First, a brief update on the Christopher Handley case. A source who prefers to remain anonymous tells me that Handley’s sentencing is scheduled for August 18, though “the pre-trial probation officer said it might take longer to get their report done.”

And now some fun news, for a change.

On June 11, I had the enormous privilege of attending a party in Tokyo celebrating Moto Hagio’s 40th year as a professional manga artist. I’m guessing there were maybe 200 people at the main reception, maybe 60 or so at the post-party-party, and about 30 at the post-post-party-party.

The main reception was held at the Tokyo Kaikan. The hosts of the party included such luminaries as Galaxy Express 999 creator Leiji Matsumoto, Tomorrow’s Joe creator Tetsuya Chiba, and science fiction author Baku Yumemakura. One of the highlights for me was a performance by biwa musician Gessui Kuroda. Setting to music lyrics written by Hagio for her fantasy classic Gin no sankaku (“The Silver Triangle”), Gessui delivered a powerful and otherwordly performance that gave me goosebumps.

This was probably one of the few formal receptions I’ve ever attended that I can say I truly enjoyed. This sort of thing tends to (naturally) be attended almost exclusively by people involved in the manga industry, but at this party there were people from a dazzling variety of fields: theater (director Hideki Noda was there); science-fiction author Mari Kotani (who I hadn’t seen in ages!); film; music; fine art; et cetera.

I got to see some people I hadn’t seen in a long time (such as erotic manga artist Milk Morizono), and got to meet some people I’d never met before, such as: Patalliro! creator Mineo Maya (and his lovely wife and daughter); pioneering shoujo manga art Miyako Maki; sci-fi manga artist Reiko Shimizu; and Hagio’s three charming nieces, Ikue, Satomi, and Naoko. My friend and fellow shoujo manga critic Yukari Fujimoto was there, decked out in an original Comme des Garçon T-shirt that was a collaboration between Hagio and John Galliano.

You could feel the love and admiration for Hagio in the crowd (not to mention the quality of the company she keeps), and I felt honored to be included in their numbers. It was truly a night to remember. My biggest regret is that I learned later that Nodame Cantabile creator Tomoko Ninomiya was also there, yet I missed the opportunity to meet her! She was there with her baby son. (And she came down with appendicitis the next day, which means Nodame is once again on hold!)

Now let’s see if I can convince WordPress to let me add some images.

The formalities	Gessui Kuroda playing The Silver Triangle on a biwa	Me with shoujo manga legend Miyako Maki	The star of the show
Note the tiara!	Me with Mineo Maya	Yukari Fujimoto, Mineo Maya, his daughter, Reiko Shimizu, and Mayas wife	Me with the Hagio nieces, Ikue, Naoko, and Satomi
Me and Hagio	Me with Chiho Saito