Mai the Psychic Girl #1
Oct. 30th, 2012 03:45 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skjam posting in ![[community profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
scans_dailyHi again!
Digging in my longboxes, I found one of the first few manga to make it in a legal translation to the United States. Indeed, it was part of the first wholesale translated manga importation attempts. Viz teamed up with Eclipse Comics (remember them?) to present three bi-weekly series, Kamui, Area 88, and today's offering, Mai the Psychic Girl.
Among the reasons this series was chosen for the initial launch was that it was relatively short, and Ryoichi Ikegami's art was Western-influenced, which Viz thought would go over well with the skittish general American readership. (They figured they already had the small but fanatical manga fandom by the balls, so they didn't need to cater to them.) As part of the "seamless translation" process, the pages were flipped to read left to right, then individual panels were flipped to restore handedness, and extensively retouched to allow Englishy sound effects. This resulted in what were for the time very expensive comics.
Twelve pages of thirty-eight.
We open in a misty forest, where a naked girl is running away from an unseen pursuer. (The misty bit allows the comic to keep its "safe for teens" status.) This turns out to be Mai's nightmare, waking her at 6:25 A.M.
Meanwhile, in the obviously photoreferenced Swiss Alps...
Now, one of the minions reports on the PK (psychokinesis) tests the Wisdom Alliance has been running. There's some blather about how many people took it, how they have to disguise it as part of an IQ test, etc. The bald man asks him to cut to the chase. Turns out there's only five people with enough psychic mojo to be interesting to the Wisdom Alliance.
Mai, of course, is our heroine. Turm will be her opponent for most of the story...and the other three come in very briefly at the end. The bald guy orders that advanced testing be prepared, and puts the five prospects under surveillance.
It's April in Japan, and Mai is attending Otani Junior High in Shinjuku. Her English lesson is boring, so Mai's looking out the window.
This is our first confirmation that yes, Mai really is psychic. She giggles, prompting the teacher to call on her for a question. Mai's saved by the bell, and the teacher promises to put her on the spot next time.
Outside, she walks with her two friends, the short one, Rie, and the tall one, Yumiko. Mai's father is returning from a business trip, and the other girls tease her about being a daddy's girl.
Mai mischieviously makes the ball stop for a moment, then resume after Shiroyama swings, so it's a strike. She then hustles the girls away before they can process what they saw, and suggests turning the conversation away from boys.
Yumiko notes that she didn't do well on her tests, so schoolwork is not something she wants to discuss. Rie suddenly spots that they're being followed by men who look like undercover cops. (But obviously not very competent ones.) Mai suggests the girls split up, so that they can find out if it's a particular girl that's being followed. Of course, it's Mai.
Okay, that's on a whole other level from just moving objects.
That night, Mai's at home, cooking steak, which she thinks will net her a good husband some day.
There's a missing page in the original issue where Mai takes a bath and worries that her (on-screen) breasts aren't large enough. This was restored for the collected edition. Meanwhile, her father's on the phone and it's clear that he knows Mai is a psychic and that someone is after her for it.
The next morning, after seeing Mai off to school, Mister Kuju spots a Mercedes-Benz tailing her. Once the tailing agents are out of the car, he confronts them.
The third agent compliments Mr. Kuju on his technique and asks what style it is. He's clearly a better martial artist than the first two, but also goes down. Mr. Kuju finds a business card for the Kaieda Information Service.
Twenty-five minutes later, the Wisdom Alliance's Swiss office is informed of the events.
And so it begins!
There was a collected edition, but I believe it's out of print.
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
Digging in my longboxes, I found one of the first few manga to make it in a legal translation to the United States. Indeed, it was part of the first wholesale translated manga importation attempts. Viz teamed up with Eclipse Comics (remember them?) to present three bi-weekly series, Kamui, Area 88, and today's offering, Mai the Psychic Girl.
Among the reasons this series was chosen for the initial launch was that it was relatively short, and Ryoichi Ikegami's art was Western-influenced, which Viz thought would go over well with the skittish general American readership. (They figured they already had the small but fanatical manga fandom by the balls, so they didn't need to cater to them.) As part of the "seamless translation" process, the pages were flipped to read left to right, then individual panels were flipped to restore handedness, and extensively retouched to allow Englishy sound effects. This resulted in what were for the time very expensive comics.
Twelve pages of thirty-eight.
We open in a misty forest, where a naked girl is running away from an unseen pursuer. (The misty bit allows the comic to keep its "safe for teens" status.) This turns out to be Mai's nightmare, waking her at 6:25 A.M.
Meanwhile, in the obviously photoreferenced Swiss Alps...
Now, one of the minions reports on the PK (psychokinesis) tests the Wisdom Alliance has been running. There's some blather about how many people took it, how they have to disguise it as part of an IQ test, etc. The bald man asks him to cut to the chase. Turns out there's only five people with enough psychic mojo to be interesting to the Wisdom Alliance.
Mai, of course, is our heroine. Turm will be her opponent for most of the story...and the other three come in very briefly at the end. The bald guy orders that advanced testing be prepared, and puts the five prospects under surveillance.
It's April in Japan, and Mai is attending Otani Junior High in Shinjuku. Her English lesson is boring, so Mai's looking out the window.
This is our first confirmation that yes, Mai really is psychic. She giggles, prompting the teacher to call on her for a question. Mai's saved by the bell, and the teacher promises to put her on the spot next time.
Outside, she walks with her two friends, the short one, Rie, and the tall one, Yumiko. Mai's father is returning from a business trip, and the other girls tease her about being a daddy's girl.
Mai mischieviously makes the ball stop for a moment, then resume after Shiroyama swings, so it's a strike. She then hustles the girls away before they can process what they saw, and suggests turning the conversation away from boys.
Yumiko notes that she didn't do well on her tests, so schoolwork is not something she wants to discuss. Rie suddenly spots that they're being followed by men who look like undercover cops. (But obviously not very competent ones.) Mai suggests the girls split up, so that they can find out if it's a particular girl that's being followed. Of course, it's Mai.
Okay, that's on a whole other level from just moving objects.
That night, Mai's at home, cooking steak, which she thinks will net her a good husband some day.
There's a missing page in the original issue where Mai takes a bath and worries that her (on-screen) breasts aren't large enough. This was restored for the collected edition. Meanwhile, her father's on the phone and it's clear that he knows Mai is a psychic and that someone is after her for it.
The next morning, after seeing Mai off to school, Mister Kuju spots a Mercedes-Benz tailing her. Once the tailing agents are out of the car, he confronts them.
The third agent compliments Mr. Kuju on his technique and asks what style it is. He's clearly a better martial artist than the first two, but also goes down. Mr. Kuju finds a business card for the Kaieda Information Service.
Twenty-five minutes later, the Wisdom Alliance's Swiss office is informed of the events.
And so it begins!
There was a collected edition, but I believe it's out of print.
Your thoughts and comments?
SKJAM!
no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 09:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-30 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-31 01:19 am (UTC)"Turm Garten", literally "Tower Garden".
no subject
Date: 2012-10-31 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-31 03:35 am (UTC)Something similar was done years later when Dark Horse started translating Blade of the Immortal.
Interestingly, they've kept it up, according to Wiki... (I haven't read BotI since about '99, so I wouldn't know.)
no subject
Date: 2012-10-31 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-31 12:02 pm (UTC)But... The dad dies, doesn't he? The parent/s always die in this type of stories :(
no subject
Date: 2012-10-31 12:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-10-31 12:04 pm (UTC)Looking at it now, the flipped panels and pages really do feel weird.
no subject
Date: 2012-11-01 10:13 pm (UTC)I finally have all three volumes! I've always enjoyed this series as it combines a lot of action with fast-paced, emotional drama and an interesting art style.