An Overview on Manga

Our class will be venturing into Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen shortly, so I decided to bring up the basics of manga (Which is Japanese for "whimsical pictures.") first. Only recently has the public been aware of manga even though it has not achieved total mainstream success. You have Pokemon, Naruto and Dragonball to name off your tongue. But where did this art form come from? A fellow classmate once said that manga was basically "anime on paper." I would not agree with that statement entirely, because anime (Japanese animation) is usually adapted from manga. As a manga reader and supporter, I will be happy inform visitors about this encompassing art medium.

The format of manga that is known today emerged shortly after the U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II. U.S. GIs would bring comic books and cartoons from the U.S., especially Disney cartoons. Ever wonder why most manga and anime characters has such large eyes? Compare those characters to Disney and the connection shall strike you. Osamu Tezuka, considered the "grandfather of manga" and the creator of Astro Boy, was credited for pioneering a medium in a time when Japan was shifting from an imperialist government to a more democratic one.

Unlike Western comics, which are read from left to right, manga is read from right to left. New readers will undoubtably be confused by the reading style (I myself was thrown off at first.) but reading right to left will become second nature for those who continue to indulge into the medium. There is controversy of Western editors whether to reformat Japanese comics into a left-to-right format. Critics argue that would mess up the flow of the storyline if the format was altered from its original form. I would have to agree with the critics, even though there are a few exceptions of manga series being translated such as Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal and Barefoot Gen.

Also unlike most Western comics, manga is not directed just for children and teenangers. In fact, manga is read by everyone in Japan! Manga encompasses a wide range of ages and backgrounds. A business suit would be reading the Wall Street Journal on the way to work but a business suit in Japan would be reading into their favorite manga while taking the subway. Japanese writers and artists command high respect in the craft of creating comics, much like the acclaim is received by film directors and writers in the West.

Are Western comics and literature influenced by manga? The manga version of Karl Marx's Das Kapital was recently released in light of the current recession Japan is undergoing. Manga was a heavily influence on Frank Miller, who used a Japanese influence in the Sin City series. American artists have jumped into the act of creating their own manga-inspired comics. One famous example would be Fred Gallagher, creator of the popular webcomic Megatokyo. Manga is especially a heavy influence for webcomics, which I will explore in a future post.

Like Western graphic novels, various Japanese comics have won various prestigious awards. Blade of the Immortal, which is about a samurai who tries to rid of his immortality by slaying a thousand evil men, earned the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in 2000.

To me, manga is a fun subject to cover because of its history, its cultural roots and even controversies. There are people out there who claim that manga is not really "art" but have probably either been turned off by Japanese comics at first or never took a glimpse at them at all. In manga, there is always something for everyone.

- Kristopher