Anne Ishii in Conversation with Ryan Holmberg - Gay Manga, Gengoroh Tagame & Translating Japanese

 Anne Ishii in Conversation with Ryan Holmberg - Gay Manga, Gengoroh Tagame & Translating Japanese

Kevin Cortez (video) and Fantom Headquarters

 Sep 4, 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1cZsmdoYNA

Manga historian, scholar, and translator Ryan Holmberg sits down with musician, artist, and translator Anne Ishii for a conversation about translation! The two discuss Ishii's work translating Gengoroh Tagame's gay erotic manga for American audiences, general workflows, working with mangaka, and translating Japanese. This conversation was recorded at Fantom Comics ( ‪@FantomComicsHQ‬) in Washington, DC, on July 11, 2026, as part of Tagame's latest release, Fish and Water, published by Pantheon Graphic Library. Order Fish and Water by Gengoroh Tagame, translated by Anne Ishii https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo... I'd love to document more of these conversations and help make them accessible to readers everywhere. So, if you dig this video please give it a like, let us know in the comments, and tell us what else you'd like to see.

July 11: TRANSLATORS IN CONVERSATION: FISH & WATER BY GENGOROH TAGAME at Fantom comics

TRANSLATORS IN CONVERSATION: FISH & WATER BY GENGOROH TAGAME
Translator ANNE ISHII interviewed by RYAN HOLMBERG
>> SATURDAY, JULY 11th @ 6:30pm
Two titans of manga translation here at Fantom at the same time!! ANNE ISHII visits DC to celebrate her translation of FISH AND WATER, the new slice-of-life romance by gay manga master GENGOROH TAGAME (My Brother’s Husband, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame). Ishii is the co-founder of MASSIVE and is largely responsible for Tagame’s work reaching an English-speaking audience, having translated & edited all his work published in the U.S.

Anne will sit down at Fantom to chat with manga historian, editor, and translator RYAN HOLMBERG—both of these friends of Fantom have forged their own unique careers translating & championing very different kinds of alternative manga.

Fish and Water follows the chance romance of two men in an unassuming friendship. Akira, a business sales administrator, and Koji, a freelance writer, quickly become close buddies even as social-distancing regulations bar most connections during the pandemic. One day, during a visit with a farm client, Akira is offered a case of freshly picked cabbage. Since no one at his office wants it and he is a disaster in the kitchen, Akira decides to see if Koji (who loves to cook) might be interested. Koji accepts and invites Akira to join him for dinner. Lonely in the midst of pandemic-related shutdowns, Akira welcomes the chance, and one meal becomes many. They become quite relaxed with each other, creating an amusing but emotionally perplexing scenario. Eventually, Akira and Koji grapple with deciding if they are just friends, or something more.

Available in-store and on our website: https://stores.comichub.com/fantom_comics/products/fish-and-water