Bizenghast - WikiHQ

Bizenghast is a debut gothic graphic novel series

LeGrow called it "worded in a way that I felt was offensive to me and to cosplayers" and noted that "none of it reflects my opinions." However, Tokyopop's North American branch stopped publishing on 31 May 2011; because of it, the final volume of the series is being released through a print-on-demand agreement with RightStuf.com. The series is also distributed in New Zealand and Australia by Madman Entertainment, in Hungary by Mangattack, in Germany by Tokyopop Germany, in Finland by Pauna Media Group, and in Russia by Comix-art.

Books

Three extra books based on Bizenghast have been released (eight in main series). On 13 February 2007, Tokyopop also released a 72-page limited-edition art book, Bizenghast: Falling into Fear (), which included stickers and pinup pages.

Running Press published a coloring book based on the series, Color Me Manga: Bizenghast () on 12 November 2007. On 13 August 2008, Tokyopop published a novel adaptation, Bizenghast: The Novel (), written by Shawn Thorgersen and with illustrations by LeGrow.

Other

Menfond Electronic Art adapted Bizenghast into animated short episodes or "iManga". The iManga episodes featured music by Divine Madness and Kissing Violet, Overall, LeGrow praised the adaptation. She liked the "kooky" background effects and Edaniel's voice actor, but disliked Dinah's "high-pitched" voice which she had imagined as "deeper...with a slight edge to it. Sort of like Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, but without the sarcasm." The episodes were also available on Verizon's V CAST. The television network iaTV acquired the seventeen two- to three-minute-long episodes as part of a "program acquisition deal and strategic ad sales partnership with Tokyopop."

A tabletop roleplaying game based on the series was created by Clint Krause. Additionally, a two-and-a-half-hour DVD commentary about the first Bizenghast volume, with Tokyopop editor interviews and bonus material, was planned to be released in mid-August 2010.

Reception

Bizenghast was well received by English-language readers. The first volume debuted at the 79th spot on a list of the top 100 best-selling graphic novels of August 2005 with an estimated 1,434 copies sold. Daily Variety named Bizenghast one of Tokyopop's top ten biggest titles. In June 2010, the seventh volume sold 425 copies, ranking 294th on the list of the top 300 best-selling graphic novels.

Bizenghast received positive reviews from critics. The September 2005 issue of Teen People listed Bizenghast as the Hot Book of the Month. Sheena McNeil of Sequential Tart praised the first volume as "a highly enjoyable read". Coolstreak Cartoons's Leroy Douresseaux described the series as "belong[ing] to a fantasy subgenre sometimes referred to as 'pop Gothic' and relying on atmosphere and looks. Critics praised the art of Bizenghast as detailed, but did not see it as manga-styled. Anime Jump Chad Clayton called the series "heavily steeped in the gothic tradition" and commented that the series "successfully develops an inventive visual style all its own. It seems to owe more to classical art, gothic comics, and even artists like Edward Gorey than it does to manga." Johanna Draper Carlson, a longtime reviewer for Publishers Weekly, found the art reminiscent "of classic fantasy indy comics" and noted "stock elements" in the story. Reviewers found Dinah's character design "striking" and with the potential to appeal to fans of the Gothic Lolita fashion. Criticism focused on the writing, "uneven pacing", flat characters, Anime News Network's Zac Bertschy heavily criticized Bizenghast for the "slightly modified generic monster-of-the-week cliché" plot, one-dimensional characters, and art. David Welsh compared Bizenghast to "a cosplay of a horror manga", and wrote: "It's got a handle on the cosmetics, but central elements of story and character are vague and underdeveloped."

In his review of the novel adaptation, Mania Entertainment's Greg Hackmann disliked the large amount of description, the "inconsistent" narration, and felt that the novel was more of a "novelization in the most literal sense of the word, reading much less like an adaptation in the spirit of LeGrow's work than a 1-to-1 copy of the source material." Conversely, Sabrina Fritz wrote that the novel adaptation was "well-written, [and] engaging" and called it "one of the best light novels on the market". Another reviewer for Mania Entertainment, Danielle Van Gorder, enjoyed "[t]he detail and perspective in the architectural drawings" and "incredibly detailed costumes" of the art book Falling into Fear.

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Bizenghast at Tokyopop's website
Bizenghast iManga #1: Little Girl Lost at YouTube