I still don't really get the whole comics/manga/cartoon thing -- sure, some fun stuff, but overall just too basic; see the (limited) selection under review at the complete review -- but I must admit I am intrigued by Kensuke Nonami's descriptions in The Asahi Shimbun of how Lives of literary giants get wild new spin in latest manga creations.
Okay, 恋する文豪 ('Literary Giants in Love'; see also the Tokyo Shoseki publicity page) is definitely way too creepy for me (especially with Amazon.jp prominently noting what is apparently the subtitle -- きゅんきゅんくる! 教養 ... sheesh), but よちよち文藝部 ('Toddling Literature Department'; see the Bungeishunju publicity page) -- "which lampoons famous writers and their works" -- sounds kind of fun.
And I'm totally sold on 文豪ストレイドッグス ('Bungo Stray Dogs'; see the Kadokawa publicity page), which sounds just plain nuts:
Okay, 恋する文豪 ('Literary Giants in Love'; see also the Tokyo Shoseki publicity page) is definitely way too creepy for me (especially with Amazon.jp prominently noting what is apparently the subtitle -- きゅんきゅんくる! 教養 ... sheesh), but よちよち文藝部 ('Toddling Literature Department'; see the Bungeishunju publicity page) -- "which lampoons famous writers and their works" -- sounds kind of fun.
And I'm totally sold on 文豪ストレイドッグス ('Bungo Stray Dogs'; see the Kadokawa publicity page), which sounds just plain nuts:
It presents characters modeled after the widely accepted images of great writers, incorporating them in a wild fantasy story.And so, of course:
The story focuses on a vendetta between an armed detective agency, whose members include Osamu Dazai, and Ryunosuke Akutagawa and other members of a port mafia family over Atsushi Nakajima, who can transform into a human-devouring tiger.
"Bungo Stray Dogs" has more than 500,000 copies in print, with a third volume released in December.Somebody, please translate this stuff -- and let's see a European/American 'manga' with a similar (semi-)literary premise !