Female Wrestling in Manga

Happy New Year: 2012!

2012-01-25T11:20:00.000-08:00

Hi gang,

Nice to see a few of you still stop-in.

Yep, still alive and well, just been busy and not too much news to report from the Japanese manga world. This latest manga, the one I got a few extra copies of, is an ongoing series from a weekly magazine http://comic-earthstar.jp/author/detail04.php

I have a subscription to the mag (while this story plays out) so as to get the color pages that the published version will lose. As to the "TV" version of this story I've seen bantered about ... not so sure. There IS a group of female wrestlers that the mag references that are seen Japanese TV ... the basis of the manga, maybe? Not sure if an anime series is really in the works or not ...

In the meantime, this IS happening, for all the gaming crowd:

http://www.success-corp.co.jp/blog/ringdream/

http://www.success-corp.co.jp/software/comingsoon/ringdream/

Same format as the Wrestle Angels games, it looks like, but adding in some new wrestlers.

Best to all!

d2b

2011-11-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

If anyone still comes here, I wanted to let you know I'm selling this item at the moment.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130599430027

Another manga to think about

2008-12-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

Holy-Shades-of-"Angelic Layer"-Batman!! It's the return of the fighting dolls!

Yep, only this time a bit more fan-service served up, as the girls attach control strips to their bodies to power the dolls during a fight ... use your Imagination; in fact, that's the name of the fight-game in this new series!

In issue one, a lot more wrestling moves than we saw in the 'Clamp' series ... could be one to follow (dare we even hope for it to be so successful it gets an anime adaptation?) ... Buy it and show your support!

http://www.amazon.co.jp/MAEBARIç¾Žå°‘å¥³æ±ºæˆ¦-ã‚¤ãƒžã‚¸ãƒãƒ»ãƒãƒŠãƒ¼-ãƒãƒ£ãƒ³ãƒ”ã‚ªãƒ³REDã‚³ãƒŸãƒƒã‚¯ã‚¹-ç€¬èœ-ãƒ¢ãƒŠã‚³/dp/4253230180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230198563&sr=8-1

The work that goes into making those models

2008-12-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

It always amazes me to see the talent that these people display. Click the links below her picture to see the artist's steps along the way.

http://www18.ocn.ne.jp/~you-1/

A couple things

2008-12-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

To my shame, I found this in an over-looked email: Thanks Metlfan!

"Just wanted to let you know that I have two manga on the way from Jgoods. Here are the links:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%90%8C%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B-%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%83%AC%E3%82%B9%E3%81%AE%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B9%E3%82%81-%E5%90%89%E4%BA%95%E3%83%80%E3%83%B3/dp/4863200129

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%90%8C%E3%81%88%E8%90%8C%E3%81%88%E6%A0%BC%E9%97%98%E6%8A%80%E4%BA%8B%E5%85%B8-%E6%A0%BC%E9%97%98%E6%8A%80%E4%BA%8B%E5%85%B8%E5%88%B6%E4%BD%9C%E5%A7%94%E5%93%A1%E4%BC%9A/dp/4861461448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226796027&sr=1-1 "

The first, is more a novel with illustrations, rather than manga (I have it); the second, I know nothing about. Any updates will be gladly accepted, Metlfan!

For those that may have missed it ...

2008-10-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

The shop in Japan that had the model on display, now has another set up, this one IS available as a "garage" (read 'limited') box kit. I've sent through for more info ... see if they respond or not.

See the link in the earlier post for the site.

I've been wrestling with this one for a while now ...

2008-08-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

... no pun intended.

As you all should know by now, I'm a firm believer in the need to support the artists/publishing houses that are willing to do manga which includes what we like: I don't, and won't, post for free what we, even as small an impact as it is, can buy. That being said:

http://kusanyagi.blogspot.com/search/label/fighting

This fellow accepts commissions from people to translate and revamp pages of manga for them. Some of these commissions are then made public, as per agreement with the commissioner.

Since this falls into a "not available for purchase" way to actually read the manga as opposed to kinda getting the story based on pictures ... well ... you see my dilemma ...

Oh, only the "Wrestle Idol" and "Cynthia" need be looked at. The other has no wrestling; more weapons and martial arts kind of stuff.

I keep thinking of sending him some of my scans (Beniko?), but at $1 a page, that would be another $400 ... we'll see ...

Those guys in Japan ...

2008-08-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Not only can they do the ladies in 2D drawings but also 3D model versions!

I just happened upon this; Not an item for sale (darn) but rather an exhibition piece at a hobby shop in Tokyo ... Below find the drawing that, I dare say, was used as the inspiration, variations of which have been around a long time. Funny, that with all the great Japanese artists to work from, the modeler chose this one ...

More images can be found here: http://yume-zoukei.com/exhibition.html

Thought some might enjoy it.

What I mean by "printing flaws" ...

2008-08-08T15:56:00.001-07:00

It can happen to the best of us, so why not the artists, too? Here, as the art department added the ropes into the scene (something a different person might have been doing?) they chose to either have her boots show completely for some reason, or the ropes just got laid in wrong.

Back in the day, before computer assisted drawing, the background/textures in a piece may have been done using a rub-off transfer sheet; you can still buy them and many budding artists use them.

In this second picture, I've put her legs behind the ropes were they belong. Doesn't happen too often, but I've found a few times this sort of thing has happened as I've been going over the pages ... thought some of you might find it interesting.

As always, as soon as I say it's not available ...

2008-08-08T10:08:00.001-07:00

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ãƒªãƒ³Ã—ãƒžãƒž-ãƒãƒ³ãƒ–ãƒ¼ãƒ»ã‚³ãƒŸãƒƒã‚¯ã‚¹NAMAIKI-SELECT-çœŸé‹-è²æ²»/dp/481246868X

Here it is. "Ring Mama" ... As expected, it will run as a series unto itself.

I ran a trial order (though did not press "confirm") and Amazon never said it couldn't ship to me, so it would seems that this book will be able to ship out of Japan.

For those that thought I was dead ...

2008-08-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

(re posted from what I said at my Yahoo group)

Japan's been pretty quite this year as far as new stuff in mainstream manga and/or anime goes (at least, as far as I know), though there's an adult mag that's been running a new piece drawn by artist Joji Manabe (see image; I grabbed 3 issues) ... but, like "Idol Wrestler"(different mag; on-going), I should think it will be published as a standalone at some point, so I've stopped the single issue shipping; not enough wrestling action to really make it worth while.

In the meantime, I've been gathering more CRAZY expensive rare stuff: "Lady Wrestler Beniko" ... the original Young Jump magazine issues from 25 years ago (1982/83). I've now got 20 of the 23 issues, dropping around $100 each ... Yep, $2000 ... what can I say ... once they arrive, I'm scanning the pages (around 400 in the 20 mags), removing age/printing flaws from the images, thus trying to get the images as clean as is reasonable (there's always more to do!) and saving the "restored" images. I'm sure there's a program out there that could do it for me without going blind staring at the screen for hours, but ...

Old; best I had until now

New; bigger and better

So ... busy, not dead

Oh, one thing that just came out: Issue 3 of the manga series from Super Sonic Satellites; available through Battle

https://www.catfight.co.jp/english/item.cgi?item=24214

Nope ... call off the search

2007-09-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

"Some new characters of the RESSURU Angels had appeared from the early morning on Sunday in TV! w"

なんか、日曜日の朝っぱらからレッスルエンジェルスの新キャラがTVに出てたよ！ｗ

That's what it says under his drawing that just went up today! http://touka.muvc.net/top.htm

WHAT!?!?!?

Anybody!?!? The WA website didn't mention anything ... oh, maaannn ... I did a search, but couldn't find anything else, even on the boards that usually cover the TV scene ... OK, cough it up, if you know it!
____________________________________________________

Just heard from Touka ... false alarm. Wishful thinking on my part, I'm afraid ... :

"Hello. That picture is not a picture of Wrestle angels. It is a character of animation "gurren-lagann" of Japan. http://www.gurren-lagann.net/chara/index.html It is a character named Yoko. http://www.gurren-lagann.net/chara/yoko1.html Yoko did appearance like a wrestle character among the program"gurren-lagann". The figure was drawn on the picture. There is nothing with regards to a wrestle angel. That text was written as a joke. Thank you."

Don't I feel stupid ...

OK, so there is something new ...

2007-09-01T17:52:00.000-07:00

No sooner do I say "nothing new", than I'm wrong ... typical.

For those that haven't been investing in the Comic-Valkyrie mags http://www.comic-valkyrie.com/, the one specific story that deals with Idol Wrestler Maki is being offered in standard manga form or "Limited Release" CD (extras ... color? I'm not sure what they mean by that ...).

You can go to their main web site for a preview of the CD (flash format ... click on the pic of Maki on the home page, then, click on her cover when it shows on the "products" page ... the pages will load at that point ... preview's not in color, so ... not sure why the CD would be 3 times the price ...)

If you know you must have it, this link will take you to the manga via Amazon.co.jp:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ã¬ããã-ã¢ã¤ãã«-Vol-1-1-ã´ã¡ã«ããªã¼ã³ããã¯ã¹/dp/4860324374/ref=sr_1_1/249-7201696-6259564?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188694229&sr=1-1

Also, again for those grabbing it along the way, Fight Club #6 came out in July ... forgot to mention that. No picture of the cover, but this is it:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ããã«ã¯ã©ã-6-ã¤ã³ã°ãã³ã°ã³ããã¯ã¹-å¡©å´-éäº/dp/4785928174/ref=sr_1_1/249-7201696-6259564?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188695462&sr=8-1

Tatakae! Tarantella #4 also has come out, again, no cover picture:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4088744063/249-7201696-6259564

OK, now I feel better.

d2b

Wow ... a month's gone by since my last post

2007-08-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry ... gettin' my butt kicked by "real" life right now. Nothin' bad; just busy.

Not much to report as far as anything new out there (if you know different, let us know!) but I'm keeping my eyes open.

I've got a bunch of stuff scanned off at this point ... I think I'll just go with Paypal vs a locked-down website, as far as payment/scans goes. If I setup a site, that just costs extra money for everyone ... not the idea. If you haven't used Paypal before, and the reason I think it makes sense, anyone with a bank account can use it at no cost to you; I pay all fees. You just set up the account with them (I never see anything) and they do the rest; no credit card, for those that don't have that, or mailing of checks, cash, money orders, etc. Seems to me, the only people that can't use it are the folks that keep their money under the mattress! Look for stuff to be offered up in the next few days ...

In the meantime, is there any doubt in anyones mind that Go Nagia is one of us? If not, he sure seems to at least know what we like!

"Happy Labor Day" to all in the States and to laborers everywhere!

d2b

Well ... shoot ...

2007-07-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

As much as I'd like to say otherwise, the new "Wrestle Angel" manga is really not that much of a "must have".

Much like the 1st "Rumble Roses" comics that hit the streets a few years ago, this is an anthology of brief pieces drawn by different artists, most of which have nothing to do with the women in in-ring mode; at the beach, shopping, cafes, chibi ... that's the kind of stuff. In fact, of 11 stories, only two have what I would call a "match" look ... well, 3, if you count "wrestling" a shark in a ring that's a swimming pool surrounded by ropes... see what I mean? ...

Not even a single color page except the cover (see below). The couple stories that DO have the characters doing what they do best (wrestling) are drawn fairly well; no hentai at least, so use your own judgement.

Hey, I did say I'd tell you more once I got mine ... not my fault if you've already ordered it!

New "Wrestle Angels Survivor" comic released!

2007-07-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

What more can I say ... I'll let you know more once I get mine!

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ã¬ãã¹ã«ã¨ã³ã¸ã§ã«ã¹-ãµãã¤ãã¼-ã¢ã³ã½ãã¸ã¼ã³ããã¯-1-ãã¸ãã¥ã¼ã³ããã¯ã¹/dp/4757736541/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/250-8947959-0457835?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185638867&sr=8-1

Well, that's just wrong!

2007-07-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

Kell said... Got mine today with no card. :(

To make up for that, all can enjoy this scan of mine ... hey, it was a free extra, right? That puts it into the "share" category, as far as I'm concerned.

2007-07-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

"Anonymous said... Why the high price in some mangas?"

Again, let's look at the way it works in Japan. Right now, I'm watching two items that are up for bid, one asking 5,500 yen

the other, 7,500.

Both are chapters of a story published back in 1978 via the Weekly Magazine format. To my knowledge, like many of the works back then, it was never re-published in book form. I have already purchased 4 of the issues from various auctions earlier. These are more expensive than the others had been ... more action in these? The others had very little as per in ring art. Only way to know is to buy them ...

If I go through a proxy firm, like Rinkya, I would pay the winning bid plus service fees and postage within Japan; around $175 if the bids were to stay where they are. At that point, there's the extra money to get it from Japan to me. Since these each are only about 20 pages of a 300 page magazine, I have to ship the entire weight of 600 pages, not just the 40 I want ... let's call that another $25 for both magazines. Final price to me to add 40 pages of an unknown amount of wrestling artwork, around $200.

Still, that's cheaper than going through my contact for this one though. When I had originally asked him if he would take me on as a special customer, bidding on my behalf, I was buying manga readily available in shops still, so the prices were $7 - 10. I told him, to make it worth his while since he's a guy who buys and sells in the Yahoo.jp world, that I'd just double his money for him if he would buy my items exclusively for me. Good deal for him, putting up his cash for two weeks and dealing with the shipping and receiving in Japan, and a good deal for me, as it was less than the proxy companies fees, when all was said and done. But now, since I'm looking at these high priced items when I can find them, well ... I suppose I could try to renegotiate our deal, but when you make a Japanese contact, you really don't want to lose them, ya know?

Anyway, as you can see, it just gets friggin' expensive to get and scan these rarer items .. trust me, it's not me!

Another two to think about

2007-07-05T08:05:00.001-07:00

http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/425314764X/onisoku-22/ref=nosim/

These were just spotted within a link mentioned in the blog at "Female Fight Fan" (always check peoples links!). I've got them on the way ... I'll let you know what I think.

New item!

2007-07-03T00:31:00.000-07:00

Well, here's something new to add to your "Wish List". Published by SUPER SONIC SATELLITES (Warning: there is some sexually explicit stuff on the home page right now ... http://www.s-s-s.com/), this is coming out this week in Japan. 100 pages; 3,000 yen plus shipping. You can get it through the "Battle" English site (http://www.catfight.co.jp/english/top.html), if you don't have contacts in Japan to ship to. "Battle" has also started to carry the "Comic Valkyrie" magazine in their offerings ... and at a bit less shipping cost than Amazon Japan will do (Sweet!).

I've got mine ordered already.

Sorry, once again, for the delay in the promised "Virtual Comics" ... just looking at different ways to get the files from here to there and what to bundle together in the first place.

As I think I've mentioned before, often times I will bid on an item based on a single page scan of a manga scene. Sometimes, I'll be rewarded with a book that has a lot of wrestling artwork, other times, the one page a seller scanned was, indeed, all there was! So how do I then put these "manga" together. The stuff that has 50+ pages ... good-to-go ... I don't think anyone can be upset with that, but what about the others ... 10 pages gleaned from 5 books (that I would have dropped at least $100 for, once they made it to me from Japan) for $4 ... are you happy with that, or do you feel "ripped-off" ... just want to be fair if I do this ... I'd hate to have people leave notes saying I wasn't treating them right.

I know that the original art that's out there (Byron, Slamazon's, Sexy Sluggers, etc.) goes for $10 - $15 for 24 - 30 drawings; is a download of 10 pages (that would be about 40 "drawings") of out of print Japanese manga worth $4? ... anyway, also been looking at the options of setting up a site vs just sending direct to the people that are interested, the scanned files to send (PDF, jpeg, bitmap, etc) that will keep the files small for ease of delivery, things like that. Working out the stuff between real life commitments ... getting there.

Happy 4th of July to those in the States!

Sorry, been away for a bit ...

2007-05-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Out of town visiting friends in California ... my apologies to those that have been sending emails, etc.

Let's see ... the "Rumble Roses" manga that was running in Dengaki Maoh is now finished; two books, available from Amazon.co.jp, can now take the place of the 16 magazine issues I bought (Doh!).

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ã©ã³ãã«ãã¼ãº-2-ã«ã¹ã«ã-ã¢ãã©/dp/4840238340/ref=sr_1_1/250-9267837-1258618?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178822151&sr=1-1

"Tatakae! Tarantella" issue #3 is out, which is the one you want if you want the wrestling match we looked at earlier (that had been a preview for the Weekly Manga it runs in, thus my error in saying it was due out in February).

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ãããã-ãããã¦ã-3-èçç°-éä¸¸/dp/4088743490/ref=sr_1_1/250-9267837-1258618?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178821439&sr=1-1

"Comic Valkyrie", the magazine that carries the "Idol Wrestler" story has it's latest issue out.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ã³ããã¯ã´ã¡ã«ããªã¼-2007å¹´-05æå·-éèª/dp/B000O75G4E/ref=pd_sim_b_2/250-9267837-1258618?ie=UTF8&qid=1178822151&sr=1-1

"Beauty Fighter Wulong" is up to issue 17 at this point.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4091511643/250-9267837-1258618

Finally this one;

http://www.amazon.co.jp/ãã³ãã³ãã³ã-å¤§è¦-æ¦å£«/dp/4785925434/ref=cm_lmf_img_1_rsrsrs0/250-9267837-1258618

And, as you click on those links, you can see other things that people have also bought along with those books ... no guaranties on the idea that other books will contain anything this blog looks at, but it's a way to at least see some options. So, a lot to order, for those that want to get some hard copy manga and cut down on those one-at-a-time shipping costs.

Yes, while I was away the doujinshi from the earlier post arrived in it's complete form. My contact just sent it as is ... I can't figure out what makes him cut it up sometimes and not at others ...

I've been doing some scanning of a bunch of my stuff, since some of you thought that being "virtual owners" would be OK as per new auctions, I thought maybe I'd put some out at the $3 - 5 rate from my out-of-print collection ... books that I dropped $60 - 350 for. Still working out how to do that (Paypal, I suppose), but that will at least speed things up as far as turn around goes for those that are interested, unlike when I would do scanning of a book at an hourly rate for individuals before. My thoughts are running to a "Manga of the week" kind of thing; post some samples from one and then send the whole thing, via email or link, to those that are interested ... more later on that.

Anyway, I'll keep you all as up to date as I can as per new finds, etc. Below are just a couple of drawings I thought you might like ... no manga or such (yet?).

It's on it's way ...

2007-04-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Well, My contact in Japan was able to get me a copy of Touka's doujinshi. Now, I'll just have to see what it looks like once it gets here.

"Has some pretty decent wrestling action.", and this from a guy who isn't even a wrestling-art fan; I'm hopeful ...

In the meantime, you all seen these?

Some CG artwork I found. Thought it was pretty well done. The artist's other pieces tend a bit towards the yuri/hentai side ... what is the difference between those two anyway? ...

We really need to set-up a group escrow account ...

2007-04-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I got priced-out again on another auction item ...

This time, the item went for 32,500 yen, about $285 before the add-ons; final price to me, had I kept going, $350 or more, depending on when the other person would have fallen off. Even I have to stop at some point, and we had gone a half-hour beyond the close of the auction-end time. One of those auctions where, as long as people are bidding, the time resets for an extra 5 minutes; I had started when the bid was 6,250 yen ($55).

With 160 people still stopping by this site, it would have cost us $2-3 each to have bought this; hi-rez scans for most people, sure, but the option is nothing but this single, low-rez scan of page 9 ... I really should set-up an auction escrow account for those interested ... oh well ...

Something new to download

2007-03-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

RRRideon DEEP DIGITAL Version You may have seen these images around the net over the past 2 months, as the artist was starting to hype the upcoming release of this doujinshi. On the chance that it might not be all about sex except for these two panels, I downloaded it today from http://eng.dlsite.com/

http://eng.dlsite.com/work/=/product_id/RE030204.html - is the exact link, though you will still need to verify that you want to proceed, etc. Please note there IS stuff at the site that will be hentai with a capital "H" ... I'm only pointing you towards this item and/or Tanuki's works which can be acquired from here also; use the search window as per "wrestling".

I am happy to say that the artist went with RR-style moves and action throughout, so, if you like these previews (taken from the free samples at the website), I can assure you that you will not suddenly find yourself with a lot of porn rather than wrestling action. 93 pages; PDF file format. Bravo, Yuriai-san!

The manga/anime connection

2007-03-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

"But Plawres Sanshiro have not female wrestling, is only boy with his robot."

This comment was left awhile back, whilst we were talking about the never-produced "Wrestloid Baby". I had put forth the idea that maybe the other shows out in the market place made another show dealing with wrestling dolls unattractive to the Japanese networks. It always made we think about that weird way things work in Japan, at times.

It's true that, in the show based on the manga, Plawres only has the one episode were a female robot is shown taking part in a match (see above) ... vs the boy's male robot; a mixed match, never a female vs female match. Yet in the manga, there is a female robot that the lead characters control that fights both in mixed and F vs F matches.

Named Sakurahime, she plays a smaller roll in the stories, but is there, none-the-less. But, when the show was adapted for TV, she and her female foe (La Llorna) were completely left out.

Yet in other manga, let's take Air Gear as an example, the simple introduction of a character as wrestler is enough to set the animation department to work on an entire episode devoted to her, a match/chapter which never appeared in the manga at all.

Obviously, the time that the series were made, the target audience the producers are aiming for, the writers that move the story along ... all will play a roll in the inclusion/exclusion of content. It does make it hard to figure out what shows to watch, or manga to buy though ... I've gotten a lot of manga over the years on the idea that it would have something to add to my collection, only to find out that I had been misled by the TV show ... OK, fine, there is no wrestling in the Sailor Moon manga ... lesson learned.

Here's the deal ...

2007-03-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to show you all an auction item that I didn't win recently, so you could get an idea of the way things are played in Japan.

The magazine this was in went for over $500 final price (57,000 yen) before the added shipping and commissions, had I won it. I had called it good at $400 ... here, it would have been lucky to get $25 on ebay, the highest price I've ever sold something for I've brought back. There-in lies my problem.

I had hoped to recoup a bit of cash by posting on this blog and having the 2000-plus members of my Yahoo group stop-by and generate hits for the blog, thus having ad-sense shoot a little cash my way (and it IS a little; in fact, with over 17,000 views over 3 months, my account is up to $28 ... they don't even pay you until $100 is reached); no cost to you, but I would at least get something out of my time, energy and money spent on getting these things together. As of today, there are 180 people stopping by ... at one point, there were 850 ... what other site is doing a page-by-page, hi-rez manga? I sure haven't found it, yet, people don't feel the blog is worth a daily click of a button ... if anybody has something better, please let me know ... the daily check-in at the other sites that never update ... is that really better?

Let's call it a grand experiment that didn't work out. I'll finish up "Mike" for those of you that are grabbing it, but to put more of my stuff out there is only going to hurt me when I get around to selling the actual manga/mags. In fact, with prices the way they are, I'll most likely take all my stuff back to Japan someday and have my contact sell them over there for me.

Anyway, with no real chit-chat here between members, etc, I think I'll call it a day with "Mike", not that I don't care about the few of you that are reading this, but ...

3-15 "Mike" from 2003

2007-02-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

Page 46

Final Page

Wrestle Angels - Original Story

2007-02-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

Anonymous said...
Hey d2b1000 i needs to ask you if wrestle angel original story is a anime or OST. Cos i want to buy it fi it is a anime. All info online is jap and i dont reaally understand :(
10:50 AM

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OST ... Wrestle Angels' never has had an anime tie-in. Manga, both wrestling and/or fan-service related, have popped-up, the OST's now and then, but no 'toons. The closest thing that I think we ever got, and somebody speak-up if I'm wrong, was a piece started by Kenichi Sonada, called "Wrestloid Baby", an Angelic Layer-type show about female-robot wrestling. To my knowledge, however, this never made it past pre-production phase and onto the airwaves. To bad ... Gun Smith Cats; Bubblegum Crisis; The Wanna-be's ... he would have done a great job, I should have thought. Maybe it was just too close to Clamp's "Angelic Layer", "Plawres Sanshiro", or the already done "Metal Fighters Miku" to get fully funded by a network ... below is the only design pic I've ever found of the show.

Update on "Tatakae! Tarantella"

2007-02-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

Looks like volume #3 is set to hit the shelves in Japan this week (2-6), if I've got my info right. Here are some of the latest "teasers" I've found:

For those interested, the Amazon.co.jp link can be found in January 5th posting.

For those that collect cels ...

2007-01-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

... does anybody else, or is it just me ...?

Saw this set while checking out various shows (celga.com ; a proxy-bidding site); went for 27,000 yen by the end of the 30 bids (after adding in the commisions, shipping, etc, would have been around $280 ... more than I wanted to get in on). Interesting thing is, it really is EVERY cel that was drawn to do the first move of that scene in the show. The fact that it was all together ... should have bid ...

By the way, the Japanese have this in episode #167, not #144 ... makes you wonder what they left out when they sent it abroad, huh?

Something to find out. Anyone know?

2007-01-18T17:03:00.000-08:00

I actually have this piece in my collection of cels I've picked-up along the way. It's from "Hakugei Densetsu" or "Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick" or 白鯨伝説 , depending on how you want to search it out.

I know it was done as a fan-sub along the way, but was later licensed and shown on the "Anime Network"; sold as DVD's, etc. I never spotted it while it was in fan-sub mode, so ... Here's the problem, no mater how I search, as per episode recaps, I can't find anything that mentions "wrestling" within a show. Wouldn't ya think it might be mentioned ...?

Anyway, perhaps one of you has seen it and can give further details to the rest of us. The DVD's are available to buy from various sites, but at $20 each times the 5 (?) DVD's ...

The best lead I've come-up with, is this: 22/10/06 Hakugei Densetsu(DVD) 01-13 Ripping in Peace

21/10/06 Hakugei Densetsu(DVD) 01-13 Anime-4ever ,

So, in October, 2 groups were seeding half the series 26 episodes. Me, I can't seem to get to them. Anybody up for some work?
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At 6:09 PM, shadowmanuel said…Good picture, but it episode is female vs female or is a mixed fight?. At 6:18 PM, MagicAlex said…Do you know what the show is about in general? It might just be a parody scene or one of the characters imagining something. At 9:37 AM, shadowmanuel said…I have hope it match is female wrestling , not a parody.
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Well, I'm pretty sure that it is, indeed, a wrestling tag-team-match, since she's reaching in for a tag in the cel I've got. I have also found, but did not buy, this cel that shows other characters from the show with her. Note: none of them are in wrestling gear, so none of them SHOULD have been her partner in the wrestling scenes. The fellow she's sitting on is called "White Hat" and he's a detective after Ahab, the captain of their space ship. I think, if I've read the episode recaps properly, that, in the first few episodes, Ahab had to round-up his crew... so, maybe she was working as a wrestler somewhere at the time ...

What can I say, I tried to warn you.

2007-01-16T16:50:00.000-08:00

"She fight with a bear, put information more serios I download it episode only for view a girl fight with a bear?"

But she's cute, no?

As I said, those that knew the show had already seen the following in an earlier episode:

This show has a character with some of the best potential in a long time, yet never delivers on it, instead having her fight in these bizarre battles.

Sorry to those that wasted their time. I hadn't seen the episode myself yet, as I was still downloading at the time I made the posting yesterday. I had just seen the boxing image in the previews from the last show. Even I was shock by how little there was ...

For the Anime fans out there

2007-01-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

From the show that loves to tease us, "Akahori Gedou", Ami-san laces-up the gloves in episode #11, now available from the Himitsu fan-sub group. For those that know the show, you know that it's not going to be what you hope, but still ...

More manga you can buy from Japan

2007-01-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

As a follow-up to the note the other day, when I pointed out a title to watch for those that may want to start their own collection of books, here are a couple others that you can order from Amazon.co.jp. The shipping, on a cost-per-book basis, becomes a bit more reasonable as your items increase:

http://www.comic-valkyrie.com/ The main website for this magazine; Amazon link shows at the site. This is the mag that is currently running the "Idol Wrestler" story you may have seen an example or two of on other boards. Three issues released so far. These are example-sized shots from the site.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B4%E3%83%BB%E3%83%90%E3%82%BA-3%E5%B7%BB-3-%E5%BF%97%E6%9D%91-%E8%B2%B4%E5%AD%90/dp/4785925744/sr=1-3/qid=1168804318/ref=sr_1_3/249-2497690-4593117?ie=UTF8&s=books

Love Buzz: 3 books that follow the day to day life of a single mom/wrestler and her daughter.

Saturday update

2007-01-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say "Welcome" to those that have been checking in lately.

I'm thinking about a "Page of the day" thing ... each day post a full page, hi-rez scan from a one of my out-of-print manga (never anything that is still for sale in Japan; you know the drill ...), that way, over time, you guys would get a whole manga. Cool? Pain in the ...?

Some of the manga only contain a few pages out of a 150 page book, such as the one shown to the left, others, the full 200 pages would be needed. I've been taking time to scan a bunch of my manga, thus the slow updates to the Yahoo group of old and this blog; right now, I've got 51 folders (manga) in play. Styles vary ...

Maybe I'll do this ... post a few examples and see what gets the most response. I have them already, so it's really up to you. to keep it simple, we'll call the image above number (1). Warning on this one, as she goes through training, you'd get some robot hentai; 15 pages.

"Mike", number (2), is a set of 46 pages from a weekly manga. This one is an in-ring catfight; violent - the fighters get bloodied by the end.

Number (3), is pretty much plain old wrestling; 20 pages

Maybe we just start there to see, instead of getting into the longer ones right now. Let me know your thoughts!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Well, as we go into 2007, I wanted to start-off by pointing out an upcoming release to those that may want to get a copy:

These are the covers of the first two issues of "Tatakae! Tarantella". The upcoming issue, #3, will feature some wrestling, based on these preview images.

I've gotten the first two issues from Amazon.jp.co, so, for those that don't have a Japanese bookstore nearby, that option does work; me, I'll start to get mine through my local source (saves on shipping). The story's first two issues introduce the characters, their dojo, and various fighting scenes (training, etc.) , although this next issue will be the first with in-ring wrestling.

Here's a link to Amazon, if anyone is interested:
http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4088741366/250-5438542-1401003

Not that hard to sign-up for an account with them; I ran the necessary pages through WorldLingo and did fine ... you need to have a credit card and shipping address, of course.

Also, for those that missed it, Female Fight Fan added a new link awhile back that, after a lot of searching through the various options, got you to this:

The comic (8 pages) was scanned from a men's hentai mag, so at the end ... Below is a direct link to the pages.

http://f56.aaa.livedoor.jp/~kakuma/1kyattofaitoheirasshai1.htm

...to all, and to all a good night.

2006-12-24T16:35:00.000-08:00

Best for the Holidays to all out there; May Santa bring you what you asked for (Where'd this guy find HIS Santa ... I never get this in MY stocking!).

Support you local manga artist!

2006-12-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

Say, just wanted to point out to those that follow "Tanuki's" site, that there is a new (12 - 17) manga available for download: Paradise Dolls - Mika Style. As you know, I'm a big believer in the idea that only by showing our support of the artists, will the artists continue to create new work for us all to enjoy. This makes the fourth story that Tanukisan has released, counting the free one on his site, just in case you've missed them ... he doesn't seem to mention them as "upfront" at his site as he had been with number two. The following are free samples from the download site; actual sizes larger in zip format delivery. http://dl.getchu.com/index.php?action=gd&cp=&amp;amp;gcd=D0000812

2006-12-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

"my name is antonio. my question is : there is a golden age in the manga female wrestling (pure wrestling not lesbian)?"

I know we've talked about this in the Yahoo group before, but for those that may have missed the postings (quite a while ago), I'll offer my personal thoughts here as well. Please note the word "personal" ... I'm no authority on this; just conclusions I've formed based on what I've seen.

The earliest manga featuring a female wrestler within a story, at least of those I have in my collection, dates from 1969. While there may be earlier images than that, I've yet to find them. So, let's say we start there as the "beginning" of a time line.

Moving forward into the '70's, there are publications, mostly the weekly-manga type magazine's, which had a few stories that would include wrestling at some point along the way. Here and there, a female character would show up in the story, but for the most part, the story focused on the male wrestlers. At the same time, in real-life Japan, Western-style pro-wrestling, as a spectator sport, was gaining popularity around the country. This was echoed through the artwork of the manga. The more "everyday" readers may have been watching wrestling, the more the writers and artists were likely to use wrestling as a story line vehicle. As the popularity of the women in the sport grew, more and more manga began to feature the "Joshi" wrestlers in larger doses. By the late 70's and though much of the 80's, the women took their place with the men as per having their own stories devoted to them. This is the period when "Red Eagle Maki" and "Beniko" were published.

Neither of these stories ever saw publication as books unto themselves, but rather, each were given space in issues of a weekly mag. For the fan to buy an issue, 24 makes the full story, it cost around $3 per week ... that's one "book" for $72! To find the original magazines, you have to be in the right place at the right time, and be willing to shell out a LOT of money ... the few copies of "Red Eagle" I have, I found though a private-company auction (I was up at 3AM, my time, for the final hour of the auction to end in Tokyo) : $125 per issue, sold as individual copies, plus commission and postage; I got 6 of 8. Yeah ... compulsive. The set of "Beniko" magazines (same auction; 22 issue set ... for some reason this story never had it's final 2 chapters published!) , and yes, that IS what the auction highlighted the magazines as being, was sold for $2,750. Add in the commission, and that makes $3000 for an unfinished story in it's original magazines! Told you the collectors in Japan bid this stuff up. At 18 pages per issue, that's $7.50 per page! Tell THAT to the next person that gives you a hard time for collecting this stuff! It's an investment!!

Anyway, back to the main question, the 80's saw the publication of at least four 200+ page GORAKU Comic manga, along with many 150+ page stories from other publishers. The Joshi Puroresu shows in the country's arena's were at their most popular during this time, often out-drawing the men's at the box office. Anime shows started featuring the shows heroines watching, and sometimes taking part in, wrestling, as their favorite lady wrestler would compete against her arch foe in the ring. The idea of women being empowered enough to fight their own battles in life, as in the ring, in a country that still has strong sexual stereotypes, called out to the young women watching the shows ... writers, artists, and publishers saw this and responded with manga after manga, many featuring school-age girls that would join their school's wrestling club and try to balance the struggle of being a sedate Japanese girl with the competitive need to win which most people have to some degree. To say that the manga were all geared to the adolescent crowd would be naive, but even in the ones that would feature the more "comely" wrestlers from this time period, they would rarely venture into the bedroom; if so, it was discretely done and male/female. With the onset of the 90's, things began to change.

Most likely due to the upturn of musical artists (Japan's version of MTV, etc) and movie/TV stars as being the role models for the masses, Joshi wrestling in the real world began to lose their fans, many of the operations have gone out of business at this point. As the influence on the streets began to wane, so, too, did the need for the stories from the publishers. Now, having taped out the main vein of the mine, the publishers, artists and writers had to begin to tailor the stories to the niche readers of their manga. To some, the addition of higher sexual themes, lesbian action, degradation of females, hit the right spot. Manga continue to feature wrestling, but very few treat the characters as athletes competing in the hard life of women making their livings in the professional ring, instead, we find them, more and more, in seedy night clubs ... outcasts, a step above prostitutes. For the one or two pages they will be featured, the artwork is great, but that's all there will be; a side note in the story, much like a police show on TV where the detectives need to find the criminal in the bar and there will be two women mud-wrestling in the background. The genre was being handed over to the hentai crowd. Luckily, there are some bright spots on the horizon.

With the publication this past year of the "Rumble Roses: part 1" manga,

along with the manga and anime version of "Fighting Beauty Wulong", maybe the industry has seen that, even without the sex, there are those of us out here that will buy what they put out. It's really up to the male fans in Japan, I suppose, since we outside of Japan don't even make a dent in sales ... if all they will buy is the hentai, then ...

2006-12-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

"magicalex84 said... +1 Steel Chair of Head-bashing"

Here's that one, I think. Hmmm, looks like SOMEone can read the kanji on the pages better than the rest of us! There's also this one, for fighting outside of the ring:

Staying with the same, for now, a few more "moves"

2006-12-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

Not a wrestling move; they also allow for the use of weapons, it seems.

Some moves (art) from the books

2006-12-04T23:52:00.000-08:00

Along with the "scene" art within the books, there are also several pages of wrestling moves the player can use in the game. I'm guessing that on some charts (the +/- pages, maybe?) are listed the resulting damage points that would follow a move, right?

Never let it be said, I won't try to help, if I can ...

2006-12-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

OK, for those that had wanted to see the "rules", I've scanned the pages that looked right to me. WAYYYYYYYY too much Japanese for my limited abilities, but, for those that have the kanji skills to work this out, be sure to report back to the rest of us!

Also, let it be known that I've never played a GURPS' game, so maybe for those of you that have, these will all make sense ... Greek to me, well, Japanese, but you know what I mean ... I'm more of a "Wild Arms" (best ending-credits sequence EVER!) / "Final Fantasy" person; let the PS2 do the math for me.

As you can see by the page numbers, there's a LOT of stuff in the book. There are the pages that show the +/- points at various levels, etc. Need those, too? Or is that all pretty "GURPS" standard? There are 11 characters in the first guide, plus the blank page to write your own, and 4 new characters in book two. Need those to make it work for you?

2006-11-30T17:56:00.000-08:00

Here's an example of a character page from the guide. For those of you following it, yes, she is a featured character in the newest Wrestle Angels coming our way.

2006-11-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hmmm ... I see that your comments don't show in the page ... got me. In my settings, I've got "Show comments" marked "Yes" ... well ... I don't know ...

2006-11-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

GURPS continued

2006-11-30T11:51:00.000-08:00

Published in 1994, these were, really, the first two books that started me on my search for the older manga.

I had seen a picture of the first "RING DREAMS" book on the cover of a magazine from Britain (?!) that was for sale at a bookstore in my area; this was in 1996. While the mag did not go into any depth about "RING DREAMS" per se (it was more an article about RPG games in general), the fact that it existed, and now I knew it, was all it really took; the hunt was on.

Seemed simple enough ... internet search for GURPS "Ring Dreams"; somebody's selling it, right? mmmmmmm ... no. OK, fine ... contact the folks at GURPS headquarters. Well ... they said, if I could find it, they'd love to see it! Seems it was ONLY published in Japan; under license of ... that sort of thing ... the North American company, at least the person that had responded to my query, had never seen a copy, but did know of it. Okayyyyy ... Now, the compulsion was starting to kick in.

I had found one or two websites in Japan that referenced the game and books, no scans or anything though, so had some confirmation that MAYBE in Japan, some were out in the market place. After going through local Japanese bookstores (I luckily live in an area that has a couple), I found out that the books were out of print and unavailable. Bugger that ... next option ... auctions.

As many of you reading this may know, it's one thing to find an item on Yahoo Japan, or another auction site, it's quite another to bid on it. If you don't have a Japanese issued credit card, registration is next to impossible, plus, almost all sellers will not ship items out of Japan. Three options exist: proxy bidding firms (expensive!), use friends that live in Japan (good, but how many have that option?) or, get on plane and hit the streets ... ok, yes ... also expensive, but hey, you're in JAPAN! Anyway, I have used the second two options over the years, as I have a contact in Tokyo who, for a price, will do my bidding for me. Pricey, but less than the formal proxy firms. Actually hooked up with him via an item he was selling on eBay ... when I found out he lived in Japan, I just asked if he'd take me on ... never hurts to ask ... and have since met up with him for cheap sushi on several trips to Tokyo ("The way to a man's heart ..."; keep those contacts happy!).

So, there you have it. That's the story of how I came to start gathering my collection together. Many, I've tracked down in used bookstores, taking hours and days to look though the shelves. Some, I've acquired through private-company auctions that deal in Japanese collectibles; many manga are considered that; collectible (STUPID expensive! That's where the REALLY hard-to-find stuff is and the collectors bid it up.). Sill looking and adding at this point, though "new" stuff is getting harder and harder to find.

2006-11-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

Starting off, lets look at an interesting fusion of East-meets-West with this GURPS game guide. GURPS RPG-style games, popular outside of Japan, were chosen as the format to publish two books that portrayed a world of Pro Women's Wrestling, ala the popular Famicom/PC games of the "Wrestle Angels" series. Published as both guides to play by and drawings to bring the RPG world to life, these two books are full of both charactor and "in-ring" artwork.

2006-11-29T11:09:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog.

I'll be covering here, various artists and styles of drawings used in the Japanese art form of manga, as pertains to the sport of women's professional wrestling. With examples taken from out-of-print books from Japan (1970's - 1990's), we will see both the talent of the artists period, as well as the artistic take on the slam-bam world of Joshi Puroresu.

I'll be adding new information often, as I have over 200 manga within my private collection. This site will cover only art that focuses on legitimate wrestling in the arena setting; no hentai images will be posted. If that's what you're after, please look elsewhere.

I hope you enjoy your visit.