How to write to the mangakas?

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

I want to write to Shigekatsu Ihara, author of DPA, but I'm not sure where.

Back in the day, Viz said in their Magical Pokemon Journey translations that we could write to Yumi Tsuikirino through them. Does anyone know if that still holds true? Was it true then for all mangakas or did she have a special deal with them? (it never said we could write to Toshihiro Ono, but then he didn't have the artist notes like she did so they might just not have had the opportunity to bring it up)

Alternately, would I be able to write to Ihara care of CoroCoro if they're no longer covering his work?

 

[pokeslob]

with manga-ka, if you want to send fan mail, send it to the publisher and adress it to him/her. There editors will most likely receive the mail, and possibly pass it on to the manga-ka.

but direct mail, you'd have to know his/her address lol :smokin:

also I don't think any other manga-ka got mail from VIZ, that might have been a MPJ exclusive deal

 

[NeoKING]

Some of them have websites, like I found MATO's website once. I think you're able to send them E-Mails from there.

 

[Dogasu]

You guys realize there's a language barrier in place, right?

Anyway, I wouldn't really trust Viz when it comes to fan letters. They've been known to translate Japanese fan letters, change the name of the sender to a more Western name, translate the author's response, and then present the whole thing as a conversation between a Western fan and the author.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

I can get a friend to translate it first. That's not going to be an issue (and he'll get my copy of Trozei for it).

And why would they do that? And um...where have you seen that? How would you know? They don't print fan letters in most of the comics I've seen. Only MPJ (which weren't signed and were part of Tsukirino's bonus sections) and Dragon Ball, which I'm pretty sure is translated by a different company.

 

[NeoKING]

You guys realize there's a language barrier in place, right?

Not in my experience. Before I was familiar with Japanese, I once sent an English E-Mail to the artists of one of the Duel Masters spin-off manga and got a completely fluent response in English.

I can get a friend to translate it first. That's not going to be an issue (and he'll get my copy of Trozei for it).

And why would they do that? And um...where have you seen that? How would you know? They don't print fan letters in most of the comics I've seen. Only MPJ (which weren't signed and were part of Tsukirino's bonus sections) and Dragon Ball, which I'm pretty sure is translated by a different company.

Dragon Ball is translated by Viz.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Aah ok. Don't have any of the volumes onhand. But anyway the mail in the DB Omnibuses is all from the original Japanese run (including stuff about contests that were had when I was in preschool. It's sort of amusing).

 

[Dogasu]

And why would they do that?

To give the illusion of giving the fans a chance to interact with the creative team without actually going to the trouble of selecting a letter, translating it into Japanese, sending it to the author, waiting for a reply, and then translating the reply into English.

And um...where have you seen that?

One Piece.

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showthread.php?t=260835

How would you know?

They're the exact same letters as the ones printed in the Japanese graphic novels, only with an English name swapped out for the Japanese one.

Not in my experience. Before I was familiar with Japanese, I once sent an English E-Mail to the artists of one of the Duel Masters spin-off manga and got a completely fluent response in English.

That would be the exception.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

So...wouldn't it be easier to just, you know, not give the opportunity?

It's hard to tell with MPJ, which is the only thing I have a frame of reference for, since the letters were never signed, but I think they were all from her Japanese readers since they were all in her own section (where she'd draw herself in a Pikachu costume). And they'd make translation notes, like one asked her about how she came up with the title and she explains PiPiPi, with a note saying "I'm not sure how the English version became Magical Pokemon Journey".

 

[Luna Tiger]

One Piece.

http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showthread.php?t=260835

They're the exact same letters as the ones printed in the Japanese graphic novels, only with an English name swapped out for the Japanese one.

*rae*

Guys, it seems that some of what I have posted was an erroneous misconception, and bigddan11 was right (at least partially). I guess some of the questions REALLY were just similar to previous ones I had read years ago, which led me to the unconfirmed notion that they ALL were "forged", complete with made-up American names, including any other interviews (Masashi Kishimoto, etc.) they claimed to have in the past. I apologize for any trauma this might have caused any of you. I was ignorant of some important pieces of information, such as Viz's statement that their Oda interview was held at a prior Jump Festa, as well as Viz already pointing out that some of their Oda talk can be found in the Red data book. Still, I find it very difficult to believe that some of those questions are from Americans, though, like the one about the Pandaman neighbor (it sounds so Japanese). I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience, and will strive to not spread any more falsehoods.

Except he was mistaken.