged the fujoshis' tastes, the less appealing the series became to those very fans:
However, after some more fan service, and even a little more towards the recent years, the magazine became over-saturated with fujoshi overtones and it’s no longer fun. Well for me, it lost the fun. As I said earlier, what was left for the fujoshi to imagine? More so, the fujoshi moe and maybe even regular moe diluted the core of their stories. Perseverance. Victory. Friendship. Although a few titles still keep these values, most have been written simply to whet the fantasies of the readers. In the end, you find yourself wondering “Why did I even read this story to begin with?”In other words, sometimes giving the fans what they say they want (or what publishers assume they want) will actually disappoint them in the long run because it won't be what they really want. Which makes sense: if everything's explicit, where's the joy of discovering some unrevealed (or completely imagined) facet of a story? Part of the fun in teasing out some ribald reading of an old comic is the excitement of uncovering something new that no one else noticed before. (There's also the subversive thrill of anachronistically altering an outdated story in a manner that will undoubtedly upset more conservative fans.) Doujinshi could then be seen as a natural extension of the creative impulse of "decoding" the officially published stories: Fans take the subtext they've noticed and they make it the text. But it's no fun if the publisher does the work for you, because then the doujinshi feel redundant. And it can be annoying if it feels like the publisher or creator is simply pandering in a clumsy effort to cash in on a trend by throwing in some surface elements without understanding the real reason the material appealed to fans in the first place .
(I first became aware of the fujoshi phenomenon when a commenter pointed out that Bleach was a favorite among the so-called rotten girls due to all the tortured, angsting prettyboys Tite Kubo populates the series with. I still haven't noticed any homoerotic subtext yet, but that's mainly because whenever I read a new volume of Bleach I get caught up in all the action. Perhaps I'll have to go back and re-read Bleach while making a conscious effort to spot the subtext.)
WARNING: Do not search Google Images for "Bleach yaoi" unless you are prepared to go down a path your brain will never return from.
Labels: Bleach, Fujoshi, Manga, Slam Dunk, Subtext
10:43 PM | |
Friday, March 28, 2008
"You let yourselves get spanked by a freshman!"
As a follow-up to an earlier post, here are some specific examples of how Viz's translation for Slam Dunk differs from Gutsoon's. [Viz's version appears on the left while Gutsoon's is on the right; click for larger, more legible images]
Comparison #1: In the above scene, our hero Hanamichi Sakuragi has just met Haruko Akagi, the girl of his dreams, who assumes he's an athlete due to his physique. Earlier that day, Hanamichi was rejected (for the 50th time) by a girl who had a crush on a basketball player, which led Hanamichi to react violently whenever someone mentioned (or whenever he thought someone mentioned) basketball.
I prefer the Gutsoon version of this scene for several reasons:
Comparison #2: The setup for this scene is that Haruko has just asked Hanamichi if he knows what a "dunk" is. Gutsoon's translation does a better job of finding English words that (1) sound somewhat like "dunk" and (2) match Hanamichi's attempts at charades in the panels. (Carpentry? How would anyone confuse "dunk" for "carpentry"?) Also, Haruko's statement that dunks can be so powerful "that the backboard seems like it might shatter" is odd. Isn't it more impressive to tell Hanamichi that slam dunks occasionally do shatter the backboard, as she does in Gutsoon's version?
Comparison #3: The first difference of interest in this scene is that Viz has translated sound effects in the artwork whereas Gutsoon left them untranslated. As someone completely unversed in Japanese, I have to admit that the scenes with the translated SFX do have more impact for me, if for no other reason that the "BAM!" and the "POW!" bring to mind memories of the old Batman TV show. And while I find the line "You let yourselves get spanked by a freshman!" unintentionally amusing, I wonder if it's something a tough-guy 12th-grader would really say. "You let a freshman make a fool out of you!" sounds more natural.
Comparison #4: Finally, here's another example of translated vs. untranslated SFX. I found this one interesting because whoever did the touch-ups did a good job of making the English "CRASH" sound fit the space where the original Japanese SFX was. I did think it was amusing that the one horizontal line was left in so the SFX becomes "CRA-SH" -- I'm guessing the letterer didn't want to remove that line and then have to go back in and redraw the cords of the basketball net.
Again, as I sad before, both translations are perfectly readable: They both convey the same basic information, and there's nothing really clunky or awkward about either translation. And I should point out that I have no idea which translation is more literal or faithful to the original Japanese. So for me the comparison between the two different versions of Slam Dunk highlights how even subtle word choices can impact the overall appeal of a translation. Manga translators around the world, I salute you for your efforts! (I'm now becoming much more conscious of good translations. Last night I read School Rumble Vol.1 from Del Rey and was impressed by the effort the translator put in to remain faithful to the original Japanese while still matching up jokes and references to equivalent English phrasings. Of course, I didn't realize any of that when I was reading the story, but Del Rey's endnotes are very through and informative!)
As a follow-up to an earlier post, here are some specific examples of how Viz's translation for Slam Dunk differs from Gutsoon's. [Viz's version appears on the left while Gutsoon's is on the right; click for larger, more legible images]
 |  |
Comparison #1: In the above scene, our hero Hanamichi Sakuragi has just met Haruko Akagi, the girl of his dreams, who assumes he's an athlete due to his physique. Earlier that day, Hanamichi was rejected (for the 50th time) by a girl who had a crush on a basketball player, which led Hanamichi to react violently whenever someone mentioned (or whenever he thought someone mentioned) basketball.
I prefer the Gutsoon version of this scene for several reasons:
- Having Haruko say "I think athletic guys are cool" sounds less creepy than "I just love athletes."
- The line "All of us athletes do!" is funnier and more over-the-top than Viz's line; it makes it seem like Hanamichi envisions some grand brotherhood of athletes and already views himself as a lifelong member.
- "He's recovered!" strikes me as funnier than "He's over it!" plus it also has evokes more sports connotations ("He's recovered the fumble!"; "He's recovering well from his injury!"; "The team is recovering well from their losing streak of 50 straight defeats!")
 |  |
Comparison #2: The setup for this scene is that Haruko has just asked Hanamichi if he knows what a "dunk" is. Gutsoon's translation does a better job of finding English words that (1) sound somewhat like "dunk" and (2) match Hanamichi's attempts at charades in the panels. (Carpentry? How would anyone confuse "dunk" for "carpentry"?) Also, Haruko's statement that dunks can be so powerful "that the backboard seems like it might shatter" is odd. Isn't it more impressive to tell Hanamichi that slam dunks occasionally do shatter the backboard, as she does in Gutsoon's version?
 |  |
Comparison #3: The first difference of interest in this scene is that Viz has translated sound effects in the artwork whereas Gutsoon left them untranslated. As someone completely unversed in Japanese, I have to admit that the scenes with the translated SFX do have more impact for me, if for no other reason that the "BAM!" and the "POW!" bring to mind memories of the old Batman TV show. And while I find the line "You let yourselves get spanked by a freshman!" unintentionally amusing, I wonder if it's something a tough-guy 12th-grader would really say. "You let a freshman make a fool out of you!" sounds more natural.
 |  |
Comparison #4: Finally, here's another example of translated vs. untranslated SFX. I found this one interesting because whoever did the touch-ups did a good job of making the English "CRASH" sound fit the space where the original Japanese SFX was. I did think it was amusing that the one horizontal line was left in so the SFX becomes "CRA-SH" -- I'm guessing the letterer didn't want to remove that line and then have to go back in and redraw the cords of the basketball net.
Again, as I sad before, both translations are perfectly readable: They both convey the same basic information, and there's nothing really clunky or awkward about either translation. And I should point out that I have no idea which translation is more literal or faithful to the original Japanese. So for me the comparison between the two different versions of Slam Dunk highlights how even subtle word choices can impact the overall appeal of a translation. Manga translators around the world, I salute you for your efforts! (I'm now becoming much more conscious of good translations. Last night I read School Rumble Vol.1 from Del Rey and was impressed by the effort the translator put in to remain faithful to the original Japanese while still matching up jokes and references to equivalent English phrasings. Of course, I didn't realize any of that when I was reading the story, but Del Rey's endnotes are very through and informative!)
Labels: Manga, Slam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue, The Art of Translation, Viz
9:20 AM | |
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
If You Read Only One Online Preview This Month, Make This The One!
Viz has put up a 32-page preview of the first chapter of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk. The preview features a limited color palate, mainly striking splashes of red spot color here and there. I remember Gutsoon also did this when they ran the chapter in the Raijin Comics weekly but it didn't carry over to the collections. Did Viz print the preview chapter in color when it previewed Slam Dunk in the December 2007 issue of Shonen Jump? [EDIT: Yes, according to Viz's own press release, the preview was in color in SJ.]
Rukia and Ichigo Haruko and Hanamichi check out the gym.
It was interesting to read this first chapter and compare how Viz's translation differs from Gutsoon's. Both translations are perfectly readable, but there were some spots where I preferred Gutsoon's phrasing over Viz's. Still, even Gutsoon tweaked its translation between serialization in its weekly anthology and the eventual collection, so for me it just highlights how tricky translating can be.
Viz has put up a 32-page preview of the first chapter of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk. The preview features a limited color palate, mainly striking splashes of red spot color here and there. I remember Gutsoon also did this when they ran the chapter in the Raijin Comics weekly but it didn't carry over to the collections. Did Viz print the preview chapter in color when it previewed Slam Dunk in the December 2007 issue of Shonen Jump? [EDIT: Yes, according to Viz's own press release, the preview was in color in SJ.]
It was interesting to read this first chapter and compare how Viz's translation differs from Gutsoon's. Both translations are perfectly readable, but there were some spots where I preferred Gutsoon's phrasing over Viz's. Still, even Gutsoon tweaked its translation between serialization in its weekly anthology and the eventual collection, so for me it just highlights how tricky translating can be.
Labels: Manga, Slam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue, The Art of Translation, Viz
10:07 PM | |
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
In Basketball, This Is Known As "A Foul Against Humanity"
And now, Takehiko Inoue's Out-of-Context Theatre presents:
How many times has this happened to you? You wake up on the floor of the school's basketball court, and the very first thing you see is the shiny naked ass of a huge upperclassmen staring you in the face! Talk about awkward!! And then you look around and notice... the entire student body is sitting in the bleachers, watching everything! Talk about traumatic!!!
Witness Sakuragi and Akagi's private horror and public humiliation, along with numerous other humorous situations, in Slam Dunk Volume 1, due out in September.
And now, Takehiko Inoue's Out-of-Context Theatre presents:
Embarrassing Moments in Sports, Part Seventeen:
The Gorilla Moon
The Gorilla Moon
How many times has this happened to you? You wake up on the floor of the school's basketball court, and the very first thing you see is the shiny naked ass of a huge upperclassmen staring you in the face! Talk about awkward!! And then you look around and notice... the entire student body is sitting in the bleachers, watching everything! Talk about traumatic!!!
Witness Sakuragi and Akagi's private horror and public humiliation, along with numerous other humorous situations, in Slam Dunk Volume 1, due out in September.
Labels: Manga, Out-of-Context Comedy, Slam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue, Viz
9:29 AM | |
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Stay In School! Don't Do Drugs!!
And now, an important message from Shohoku first year student Hanamichi Sakuragi:
This and other valuable lessons — such as how to make a layup and who controls the game of basketball — can be found in Slam Dunk Volume 3, originally published in 2003 by Gutsoon, soon to be republished in 2009 (est.) by Viz.
And now, an important message from Shohoku first year student Hanamichi Sakuragi:
This and other valuable lessons — such as how to make a layup and who controls the game of basketball — can be found in Slam Dunk Volume 3, originally published in 2003 by Gutsoon, soon to be republished in 2009 (est.) by Viz.
Labels: Manga, PSAs, Slam Dunk, Viz
10:30 AM | |
Monday, March 10, 2008
September's Gonna Be Slammin'!
It's going to be a long wait until September 2, which is when Viz will finally be releasing the first volume of their reissue of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk. I originally started reading this series when it was first released in the U.S. by Gutsoon in the pages of their ill-fated weekly anthology Raijin Comics and immediately fell in love. Even after I stopped getting the magazine, I continued to read Slam Dunk in collected form. I can't believe I've been waiting four years for this series to return! I was reading through volume three again last night and now I can't remember what happens next in the scrimmage between Ryonan and Shohoku. (Gutsoon published five volumes of Slam Dunk, but I can only manage to find the third volume in my mess of an office. I know I gave away a couple volumes to try to entice friends to follow the series, but I have no idea what happened to the other books.) Depending on how quickly Viz releases new volumes, I may have to wait until 2010 to see the outcome of the matchup between Akagi and Uozumi! Or I could always subscribe to Shonen Jump and read the monthly serialization. Man, Bleach and Slam Dunk together in one magazine... It's like Viz is slowly putting together a manga magazine designed just for me. (If they add Club 9 I'll be powerless to resist getting a subscription.)
And in other exciting Takehiko Inoue news, September will also see the release of the first installment of the VIZBIG edition of Vagabond as well as the two Vagabond hardcover artbooks, Water and Sumi. (All three are listed as due out Sept. 16.)
Plus, Inoue's other basketball manga, Real, debuts in July, with the second volume out in October. It's definitely a good time to be a Takehiko Inoue fan!
* Viz, feel free to use this post's totally awesome title in your upcoming ad campaign for Slam Dunk. No thanks are necessary, but if you want to send me complimentary copies of Slam Dunk (or anything else by Inoue), feel free!
It's going to be a long wait until September 2, which is when Viz will finally be releasing the first volume of their reissue of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk. I originally started reading this series when it was first released in the U.S. by Gutsoon in the pages of their ill-fated weekly anthology Raijin Comics and immediately fell in love. Even after I stopped getting the magazine, I continued to read Slam Dunk in collected form. I can't believe I've been waiting four years for this series to return! I was reading through volume three again last night and now I can't remember what happens next in the scrimmage between Ryonan and Shohoku. (Gutsoon published five volumes of Slam Dunk, but I can only manage to find the third volume in my mess of an office. I know I gave away a couple volumes to try to entice friends to follow the series, but I have no idea what happened to the other books.) Depending on how quickly Viz releases new volumes, I may have to wait until 2010 to see the outcome of the matchup between Akagi and Uozumi! Or I could always subscribe to Shonen Jump and read the monthly serialization. Man, Bleach and Slam Dunk together in one magazine... It's like Viz is slowly putting together a manga magazine designed just for me. (If they add Club 9 I'll be powerless to resist getting a subscription.)
And in other exciting Takehiko Inoue news, September will also see the release of the first installment of the VIZBIG edition of Vagabond as well as the two Vagabond hardcover artbooks, Water and Sumi. (All three are listed as due out Sept. 16.)
Plus, Inoue's other basketball manga, Real, debuts in July, with the second volume out in October. It's definitely a good time to be a Takehiko Inoue fan!
* Viz, feel free to use this post's totally awesome title in your upcoming ad campaign for Slam Dunk. No thanks are necessary, but if you want to send me complimentary copies of Slam Dunk (or anything else by Inoue), feel free!
Labels: Manga, Slam Dunk, Takehiko Inoue, Viz
11:40 AM | |
Friday, July 27, 2007
Today The Manga Gods Have Smiled Down Upon Me
Just received an email alert from Viz about some exciting changes coming up in Shonen Jump. Most exciting for me is word that SLAM DUNK WILL FINALLY BE RELEASED starting next year (no exact date provided)! Prior to that, the first chapter of Slam Dunk will be previewed in the December 2007 issue of Shonen Jump.
Also interesting: Bleach will now first be serialized in Shonen Jump before it's collected in TPB. I'm not sure how this will affect the release schedule for the Bleach TPBs, since they had been coming out every two to three months but now it'll first be serialized monthly in SJ, which I would think would slow down the release schedule if the material is really supposed to appear in SJ first. Further confusing the matter, the story content debuting in the November 2007 issue of SJ ("our heroes, led by Ichigo, leave the Soul Society behind") is the same as what's listed for Bleach Vol. 21 ("Ichigo and his friends return to the World of the Living"), and they're both scheduled to go on sale the exact same date — October 2, 2007.
Oh well, it'll all be sorted out soon enough. And for me, the promise that "every one of Kubo-sensei's original color pages will be presented in full color" in the SJ serialization is enough to tempt me to consider subscribing to SJ again.
Just received an email alert from Viz about some exciting changes coming up in Shonen Jump. Most exciting for me is word that SLAM DUNK WILL FINALLY BE RELEASED starting next year (no exact date provided)! Prior to that, the first chapter of Slam Dunk will be previewed in the December 2007 issue of Shonen Jump.Also interesting: Bleach will now first be serialized in Shonen Jump before it's collected in TPB. I'm not sure how this will affect the release schedule for the Bleach TPBs, since they had been coming out every two to three months but now it'll first be serialized monthly in SJ, which I would think would slow down the release schedule if the material is really supposed to appear in SJ first. Further confusing the matter, the story content debuting in the November 2007 issue of SJ ("our heroes, led by Ichigo, leave the Soul Society behind") is the same as what's listed for Bleach Vol. 21 ("Ichigo and his friends return to the World of the Living"), and they're both scheduled to go on sale the exact same date — October 2, 2007.
Oh well, it'll all be sorted out soon enough. And for me, the promise that "every one of Kubo-sensei's original color pages will be presented in full color" in the SJ serialization is enough to tempt me to consider subscribing to SJ again.
Labels: Bleach, Manga, Slam Dunk, Viz, Viz's Plans for World Domination
3:48 PM | |
