I know, I know... TWO POSTS in one night? But, in the spirit of making old readers happy, and keeping the new readers (HI NEW READERS :B) enticed enough to come back often, we're working on upping the posting frequency.
Pardon our shamelessness for making this one about ourselves. For anyone that wants to know more about why we started this site and all that jazz, Evan & I were recently interviewed by manga blogging queen Brigid Alverson (of MangaBlog and Digitial Strips fame). The interview, covering topics like Japanese horror, the ethics of scanlation and our original webcomics, was for Brigid's monthy manga column at Comixpedia, called Brigid's Bento Box.
So, head over to Comixpedia and check out the interview, and then come back here to let me know if you think we sounded like idiots or bored you to tears.. or maybe um, inspired you to start your own scanlation blog?
A rare sighting of the elusive editors!
Okay, so now that you've read the interview (you clicked the link, right?) you know that we're working on an original webcomic horror thingy called Stillborn, and the new Sensha story should to be posted very soon. SO, the important question for you guys is: What should we scanlate next? We're considering more Yoshida Sensha 4-panel gag strips (in color), comics by Heartbroken Angels' Kikuni, etc...But, what would YOU like to see? Let us know in the comments.
I don't know what to say except that LJ'er rootstudio is totally rad: Insane? YES. Flattering? INDEED. Inspired cartooning? You're DAMN RIGHT!
As he explained in this post, "For those of you who don't know it yet, Same Hat! is the most awesome horror/wonky gag manga blog ever. So it's only fitting I should pay tribute radicolaishness with this crummy parody of this original strip by Yoshida Sensha from which they got their name..."
AWW, thanks rootstudio!! Everyone should check out his journal for great comics commentary and great doodles of weird shit.
PS: This is the second ever Sensha-inspired parody strip we've seen, the first being 'Same Paddle' by another LJ'er, paradesend.
Yes, more news regarding Uncle Maruo! The anime adaptation of Suehiro Maruo's MIDORI (aka Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show) is currently up on YouTube in its entirety (split nicely between 5 clips). We previously blogged about the trailer and a torrent for the anime, but this should make it a lot easier for more of you to check this flick out. Collected here for your enjoyment (while it lasts):
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Part Four:
Part Five:
Just to note, we've just started updating our own Same Hat channel (Tatsumi interview, Kiiiiiii live, with more to come) and tagging lots of favorites that might be of interest to readers of the blog (Hideshi Hino interview, Tezuka anime shorts, etc).
Here is an amazing find from our man in Japan, Clay-- Sorry to be so slow to post this! Warning: This graphic stuff may be unsuitable for some!
Just to paraphrase a few other posts, NeoSamurai reported that Hugo strikes back, one of the great Japanese guro/horror blogs, has posted the entire scans of the fantastic 1988 book, 江戸昭和競作無惨絵英名二十八衆句 -- aka "28 Famous Scenes of Murder and Verse." This book features gory and outrageous Muzan-e scenes illustrated by Same Hat favorites Suehiro Maruo and Kazuichi Hanawa!!
You can download it in its entirety (86.7MB) here, at least for now.
Muzan-e "無残絵" (Bloody Ukiyo-e) is a subcategory of ukiyo-e prints depicting sex, gore and cruelty. The book is a homage to the famous 1866 series of the same name by artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, who is often names as the last great master of Ukiyo-e.
This book couples Maruo & Hanawa's contemporary prints with Yoshitoshi's 19th century Muzan-e, along with commentary on each piece in both English and Japanese. Some of my favorite prints include a few by Suehiro Maruo depicting Hitler & Eva in the bunker, Marc Bolan hanging from a helicopter toting a machine gun, and a scene inspired by Kazuo Umezu's Snake Girl manga! Hanawa's prints are more classically-informed, but the one of a woman strangling her lizard fetus (I know, WTF) is perhaps the most disturbing of the whole bunch.
WHAT A FIND! We name-dropped Yoshitoshi and his bloody Ukiyo-e way back in early posts on this blog, and so we're especially pleased to hear about this and bring it to you. For those that don't want to download the entire .RAR, you can find some scans of Hanawa's prints from the book here.
Many thanks again to: Clay, NeoSamurai and Hugo strikes back!
Quick post: Last weekend, I found myself in the office for a few hours trying to catch up on work. During a coffee break, trying desperately to stay away from my desk, I decided to whip up gigantic images of a few favorite authors and decorate the office hallway (That makes sense, right?).
After a few minutes on Rasterbator, 2 cups of coffee and an additional hour on all fours taping the pieces together later, here are the results:
POE vs. LOVECRAFT!
details: Edgar Allan Poe: America's Favorite Anti-Transcendentalist
H.P. Lovecraft: The Master of Cosmic Horror
I thought you guys might enjoy those. Future additions for the next time I get bored at work: Franz Kafka and Shirley Jackson!
Taking a quick break from manga news & scanlations, here are some clips from a rad show I saw on Wednesday. The event featured openers Dreamdate and Scrabbel, and was headlined by art-noise duo Kiiiiii! from Tokyo. This fantastic show was part of the SF Asian American Film Festival.
Check out these pictures and videos! Not content with simply creating an awesome flyer, our buddy Hellen rocked the cello with her band Scrabbel:
I had been hearing about Kiiiiiii for a while from Tokyo-area friends like Yasuko (her kiiiiiiii show pics here and here), and knew they were infamous for wild, conceptual shows (Think a capella OOIOO meets Chicks on Speed-- they do covers of Michael Jackson and the Wiggles!), and we were not disappointed. Also keep in mind that lead singer Utako is performing on a seriously sprained ankle, injured jumping off a tall stage at SXSW.
Shouting and call & response is a good way to start:
Seriously, it's just drums + singing, no other instruments:
Dude, Reiko is a fierce drummer!
Utako rocking the maracas, Reiko rocking the gator hand puppet:
Sorry that I couldn't keep the camera steady:
Kiiiiii's show-ending rendition of We're the Bad ('We Are The World' mashed up with MJ's 'Bad'):
My pre-emptive apologies for the video overload. We'll be back to your regularly scheduled horror and gag manga news soon.
Back in business after after a short lull in activity on the site, I wanted to show off some of the awesome finds we had during two trips to New York this past winter. While both SF and NYC have equally impressive Kinokuniya stores for new English manga releases, New York wins the manga arms race because of one secret weapon, nestled midtown about a block from the New York Public Library... BOOK-OFF!
BOOK-OFF is used-book chain that's pretty ubiquitous in Japan, but only a few exist in the States in LA, Honolulu and New York. For us, this shop (and more specifically, the second-floor used Manga valhalla) is a required stop whenever we're lucky enough to make it out East.
These manga stacks are actually where we've found some of the source materials for past scanlations we've done. The only downside to the place is that the second floor is REALLY HOT and STUFFY (we think intentionally to keep people from standing and reading for hours on end). So, here are some pics of recent gems... YES, this post is basically us bragging about awesome shit we got for cheap!
Osamu Tezuka's CRIME AND PUNISHMENT!
As some of you may know, Tezuka did tackle a few classics of Western Lit in manga form (the other most notable being Faust). Hearing about this firsthand at the Tezuka Museum in Kansai, I was both baffled and excited to hear that Tezuka had ventured to take on the canonical, existential tale of Raskolnikov. The story is really dense, even in comic form (duh) and the panel work is a weird mix of his 1950s style and more experimental layouts-- for example, holding the fixed and limited vantage point of the stairwell for pages and pages, while we know that Raskolnikov is inside killing the old pawnbroker and workmen are just down the stairs (in and out of the bottom of the panel) was an intense and interesting choice.
It's also vaguely weird and compelling to see the conflict between the detective Porfiry and Raskolnikov portrayed by Tezuka's archetypal cast of characters.
I'm not sure that Tezuka's Crime and Punishment is that hard to track down in Japan, but it seems most American fans of Buddha, Astroboy and Phoenix might not yet be aware of it. You can read more details on the Tezuka site. Please enjoy these pics... (Oh, and in case you were wondering, he DOES manage to polish off the entire novel in only 130 pages of manga!)
Kasei Rumba (Martian Rumba) by my man, Yoshida Sensha!
And perhaps the greatest find we could possibly hope for: An original, hardcover COLOR edition of UTSURUN DESU Vol.1 (伝染るんです) by Yoshida Sensha!
..and finally, LONG LIVE THE KING!!
Happy non-religious Vernal Equinox today! More manga news posts are coming soon. Regarding our scanlations, last night I finally finished the translation for Yoshida Sensha's The Young Bandit and passed the script on to Evan for touch-up and lettering. More soon, I proooooomise!
To date, this is the only the second horror manga tattoo we've ever seen (remember the Kazuo Umezu tattoo from last year?). But, this might be the most radical personal tribute to Guro/Horror manga in existence (hyperbole? we think not). Evan's friend Beth -- a Japanese horror & Suehiro Maruo fangirl hailing from Sacramento -- had previously posted some in-progress pics of her full back tattoo on her LJ.
During our recent NYC trip, we opened up a copy of Japanese tattoo magazine TATTOO BURST to find... a picture of Beth modeling her completed tattoo: Midori (the Camellia Girl) from Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show! All we can say is: WOW!!
Updated: SAME HAT stopped updating in 2013! For all new projects, please see Youth in Decline's sit and Instagram.
All fan translations of manga that you'll see in the archives are previously untranslated into English and range from comedy to horror to avant-absurd weirdness.
Same Hat is written & edited by Ryan. If you would like to contact me, please email: samehat @ gmail.com. Also, you can Ask me anything on the Same Hat Tumblr!
