![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
s2m no Tabi no Monogatari, Day 2 part 2
So!
Shoujo editors (SE) #1 and 2 and Clay editor (CE) #1 were all walking towards me. I'll spare you the smiles and hugs of greeting. XD We moseyed out of Viz with a promise of a tour from SE #1 upon our return and walked to the Viz Cafeteria, which is actually a sushi joint about 5 blocks away that the office loves to eat at. Heh. We made it, yakking the whole time, and sat in the back corner at a round table. More yakking!! It was great to talk shop with people whom I don't have to define manga and lettering terminology for, and to not be the Freak Who Knows Too Much About Anime. I admit I did most of the talking. ^^V
Finally, SE #1 pointed out it was time to head back. SE #2 and CE #1 went inside Viz through the back door, while SE #1 and I returned to enter at the intimidating front door. Lucky for me, SE #1 had cleared the rest of his schedule for the day, so he gave me the grand tour of the editing department. I met so many people! And almost all of them seemed to recognize my name. It was rather intimidating. O.o Everyone was very nice and outgoing, even the ones who were obviously busy smiled and said hiwhile I drooled over the gigantic flat-screen monitors on every single desk.
Of course, immense poster-sized printout of famous Viz characters decorated the walls and were proudly displayed. I even saw one for Skip! XD Though I don't remember anything for Clay....but of course everyone's desk and cubicle area was covered with goodies. I saw so many awesome toys!! And DVDs and books! They were piled on chairs, on shelves, on desks, on the floor. Everywhere! Viz manga and DVDs, Japanese imported manga and DVDs, a sitting-area table full of Japanese manga mags, issues of Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump all over the place, and boxes and stacks of manga that Viz is thinking of licensing. Including one that made my jaw drop, but gomen--I'm sworn to secrecy. :3
I thnk the best way to describe the appearance of Viz is to imagine the dealers room of an anime convention. Make it bright, open, and well-lighted. Remove all the non-anime and manga boothsthat get have ruined the con experience and replace with desks and more anime and manga booths. Evenly scatter desks with lovely flat-screen monitors I want one around the place, and cover every level surface liberally with books, mags, DVDs, and anime goodies. Once you've covered them all, give them a second layer of the same. Remove all fanbrats and stinky otaku types and replace with sane, working professionals who hopefully remember to shower.
Highlights of all my intros were meeting the main editor for the Shojo Beat mag (she's so cute! XD), the Acquisitions Guy who investigates new titles and seeks out licenses for the same from Japan (more on this later), and of course the other two editors I've worked for. Senior Editor Who Loves me was out for the day, but I did get to meet SE #3, Naruto Editor (NE), and CE #3. Funny story about that. SE #1 intro'd me to NE and CE #3, who sits right next to NE. NE smiled and said "hi!" and obviously wanted to say more, when CE #3 leaped out of her chair and pretty much dragged me outside with her so she could smokeand play hooky. NE was rather shocked at the "hi-bye", and I have him a "Whaaaa..?!" look as she pulled me away. But I figured I could chat with him later, so I went along with CE #3 and just made sure to stand upwind as we yakked IRL. ^^ *doesn't smoke*
Once I returned indoors (in and out through the back door this time) the intro's continued. I finaly was able to chat with NE, who asked me again if I would letter more Naruto. My reply was the same, of course I would love to--if I can fit it into my schedule. XD I noticed a major Naruto Shippuuden spoiler in the Japanese manga volume he was holding. (me: "Oh, it's XXX." NE: "No, that's YYY." Me: "But he has NNN-- Me internally: crap major spoiler liek whoa! >< Me aloud: "...Oh." Both me and NE look kinda sheepish. The chatting moves on.) NE also gave me a 2nd copy of my 1st Naruto volume, #21, which won't be out in stores until early October. *anime villainess laughter b/c she has her copies earrrrlyyyyyyy!* XD Speaking of which...
ZOMG, my name is on the same page as Kishimoto-sensei's!!!!! *dies*
*is resurrected*
*dies again*
AHEM! Continuing.
SE #1 also pointed out the anime editing room, where they tweak all of Viz's anime titles. It was surprisingly small, and had a minimum of equipment. I was surprised. And also rather glad that the anime editors were out on lunch, since I didn't want to be exposed to one of my beloved titles in English. *shudders*
And the Viz Library. O.o Wow. Double-stacked shelves filled with manga in Japanese and English...Viz has subscriptions to all the main manga mags in Japan, and the issues were all over the place. And sooo many books...*drools* I could spend hours in the Viz Library and only surface for food and bathroom breaks. *drools some more* I'd never get any work done if I had a cubicle at Viz. I'd be too busy reading all the free stuff laying around.
We bumped into CE#1 several times, and she gave me an awesome gift: a figure of my fave Bleach character, Urahara!! XD He's dressed (highlight for Bleach spoilers, not sure when, but definitely after vol 15/half-way through the Soul Society arc) in his Shinigami captain's garb, and looking very sexy. I happily carried him all round the Viz office with me. XD SE #1 also found tons of freebies and Viz souvenirs for me. Highlights of those are a Viz bowling shirt (bwa? Do they have a team?), the Hana-kimi art book, the compilation volume of the English (for posterity), and DVDs of the first Naruto movie and the first Naruto oav. Oh yes, and tons of manga books. I could have taken a bunch more, but I knew I'd have to either cart them on the plane or mail them home, so I resisted my greedy fangirlish tendencies.
Once the intro's were complete, SE #2 joined us, and she kindly drove us to Japantown. (And she isn't as scary a driver as that airport shuttle cabbie, but it was stil scary. I think you have to drive scary if you want to survive driving in downtown San Fran.)
And on that note, I'll save the rest for part three. ^^
Oh yes, and about the Acquisitions Guy. He was very friendly, and of course SE #1 asked if I had any suggestions for titles for AG to check into. Naturally my mind immediately blanked out. But I finally remembered to sing the praises of Violist of Hameln--a personal favorite and one I intend to import...all 30+ volumes...and Tantei Gakuen Q, to fulfill a promise to Star-chan. I even remembered the other works that the TGQ artist and writer have worked on, if not their names. Yay me! But alas, I don't think either title will make it here, at least by Viz, anytime soon. They're both older titles, and Viz is interested in the really new stuff. Woe...but mattaku, I tried!!! I do wish I'd known I would meet AQ, though. I would have studied up on Hameln JIC, and looked into some new stuff to rec!! It would be awesome to say "This title is here b/c I suggested it!!" You know, like I can say about Urahara's hat. Heeeeeee. That's another story I need to blog about. XD
Finally, SE #1 pointed out it was time to head back. SE #2 and CE #1 went inside Viz through the back door, while SE #1 and I returned to enter at the intimidating front door. Lucky for me, SE #1 had cleared the rest of his schedule for the day, so he gave me the grand tour of the editing department. I met so many people! And almost all of them seemed to recognize my name. It was rather intimidating. O.o Everyone was very nice and outgoing, even the ones who were obviously busy smiled and said hi
I thnk the best way to describe the appearance of Viz is to imagine the dealers room of an anime convention. Make it bright, open, and well-lighted. Remove all the non-anime and manga booths
Highlights of all my intros were meeting the main editor for the Shojo Beat mag (she's so cute! XD), the Acquisitions Guy who investigates new titles and seeks out licenses for the same from Japan (more on this later), and of course the other two editors I've worked for. Senior Editor Who Loves me was out for the day, but I did get to meet SE #3, Naruto Editor (NE), and CE #3. Funny story about that. SE #1 intro'd me to NE and CE #3, who sits right next to NE. NE smiled and said "hi!" and obviously wanted to say more, when CE #3 leaped out of her chair and pretty much dragged me outside with her so she could smoke
Once I returned indoors (in and out through the back door this time) the intro's continued. I finaly was able to chat with NE, who asked me again if I would letter more Naruto. My reply was the same, of course I would love to--if I can fit it into my schedule. XD I noticed a major Naruto Shippuuden spoiler in the Japanese manga volume he was holding. (me: "Oh, it's XXX." NE: "No, that's YYY." Me: "But he has NNN-- Me internally: crap major spoiler liek whoa! >< Me aloud: "...Oh." Both me and NE look kinda sheepish. The chatting moves on.) NE also gave me a 2nd copy of my 1st Naruto volume, #21, which won't be out in stores until early October. *anime villainess laughter b/c she has her copies earrrrlyyyyyyy!* XD Speaking of which...
ZOMG, my name is on the same page as Kishimoto-sensei's!!!!! *dies*
*is resurrected*
*dies again*
AHEM! Continuing.
SE #1 also pointed out the anime editing room, where they tweak all of Viz's anime titles. It was surprisingly small, and had a minimum of equipment. I was surprised. And also rather glad that the anime editors were out on lunch, since I didn't want to be exposed to one of my beloved titles in English. *shudders*
And the Viz Library. O.o Wow. Double-stacked shelves filled with manga in Japanese and English...Viz has subscriptions to all the main manga mags in Japan, and the issues were all over the place. And sooo many books...*drools* I could spend hours in the Viz Library and only surface for food and bathroom breaks. *drools some more* I'd never get any work done if I had a cubicle at Viz. I'd be too busy reading all the free stuff laying around.
We bumped into CE#1 several times, and she gave me an awesome gift: a figure of my fave Bleach character, Urahara!! XD He's dressed (highlight for Bleach spoilers, not sure when, but definitely after vol 15/half-way through the Soul Society arc) in his Shinigami captain's garb, and looking very sexy. I happily carried him all round the Viz office with me. XD SE #1 also found tons of freebies and Viz souvenirs for me. Highlights of those are a Viz bowling shirt (bwa? Do they have a team?), the Hana-kimi art book, the compilation volume of the English (for posterity), and DVDs of the first Naruto movie and the first Naruto oav. Oh yes, and tons of manga books. I could have taken a bunch more, but I knew I'd have to either cart them on the plane or mail them home, so I resisted my greedy fangirlish tendencies.
Once the intro's were complete, SE #2 joined us, and she kindly drove us to Japantown. (And she isn't as scary a driver as that airport shuttle cabbie, but it was stil scary. I think you have to drive scary if you want to survive driving in downtown San Fran.)
And on that note, I'll save the rest for part three. ^^
Oh yes, and about the Acquisitions Guy. He was very friendly, and of course SE #1 asked if I had any suggestions for titles for AG to check into. Naturally my mind immediately blanked out. But I finally remembered to sing the praises of Violist of Hameln--a personal favorite and one I intend to import...all 30+ volumes...and Tantei Gakuen Q, to fulfill a promise to Star-chan. I even remembered the other works that the TGQ artist and writer have worked on, if not their names. Yay me! But alas, I don't think either title will make it here, at least by Viz, anytime soon. They're both older titles, and Viz is interested in the really new stuff. Woe...but mattaku, I tried!!! I do wish I'd known I would meet AQ, though. I would have studied up on Hameln JIC, and looked into some new stuff to rec!! It would be awesome to say "This title is here b/c I suggested it!!" You know, like I can say about Urahara's hat. Heeeeeee. That's another story I need to blog about. XD