Light Novels and their anime versions

Trinity Blood is a fiction. Its genre is 'light novel', originally created in Japanese publishing industry, popular in Japan and Korea.

The definition of 'light novel' is; a lightly-read fiction, which is popular among readers of their 10s and 20s, a large proportion of it being conversations and anime-style art works.

This genre of fiction pursues fun more than reality, of which the writer enjoys articulating the creative games, manga, anime-like world. Thus, people can read this kind of fiction with less hesitation and thinking.

Also, light novels have their own specific brands when they are released to market. For instance, seed novel and J-novel are 'light novel' brand names under certain publishing houses.

In marketing point of view, one volume of the series can be a detecting means to figure out how successful it can be. (as light novel usually includes development and conclusion in each volume)

They can be easily made into anime, and games since they have beautiful art works already included in the fiction. In Japan, it was even easier to try this media-mix with light novels, because there were already a lot of novelized animes and games in the market. It is different now that 'light novel' comes before anime/games, whereas before then, it has been the opposite way(anime made into fiction). 

Compared to other genres, books are cheaper and lighter(in weight). Also the unique manga characters on the front page allure customers to buy more of those books. In the end, they would spend more money, just to buy the whole series of it.(One series contains over 7 or 8 volumes in average)

Among those popular animes in the West, lots of them were based on 'light novels'.
: Suzumiya Haruhi series, Slayers, Maria-sama ga miteru, Chrome Shelled Regios, Infinite Stratos, Shakugan no Shana, The Familiar of Zero, Trinity blood, Full Metal Panic, Toradora!, etc

<Trinity Blood> Anime Opening Theme

Remember, this anime was made after the 'light novel' <Trinity Blood> was published, not the other way around.

The 'One Piece' Creator, Oda Eiichiro

I should say, One Piece is my personal favorite manga ever since I started enjoying animes/mangas.
There have been countless mangas that caught my eyes, but none of them could deter my passion for One Piece.

For some who haven't been touched by Oda-kami(It's otaku term for the creator Oda Eiichiro. Kami means 'God'.) I will tell you some details about One Piece, before talking about Oda Eiichiro.

One Piece is a popular Japanese manga that has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since 1997, and still on-going. The number of comic book volumes has now reached 64.

The manga is about Luffy, a 17-year-old boy(current 19), who gains elastic abilities after inadvertently eating a supernatural fruit, and his diverse crew of pirates, named the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as the One Piece and to become the next Pirate King. (source: Wikipedia)

Luffy(bottom) and his 'Straw Hats' crews

Oda's unique drawing technique and the large scale of its setting based on pirate world help One Piece became a number-one bestselling manga in Jump magazine along with Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk.

In 2011, Shueisha(a company that sells One Piece manga volumes) announced that they sold over 250 million volumes of One Piece manga so far. Volume 60 is the first book to sell over two million copies in its opening week on Japan's oricon book rankings.

One Piece currently ranked as the best-selling series of all time in manga history. It enjoys a very high readership One Piece has received wide critical acclaim from reviewers, primarily for its art, characterization, humor and story.


Oda Eiichiro said the story would go on until over it hits 100th volume. It suggests we readers all have to wait ten more years to see the ending. 


He was brought up in the family full of artistic talents. His father was a oil paint artist, and his sister did art as well. This family background carved him as a young kid who liked to show his pictures to others. After entering college, he dropped out in the 1st year, and he mentioned to the comic book readers that any person must not rely too much on the college education.

He debutted in 1992, with his first manga ever published, 'Wanted' After then, he became an assistant artist to Nobuhiro Watsuki, the creator of famous manga 'Rurouni Kenshin'

Considering his fellow assistants back then and Mr. Watsuki's current works' popularity, he became noticeably successful after he started drawing One Piece.

His drawing style is so unique, that anyone who has seen One Piece can tell which is his drawing style. Especially when he draws extra characters in the back ground, he put a huge effort into drawing each one's face, clothing, etc. He even said he draws every moving features like waves, clouds, smokes, and so on, not letting his assistants do the job. 

To talk about his personal life, he got married in 2004 to a beautiful model, Chiaki Inaba, who acted as 'Nami' in the musical version of One Piece. According to the Jump magazine editors, fan letters from girls reduced to half, after his marriage.

Anime-tized mangas! How does that work?

Anime is a short term for animation.
Anime refers specifically to animations created in Japan, or created by Japanese artists.

Anime is not manga, nor the other way around.

Manga refers to printed comics, or cartoons in Japan. (In Korean pronunciation, it's called 'manhwa', but I guess 'manga' is more recognized internationally)

In Japan, most mangas are published in serials of manga magazines. That's how they get to be known to public at first. There are several kinds of manga magazines, and among them, the most popular magazine is Weekly Shonen Jumps, which has been circulating since July 2, 1968. 

Rather than monthly magazines, weekly periodicals are more selling. For example,

1. Weekly Shonen Magazine
2. Weekly Shonen Sunday
3. Weekly Shonen Champion
4. Shonen GanGan

etc.. These magazines have had more than 4 million to 6 million circulations per year, during their heydays

Shonen Jump has covered a large number of famous mangas. There are currently twenty-one mangas serialized in the magazine. 

The list of those mangas includes:(in alphabetical orders)

Bakuman, Beelzebub, Bleach, Gintama, HunterxHunter, Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Naruto, One Piece, Nurarihyon no mago, ... ...

Some of the all time favorites were from here as well:(what I meant by 'all time favorites' can be different in every country)

Dragon Ball, Dr.Slump, City Hunter, Slam Dunk, Yu Yu Bakusho.... after then, Rurouni Kenshin, Yu-Gi-Oh

Okay, now let's get back to Anime, again.

Many popular mangas are made into animes. From those magazines' popularity survey, TV producers and editors prudently pick one. After having agreements with the original manga creator, they start producing.

Here's one example of anime-tized manga: Rurouni Kenshin

The original manga version of Rurouni Kenshin

  

'Anime' Rurouni Kenshin 

The key difference of Anime version from printed manga is usually early ending

Anime is mostly created after the manga has been made successful. So that makes story progress gap between anime, and that of its manga version. This could eventually change the whole story line(and the ending)of anime, which in turn makes conflicts between anime producers and manga artists sometimes.

Anime's story line usually goes faster than manga, and that's why it could end earlier than its original manga version.

To avoid that, 'original' episodes inserted into the story of TV anime version. They are created so that TV people will once again earn some time to have TV art works done before they get to catch up with the manga's story.

However, these TV 'original' episodes are not favored by the fans of original manga, since they are hurriedly made up, and often do not fit into its plot well.

Anime-tization can seem to be a very good deal for the manga creators. Nonetheless, as they say, if the anime isn't successful, people blame it on manga's quality, whereas if manga gains popularity, people think it's because of the anime.

This blog Utopia is....

Many people might be interested in comics than you would expect. Same for Animes.('Anime' is the abbreviation of animation, usually Japanese ones)

  Then, why should people be shunned by the thought of looking 'childish', or 'geek'?(some people may call you 'Otaku', which is a Japanese term for 'maniac, fan') What a horrid stereotype it is! Comics and animes have the same components as any other kinds of movies do. They have their own world, which contains plots, characters, and most importantly, the unlimited imaginations. We can indulge whatever we want. That is where I'm starting from.

-What is this blog about? Animations and comics, for sure. More specifically, Japanese works which my interests lie in.

-Where is this topic related to? I should say that most Animes and comic books I will be posting about have fictional backgrounds based on the real world, even including imaginary world. For the record; This is NOT about Japan.

-Why do I write this blog? I have liked comics, animes, and any side products from these arts since 10 years ago. During the last 10 years, I have gathered knowledge of this area to the extent that one should call me 'Otaku'.(now, that was a joke)

-Who I'm addressing this blog to? For people who are interested in animes, comics as much as, or more than I do.

-For when, my postings will cover the whole era of the Japanese comics industry from the beginning to the present(although it's quite a long story, I will try my best)

-How am I posting these things? I will produce the contents from my own research based on reliable sources. Most of my research will have references.