Toho won’t release Oscar-winning film in East and Southeast Asia; potential US ban may affect BookTokers and publishers; Folio presents DC: Batman; fans mourn the passing of Dragon Ball creator; romance tropes sell books but can ruin the genre.
Godzilla Minus One: Not for Asian viewing
Malaysian distributor TGV Cinemas has confirmed that Toho has no plan to release the Oscar-winner Godzilla Minus One in Southeast Asia. This is also backed by another local distributor, GSC Cinemas. IndieWire reported that the film won’t be shown in “China, South Korea, India, and other significant Asian markets”. The decision perplexed fans in the region and elsewhere in Asia.
Countries where the film isn’t showing can be seen at this IMDb link. The only Asian region bar Japan that had the screening was Central Asia. Not even Thailand is on the list.
So Godzilla Minus One won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, earned US$56 million in North America, and set Toho up for life in terms of intellectual property, merchandising and distribution revenues.
Noted. But why make a good film just to answer to the creators of Oppenheimer, for the approval of Western audiences? Why not let the rest of Asia watch and decide? From a business perspective, it could be due to Toho’s decision to claw back rights sold to overseas companies. So there’s an IP angle to this. Asia can be a nightmare when it comes to copyright infringement. Culture-wise, however, regions in Asia that have resonance – fictional and historical – with the Great Asian War and World War 2 don’t get a peep.
Having seen the film in the UK in winter 2023, with our Southeast Asian sensibility intact, we think the film won’t rock the boat. Many Asians have moved on. Most certainly they’d side with Godzilla, whether for the moral victory or simply because they like their favourite monster.
Having seen the film in the UK in winter 2023, with our Southeast Asian sensibility intact, we think the film won’t rock the boat. Many Asians have moved on.
The vibe that we got from the UK distributor All The Anime at MCM Comic Con London in October 2023 was that Toho was really excited about the global release. In December 2023, we watched the film at Fulham Vue, London, UK. It was brilliant.
Kōichi Shikishima’s case as a former kamikaze pilot (he came back alive!) who tries to rebuild his family life after the war is convincing. The black rain incident, the result of Godzilla’s rampaging, is effectively upsetting, a reference to the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The climax where Godzilla eats a fighter jet and blows up is ‘interesting’ where poetic licence is concerned. The reference to kamikaze planes is unsettling. However, we like the ending where pieces of Godzilla’s flesh regroup in the deep ocean, ready for its next onslaught. Karmic cycle leaves the film with an open ending, and room for a sequel. Overall, it’s good. Oscar well deserved. And it should have won Best Screenplay, not just Best Visual Effects.
But let’s not underestimate the Asian audience’s capacity to be compassionate. The titular character in Godzilla Minus One goes on a rampage after it’s been shot at first by panicking soldiers. We feel its sense of injustice and also the terror of the innocent people crushed under its feet.
You write and publish fantasy so you can say things you can’t say directly to our faces. We the audience consume fantasy so we can reflect on things we can’t say, or can’t openly accept, and yet allow ourselves that little room to reconsider your point of view. That’s the whole point of the fantasy genre.
It’s fine to dramatise suffering to get your point across. Fiction permits this. But having profited from it with a blockbuster, it’s also graceful to admit that suffering is not the one-upmanship of “my pain is greater than yours”. God only knows how we in Asia survived the aftermath of conflicts between 1941 and 1989, and the depth that our hearts have for forgiveness – after all that horror.
It’s only fiction. What’s there to be afraid of?
It’s fine to dramatise suffering to get your point across. Fiction permits this. It’s also graceful to admit that suffering is not the one-upmanship of “my pain is greater than yours”.
The United States House of Representative has told China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok in the US within six months, or face ban from the country.
TikTok has around 150 to 170 million users in the US, where it’s hoping to grow its business to US$17.5b in 2024. It’s a challenger to e-commerce giants such as Amazon, thus making it a challenger to US interests in business and security.
It’d be interesting to see how this will affect BookTok, the publishing arm of TikTok. Although its influence on book sales is said to be modest, it appeals widely to those aged 13 and 34. In 2022, the hashtag #booktok had gained over 42 billion views. Booktokers make money via brand partnerships, and book publishers rely on their recommendations to sell books.
Having a US ban will be a huge loss to TikTok, who had already suffered when India banned 200 million users from using the app in 2020.
If TikTok faces a ban, the obvious losers will be the little people of the BookTok community: the sole traders and book publishers who depend on the social media platform to market their products. They don’t care about politics. They just want to make a living.
To mark the 85th anniversary of a DC Super Hero icon, Folio, in collaboration with DC, presents DC: Batman. This new publication charts Batman’s evolution from the Caped Crusader to the Dark Knight, featuring 12 key adventures by comic book legends Frank Miller, Alan Moore and more. This edition also includes a separate replica copy of Batman #1.
The Folio Society is the go-to publisher for the best of beautifully designed collectible titles. In 2023, it won four categories at the 2022 British Book Design & Production Awards:
Folio’s A Song of Ice and Fire series won the Brand/Series Identity category.
The spectacular three-volume set of The Divine Comedy won in the Limited Editions category.
Philip K. Dick’s Selected Short Stories won the Literature category
The Origins of Totalitarianism won the Scholarly, Academic & Reference Book category.
Western Gen-Xers grew on Marvel. Asian Gen-Xers grew up on Dragon Ball. It’s sad to hear the passing of Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, who died on 8 March 2024. It’s not lost to us that he died in the Year of the Dragon.
— DRAGON BALL OFFICIAL (@DB_official_en) March 8, 2024
Dragon Ball is the most successful manga of all time, with 260 million copies sold worldwide. The anime was broadcast in over 80 countries. The tale is loosely based on the 16th Century fantasy novel Journey To The West, which in turn is based on the story of a Tang Buddhist monk’s pilgrimage from China to Central Asia and India to obtain sacred texts or sutras.
Dragon Ball, according to our Creative Director, was the most talked about manga amongst graphic design students during her time at Art and Design school.
Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. A legion of creative directors mourn your passing.
Tropification in the romance genre
At the Eslite Spectrum book panel, Love Between the Pages, on 24 February 2024, we heard romance authors Claudia Tan and Lilian Li discuss tropification in the romance genre. There’s always something new to learn at Story Of Books, and this is quite a revelation for us. Thank you, authors, for enlightening us.
We really enjoyed the romance panel featuring Claudia Tan and Lilian Li at Eslite Spectrum.
If you want to find out more tropication and its pitfalls within the romance genre, follow this thread on Reddit.
Toho won’t release Oscar-winning film in East and Southeast Asia; potential US ban may affect BookTokers and publishers; Folio presents DC: Batman; fans mourn the passing of Dragon Ball creator; romance tropes sell books but can ruin the genre.
Godzilla Minus One: Not for Asian viewing
Malaysian distributor TGV Cinemas has confirmed that Toho has no plan to release the Oscar-winner Godzilla Minus One in Southeast Asia. This is also backed by another local distributor, GSC Cinemas. IndieWire reported that the film won’t be shown in “China, South Korea, India, and other significant Asian markets”. The decision perplexed fans in the region and elsewhere in Asia.
Countries where the film isn’t showing can be seen at this IMDb link. The only Asian region bar Japan that had the screening was Central Asia. Not even Thailand is on the list.
So Godzilla Minus One won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, earned US$56 million in North America, and set Toho up for life in terms of intellectual property, merchandising and distribution revenues.
Noted. But why make a good film just to answer to the creators of Oppenheimer, for the approval of Western audiences? Why not let the rest of Asia watch and decide? From a business perspective, it could be due to Toho’s decision to claw back rights sold to overseas companies. So there’s an IP angle to this. Asia can be a nightmare when it comes to copyright infringement. Culture-wise, however, regions in Asia that have resonance – fictional and historical – with the Great Asian War and World War 2 don’t get a peep.
Having seen the film in the UK in winter 2023, with our Southeast Asian sensibility intact, we think the film won’t rock the boat. Many Asians have moved on. Most certainly they’d side with Godzilla, whether for the moral victory or simply because they like their favourite monster.
Having seen the film in the UK in winter 2023, with our Southeast Asian sensibility intact, we think the film won’t rock the boat. Many Asians have moved on.
The vibe that we got from the UK distributor All The Anime at MCM Comic Con London in October 2023 was that Toho was really excited about the global release. In December 2023, we watched the film at Fulham Vue, London, UK. It was brilliant.
Kōichi Shikishima’s case as a former kamikaze pilot (he came back alive!) who tries to rebuild his family life after the war is convincing. The black rain incident, the result of Godzilla’s rampaging, is effectively upsetting, a reference to the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The climax where Godzilla eats a fighter jet and blows up is ‘interesting’ where poetic licence is concerned. The reference to kamikaze planes is unsettling. However, we like the ending where pieces of Godzilla’s flesh regroup in the deep ocean, ready for its next onslaught. Karmic cycle leaves the film with an open ending, and room for a sequel. Overall, it’s good. Oscar well deserved. And it should have won Best Screenplay, not just Best Visual Effects.
But let’s not underestimate the Asian audience’s capacity to be compassionate. The titular character in Godzilla Minus One goes on a rampage after it’s been shot at first by panicking soldiers. We feel its sense of injustice and also the terror of the innocent people crushed under its feet.
You write and publish fantasy so you can say things you can’t say directly to our faces. We the audience consume fantasy so we can reflect on things we can’t say, or can’t openly accept, and yet allow ourselves that little room to reconsider your point of view. That’s the whole point of the fantasy genre.
It’s fine to dramatise suffering to get your point across. Fiction permits this. But having profited from it with a blockbuster, it’s also graceful to admit that suffering is not the one-upmanship of “my pain is greater than yours”. God only knows how we in Asia survived the aftermath of conflicts between 1941 and 1989, and the depth that our hearts have for forgiveness – after all that horror.
It’s only fiction. What’s there to be afraid of?
It’s fine to dramatise suffering to get your point across. Fiction permits this. It’s also graceful to admit that suffering is not the one-upmanship of “my pain is greater than yours”.
More on fantasy
BookTok’s future hangs in the balance
The United States House of Representative has told China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok in the US within six months, or face ban from the country.
TikTok has around 150 to 170 million users in the US, where it’s hoping to grow its business to US$17.5b in 2024. It’s a challenger to e-commerce giants such as Amazon, thus making it a challenger to US interests in business and security.
It’d be interesting to see how this will affect BookTok, the publishing arm of TikTok. Although its influence on book sales is said to be modest, it appeals widely to those aged 13 and 34. In 2022, the hashtag #booktok had gained over 42 billion views. Booktokers make money via brand partnerships, and book publishers rely on their recommendations to sell books.
Having a US ban will be a huge loss to TikTok, who had already suffered when India banned 200 million users from using the app in 2020.
If TikTok faces a ban, the obvious losers will be the little people of the BookTok community: the sole traders and book publishers who depend on the social media platform to market their products. They don’t care about politics. They just want to make a living.
Batman turns 85 with a special Folio edition
It was impressive to see The Folio Society books featured at the British Library’s Fantasy exhibition, which ended in February 2024. Also last month, we saw Folio books at Books Kinokuniya at Suria KLCC when we were in Kuala Lumpur for the KL Alternative Bookfest 2024.
To mark the 85th anniversary of a DC Super Hero icon, Folio, in collaboration with DC, presents DC: Batman. This new publication charts Batman’s evolution from the Caped Crusader to the Dark Knight, featuring 12 key adventures by comic book legends Frank Miller, Alan Moore and more. This edition also includes a separate replica copy of Batman #1.
The Folio Society is the go-to publisher for the best of beautifully designed collectible titles. In 2023, it won four categories at the 2022 British Book Design & Production Awards:
For more details, visit the Folio online shop.
Another hero goes to soon
Western Gen-Xers grew on Marvel. Asian Gen-Xers grew up on Dragon Ball. It’s sad to hear the passing of Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, who died on 8 March 2024. It’s not lost to us that he died in the Year of the Dragon.
Dragon Ball is the most successful manga of all time, with 260 million copies sold worldwide. The anime was broadcast in over 80 countries. The tale is loosely based on the 16th Century fantasy novel Journey To The West, which in turn is based on the story of a Tang Buddhist monk’s pilgrimage from China to Central Asia and India to obtain sacred texts or sutras.
Dragon Ball, according to our Creative Director, was the most talked about manga amongst graphic design students during her time at Art and Design school.
Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. A legion of creative directors mourn your passing.
Tropification in the romance genre
At the Eslite Spectrum book panel, Love Between the Pages, on 24 February 2024, we heard romance authors Claudia Tan and Lilian Li discuss tropification in the romance genre. There’s always something new to learn at Story Of Books, and this is quite a revelation for us. Thank you, authors, for enlightening us.
If you want to find out more tropication and its pitfalls within the romance genre, follow this thread on Reddit.