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The Butterfly
"Times change, so do we"
Juhan Shuttai turned Vibes’ publishing world on its head with the addition of a force of nature to a manga editing department in the form of Kurasawa Kokoro, a former judo star. Surrounded by men day and night, Kokoro used her training to learn the ropes and forge professional relationships with the oddball crew of writers and editors.
After an injury causes Kurosawa Kokoro’s judo career to end she decides to work in manga editing. Twenty interviews later she lands a job at the manga magazine Vibes, the #2 magazine. Before long she is training with the rational Iokibe and butting heads with the cynical Yasui. She meets a successful senior manga creator who is struggling with his artwork and an eccentric hat wearing writer whose volatile love life threatens deadlines. Kokoro cheerfully helps to come up with solutions to the deadline and creative problems. Her mantra is always “Do your best!” Now she needs to develop her own writers and fulfill her desire to publish a sleeper hit.
This was a strange world where most women, aside from Kokoro and a couple of others, lived on the periphery. Most of the work was about the men. Kokoro seemed to be hired because she was an unorthodox woman. In real life she would be exhausting to be around. She stayed aerobically fit by running, always taking the stairs and talking so loudly, so enthusiastically, and so fast she often gasped for air. She lived in a world inhabited by mostly men. I come from a place where the majority of publishing editors are women so seeing the editing and sales departments with zero women except for Kokoro was staggering. Management was entirely male. Only one of the ten manga writers was a woman which was interesting given that 66-70% of mangaka are female. And the sole female artist was repeatedly said to have “hangups” and was only there to be taken advantage of. None of the eight manga assistants were women. The invisibility of women made it all the more visible they weren’t there when they should have been, at least as artists.
Juhan Shuttai discussed the changing environment for mangas, how e-books and closing bookstores affected the business. Lower sales caused the bottom line to be critical for the triumvirate of manga artists, publishers, and booksellers to all stay in the black. The editors and booksellers fought to keep manga relevant and selling in an ever changing market.
The problems that arose weren’t earth shattering and usually had simple solutions that fixed everything. This was a joyful, carefree watch where good actions and positive thinking were stressed. Luck could be accrued by acts of kindness and most characters learned lessons about life and happiness. If you are down and need something encouraging this would be a good choice. Despite me wanting to find the volume button to turn down Kokoro’s unrelenting enthusiasm at times, it was a nice “pick me up” drama to watch.
12 May 2024
(7.75)
After an injury causes Kurosawa Kokoro’s judo career to end she decides to work in manga editing. Twenty interviews later she lands a job at the manga magazine Vibes, the #2 magazine. Before long she is training with the rational Iokibe and butting heads with the cynical Yasui. She meets a successful senior manga creator who is struggling with his artwork and an eccentric hat wearing writer whose volatile love life threatens deadlines. Kokoro cheerfully helps to come up with solutions to the deadline and creative problems. Her mantra is always “Do your best!” Now she needs to develop her own writers and fulfill her desire to publish a sleeper hit.
This was a strange world where most women, aside from Kokoro and a couple of others, lived on the periphery. Most of the work was about the men. Kokoro seemed to be hired because she was an unorthodox woman. In real life she would be exhausting to be around. She stayed aerobically fit by running, always taking the stairs and talking so loudly, so enthusiastically, and so fast she often gasped for air. She lived in a world inhabited by mostly men. I come from a place where the majority of publishing editors are women so seeing the editing and sales departments with zero women except for Kokoro was staggering. Management was entirely male. Only one of the ten manga writers was a woman which was interesting given that 66-70% of mangaka are female. And the sole female artist was repeatedly said to have “hangups” and was only there to be taken advantage of. None of the eight manga assistants were women. The invisibility of women made it all the more visible they weren’t there when they should have been, at least as artists.
Juhan Shuttai discussed the changing environment for mangas, how e-books and closing bookstores affected the business. Lower sales caused the bottom line to be critical for the triumvirate of manga artists, publishers, and booksellers to all stay in the black. The editors and booksellers fought to keep manga relevant and selling in an ever changing market.
The problems that arose weren’t earth shattering and usually had simple solutions that fixed everything. This was a joyful, carefree watch where good actions and positive thinking were stressed. Luck could be accrued by acts of kindness and most characters learned lessons about life and happiness. If you are down and need something encouraging this would be a good choice. Despite me wanting to find the volume button to turn down Kokoro’s unrelenting enthusiasm at times, it was a nice “pick me up” drama to watch.
12 May 2024
(7.75)
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