Wired Magazine: Manga Boosts Wine Sales in Japan

Wired Magazine's current cover story about manga in America has inspired the Wired bloggers to capture some interesting tidbits of manga news lately. Case in point? Asami Novak's recent post about Kami no Shizuki (Drops of God), a manga about fine wine and wine connoisseurs.

Drawn by a brother/sister team (also a rarity) who go by the pen name of Tadashi Agi, Kami no Shizuki has not only sold well in Japanese bookstores, it's also boosted the sales of wine in Japan (A country that tends to drink more sake, beer and spirits, and doesn't have much of a history of vineyards or wine culture as Europe or the U.S. does). One French winery that was featured in Kami no Shizuki sold 20,000 bottles of its special vintage release for Japan in one day.

While I don't hold too many hopes that this seinen manga series will be licensed and released in the U.S. anytime soon, I do hope against hope that it does. It sounds fascinating and fun, with some offbeat potential to reach new readers who normally don't read manga, like Yen Press' recent release, With The Light.

UPDATE: Asahi News posted an interview with the French wine maker who's enjoying the fruits of publicity from Kami no Shizuki. I also picked up a copy of Japanese edition of Kami no Shizuki while at the Kinokuniya in NYC and the art is just lovely. Pleeeease, someone pick up this title for the U.S. market!

In the meantime, as you prepare for this week's turkey feasts, enjoy a little manga appetizer with my list of 5 food and cooking manga that are guaranteed to make you hungry.