Glass no Kamen © Miuchi Suzue/
Hakusensha
Published in Indonesia as
Topeng Kaca and
Topeng Kaca: Bidadari Merah
by Elex Media Komputindo
Indonesian manga publisher Elex Media announced this week that Miuchi Suzue's Topeng Kaca (Glass no Kamen) has been approved for reprint. The news stands (not newsstands) to put readers who have long been searching for the now out of print early volumes of the ongoing shoujo classic out of their misery.
Elex plans to reincarnate Topeng Kaca in bunkoban, which means different covers and thicker and fewer volumes that would each retail for more than the IDR 15,000 tankoubon standard. (For instance, Elex imprint Level Comics' Genius Family Company's bunko which carries a suggested retail price of IDR 28,000 each.)
As of this post's publication, the reprint project has already entered production (re-editing) phase. A speedy Japanese approval of the re-edited material willing, Elex intends to publish the Topeng Kaca bunko starting this 2010.
[Via Elex Media per 29 April 2010]
For readers who have come into manga fairly recently and may not be acquainted with this shoujo best-seller (50 million copies in 2006), Glass no Kamen follows actress Kitajima Maya in her quest to hone her craft. Below is Wikipedia's synopsis:
Glass Mask is a saga depicting the devotion of Maya Kitajima to the performing arts as a professional stage actress, and her competition with her skilled rival, Ayumi Himekawa. They are both pursuing the degree of acting proficiency and career success required to play the lead role of the legendary stage play "The Crimson Goddess" ("Kurenai Tennyo"). Maya is not particularly beautiful or smart in school, but her passion for acting is all-consuming, to the point where she literally puts her own life on the line several times for the sake of a role. Always told by her mother that she was good for nothing, Maya wants to prove to the world and to herself that she has worth. On the other hand, everyone expects the gifted and multi-talented Ayumi to succeed, so she is determined to reach the top on her own without the help of her prestigious parents. —Wikipedia
Wikipedia also explains the genesis of the manga title:
The title refers poetically to the mask of faces that actors wear - while expressing emotions that are not their own, the mask they wear (their acting) is as fragile as glass. If the actors are distracted, their mask will “break” and show on stage the actors' true feelings.
Glass no Kamen has been adapted into anime (2xTV series and OVA) and live-action drama. Albeit still ongoing (44 volumes released as per 2009.08; 24 bunkoban by 2010.01), the series is expected to end soon, says the manga-ka. The Indonesian publication is up to volume 43 (Topeng Kaca: Bidadari Merah (Glass Mask: The Crimson Angel) volume 10).
Topeng Kaca is one of many titles requested for re-release. One (if not the biggest) barrier to republishing older series in Indonesia, according to Elex, is the reluctance of some Japanese publishing houses to have their manga reprinted in jurisdictions where piracy remains rife.
I personally welcome this news, having never read Topeng Kaca. My happiness would be complete if Elex were to also reprint Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura.
~niki DBA huamulan03 (花木蘭03)
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