Fireangels – open call for submissions

Homepage (german)
Livejournal Community (english/bilingual)
Y-Gallery (english/bilingual)
Message board (german)

It may be young, but Fireangels is eager to get books out… and they’re open to submissions for anyone- you don’t have to be German to submit a story.

Current deadlines:

October 1, 2006
Yuri 1 – short manga stories, 10-60 pages. must contain yuri/shoujo ai.
Yuri 2 – short stories and illustrations. must contain yuri/shoujo ai.

November 1, 2006 – Science Fiction 1 – short manga and short stories (can be illustrated). can be anything (yuri, yaoi, OR “normal”)

December 1, 2006 – Man Meets “Man” – short manga and short stories. required theme: a bishounen meets a “real man”…

January 1, 2007 – Surreal 2 – short manga and short stories (can be illustrated). can be anything (yuri, yaoi, OR “normal”)

February 1, 2007
Fantasy 1 – short manga and short stories (can be illustrated). can be anything (yuri, yaoi, OR “normal”)
Yaoi 18+ 1- short manga and short stories (can be illustrated).  mature content.

March 1, 2007 – Fairytale 1 – short manga and short stories (can be illustrated). a yaoi/yuri twist on a fairytale.

April 1, 2007 – Yaoi 3 – short manga (10-60 pages) and short stories (1-5 pages).

Requirements for Manga Submissions (more info can be found here)

Nothing heavier than “R”, no rape, no shota/lolicon.
600 DPI
A5 size, with a 4mm-1.5cm bleed
Submit as .tif without text
Typically 10-60 pages- if you email them, they will allow 8-70p.
Black and white (no greyscale)
Must be original characters- no fan doujinshi.
Reading direction- western or “japanese” are both accepted.
Each anthology is about 300-400 pages.
Payment will be made for your stories, but ammounts cannot be publically disclosed.

Stories will ultimately be published in German, so you may want to find a translator (…drop us an email) or discuss this with the publisher.

You can email them (English is fine, no worries) if you have any questions

Fireangels – Lime Law v1 (boys love anthology)

We interrupt the scheduled Shinkan translations to give a summary of a new anthology from a young publisher, Fireangels, that focuses on global manga- especially BL/yaoi & yuri global manga (they have a yearly con, too- YaYuCo). Tomorrow we’ll give info on how to submit & what they currently have planned, but for now we’ll mention one of the two volumes they already have out.
Lime Law v1, the first we’re mentioning, was just released last month. It appears to be an ongoing anthology, but the stories within are not continuous- rather, each volume of Lime Law consists of several self-contained short stories.
Links to the preview pages are provided, with quick translations of each. All images and information come from the Fireangels’ homepage.

–

Lime Law v1
ISBN : 3-939309-01-7 (currently available at yaoishop.de)
Price: 10.99€
Pages: 184p, 18 in color

Preview one- artist: Crow13 (story was also published in Shinkan Special ‘05)
page one – page two

Only God knows what I felt
when I recognized…

Hayate!
What you are.

Yun!

–

I’m…
not a puppet!
Because you feel, just like I do.

–

Preview two – artist: Dee
page one – page two

Come with me!
What? *badum badum*

Ah!
But Ian… what? *badum, etc*

–

*blink blink* Get undressed!

*sweat* *blush*

Don’t look so scared, Sayus…
You started it…
And I have no problem continuing…

–

Preview three – artist: Iruka
page one – page two

Do you want to go?

I… I’m not sure.

You said you didn’t want to be alone.

What the hell is up with Randy?

But… this time I don’t want to push him away...

–

Preview four – artist: CaitLin
page one – page two

Hmm… *Physics for Dummies*

Who the hell needs physics? *throw* *flutter*

*sigh* *dum da dum*

So, what’s wrong now?

Takao-chan?

–

Yeah?
Do you have a minute?

Blahblahblah *hm?*
Who?

Oh Gooood… oh God… Mei-chan… what are you doing?!
Just a sec…

*GRAB*

–

Preview five – artist: Vanira
page one – page two

Are you listening to me?

What…?
Eh?!

–

Hey!

–

Preview six – artist: Chiron-san
page one – page two

Nothing’s changed in eight years…

since I moved away from here.

Kabu Hataka, 17 years old.

–

I guess no one will recognize me…

If I recognize anyone in the first place.

I really don’t want to go to this boys’ school.

Careful with the tarp! Yeah, that’s good. A little bit higher.

EMA Shinkan 10 – Anthology & Manga Contest

These are the pages that focus on global manga from Shinkan 10… Info about Manga Twister (a manga anthology), and also info about Comic Campus, EMA’s version of RSOM. Translations of the pages can be found below. Click the thumbnails for the full images.

Manga Magazine

MANGA TWISTER
Germany’s thickest manga-mag is…

not only an impressive stack of printed pages, but also something really special: Because our whirlwind offers something that not even the Japanese know: manga for boys and girls in one magazine, shounen and shoujo joined peacefully and only a little “twist” away from each other.

Its bimonthly publishing is new, and there are also some new fledgling series in both sides. For example, Dream Kiss, by Kazumi Ohya: a manga that looks at the topic of gender switching from the female point of view, as the cute heroine finds herself to be a member of a boy-band! The new shounen-hit is named Midori no Hibi, and also promises a lot of reading fun!

Apart from that, as always, everything about manga is there, as well as great reading material (480 pages!), super prizes, and (this time for sure) a teeny-tiny preview of the new DuO series.

–

Manga Made in Germany

COMIC CAMPUS
Be a Manga Artist: Comic Campus 2005

It’s being shouted from the rooftops, and the cover of this Shinkan informs the reader as well: EMA is celebrating its fifth birthday! Five years of EMA – that means five years of reading fun from Japan, Korea… and Germany!

Of course, supporting the German newcomer mangaka is at the top of our to-do list for our anniversary year too. After all, the drawing of Japanese and Korean comics has long-ceased to be the business just of well-known professional artists from Japan and Korea; by now there are numerous German talents that draw in the manga style – and who really don’t have to be afraid of being compared to their famous role models!

This is proven once more by our doujinshi contest; this year it’s been organized under the name Comic Campus, together with Animexx and the writing-utensil supplier STABILO. Around 800 submissions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland make it obvious once again that the manga-art has long-since found a way into central European culture. We give a heart-felt thank you to all participants!

You can certainly imagine that with such a high number of submissions and a high level of quality of many of the entries the selection of the winners wasn’t easy. Nevertheless, we had to make a decision and after an exhausting reading marathon by the judges, the three best submissions to Comic Campus 2005 were finally determined.

–

And here they are:

First prize:
Diana Liesaus (Dresden)
Title: “Puppet 175”

–

Second prize:
Alina and Alesja Wagner (Wackersdorf)
Title: “Trip2Ehon”

Third prize:
Luisa Velontrova (Luckenwalde)
Title: “Paradise is Nowhere”

–

The submitted manga short stories of all three winners will be published by EMA in a special issue – the Shinkan Special 2005, which will, as always, come out for Connichi (September 16-18). Apart from the three winners, there are also runners up from other Comic Campus participants who didn’t manage to make it into the very top, but whose work still impressed us so much that we had to include them in this doujinshi volume. Who are they? Just check online.

The winners of Comic Campus 2005 are listed there with their submissions. And by the way- the Shinkan Special 2005 will be available for download starting in October on the listed internet sites!

Many newcomer artists manage the jump into publishing via our doujinshi contest and get a much-desired EMA contract. In the following pages, you can see a few that already made it and have stories that are already out in paperback, published by EMA. Have fun reading!

EMA Shinkan 09 – Orcus Star (fantasy)

EMA (Egmont Manga & Anime, a German company) releases a semi-annual, free-to-download/pick-up manga compiler called Shinkan. In it are short descriptions of their series (manga, manhwa, and global manga), and sometimes a few pages from a series of note.
These are the pages that focus on OGM from Shinkan 09… a short summary and a few sample pages of Orcus Star, a single volume story written by Gina Wetzel. Translations of the pages can be found below. Click the thumbnails for the full images.

–

Fantasy

ORCUS STAR
Contract with hell.

When the 17 year old Maiko dies in an accident, she unexpectedly ends up not in heaven, but in the underworld! There, she meets the goddess of death, Hel, who wants to punish her for her earthly (mis)deeds. Because Maiko has committed all seven deadly sins that humans can commit, she is now sentenced to eternal condemnation. Finally, she manages to make deal with Hel, but one should read the small print on such occasions…

The seven deadly sins: pride, greed, sloth, gluttony, lust, envy, and wrath… Can one convert this pretty dark topic into an entertaining manga? One can (or, rather, she can): Gina Wetzel, second in the doujinshi contest of Connichi 2003, managed the little miracle of giving the morbid topic her own spin, using humor and fantasy.

–

(seemingly left to right?)

Mmm…

As a spirit, life isn’t especially exciting either… Okay, “Life” isn’t exactly the right word…
Maaan. And this yami-thing has been gone since yesterday. So how am I supposed to manage this in seven days?!
*FLUTTER*
Huh…?!

–

(also definitely left to right…)

Yamiiiii! I missed you so much! Where were yooou? *sob*
*SQUEEZE*
*CLING*
While you lazed around here, I searched for your second task.

*YAWN*
Uh huh… very interesting. And so I can accomplish it, you’ll teach me cool things like flying and explain how I can talk with that stupid raven so he won’t constantly attack me, right?!

–

(but this one is…definitely right to left! Don’t ask me, sorry.)

You could communicate with him if you would listen to him. As ghosts, we speak the language of the soul, because that’s all we are. Our bodies and voices are dead.
Also, your current shape originates from your soul. The body that you see is nothing but your memory.

Hmm… My soul is too fat.
You could change your shape, but that requires training…

…concentration…
*CHANGE YOURSELF! x2*

…and experience, otherwise- ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?!
*CHAAANGE…*

Uh, yesh… why?
*SLURP*

EMA Shinkan 09 – German mangaka list and Mon-Star Attack v2

EMA (Egmont Manga & Anime, a German company) releases a semi-annual, free-to-download/pick-up manga compiler called Shinkan. In it are short descriptions of their series (manga, manhwa, and global manga), and sometimes a few pages from a series of note.

These are the pages that focus on OGM from Shinkan 09… First is a list of EMA’s “German manga talents”, which is followed by a summary of Mon-Star Attack v2. Translations of the pages can be found below. Click the thumbnails for the full images.

–

Manga made in Germany

THE GERMAN MANGA-TALENTS
At Egmont Manga & Anime

is right around the corner: Since their appearance on German shelves, Japanese manga have celebrated an incredible history of success, and by now are also part of the reading standard in . There’s no question that the unbroken and always-growing euphoria about the Japanese cult-comics also quickly brought forth artistic style-adaptors in : German mangaka have long-since ceased to be a rarity – and most of all, they don’t have to hide behind their role-models from !

EMA is proud to be able to now count many German manga-talents as authors. On the following pages, we will once more shortly introduce our German mangaka to you.

DuO
By now, Asu and Reami are stars in the German mangaka scene. Their short story Rabu Rabu Butabara was published in Manga Power in 2003. In December 2004, the first volume of their Mon-Star Attack series, which was previously printed in Manga Twister (a serialized manga magazine), was published by EMA.

–

Sascha Schaetzchen (…his last name means “little treasure”)
The photo was taken at the Sondermann award ceremony at the Frankfurt Bookfair 2004, where he received the People’s Choice award, “Manga – Publications (national)” for his series Without Identity (published by EMA).

Alexandra Voelker
Second place in the Connichi 2004 doujinshi contest.

Ying Zhou Cheng
Winner of the Connichi 2004 doujinshi contest.

–

Gina Wetzel
Second place in the Connichi 2003 doujinshi contest. Her manga Orcus Star will be published in May [2005] by EMA.

Lenka Buschova
Winner of the Connichi 2003 doujinshi contest.

–

Sweets & Space

MON-STAR ATTACK
Say “Nuff!”

The unbelievable travel of Dr. K goes into the second and (for now) last round. For the readers, this means saying goodbye to their favorite villain and his crew, and we also have to bring up the question: Is there life after Mon-Star attack? For DuO, there will certainly be one, as despite the constant stress, the two have lost none of their enthusiasm and creativity. On the contrary, after over a year of experience as professional mangaka, they have gotten into the swing of things and have a lot of new ideas. One of those is on the top of the list of future-project ideas. One that, back then, only (veeery closely) because of the little Mon-Stars, was filed away. But it didn’t remain that way for long. As if such an idea could be filed into any one category anyways…

The crazy space-comedy of THE German manga-talents in paperback!!

NUFF!

EMA Shinkan 08 – Mon-Star Attack (comedy)

EMA (Egmont Manga & Anime, a German company) releases a semi-annual, free-to-download/pick-up manga compiler called Shinkan. In it are short descriptions of their series (manga, manhwa, and global manga), and sometimes a few pages from a series of note.

These are the pages that focus on OGM from Shinkan 08… it’s a short summary and a few sample pages of Mon-Star Attack v1, a two-volume series written by DuO. Translations of the pages can be found below. Click the thumbnails for the full images.

EMA – Shinkan 08
Sweets & Space

MON-STAR ATTACK

“The true confessions of Dr. K. “

Terror has a name, and two poofy ears, and a speech impediment.

*Nuff*! (possibly snuggle)

Dr. K. Nickel (Dr. R. Abbit), villain out of passion for the job, sheep-pelt wearer, and boss of the attack group “Mon-Star” can neither be scared nor stopped. Except maybe by the short-comings of his minions and two little fruit and vegetable sellers who bravely oppose the terror of the universe…

This crazy space-comedy by the incredible DuO has conquered your hearts and the Twister [manga magazine put out by EMA] with the help of a megalomaniac rabbit. The collected version contains the reworked first 8 chapters, as well as a 20-page extra story in which you can get an entirely different perspective on the Abbit-crew. Plus a screamingly colorful and eager to attack batch of MSA-Stickers – Careful, sticky!! :)

–

[Right to left]
We will stop you!
*TADAAA!*

Well, I guess I’ll fly…
Thanks for the ride!

Hey, stop! You’re under arrest!

–

I now proclaim this planet to be…
*DONG*
Conquered!

Stop!
You can’t just…

Harharharharhar!

That’s what you think!
*spit*
*rubrub*
*clean!*

Eeh?
*DONG*
*spit*

–

*DONG*
*spit*
*DONG*

*tap tap*
Sign: HANDS OFF

Arrow: Practices evil poses.

German global manga article

This is the translation of an article originally published in the September 2006 issue of KulturSPIEGEL, and is written by Joerg Boeckem. For the images that accompanied it, see my last post.

–

Aren’t They Cuuuuute!

Almond eyes and blond pigtails: The best manga in are drawn by girls.

“It’s as if Martians had landed here,” says the man in the grey suit. Munich’s main station, early Friday evening: The man is in his late twenties, a computer sciences major and on his way home to start the weekend… but he’ll take a later train today. He doesn’t really fit in here: the dozens of boys and girls in the line before and after him are at least ten years younger. Some wear baggy pants and shirts promoting their favorite bands, others wear studded belts and black make-up; some of the younger ones wear colorful hairclips and have braces. A lot of them have sketchbooks decorated by screamingly colorful stickers.

Behind the table, at the end of the line, sit the extra-terrestrials. They’re called Anike, Detta, and Marie, are between 19 and 22 years old, and are not from Mars, but from Wolfenbuettel, Neuss and Berlin. They’re mangaka of the Hamburg publisher Tokyopop; artists who tell their stories in the style of Japanese comics. Within the last ten years, this style has had a lot of influence on youth culture, on TV, in video games, magazines and comics, but still appears exotic to most people over 25. This includes the computer sciences major, who’s been a fan of French-Belgian comics like Tintin and Asterix since childhood. He stopped by out of curiosity. He says he’s never seen anything like this, and he doesn’t just mean the comic book he has in his hands and opens from the wrong direction. As opposed to western comics, the Japanese ones are read from back to front and from right to left.

Indeed, something like the girls behind the table has never existed before in the German comic scene. For the teenagers in the line, the artists hardly older than themselves are stars as much as they are role-models. The 15-year-old Manuela and her 12-year-old sister have traveled here from a small town in Bavaria; the ride took them 1 ½ hours. Manuela has her sketchbook under her arm. In it, she has her own manga drawings, which she wants to show the Tokyopop representatives and the artists at the table. What bands like Echt or Tokio Hotel have demonstrated for pop music now works in the universe of comics for the first time – young German artists not much older than their fans (and hence easy to identify with) are conquering the market. They are between 19 and 23 years old, write and draw their own stories, and created a job niche for themselves in a time where young people are having trouble finding jobs, and the quality of the school system has gone down. More than a dozen of them have contracts with one of the three biggest manga-publishers- CarlsenComics, Egmont manga & anime (EMA), and Tokyopop. They are able to support themselves through drawing, even if the payment is still relatively low.

The bookstore in Hamburg main station, a few weeks later: on the second floor, EMA’s “roadshow” stops by. You can hear the girls upstairs when going up the stairwell. They sing the opening of Sailor Moon happily and out of tune, and after that the Aerzte hit “Men are Pigs”. The scene upstairs would make any cultural-integrator swoon – behind the table sit six girls with roots in the same number of countries; they are from the Czech Republic, , , , and . One in a black goth outfit, one in a traditional Chinese dress, two others wear plastic crowns on their heads. In front of the table there is a similarly colorful mix of nations; boys and girls with Asian, African, or European heritage, a Turkish girl with head shawl… all of them lined up peacefully. A 14-year-old girl from Hannover is photographed again and again by the others. She wears a colorful fantasy costume, just like the heroine in her favorite manga. She sewed it herself.

Behind the table Reami and Asu sing especially loudly while they sign their comics for the fans and leave a little doodle. Reami, 21, was born in . Asu, 19, in the . They met in school in Saint Augustine, near Bonn. They’ve worked together under the pseudonym DuO since 1999. Their manga “Mon-Star Attack”, a crazy space-comedy about an alien girl that wants to conquer the solar system, is one of EMA’s top sellers, and has been licensed in and . In September, their new series “Independent” will be released. It’s about a young girl from a mafia family who ends up getting into a number of misadventures.

The German-Japanese girl-wonder started roughly four years ago. Christina Plaka was one of the first to manage the step from manga-fan to professional mangaka. In 2003, the Hamburg publisher CarlsenComics, which started the manga-boom in 1997 with the Japanese series Dragon Ball, published her series “Prussian Blue”, the debut manga of the then-20 year old. Like most of her colleagues, Christina had long-loved drawings from due to TV shows like Sailor Moon. She applied to CarlsenComics for the first time in 2000 without success. Back then, she was told that there was no market for German artists.

That changed when Carlsen and EMA brought monthly manga magazines onto the market, in which German mangaka were published alongside the stars from . In the beginning, the “Japanese” comics from were unaccepted by readers. A lot of fans were of the opinion that Germans couldn’t and weren’t allowed to draw manga, Plaka remembers. Anything not from was seen by many as a cheap rip-off.

But she persevered. Her works, which are now published by Tokyopop, are selling in five-digit numbers, and appear in and the . For fans and colleagues, she is a huge inspiration. Apart from her work as a mangaka, the 23-year-old, who was born in Offenbach with a Greek passport, studies Japanese at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. This major has profited enormously from the manga hype in - “in 2002, when I started my studies, there were 60 students going into Japanese at my university,” she says. “One year later, it was 140. It’s obvious that my generation grew up with manga, anime, and video games from .”

Manga, for the first time, managed to create a large female comic fanbase. The so-called shoujo manga tell dreamy fantasy adventures; others take place in the fashion world or at school, and tell of relationship problems, friends or scheming, first love or rock bands.

In the past few years, those to get publishing contracts have been almost all girls. “Girls apparently work with more discipline and are more reliable,” says Anike Hage, big star of the scene, whose comic “Gothic Sports” is one of the best sellers of Tokyopop, a publisher that specializes in manga. Indeed, Anike, Asu, Reami, Marie Sann and their colleagues often sit up to twelve hours a day drawing; some draw in addition to school, at nights and on weekends.

Today, manga from are published with up to 20,000 issued per print; this number which can mean a spot on the best sellers list in the book market. Nevertheless, the development is still in its early stages. Manga from still dominate the market. The net-total German publishers make through manga is about 65-70 million Euro in the current year, estimated Joachim Kaps, ex-head publisher of CarlsenComics and current head of Tokyopop.

In , between 80 and 90 titles are published per month; German titles are still below 10% of that. “Our goal in the long run is to raise the share of the German-productions at Tokyopop to 20%,” says Kaps, who supported the rising manga stars at Carlsen before coming to Tokyopop.

Nevertheless, the works of German artists currently cost the publisher much more initially than the licensing of Japanese series. “Right now we invest into German mangaka. But our own productions are a chance for us to create something of worth rather than import it,” says Kaps. “Namely: to sell licenses abroad and maybe soon have merchandise and video games for German series.” For Anike Hage’s manga “Gothic Sports,” about a girl’s soccer team at a German high school, the publisher will offer notebooks, erasers, and notepads with the series’ logo, as well as t-shirts that look like the extravagant uniforms of the soccer team. These will all be available at next year’s Leipzig Book Fair in a small edition. This will be a first, tentative test. The chances look good – already, for the start of the series, fans of Gothic Sports showed up last March in Leipzig with self-made soccer uniforms, designed to look like those in Anike Hage’s series.

“Merchandise is also an attempt to create new sources of income- not only for the publisher, but also for the artists,” says Kaps. “We as the publisher have a special responsibility, especially because a lot of them are young when we take them under contract.” The publishers have learned a lot – unlike in the 80’s and early 90’s, when German artists were often cancelled from the program if their first work wasn’t a success, the German mangaka have time to develop. On average, the contracts are for several volumes, and the publishers try to create a specially-designed marketing strategy that includes appearances at cons, book fairs, and signings.

Part of the success of German manga is due to TV and internet forums, but is also due to drawing contests in which the publishers recruit new mangaka. “Contests are a great opportunity to present one’s work to the audience, and especially to the publishers. They’re also good because you can measure your skills against those of your competition,” says Judith Park, 22, an artist from Duisburg. Her manga “YSQUARE”, about a boy who really has to learn a lot about dealing with girls and can’t find a girlfriend, is one of CarlsenComics’ best sellers, and appears in France, Greece, Italy, Russia, and South Korea- the country Park’s family is originally from. This month, the continuation of the series, “YSQUARE PLUS”, appears in the magazine Daisuki. Park also owes her contract to a contest.

The most important component of the German manga market, however, is the fans. Manga-readers get very involved with the characters and their creators. Cosplay, dressing up like a manga character in self-made costumes, is one of the big attractions at fan-meetings, the cons. Every new series will often be discussed on internet forums, even before they’re released. Most fans also draw and post their works online. The scene created its own platform; for the publishers, this presents a chance to easily find out what the audience likes and what they’re interested in. “This is one reason for the big success of manga worldwide,” says Joachim Kaps. “Finally, authors, artists, and publishers are returning to paying attention to what 12 and 13-year-olds want.”

This is a big advantage for German mangaka – they have much more of a presence at signings, cons, and online than their Japanese colleagues. More and more, they tell stories that take place in the German everyday reality of the readers. Most of all, however, they present an accessible role-model – after all, every German mangaka admired by fans today used to be a fan themselves. And for most of them, that wasn’t very long ago at all.

Comics: Anike Hage: “Gothic Sports (Tokyopop, volume 2 in December); Christina Plaka: “Yonen Buzz” (Tokyopop, volume 0 in October); DuO: “Independent” (EMA, volume 1 in September); Judith Park: “YSQUARE” (Carlsen).

Drawing Contests: Manga-Talente (www.comicsinleipzig.de); Comic Campus (www.comic-campus.com)

 

 

 

Article on German mangaka – Sind die Sueueueuess!

Here’s the translation of a summary (credit goes to PummelDex for that, & translation is by my ever-helpful girlfriend). The article is available online, but I don’t personally feel like paying $6 for it if no one’s interested… ;/
If enough people are interested in knowing what the article says, I’ll go ahead and purchase it- so if you want it, speak up!

–

In the August 2006 issue of KultureSPIEGEL (CultureMIRROR), the monthly magazine insert of the big German news magazine Der Spiegel (the Mirror), there is an article on German manga-drawers (female).

They demonstrate the fast-growing boom of German manga, especially focusing on the artists of Tokyopop, but also on DuO of Egmont and Judith Park from Carlsen, and explain it with the sense of identification the fans feel towards artists barely younger than themselves. (“hardly older fans” is a direct quote from the article, as odd as that seems). After their earlier defensiveness against everything non-Japanese, by now the fans have stopped talking about cheap replicas when referring to manga from their own country.

According to Joachim Kaps, head of Tokyopop (Germany), the “marketshare of German volumes”, which is currently below ten percent, “is supposed to be raised to 20%”, at least with Tokyopop. Also, with the surprise-hit series Gothic Sports by Anike Hage, they’re launching the first attempt to sell merchandise for a German series. At next year’s Leipziger Bookfair, there will be soccer uniforms, t-shirts, and writing stuff (pencils, erasers, rulers, etc… we don’t have a word for this that we can think of) based on the series. This is also “an attempt to create a new source of income for the artists”, says Kaps.

Also praised were the different drawing contests in the German area. Judith Park called these “a good opportunity to present one’s work to the publishers and audience.” It is also possible to better measure your skill when you can see your competition, according to her.
An important aspect of the German manga-market, if not the most important one, is the fans. Through internet forums and similar things, a broad palette of opportunities for discussing the works is offered, and through which the wishes of the fans can be better taken into account.

–

Personally, I think it’s pretty interesting to see how OGM are taking off- especially concerning the merchandising TP is doing. We have yet to really get something like that here in America– while the newspaper runs are a start, the manga fans still have yet to really get behind a series here like they have with Gothic Sports. It’s a shame, but hey… this means there’s hope, right?

German OGM – EMA

So you thought that was all, huh? ;/ Never underestimate the OGM movement… Here are the titles released by Egmont Manga & Anime (EMA), another of Germany’s main manga companies. There’s some shoujo, some shounen (?), and even some BL! Enjoy.

Summaries are kindly translated by my girlfriend, so feel free to comment with any questions or queries for more info.

Oh, and we’re in the process of adding cover images to the TP German OGM entry, so be sure to check that out again sometime soon.

 

Catwalk
Alexandra Völker
One volume (ongoing)
ISBN: 3-7704-6321-8

Her looks always brought Blanche nothing but trouble. “As an albino you always attract everyone’s gaze, and fascination is the friendliest reaction…” says the 16-year-old. Mostly, Blanche is ashamed of her white hair and special eye color.
But one day she meets Merry. Recruiting for a model agency, Merry prefers to cast young girls that are anything but average. In Blanche, she seems to have refound the beauty that the Xela City Agency lost a long time ago.
The young star of course knows nothing about this history. She will also muse over her cute-but-bitchy model colleague Kei Memphis (male). But until then, there is still plenty of time to try on loads of beautiful clothes. Charming fashion from the cosplay catalogue! And together, first experiences… in love and on the catwalk, which means the world!

Freaky Angel
Lenka Buschova
Two Volumes
ISBN: 3770462637
ISBN: 3770462645

 

Whether in love, friendship, or carrier: angel Hikari helps in every type of situation. Her clients, however, are a little crazy – and that fits perfectly for the Freaky Angel, who accomplishes her tasks in very unique ways. That her first client’s best friend is a mop doesn’t throw off Hikari’s stride at all. She wants to act as a matchmaker between the shy Satoshi and his secret love, Ren. After that, she’s supposed to fix the friendship between Raya and Karin – or find them new friends/boyfriends. And finally, there is still the singer Kyumin, who wants to quit her job…
Three stand-alone short stories, each with two chapters, tell the story of the Freaky Angel. After every case, she disappears, and all memories of her go with her. But for the readers, Hikari will certainly be unforgettable!

Indépendent
DuO
One volume (3 planned)
ISBN: 3-7704-6482-6

They are young, wild, and indépendent…
…at least, as long as Daddy pays. But hip girl Épicé can’t be that dependent anymore; after all, she’s the daughter of a true mafioso. So she decides to up her budget, which suffers strongly from her shopping sprees. Mafia-style, of course…
In the newest work from our DuO is filled with juicy bishies and tough manga-babes! Of course, the two always have a little fun with such stereotypes.
…And then it says, literally, “It would be a pity if they didn’t; after all, a Shingo with an accounting compulsion is double as cute!”, and we really, -really- have no idea what they mean. :D

Mon-Star Attack
DuO
Two volumes
ISBN: 3-7704-6164-9
ISBN: 3-7704-6165-7

The terror has a name, and two poofy ears, and a speech impediment.
*Nuff*! (possibly snuggle)
Dr. K. Nickel (Dr. R Abbit), villain out of passion for the job, sheep-pelt wearer, and boss of the attack group “Mon-Star” can neither be scared nor stopped. Except maybe by the short-comings of his minions and two little fruit and vegetable sellers who bravely oppose the terror of the universe…

Orcus Star
Gina Wetzel
One volume
ISBN: 3-7704-6223-8

When the 17 year old Maiko dies in an accident, she unexpectedly ends up not in heaven, but in the underworld! There, she meets the goddess of death, Hel, who wants to punish her for her earthly (mis)deeds. Because Maiko has committed all seven deadly sins that humans can commit, she is now sentenced to eternal condemnation. Finally, she manages to make deal with Hel, but one should read the small print on such occasions…
Gina Wetzel, second in the doujinshi contest of Connichi 2003, managed the little miracle of giving the morbid topic her own spin, using humor and fantasy.

Shanghai Passion
Ying Zhou Chang
One volume
ISBN: 3-7704-6351-x

Shanghai, 1933: The German businessman Vincent Sebastian von Kretsch has traveled to to forge trading connections and to escape marriage to his fiancée, whom he believes he cannot truly love.
In Shangai, he meets Bai Li, the son of a powerful Chinese mafia family which has big plans for him and his half-brother Lei…who oddly attracts the conservative foreigner!
Ying Zhou Cheng is the winner of the Connichi doujinshi contest 2004. With her short story “CHOU”, she enchanted the jury and readers alike. With “Shanghai Passion”, the Chinese-born passionate cosplayer has her impressive manga debut.

Without Identity
Sascha Schätzchen / Utopian Artists
Two volumes
ISBN: 3-89885-677-1
ISBN: 3-89885-678-X

Behind the pseudonym “Utopian Artists” hide two promising German authors, who tell a suspenseful fantasy story, Without Identity. The story draws every reader in with its well-planned graphics and highly explosive mix of erotic aspects, human abysses and philosophical depths.

German OGM – CarlsenComics

 

 

So, you think TOKYOPOP’s all there is to OGM (original global manga)? Think again.

The German publisher CarlsenComics has been producing their own line of western-manga for a few years now… here’s what’s out there.

The following titles were serialized in Daisuki, a monthly manga mag that has both Japanese and OGM titles. English summaries (however awkward they may be!) are courtesy of the publisher; we take no credit for them!

 

 

Delilah’s Mystery
and Tram Nguyen
One volume (ongoing)
ISBN: 3551768366

One of DAISUKI ’s most popular series is, at long last, available in paperback. Delilah’s Secret tells of the love triangle involving Josh, Jessica, and Delilah. Josh feels strongly attracted by Delilah, a new girl at the high school. This causes the ire of Jessica, who fancies him herself. To complicate matters still further, Delilah keeps a secret. Will Josh continue to pay attention to her when he finds out who she really is?

 

Dystopia
Judith Park
One volume
ISBN: 3-551-77442-0

Dionne and her brother Lyon are very close and help each other at all times. But Lyon suffers from a cardiac defect which causes his sister a lot of trouble. In addition, her parents unintentionally neglect her in their concern for their son. To make matters worse, another woman enters Lyon’s life: Dionne’s best friend falls in love with him …

Rights sold to France, Greece and Italy

 

Jibun-Jishin
Nina Werner
One volume
ISBN: 3-551-77441-2

After a three year stay abroad sixteen-year-old Chiyo Kita returns to her old school in . There, however, things are no longer what they used to be … JIBUN-JISHIN, which means something like “I myself” is Nina Werner’s extraordinary début comic. It has already been serialized in DAISUKI, Carlsen’s Manga magazine for girls.

Rights sold to Greece and France

YSquare
Judith Park
One volume
ISBN: 3-551-78193-1

Yoshitaka Kogirei is not exactly a hit with girls, which worries him considerably. His new classmate Yagate, on the other hand, seems to attract girls like a honey pot attracts bees. This winds up Yoshitaka even more, so he asks Yagate for his recipe for success – and Yagate willingly gives him a few hints. As Yagate is a member of the jury for the «Beauty Contest», he suggests that Yoshitaka join him and stand in for a member of the committee who has fallen ill. But when his dream girl enters the stage he can no longer keep his macho temperament in check with the result that things seem to be in a great big mess …

Rights sold to France, Greece, Italy, Russia and Korea

The following volumes are listed under CarlsenComics’ “manga” label, but weren’t serialized in Daisuki. Translations are by Kerstin Wolff.

 

Bloody Circus
Jürgen Seebeck
Two volumes: (collection of short stories)
ISBN: 3-551-77766-0
ISBN: 3-551-77767-9

Finally: the first manga by a German artist is published by Carlsen! Jürgen Seebeck has established himself as the ingenious translator of “Akira”, “Dragon Ball”, “Astro Boy”, and “Dr. Slump”. Now Carlsen publishes his manga “Bloody Circus”, drawn in color for a Japanese Online-Comic-Magazine, and now a paperback. In his stories, he fascinatingly connects figures and elements of European and Asian history and literature, which always meet each other in a tragic way.

 

Crewman3
Robert Labs
Two volumes:
ISBN: 3-551-76711-4
ISBN: 3-551-76712-2

The Earth in the year 2070. Only the young Crash Cashaddi and his little companion Snerf survive the terrible attack on Earth by the alien Krasoon. With their self-constructed spaceship, they manage to leave the completely destroyed Earth at the last minute. First, they go to Mars, where the race of the Zeros has taken over. They immediately are imprisoned with the last surviving Martians. The fate of Crash and Snerf seems set in stone, but in prison the two meet Juna and Jerome, and become friends in the battle against evil. Together they face the almost-unsolvable problem of fleeing from Mars in order to fill the destroyed Earth with new life before the Krasoon return to settle it. The biggest adventure of all times begins…

 

Dragic Master
Robert Labs
Two volumes:
ISBN: 3-551-75141-2
ISBN: 3-551-75142-0

A hero against his own will, student Ted Sunzai lands between the fronts of a bitter civil war that rages on the planet C’uoh. But he doesn’t have to get through his battle alone, because with the Dragics, small dragon creatures with magical abilities, he has helpers on his side that are more powerful than their cute exterior belies.