Randall Channell
Kansai Scene speaks to Jonathan
Tarbox, Senior Editor of RAIJIN Comics, about the world of manga.
What brought you to Japan and how did you end
up in the manga business?
I came to Japan on the Jet program in 1987, working in Himeji and
Kobe. I still haven't figured out how I ended up in the manga business.
Tell us about Raijin Comics.
Raijin Comics is a monthly magazine edited in Japan and distributed
in North America and Europe. The magazine is devouted to English
translations of classic and current hit manga titles, like 'City
Hunter' and 'Fist of the Blue Sky'. Although there are several other
companies that publish manga in English, we are the only one that
operates directly out of a Japanese manga publishing company.
 Which
one is your favorite characters?
'The City Hunter', 'Saeba Ryo'. He's a lethal professional soldier,
mercenary, bodyguard. But instead of the American-style "man
of few words" style of cool, he's a compulsive skirt-chaser
with a bizarre and childish sense of humor. He's everything most
men would like to be, but aren't.
Why did you decide to publish 2 different magazines
for Japan and the US?
The American version is to introduce and expose manga to the American
reading public. The Japanese version is geared towards English language
learning for Japanese speakers. The manga are mostly the same, but
the accompanying pages are quite different.
Tell us about Horie-san.
Horie Nobuhiko is the best selling manga editor in Japan. As well
as being the editor and writer of some of the biggest titles in
manga history, such as Fist of the North Star, Cat's Eye, and City
Hunter, he was also editor in chief of Shonen Jump when it hit the
world record mark of 6.53 million copies sold in one week. He is
now the President of Coamix Inc. As well as managing the company,
he still directly oversees the editing of some of our best selling
titles.
Goals for Raijin in the future.
We hope to make Raijin Comics the premiere manga magazine outside
of Japan. We plan to expand the number of titles we publish
in English and release in the world market. We are also developing
our titles for movies and televisions programs in America and Europe.
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