Comic Picks #25: Kiyohiko Azuma

He's the creator of "Azumanga Daioh" and "Yotsuba&!," two series well worth your time. That said, after we did the podcast, I came home and found some things out.  Corrections/updates to the podcast follow after the break. First off, Kiyohiko Azuma is really a guy.  It's been generally assumed that because he draws really cute stuff and has a first name ending in the "-ko" suffix (usually reserved for girls) that "he" was really a "she."  That's not the case, and we should've found this out before we did the podcast.  So, my bad. *does the "my bad" dance* The other thing is that Yen Press has only acquired the rights to volume six of "Yotsuba&!"  Finding this out certainly diminishes some of the excitement that I had while recording the podcast, but there's some fun to be had in speculating why it's the only volume they've announced.  I'm betting that either Azuma or Media Works (the company that publishes the series in Japan) is gunshy about licensing out the series again after the debacle that their relationship with ADV Manga turned into.  So, they're only giving Yen rights to that one volume (plus the previous five, which I hear they're negotiating with what's left of ADV Manga for the rights to use their translations) to see how this shakes out. Or, it could be that with what the economy the way it is, Yen is just putting out volume six to see if it'll still sell.  I can't fault them for thinking like that, but I think they'll be pleasantly surprised once the volume is released.  The series inspires a certain... "fervor" among a lot of anime and manga fans on the internet (there's a reason Yotsuba is one of the many mascots of 4chan) to the point where even if they've already read scanlations online, they'll pick up the print version because they love it that much. Anyway, even if it does turn out to be just one volume, more "Yotsuba&!" is a good thing no matter which way you look at it.  And if Yen Press does drop the ball... then I'll just go back to hoping that Dark Horse picks it up.