Anime News - New English-Translated Manga Magazine Gen Launched

Gen volume one, I assume.

A new monthly magazine named Gen has launched with original manga by Japanese underground artists, and the first issue available as a free download. Gen is a digital magazine with limited-edition print copies.

The Manga Maniac Cafe website interviewed the magazine's editor-in-chief Robert McGuire. McGuire said that Gen will feature "seinen and dōjinshi manga" for the adult market, made by dōujin circles in Japan. "We aren't a traditional publisher that buys rights to already existing titles," McGuire said. "We find Japanese underground artists to create original manga for Americans. We translate the work as it is created and publish for our readers first."

McGuire also said that his company Gen Manga Entertainment was working on an online version of the magazine that would be readable on all devices."

Gen issue 1 contains 140 pages and four stories, in black and white. In addition to the download, a print copy is available from Amazon for US$9.95.

[Via Manga Mania Cafe.com, Mangablog.net]

(animenewsnetwork.com)

I absolutely adore manga/anime magazines. Yeah, many people don't these days, but screw 'em. When I was about 10, I remember reading the always awesome Animerica magazines that would arrive at the local Blockbuster or Hollywood Videos. I enjoyed the fact that the magazine would introduce me to anime that wasn't in fact popular, and their reviews were amongst my favorite parts in the magazines. While no magazine will ever top that (okay, I was just as big a fan of Protoculture Addicts, but I digress, darn it), I did enjoy every publication that discussed anime and manga. The primary reason I mentioned Animerica though, was because of its equally popular manga magazine, Animerica Extra. This was how I spent Weekdays. That and Raijin Comics, but I had all but 3 copies.

Nakamura Shige's Wolf, one of the indie series on the magazine.

Of course, after Animerica, I relied on Newtype USA. While it was pretty good, I hated their long articles about anime I already watched on Adult Swim. Yeah, Animerica had articles, but they mostly did them on shows like Magic User's Club, Betterman, or Tsukigane Ran. One common factor: none of my friends know or care to know what these series are. Looking at it through another perspective, I can kinda see why they did this, I mean, the majority of the audience loves FMA and Naruto, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, nor is there anything wrong with knowing your market. As an individual who got into anime by experimenting on my own accord and looking up anime none of my friends have heard of, though...I have to admit, guys, it hurt.

..

Outside of that though, it was a fun read. =D

Otaku USA is a pretty good magazine, and in some cases, I consider it better, but I believe it will take a while to be on the level of Animerica's quality. Wait, let me track back. One of the reasons Animerica was very underground-ish was probably because anime wasn't anywhere near as popular (both on TV and on the internet) as it is now.

Sorry for the tangent. Either way, manga magazines have a better track record for obvious reasons. Just slap said manga on the magazine and voila! I can't wait to pick Gen up.