Eyestrain: The Manga Edition

There continues to be a fair bit of criticism of the manga releases of Kodansha Comics. It seems production values are sloppy enough to hint there aren't many people working on the English-language versions, and since the company has next to no online presence that just seems to back up those accusations. Something about all of this does trouble me. For some reason, I can't just brush off the whole deal and stop buying their manga as I seem to have with a number of other companies in the past; as much as I can wonder if any of the titles I buy from them are ones I really, really want to read (although that just might be the case with most of the manga I buy; the last title that seemed to really, really grab me was "Twin Spica" from Vertical), maybe I have some long-rooted attachment to what used to be the Del Rey manga releases from back when they seemed to be just about the only company that hadn't offended one particular message board I read.

However, as much as this might run the risk of "joining in" at last, I do have to now admit that some of the lettering in Kodansha's new "Love Hina" omnibuses can get very small. This does seem to match the artwork, but it can be a strain on the eyes. One of the things hopefully provoking some sympathy for the character Naru Narusegawa (comedically violent and a virtual type specimen for "there's a softer side under the frightening exterior") is that she tries to hide bad eyesight developed from studying too much. With my own eyes swimming after having to take off my glasses and get close to the pages, I wondered if we're meant to sympathise with her in more ways than one...