Yoshihiro Togashi News Blowout!

No, this is not another excuse to use this wonderful picture we found of him :). Yoshihiro has been in the news a LOT lately, and we’re going to tell you why!

Yoshihiro Togashi Helps to Make Shinjo Famous!

We stumbled upon this lesser known tidbit about Yoshihiro's famous ghost-hunting tale, Yu Yu Hakusho. This article is about how popular the town of Shinjo, Yamagata has become with tourists simply because of the famous Japanese people that come from there. The famous manga was inspired by this city , and many tourists associate Yusuke Urameshi with Shinjo - so much so that it has almost become a signature character of the city! Yoshihiro was also born and schooled in Shinjo. Another reason people visit Shinjo: famous director Akira Kurosawa worked as an assistant director on a few films in Shinjo. Many die-hard fans of his do not miss this city in order to get a sense of just where he has been. Also, the famous female detective writer Kirino Natsuo also comes from Shinjo!


Yoshihiro Approves of Doujinshi of His Own Works!

For those of you who are unaware, Doujinshi is kind of like a mix of fanart and fanfiction. Amateur mangaka (manga artists) produce manga that is their own take on a popular title and then publish it themselves. The artists come up with their own plots, some are taken as an alternate universe take on a plot, or a continuation of a storyline, or anything else that they can imagine! Some professionals also do this on the side (under a pseudonym if they wish) and publish outside the industry - many even do these for charity. Doujinshi artists almost never work solo, but in groups or circles, as they are known to be in Japan. These artists name their own price when selling their work. Doujinshi is a fairly big industry in Japan, and it even has its own convention known as Comiket! Many artists sell their work over 20 acres of con space!

Back to the content of the article - mobile doujinshi is gaining huge popularity in Japan, and the website Dorimaga has won an award from a research institute. The institute noted that this is a whole new level of freedom of expression, and takes e-books to a new level! Dorimaga has made contracts with 20 circles, and the only two publishers who have acknowledged the work of this service are CLAMP (best known for Card Captor Sakura), and Yoshihiro Togashi. Most times, creators and publishers are not aware of everyone who makes a doujinshi and many go ahead and do it without permission - in most cases that isn’t a huge issue. But we think it is really cool that Yoshihiro supports amateur artists like this! It also makes us feel a little better that perhaps he was out and about doing things, and not in hiding when he was on his many hiatuses.

On the subject of manga, there was this other huge recent event regarding Yoshihiro...

The (Temporary) Return of Hunter x Hunter

As we reported a while ago, Hunter x Hunter made it's return to Jump Magazine earlier this month. One article made mention that while it is selling very well in Japan, because of its old age and past history, it is not likely to gain newer fans. It is currently in 9th place of the 10 hottest selling titles. Volume 25 will be on the shelves sometime in April. Unfortunately, this return will not last long as we finally have confirmation it is only going to last for 10 weeks, and this writer speculates Gon isn't going to find his father anytime soon. Yes, something is better than nothing, but ten-week spurts isn't fair. We're starting to believe that theory we read that the only reason Jump is printing Hunter x Hunter in spurts is to build up popularity and hype. For the sake of your readers, stop seeking attention Kodansha! Sooner or later, a lot of them are going to catch on and they may even turn on the series. We would if we were fans! We only wish we had better news for you, Hunter x Hunter fans.