From the Meltdown Comics blog: American expat manga artist Felipe Smith finds time to put down his pens and send a YouTube video letter from Tokyo to his friends and fans in the U.S. His big news to share? The second volume of Peepo Choo is out in Japan, and MBQ Volume 3 is out in the states from TokyoPop.
Peepo Choo is Smith's monthly series that he's drawing for Morning 2 magazine in Japan -- and to hear him describe his experiences as a manga artist in Japan, drawing is about all he's had time to do since he's moved to Tokyo.
"Working here is really different -- All you have time to do is draw! For a while there, I was drawing between 40 - 60 pages a month. That was the hardest I've ever worked! Each book is 250 pages -- I've been drawing like a bastard!"
So what is Peepo Choo about? Let's have Felipe explain it in his own words:
"It's a story about cultural differences and misconceptions that the Western world and Eastern world have about each other. There are a lot of people who are real fans of Japan because of anime and manga, but what I wanted to show parts of Japan that you wouldn't know about unless you lived here."
He then goes on to introduce readers to some of the characters in Peepo Choo:
"The main character Milton is an otaku who's really into an anime called Peepo Choo, so he cosplays like the character." [NOTE: Milton is featured on the cover of Peepo Choo Volume 2]
"Gil is an American assassin is hired to kill "Morimoto Rockstar," a young yakuza who's a real fan of American culture. He watches Hollywood movies and MTV -- his whole idea of the U.S. comes from music videos, movies & pop culture. For an American who watches these movies, (you know) that's not what you experience in everyday life. But from another culture's experience, you don't know what's real or not."
"(Peepo Choo) deals with how Americans see Japan and how Japanese see the US -- there's humor, and action."
While Peepo Choo is still only available in Japanese, the third volume of MBQ, Smith's breakout series from TokyoPop is now available -- but according to Smith, it might take a little extra effort to purchase:
"For some reason MBQ is really hard to find, even in the U.S. Most bookstores don't carry it. It was never really advertised in the States, so it was really tough."
So why does Smith subject himself to this rigorous, demanding life of a manga artist in Japan? Because he loves comics and wants you to love his comics too:
"All I do is draw, I don't get to go out -- I do this because I want people to read my work! If you're near a Japanese comic book store, please buy Peepo Choo Volumes 1 and 2! Please pick it up -- I'm really eager to have people see it."
Okay, you heard the man -- until Kodansha licenses Peepo Choo to a US publisher, it's time to show a little love to the man who's livin' the dream of many aspiring American manga artists. So cough up some dough and buy your copy of Peepo Choo at your local Kinokuniya, Iwase Books, or even Amazon.co.jp. To make it a little easier, here's the ISBN numbers if you need to special order these books:
- Peepo Choo Volume 1: 978-4063727944
- Peepo Choo Volume 2: 978-4063728286
Also, visit TokyoPop's home for MBQ and get an online taste of Felipe Smith's madcap manga storytelling.
Image credit: © Fellipe Smith
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