Good lord! I had to write an 8-page, double spaced (Thank the lord!) research report. Guess what I did it on? Lol, Anime and manga of course! XD Here it is if any of you want to take the time to read it's crappiness!
A new Pop-Culture:
Manga Boom
Most of America remembers reading comics such as “Batman” and “Spiderman” when they were growing up. But now, a new form of graphic novel has taken over. It’s called, manga, and it has become the main form of graphic novel entertainment in the world over all. Manga is the Japanese style of comic creation, and it’s taking over.
Originating in Japan, manga, according to wikipedia, in their modern form, date shortly after World War two, though manga has a long and complex history in Japanese art. It may seem like the manga boom in American bookstores came out of nowhere, but manga was long in the US before the books were being sold in bookstores. The hit television show, “Astro Boy” is of manga origin and came to the US in 1963 (Comixtalk.com).
Manga has many styles, but the two that are most focused on are shoujo, which is normally for girls, and shonen, which is aimed particularly at boys. Since they are both generated for a specific sex, the genres differ from one another. Shoujo is mostly romance and fantasy, obviously aimed at the female sex for its emotional scenes and cute romances. Shonen, on the other hand, is almost completely action and adventure, aimed at keeping boys interested with their fight scenes. Though they are aimed at individual sexes, it is not uncommon for girls to read shonen and boys to read shoujo.
Manga is a 40% of everything published each year in Japan, and many of those titles make their way to the US. Manga has had such a large influence on America to the point that we now have one of the largest manga creator and licensor; Tokyopop. Tokyopop had over forty million dollars in sales last year. One of their major sellers was “Fruits Basket”, a definite shoujo manga. The reason shoujo manga is more profitable is because 60% of manga readers are female, a feat that American comics never accomplished (Time Magazine).
“Manga is a lifestyle” says Stu Levy, Tokyopop CEO. This is true in some ways. A traditional paperback manga (with about 200 pages) cost about ten dollars-- about an hour’s worth of babysitting. Lessens are taught in manga as well like never giving up, chase your dreams, and miracles can happen. And these lessons are told from a teenaged boy or girl just like the reader. Some manga become so welled liked by some readers that the armature artists create Doujinshi-- fan-based manga using characters from a licensed manga.
As of December 2007, American manga publishers have released 1300 to 1400 titles. As a 180 million dollar market in 2005, major publishing houses are rushing into the business. “Books are not a growth business,” says Milton Griepp, CEO of ICv2.com; a pop-culture news site. “But the manga category has tripled in the last three years.”
Many American artists have begun drawing a manga crossbreed between Japanese manga and American style cartooning, though it has not become as widespread as traditional manga. Popular magazines such as “Time” and the “Wall Street Journal” have begun to talk about the popular new culture coming to America and many newspapers have started to put small manga illustrations in their comic sections. There are also many magazines dedicated purely to manga and anime (animated manga cartoons).
This rising pop culture is making its mark on American cartoons as well. Anime influence on today’s American television cartoons is very evident through the style they are created. The shape of the faces and eyes are very anime like in general, but other small things like the actions of the characters and scenery are also much influenced. Personalities are also very much like personalities you would find in manga. The distinct styles of American and Japanese cartoons are blending into a sub-art that is further expanding on American screens.
Japanimation has also hit the big screen in the US. That’s right, live action films based on anime and anime cartoons themselves have made the big screen in America and continue to do so. Speed Racer, one of the first anime to appear on American televisions, is one of the more known live action films created from an anime. Noted on the news at theotaku.com, the newly released Dragonball Z live action film, Dragonball: Evolution, brought in 4.8 million dollars in America, making the top ten rankings. It made 25 million dollars world wide with more theater releases to come.
Also, according to an anime blog and news site, theanimeblog.com, a rumor that the silver screen “heart-throb” Leonardo DiCaprio might be playing the angsty persona of Kaneda in the Warner Brother’s live action adaptation of the ionic anime and manga “Akira” or in Warner Brother’s live action adaptation of the hit anime “Ninja Scroll”. And more are on their way! Apparently Mandalay Pictures has landed the rights to create a movie adaptation of comedy action series Full Metal Panic. Zac Efron of High School Musical fame is currently leading the show in contending for the part of main character Sousuke Sagara.
Anime itself has hit the big screen a few times for a one night only occasion. “Naruto The Movie” was premiered on June 6th, 2007 for one night only. Theaters were packed and sold out all over the country. Many fans didn’t cut it for their local theater and had to drive to a neighboring town, city, or even state to watch the phenomenon of the most popular anime in the world to make its premiere on the silver screen.
These days, despite the arguments of others, manga is becoming more recognized as an art style in America. Art colleges are offering comic illustration classes that incorporate manga styles for enrolling students and middle and high school students who have registered to take summer classes there. The Pottstown Mercury did an article on a woman starting a summer course for high school and middle school students. This summer course is dedicated completely to the art of manga creating.
Manga has also hit technology with a boom. Websites upon websites of manga fan basses have been made. Manga licensors have made websites to promote their companies. At Tokyopop.com, you can become a member to their website, read manga chapters online and even post your fan art up. Young, aspiring mangaka can post their own, original manga in hopes of being noticed and hired by Tokyopop. Manga readers in Japan can even read the first few pages of a manga from their cell phones to see if they like the comic before they buy them!
Other websites are created just to read manga. For example, at mangavolume.com, you can read just about any title, no matter whom the publisher, for free.
Manga has become so popular and widespread that fans have their own name and subculture. This subculture is called Otaku. Otaku’s more modern definition is “one who is obsessed (with manga/gaming)”. Otaku are people who read and watch manga and anime to the extent that they can be called true fans. It doesn’t always have to be an obsession, despite the definition. Extreme otaku are aggressive when it comes to defending their love for manga. “I have often heard otaku claim that Japanese comics are superior to American comics.” says Ray Mescallado.
Some of the fanatics even cosplay. Cosplay is when a fan dresses up as their favorite character from a show, movie, video game, etc. The most popular places to see cosplay is at anime and cosplay conventions. These conventions are normally nomadic, moving from place to place to give cosplayers from all around to join in the fun. Though, at both types of conventions, anime and manga are sold.
It’s true, anime and manga are not only sold in bookstores and comic bookstores. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find them in strange places like magazine stores. And even though anime is found in video game stores, it is also conventional to find their comic counterparts as well.
Nowadays, manga are even being put into local libraries and even some school libraries. They are also sold at book fairs at schools. For most fans of manga, manga is an escape from their reality into a realm of unknown where all of their wildest fantasies can become something real. Readers are more attracted to something that reflects their dream life, or something they wish could be real. That’s why there are few manga about an ordinary life.
I believe that there is much to learn about the new pop culture taking America by storm. The misunderstandings of the beauty and art of manga must be corrected in order for the society of manga to thrive, even if it’s keeping Japan alive. In the News Nuggets of theotaku.com, it is said that in the wavering economy, that because of anime and manga, Japan might be spared from the economic slaughterhouse. The prime minister, Taro Aso, will be creating four million jobs. Five hundred thousand of those jobs will be in the manga field.
This new world popular culture has been embraced and accepted through the eyes of the fan. It’s time that America as a whole took it in and acknowledged the impact Japanese graphic novel has had on our society and finally allowed it to become an art style in America as well. In this economic fall, manga could well be a great hope to revive us. It’s hit our big screens as both live action films and anime, and impacts our American comics and cartoons. The style is being taught in summer classes at some art colleges and the novels are in public libraries. Manga is the Japanese style of comic creation, and it’s taking over.
Ok... so I've finally started up on your requests... I'm so sorry that I've procrastinated for so long it's just that since there were so many I wouldn't have gotten many of the peices I wanted to get in. But I promise, unless it's something that I do really quick and is really good, I will only post up your requests!
Another thing, once I open up the request world again, please, only one request per month per person. I was getting like three or four requests from each member and I was all like, "OMG! SO many!" But I still feel obligated to do them all! So please, go easy on me -_-' I'm not an art god, lol...
~Aki-chan
