Before I left Japan, the folks at Kotobukiya were kind enough to send me a copy of OTACOOL, a book project spearheaded by Danny Choo of dannychoo.com. The idea for the book is fantastic and works on the same principal as our desk feature — people's personal spaces shed telling light into their lives.

Countries represented include places like Japan, France, the UK, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Spain, China, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Israel and the U.S.

The rooms run the gamut of anime and manga otakudom. (Hopefully future editions will expand to other types of otaku! Such as train, airsoft gun, video game, etc.) Still, it is interesting. The pictures were all submitted by users and do vary in quality — something that actually gives the book charm and a hint of realism instead of a slick, commercial feel.

Text is in both English and Japanese, making it good for those interested in practicing either language. And the book has been tearing up the sales charts in Japan. You can learn more about OTACOOL in the link below. Hooray!

OTACOOL [Official Site]

When division head Kouji Taguchi was asked why manga sales in the US were still considerably smaller than in Japan, he replied:

The best sellers in the US were Full Metal Alchemist and Naruto, but these only sold a tenth to a twentieth of what they sold in Japan.
I think the main reasons are as follows:
1. Fewer copies are printed and those that are get sold at a much higher price, from $8.99 to $12.99.
2. Children don't get as much money, their allowances are just smaller.
3. The other reason is location. If you live in Tokyo there will be 3 bookshops nearby, which you can easily cycle to. In the US there aren't any, they can only buy on a weekly trip to the mall. Even if anime is highly popular, they just don't visit the stores to buy manga often.

As website Sankaku Complex points out, it's interesting that Taguchi focuses on distribution instead of simply stating that Japanese and Western tastes are different. Taguchi also went on to state that manga publishers are increasingly moving forward to digital distribution.

"Publishers such as Shueisha, Kodansha, Shogakukan and Kadokawa are setting up a digital platform on the PSP for distributing manga," said Taguchi. The Square Enix exec doesn't think this will catch on in Japan because prices are low and there are many shops selling manga. However, this form of distribution could very well catch on in the States.

誠：劇的3時間SHOW：『咲-Saki-』『鋼の錬金術師』の田口浩司プロデューサーが語る、儲かるアニメの作り方 (1/6) [Business Media via Sankaku Complex — Image NSFW] [Pic]

More in the links below.

その痛さは世界に羽ばたく 『第２回　痛Gふぇすた in お台場』 [常時リソース不足 via Danny Choo]

BBC newsperson Robin Lustig has a post up titled "Is Japan a dying nation?" Here's the rub and the game connection in his piece:

I'm no social psychologist, so I wouldn't dare to come up with an explanation for why Japanese couples aren't having enough babies. But one theory is that Japanese women are increasingly reluctant to marry, because they think Japanese men have shown themselves unable to adapt to the needs of a new, more flexible society - and have retreated into a fantasy world of comics, video games and animated pornography where they feel less threatened.

Lustig's original piece is much longer obviously and can be read in full right here. I suggest that you do read the entire piece before commenting!

His post is making the internet rounds in Japan, and the Japanese internet, namely hugely popular bulletin board 2ch, has a smattering of opinions about it. Here are some of them, translated by DannyChoo.com:

-Make reality more interesting than games please.
-Yeah I can live on games alone.
-If everybody became obsessed with games then we would live in a peaceful society.
-Reality does not want to deal with me you idiot.
-The world in the monitor is reality. The world we live in is just imaginary.
-To be honest, I don't want a (real) woman.
-Love Plus is reality.
-There are too many Japanese people anyway so decreasing the population would be just right.
-But the 2D world is ideal.
-Oh and its OK to be obsessed with movies and books then?
-My (2D) girlfriend is Aika-san. She lets me meet her whenever I want and greets me with a smile if I forget a date - and she does not cost money. Thats all I need.
-His words are racist.
-I'm 30 and earn 3.5 million yen (35K USD) - how am I supposed to get married?
-Why is somebody from a declining country (England) telling me this?
-The decline of the population has nothing to do with games or manga.
-My partner is Hatsune Miku. I would do anything for her and we are thinking of having kids.
-I tried to face reality and it became Love Plus.
-We must fight reality!
-They should make a game for the DS called "lets face society"
-A country of Neets (England) being worried about Japan?
-Not sure about England but the hurdle to getting married over the past 20 years in Japan is gone up too high - socially and financially.
-Unless there are more job positions then I cant face reality.
-Girls in games wont cheat on us.
-The solution is to make reality in games.
-I'm too busy with work to think about getting married.
-But Sanya is too cute.
-Solution is simple - make it so that anime and manga characters can get pregnant.

There are something like over 2,500 comments in this same thread on this issue. I don't see that the declining population as something that can simply be pinned on men who like reading manga and playing video games — or pinned on women who want to focus on their career. There are larger societal issues at hand.

For example, if both parents do work and have small children, they need daycare. Well, daycare is harder to come by than in North America — there is public daycare called "hoikuen", but parents must apply in advance and there is no guarantee that they'll be able to put their kids in. Something like this seems like a bigger deterrent to having children than, say, playing Konami DS games, no?

Another issue is that Japan was traditionally an agriculture society with large, extended families. Five children was not some outrageous number! But as the country industrialized in the late 19th century and early 20th century and as it rebuilt during the Post War Era, the extended family structure broke down. Childcare was easier when living under the same roof as opposed to stuffed in tiny urban apartments.

Wonder why these issues weren't touched upon...

マンガやゲームに夢中となり、現実社会と向き合わない男のせいで日本は衰退していく…英BBC記者 [痛いニュース(ﾉ∀`) via DannyChoo]

The Strike Witches are magical moe animal girls recruited by governments worldwide to take down the imperialistic Neuroi and its indefensible weaponry.

No info about the game's developer or release date. We do know that it is a shooting game and that it will have Xbox LIVE support. Expect fan service. Endless fan service.
Strike Witches shooting game announced for 360 [Canned Dogs]

For one thing, a huge chunk of the cast is missing from the 10-chapter story — including my favorite unbalanced character, Viola. Also, the plot has been hacked down and rearranged, but that I don't mind because Japanese role-playing game plots often need a lot of paring down. And for some reason, Chopin looks more like the real-life Chopin than he does like the video game Chopin despite the mega-huge pocket watch.

But what really freaks me out is Polka. She looks like an anthropomorphic animal that doesn't know how to comb its hair:

The manga completed its run under Dengeki Comics last year. Kuroi has drawn two other manga that I know of: Kimikiss - Lyrical Contact and D.C. the Origin.

Check it out for yourself without spending a dime. You may as well since there likely aren't any plans to bring it Stateside.

Trusty Bell — Chopin no Yume [One Manga]

The July issue of Shounen Gangan features an eight-page preview chapter of the manga which basically re-hashes all the names and some of the neuroses of Organization XIII's members. The new character, Xion, also makes an appearance as the organization's 14th member that you never see or hear about in any of the other Kingdom Hearts games.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is out for the DS on September 29 and if you're lucky enough to be at Comic Con, you can catch a playable demo of it there — like this lucky guy. If you're like me and stuck waiting until September, you'll just have to settle for a fan translation of the manga.

While we're waiting, would anyone like to take a stab at explaining to me how Xion can be Kairi's Nobody when Naminé is already Kairi's Nobody? Is Kairi just so special she has to have two?

Kingdom Hearts - 358/2 Days 0 [One Manga]

The October issue of manga Comic Rush, on sale August 26, will see the first manga version of Dream C Club, called Dream Club Destiny.

Illustrator 888 (that's the dude's moniker!) will be happening the drawing duties. Above is a sneak peek of two girls hugging each other. We think they're friends.

月刊コミックラッシュ公式ブログ [Comic Rush]

Matsumoto's Out of Galaxy Koshika will go on sale April 14, and like Wii-Shopping-Channel manga Princess Ai before it, Koshika will have Japanese and English language text options. The first chapter costs 500 Points, and the following chapters are priced at 200 Points each.

Out of Galaxy Koshika is set in 2099 on a space ship helmed by a beautiful woman named Yo Haguro. A young boy named Hajime Umino finds himself aboard the ship, which has been sent into space to save the Earth from obliteration.

There are no plans yet to release Out of Galaxy Koshika on Wiis outside of Japan, and the manga's publisher stated that the English language version is geared for English speakers living in Japan. How kind.

Wiiでマンガが読める『アウトオブギャラクシー 銀のコーシカ 〜松本零士〜』 [Famitsu via ANN]

Priced at ¥12,075 (US$135), the collection includes cover by manga/game artist Noizi Ito and a set of the SOS Bridgade figures: Haruhi pirate, Yuki Nagato space ninja, and apron dress wearing Mikuru Asahina.

Bundle goes on sale in Japan on March 26.

Wii「涼宮ハルヒの並列 超SOS団ヒロインコレクション」のサンプル [Moeyo! NSFW]

R18! follows Rikako as she gets a job... at an erotic game company. The entire company is staffed with the types of ladies one would expect in a manga like that. (No surprises there!)

The manga's spin is that Rikako is inexperienced sexually and thrusting her into the adult game world is a classic fish-out-of-water construct. Like Crocodile Dundee, minus the enormous norgs and purple hair.

ぷらぱ「Ｒ１８！」　エロゲーメーカーのおっぱい星人（♀） [Akiba Blog]

Both manga magazines were founded in 1959 and released a combined anniversary issue together — a PSP mash-up does not seem out of the blue. Here's who is currently announced to be in the game:

Air Gear
Fairy Tail
Hajime no ippo
Inu Yasha
Hayate no Gotoku
Sakigake!! Cromartie High School
Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi
Kekkaishi
Zettai Karen Children

KyukyokuchoujinR and Magister Negi Magi are in the scan. Special moves are carried out by pressing a single button. Release date is not yet known.

Shounen Magazine vs Shounen Sunday for PSP [Canned Dogs]

Unfortunately the manga, titled "White Knight Chronicles Episode 0: Dogma War Chronicle", is completely in Japanese, one of the many languages I have yet to master, so I must go by what the folks at the Anime News Network have to say about it. It apparently tells the story of another White Knight from long ago, living in an era fraught with war and chaos. The story was overseen by Takashi Ikeda, with Yūko Satō performing art duties.

I cordially invite any of our Japanese-speaking readers to tell us what the hell is going on in our comments section.

Japanese White Knight Chronicles Site - Click "Special" [Sony via Anime News Network - Thanks Tim!]

The movie, based on the popular Dragon Ball manga/anime/video games, will be in theaters April 8. It stars Justin Chatwin, James Marsters, Chow Yun-Fat, Ernie Hudson and whatever the hell is in that picture.

Update: Dragonball Gets a New Title? [ComingSoon via Dragonball The Movie]

From January 6th, Sun Denshi will be opening their own WiiWare store selling chapters of Princess Ai Monogatari. The first 3 chapters will go for 300 Wii Points with each subsequent chapter costing 200 points a pop.

The service will be Japan-only initially but rumors abound that Sun Denshi are planning to launch titles in the West and the inclusion of English subtitles in Princess Ai Monogatari would seem to add weight to the theory.

Manga Coming To Japanese WiiWare in January [WiiWare-World]

Also, for those with DSes and a hankering for manga, (and presumably the means to buy this game from overseas), Konami is creating a baseball game based on a popular sports series that runs in the Shonen magazines. The game will be released to coincide with Weekly Shonen Sunday and Weekly Shonen Magazine's 50th anniversaries. The unnamed game will take its teams from the manga, and some of the players will be either characters from the manga or taken in from elsewhere. If you're literate in Japanese, here is its official website.

Thanks to reader Jacob for the Naruto tip.

Konami Working on Special Nintendo DS Baseball Project [C3 News]

Dragonball Teaser Trailer [Trailer Addict - Thanks wwm0nkey!]

The nearly 300-page book is packed with 21 short stories by two dozen artists and writers and wraps up with authors' comments, translation notes and a sneak peek of volume 2.

The book is an enjoyable romp through the strange, flashy-dressing world of OBJECTIONS! and turnabouts. What it isn't is a book that recreates the fun of playing the game. The storylines certainly ring true and the art is a fun collection of different styles, but maybe they should have taken the Choose Your Own Adventure path.

If you're a fan of the game franchise then it's probably worth picking up, but others may find it a bit on the dry side.

Dragon Ball | ¡Nuevas imágenes del apocalipsis! [Nerd Drama via Dragonball Movie Blog via ANN]