Yen Press Brings "Big Hero 6" Manga to North America

[CBR News]

Though a release date has not been set, Yen Press has acquired the rights to translate and publish the manga based on Disney's upcoming animated film.


Full article here.

[Xalfrea]

Nice that we're getting it, though I admit I still find Marvel's reason for not doing anything themselves to be sketchy.

Or perhaps Marvel is just waiting for the film to be released first before they do anything.

[Kpop]

Though a release date has not been set, Yen Press has acquired the rights to translate and publish the manga based on Disney's upcoming animated film.


Full article here.

Predictable. Which is why Marvel Comics is no longer able to publish any material featuring the original, Asian version of Big Hero 6. The racebent Disney version will be treated as the only version which ever existed. Shame.

[asiansupes]

Predictable. Which is why Marvel Comics is no longer able to publish any material featuring the original, Asian version of Big Hero 6. The racebent Disney version will be treated as the only version which ever existed. Shame.

Yeah, it's weird. He's half Asian in the movie but you have to really squint. At least, with this you can tell. He has more Manga Asian face than full-on Caucasian anime face. Ah, Hollywood and its whitewashing of Asian( or any other diverse culture not European, because European is actually really diverse) characters. So awesome. Same thing is happening with that Noah movie.

[Xalfrea]

Yeah, call me insensitive, but I don't get why people are so worked up about this whole "whitewashing" thing.

Apart from the idea of Disney changing things up being their norm, what if, despite all this "controversy", the movie is actually, you know, GOOD AND ENTERTAINING?

[Kpop]

If it were simply a case of Disney whitewashing one of Marvel's most well-known all-Asian super-teams for their movie, that would be one thing. I would still have issues with it, but I'd also still see the Disney version and probably enjoy it as its own thing, because I'm capable of accepting two differing artistic interpretations of a property. How the Disney race equation exactly works is beyond me. I'd be interested in seeing the marketing/profitability calculation that goes: "6 Asian lead characters wouldn't be marketable to a worldwide audience, but 1.5 Asian lead characters feels just right" . . . and all this in an age where a tree and a raccoon are the most popular characters in one of the summer's biggest comic book blockbusters. If the heroes are written with heart and character, then their appeal should be able to transcend their skin color and become identifiable with people of all creeds and colors. But, like I said before, I would still go and see the Disney movie, try to forget about the whitewashing, and enjoy it own its own merits.

However, what's especially heinous in the case of Big Hero 6 is that Disney has not only whitewashed the original Asian team, but prevented any further publications of the original Asian team. Disney/whitewashed Big Hero 6 is effectively erasing and supplanting Marvel/Japanese Big Hero 6. In the event that a new Big Hero 6 fan really enjoys the movie and wants to see the comics by which the movie was inspired, he/she is out of luck because there will be no reprints of the old issues made available. For the Marvel fan who appreciated Big Hero 6's status as one of the only Marvel super-hero properties to feature an all-Asian cast and get as many as two limited series and a handful of guest appearances since 1998, she/he is out of luck because the whitewashed Disney version of Big Hero 6 is now the only game in town.

It'd be like if, prior to the release of "Frozen," Disney bought the rights to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" and prohibited any future reprints of the collection for fear that moviegoers would be confused by two different interpretations of the same story.

I could have handled two versions of Big Hero 6. It's Disney that couldn't.

[skyvolt2000]

Yeah, call me insensitive, but I don't get why people are so worked up about this whole "whitewashing" thing.

Apart from the idea of Disney changing things up being their norm, what if, despite all this "controversy", the movie is actually, you know, GOOD AND ENTERTAINING?

It's not about the Disney movie. It's about burying the original version and making sure no one will be able to see it.

Like Kpop said-fans won't have an issue with both versions-it's Marvel/Disney that does.

[jazzflower92]

If it were simply a case of Disney whitewashing one of Marvel's most well-known all-Asian super-teams for their movie, that would be one thing. I would still have issues with it, but I'd also still see the Disney version and probably enjoy it as its own thing, because I'm capable of accepting two differing artistic interpretations of a property. How the Disney race equation exactly works is beyond me. I'd be interested in seeing the marketing/profitability calculation that goes: "6 Asian lead characters wouldn't be marketable to a worldwide audience, but 1.5 Asian lead characters feels just right" . . . and all this in an age where a tree and a raccoon are the most popular characters in one of the summer's biggest comic book blockbusters. If the heroes are written with heart and character, then their appeal should be able to transcend their skin color and become identifiable with people of all creeds and colors. But, like I said before, I would still go and see the Disney movie, try to forget about the whitewashing, and enjoy it own its own merits.

However, what's especially heinous in the case of Big Hero 6 is that Disney has not only whitewashed the original Asian team, but prevented any further publications of the original Asian team. Disney/whitewashed Big Hero 6 is effectively erasing and supplanting Marvel/Japanese Big Hero 6. In the event that a new Big Hero 6 fan really enjoys the movie and wants to see the comics by which the movie was inspired, he/she is out of luck because there will be no reprints of the old issues made available. For the Marvel fan who appreciated Big Hero 6's status as one of the only Marvel super-hero properties to feature an all-Asian cast and get as many as two limited series and a handful of guest appearances since 1998, she/he is out of luck because the whitewashed Disney version of Big Hero 6 is now the only game in town.

It'd be like if, prior to the release of "Frozen," Disney bought the rights to Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" and prohibited any future reprints of the collection for fear that moviegoers would be confused by two different interpretations of the same story.

I could have handled two versions of Big Hero 6. It's Disney that couldn't.

About that its so obscure you would get blank stares from people. And people who have actually read Big Hero 6 says it plays too many stereotypes about Japanese culture.