The Manga University of New York (MUNY) invites editor Lauren Scanlan and Eisner Award-nominated letterer Deron Bennett from Kodansha Comics to the 2nd MUNY event.
They will discuss Kazuo Tatsuta’s Ichi-F and the localization process of Japanese manga into the English-speaking audience.
The event is also to commemorate the Japan’s triple disaster–the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown–in 2011. Please join us to this precious opportunity to take a peak at the manga publishing industry in the U.S.!
Event website: http://resobox.com/event/muny/
Date: Sunday, March 11th, 2018
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm (or later)
Location: RESOBOX East Village : 91 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10003 (Map)
Admission: $10 (general) / $8 (students)
Abstract:
The March 11, 2011 tsunami and earthquake upended the Tohoku area of Japan, causing meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant and devastating the surrounding region. Kazuto Tatsuta, then an aspiring mangaka, took an interest in the cleanup and restoration efforts, eventually joining them himself and documenting his experiences in the graphic memoir Ichi-F. What began as a brief “work report” eventually became a vital and rare public record of what is still an extremely secretive cleanup effort. In light of its historic importance and unique storytelling, Kodansha Comics decided that it was essential that Ichi-F be translated into English – but this is just the beginning of the story. Join Kodansha Comics editor Lauren Scanlan as she discusses the singular challenges involved with bringing Ichi-F to the English-speaking world.
About Tatsuta’s Ichi-F:
On March 11, 2011, Japan suffered the largest earthquake in its modern history. The 9.0-magnitude quake threw up a devastating tsunami that wiped away entire towns, and caused, in the months afterward, three nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Altogether, it was the costliest natural disaster in human history.
This is not the story of that disaster.
This is the story of a man who took a job. Kazuto Tatsuta was an amateur artist who signed onto the dangerous task of cleaning up the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, which the workers came to call “Ichi-F.” This is the story of that challenging work, of the trials faced by the local citizens, and of the unique camaraderie that built up between the mostly blue-collar workers who had to face the devious and invisible threat of radiation on a daily basis. After six months, Tatsuta’s body had absorbed the maximum annual dose of radiation allowed by regulations, and he was forced to take a break from the work crew, giving him the time to create this unprecedented, unauthorized, award-winning view of daily life at Fukushima Daiichi.
About the Lecturers
Lauren Scanlan
Lauren Scanlan is an editor for Kodansha Comics, and has worked on many series including Akira: 35thAnniversary Box Set, Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, and Land of the Lustrous. She has an MBA in Localization Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), and has spent her career working in localization.
Deron Bennett
Eisner Award-nominated letterer, Deron Bennett knew early on that he wanted to work in comics. After receiving his B.F.A. from SCAD in 2002, Deron moved out to Los Angeles to pursue his career in sequential art. He quickly became a letterer and production artist with TOKYOPOP, but soon found himself returning to his hometown in New Jersey to raise a family. Since then, Deron has been providing lettering services for various comic book companies. His body of work includes Ichi-F, Attack on Titan Junior High, Cyborg 009, and Fairy Tail. You can learn more about Deron by visiting his website www.andworlddesign.com or following @andworlddesign on Twitter.
