Q: So far, I see that you've got four stories in each issue – will you be adding more stories and articles later?
Jiro Nemoto: At this moment, we cannot add more pages in a issue because of the Amazon's restrictions. Amazon does not allow us to publish a Japanese-only version, so we have to combine the Japanese and English parts together. Also, Amazon requires that we pay "delivery costs" according to the file size (of our publication). In order to keep the list price below $4.99, we can't have more than 180 pages in an issue. As the result, English and Japanese parts have to be less than 90 pages each, so can only include five stories or less in each issue.
However, Amazon will soon have an e-book market at amazon.co.jp and that may allow us to sell English and Japanese books separately — I hope. When that happens, we will be able to include more stories in ComicLoud.
Q: It's obviously extra work to publish stories in two languages at once. What inspired you to create a bilingual manga magazine?
Jiro Nemoto: We're not interested in being a domestic-only publishing business. Japan is just one of our target markets. Therefore, we must provide both English and Japanese versions. It is our business model. But publishing ComicLoud as a bilingual magazine is mostly due to Amazon's limitations; it's not our intention.
Q: How often will ComicLoud be published? Once a month? Bi-monthly?
Jiro Nemoto: At the moment, bi-monthly. From 2011 on, it will be monthly. Also, we may publish other magazines especially for women, men and children. Those may be published quarterly.
Q: How did you find the artists who are participating in ComicLoud? Through an open call for submissions, or are they your friends?
Jiro Nemoto: We have already known some of them personally or in SNSs (social network services). Some of the artists responded to our open call at our blog. Also, we put a recruiting page in the latest ComicLoud. We are open for the overseas artists as well.
Q: Yes, I noticed in your most recent issue of ComicLoud that you have a call for artists who create comics in either English or Japanese. Could you tell me a little more of what kind of stories you are most interested in publishing in future issues of ComicLoud, and perhaps what you are not interested in publishing?
Jiro Nemoto: We see ComicLoud as a general genre manga magazine, not specialized one. That means any kind of manga can appear on the ComicLoud (except perhaps stories that have too much violence, explicit sexual content, or is potentially offensive to specific groups, etc.) As you mentioned, our current lineup mainly leans on seinen manga. However, that said, shojo manga and shonen manga submissions are very welcome.
We really want to have non-Japanese style but US/Europe/South America/Asia/some other countries-style manga. If someone can create one with their domestic (but globally acceptable) taste, I will definitely take it.
Q: I know of Shintaro Kago's work, but I'm not familiar with the other artists. Have they worked on other stories or have they published works in manga magazines that English-speaking readers might know about?
Jiro Nemoto: You may not know the magazines that they work with currently. If you want to know more about the authors, you better go to their respective websites or visit amazon.co.jp. Here are some sample titles from the artists in the first two issues of ComicLoud:
- Quadrigolio (Action Comics / Futabasha) by Takeshi Okamoto (creator of Quadrifoglio 2):
- Stray Cat (Kawade Shobo Shinsha) by Taro Matsumoto (creator of Nobuna Girl)
Q: I noticed that ComicLoud is a bilingual magazine – the stories are published in both English and Japanese. Will you be featuring a way for English and Japanese fans and creators to talk with each other, either via a forum or a letter to the editor-type columns?
Jiro Nemoto: We hope to provide the place for both English and Japanese fans to communicate with each other. Our ComicLoud fanpage on Facebook is open to everyone.
If you want to check out a trial version of ComicLoud, just visit http://www.ipad-zine.com/b/629 or http://www.ipad-zine.com/b/631 . These webpages are written in Japanese, but if you click the "Preview with Google Docs" button on the right side, you can view them.
Q: What kind of reaction have you gotten from Japanese and English-speaking fans from these first two issues of ComicLoud? What do they like so far? What kind of suggestions have they offered to improve future issues?
Jiro Nemoto: I was surprised with that a lot of English manga fans like Kago and Matsumoto-style manga — meaning a type of manga that's a little bit peculiar. But Japanese readers like standard manga, such as Okamoto and Nanami. In order for us to really get into the overseas market, we may need to find more absurd manga (like Kago and Matsumoto's stories).
Q: Can you share a hint or two of the kind of stories, artists or articles/features that you have planned for future issues of ComicLoud?
Jiro Nemoto: Ummm, it's quite difficult to reveal the stories before we actually publish them. Only the things that I can tell you are that QUADRIFOGLIO DUE is not just an ordinary car-chase manga. It describes a good life with good cars. After getting a new member of the motocross club, the characters will have fun in the university and they'll engage in some "information warfare" outside the university...
As far as new series, we have one that is a kind of sci-fi manga. But it does not focus on sci-fi-style mecha/gadgets, but on a human drama with a cute girl! Also, we have another story that female readers might like in the works. You will see it later.
