We can now see the finalised cover art for the third Japanese-translated volume of More than Meets the Eye. The art is by Tasuku Tajima (但馬匡). Collecting More than Meets the Eye #12 to #16, this volume is scheduled for release 28 August 2020 on Amazon Japan for 2860 JPY. https://twitter.com/vb_amecomi/status/1293813160592343040 https://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4864914842/villagebooks-22 For reference, here are the covers to Volume 1 and Volume 2.
That’s pretty nice! I saw Magnus’s body and thought Overlord ripped Minimus out and was holding him until I scrolled and saw Rod.
Yeah, I wish the art in the actual comics was all that good. Some was. Some...was not. But it's crazy seeing these comics published in Japan all these years later. I feel bad for Japanese TF fans who find and read these IDW comics and think they're going to keep being this good.
It's absurdly weird to have the opinion that season 1 and 2 of MTMtE are better than the post-Roberts comics IDW is currently producing? If so, I'm happy to be weird. I'm not sure where you got the hurt part, though.
Seasons 1 and 2 of mtmte are my personal favourite pieces of Transformers media, I adore them, and they're overall fairly well-loved in the west, but what I'm curious about is how they've been received by the Japanese audience because they're very steeped in British comic writing conventions and storytelling ideas. Does anybody here know?
I've seen the volumes in a couple bookstores here in Japan, but I've never seen anyone browse them. Or any of the translated American comics really, although I will see someone walking around with a Marvel t-shirt or hat occasionally. I think US/UK Transformers comics in Japan is a niche inside a niche. Like you, I'd really be curious to know who is reading these and what they think.
For the hot minute I was in Tokyo a while back, I remember seeing at least one IDW-themed display at a shop in Akihibara of the 3P MTMTE guys with panels from the comic around them, but I don't read Japanese well enough to know much about the context other than "These are toys of the guys from the comic! Cool!"
While the success or lack thereof is somewhat interesting, I'm more interested in what the Japanese fanbase thinks of it, a very different culture and very different fandom looking at the fiction we got made by and for our culture and fandom and what their opinions on it ultimately are.
From what I saw on the internet, I have seen several fanarts/doushinjis/fanfictions on twitter/pixiv/tumblr/etc by Asian fans. So you have at least a substantial group of fans.
