why not have some more interesting manga?

Fan Boy Joined: 20 Aug 2003 Posts: 43 Location: MA

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I can't imagine Gatarou's mangas can work well in live-action form. ^^

There's a positive review of it here:
www.midnighteye.com/reviews/battbase.shtml

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she might not be "mainstream" in the general sense, but in the genre of lady's comics her art style could probably be considered rather conventional.

I've never figured out where to slot Kyoko Okazaki's work, and don't know if I'd call her style mainstream, but she certainly has popular appeal; I think "River's Edge" was one of the (if not the) most acclaimed manga of the 90s, and not just by comic fans.

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2003 10:44 pm

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I've never figured out where to slot Kyoko Okazaki's work, and don't know if I'd call her style mainstream, but she certainly has popular appeal

Yeah, it is hard to pinpoint where Kyoko Okazaki should be placed in the "mainstream/alternative" axis. I also have the same problem with artists like Taiyo Matsumoto and Naoki Yamamoto. All three are HUGE figures in manga, and Matsumoto and Yamamoto have had plenty of their works published in mainstream publications, but it's still hard for me to think of them as "mainstream artists", despite their fame.

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I think "River's Edge" was one of the (if not the) most acclaimed manga of the 90s, and not just by comic fans.

Exactly. I should also point out that the magazine River's Edge originally ran in isn't even a manga magazine.

As for doing Pink. I love that title, but I'm not interested in translating it at the moment...

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:12 am

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Yeah, it is hard to pinpoint where Kyoko Okazaki should be placed in the "mainstream/alternative" axis. I also have the same problem with artists like Taiyo Matsumoto and Naoki Yamamoto. All three are HUGE figures in manga,

Hmm, how do you define "huge"? "Huge" like Mitsuru Adachi, Rumiko Takahashi?

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Exactly. I should also point out that the magazine River's Edge originally ran in isn't even a manga magazine.

Well, I guess we have a similar case like Ai Yazawa's "Paradise Kiss" here, both "Zipper" and "Monthly Cutie" are fashion magazines which carry some "avant-garde" manga works to enrich their contents (how many men out there actually buy this type of magazines?). Obviously, Okazaki was a popular artist with the editors @ Takarajimasha given the amount of comics she could publish in "Cutie", "Rock", "Utatata no hibi" to name the 2 biggest titles after "River's Edge". As for the popular part, well yeah, Okazaki seems to have some cult followings in _JAPAN_ (I was speaking about the Western fandom) but you two put it like she's a household name to every manga reader out there which I really doubt.

Anyway, I am wondering what her current status as a manga artist is. Especially after the car accident and the head injury in 1996...

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As for doing Pink. I love that title, but I'm not interested in translating it at the moment...

Chance. Ugly chance. Wink

Fan Boy Joined: 20 Aug 2003 Posts: 43 Location: MA

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As for the popular part, well yeah, Okazaki seems to have some cult followings in _JAPAN_ (I was speaking about the Western fandom) but you two put it like she's a household name to every manga reader out there which I really doubt.

Well, I imagine that most people who have a serious interest in manga have at least heard of her. My point was that Okazaki's fandom reaches beyond manga readers to include literary critics, rock bands, fine artists and so on (just like Yoshiharu Tsuge in the 1960s). I don't believe she is a "household name" like Adachi but I think she has more than a cult following. And of course, she did it without benefit of an anime series based on her work, or writing comics that ran in popular magazines aimed at kids.

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Hmm, how do you define "huge"? "Huge" like Mitsuru Adachi, Rumiko Takahashi?

The film adaptation of "Ping Pong" was a big hit. As for Yamamoto, if you look at his (sparse) official website, there are transcripts of lectures given at colleges, photos of fans waiting out the door for a book signing, and the like. It seems as if anytime there is an article on eroticism and comics, Yamamoto is inevitably mentioned as a high mark for the genre. As he should be.
I'm sure Summer Soldier knows more about this than I can do and can give us a better idea of their popularity.

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how many men out there actually buy this type of magazines?

They could always buy FEEL YOUNG instead!

Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:23 pm

Let me put it this way. I won’t even pretend that your average, 13 year-old Shonen Jump reader is going to be a fan of Okazaki, Matsumoto or Yamamoto, but if you’re over 18 and still reading manga, it’s going to be very hard to escape at least knowing about those artists. By “huge”, I guess I was referring more to influence than sales, although I would imagine that all three artists have sold enough copies of their book to be labeled as commercially successful (if not quite in the same league as Adachi or Takahashi!). Like I said before, it all depends on your definition of the word “mainstream”.

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Anyway, I am wondering what her current status as a manga artist is. Especially after the car accident and the head injury in 1996...

I don’t think she’s done anything new yet. Feel Young did carry “Helter Skelter” recently (and for those of you who loved River’s Edge, “Helter Skelter” features everybody’s favorite vomiting supermodel!), but that was a rerun if I recall correctly. When I think of Kyoko Okazaki and her accident, I’m always reminded of what Hisashi Eguchi once said: “why her when there are so many worthless artists out there?”.

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They could always buy FEEL YOUNG instead!

And some of the do, Chris. Some of them do. *hides*

Street Musician Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 530

Just a little news I picked up...

http://page.freett.com/tach/okazaki_news.html
http://www2.diary.ne.jp/logdisp.cgi?user=75933&start=21&log=200308&maxcount=28

It appears that Okazaki is still rehabilitating at home for the injuries she suffered 7 years ago, and is practising typing on a keyboard. Speculations that she may release a journal in the near future (pure speculation).

So it looks like she's still a long ways off from drawing manga again (if she ever does), but she does seem to be recovering slowly.

Street Musician Joined: 23 Jul 2003 Posts: 302

Is that indicative of substantial mental improvement? I don't know the details of her accident, but I was under the impression that she suffered damage both physically and mentally.

Keyboards are really complex when you think about it from a mental activity standpoint (coordination anyone?) so I think that's a good sign.

I personally think it would be amazing to read a journal with someone recovering like that... it would certainly bring a lot of insight to the workings of the human brain.

Street Musician Joined: 13 Oct 2002 Posts: 402

that would make a good manga