11th Manga Division Critiques

[Critique by work category] Frame Manga, Independent Manga, On-line Manga, Others

Although the total number of entries to the Manga Division declined this year, we believe that this is mainly because publishers are selecting their recommendations for the Story Manga category more carefully. In the other categories, with the exception of Frame Manga which experienced a slight decline, the number of applications continues to steadily increase. Most noticeably, the number of entries from abroad, which dropped sharply last year, recovered and some have even been selected as Recommended Works this year. As a result, there is an increased diversity of Recommended Works, which can be seen in the variety of forms of manga at the exhibition. This year, the number of Digital manga entries increased remarkably; however, few of them devised original methods of presentation. It was thought that they should have made a clearer difference in their means of presentation from other existing mobile contents, which already have original methods of display.

Profile
FUJIMOTO Yukari
Associate Professor, Meiji University
Born in Kumamoto, 1959. Graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tokyo. Associate Professor, School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University. Critic. After working as an editor for Chikuma Shobo, she has occupied her current position since April, 2008. Specializes in Manga Bunka-ron (manga culture). She has delivered commentaries mainly on comics, women, and sexuality. Also she has been on selection committees of Kodansha Manga-sho and Tezuka Osamu Bunka-sho (Tezuka Cultural Award). Director of the Japan Society for Studies in Cartoons and Comics. Her written works include "Watashi no Ibasho wa Doko ni Aruno? - Shojo Manga ga Utsusu Kokoro no Katachi", "Kairaku Denryu", "Shojo Manga Damashii", "Aijo Hyoron", etc.