That's so sad about Velveteen and Mandala. I fell in love wi

[Vertical Inc]

That's so sad about Velveteen and Mandala. I fell in love with manga when I accidentally stumbled upon the Evangelion manga in elementary school. Which was nice because it coincided with the peak of Tokyopop's success. However, after awhile I stopped buying because I was getting sick of the lack of variety I was seeing. Velveteen and Mandala changed all that. It was a breath of fresh, disturbing, surreal air. I wish more people would give it a chance... but at least I'm buying manga again. ^__^

Hmm… I agree V&M is wonderful. I loved translating it. I took it on cause it features many topics that I relate to. However, I do not think its situation is sad. It is a difficult work. V&M is challenging; which is why it was originally published by Manga f Erotics and later by us at Vertical. It was never meant for the masses. V&M was made for those of us who want to experience new ideas visually and in our narratives. People can still experience V&M. We have thousands of copies in stock. So we can still introduce it to others who want to experience variety.
Where I will be sad, is when and if that book goes out of print. Books like this are short runs in Japan. And they are rarely reprint in English. And when they do, because of their nature and the way the internet is becoming increasingly censored it will be harder and harder to find works like this through legal means (Apple would definitely not host V&M as an eBook). So enjoy it! Recommend it! And then continue to experiment with titles like Utsubora, Helter Skelter, Sakuran, Peepo Choo, No Longer Human…Flowers of Evil. Help us cultivate this community of curiously curated Japanese creativity.