Hey, Hypothetical Reader! Wanna Talk About Manga?
Hey! Hypothetical Reader!
LUCAS!
HYPOTHETICAL READER!
LUCAS!
Wanna talk about manga?
Seriously? Manga?
It's actually pronounced manga.
I don't think that's going to work in type unless you spell out how we're pronouncing it. Anyway, here on your blog about books you expect us to have a serious conversation about those funny backwards comics from Japan?
Wouldn't be the first time.
Well, yeah, but that's because if, and I quote, you reads, it ledes.
End quote.
Quite.
Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on it, I mean I did take that "Japanese Popular Culture" class in college, and I've read the work of several well-known mangaka like Shigeru Mizuki, Akira Toriyama, Osamu Tezuka, and Katsuhiro Otomo.
Mizuki isn't that well-known outside Japan. Also, western audiences would be more familiar with Toriyama, Tezuka, and Otomo from the anime adaptations of their work.
Well, Otomo did also direct the anime of Akira. And he correctly predicted that the 2020 Summer Olympics would be held in Tokyo.
Neo-Tokyo.
Still. My point is that manga is more than just silly backwards comics from Japan. Also, I should point out that in Japan, books are–
I know, printed from right to left. As are comics.
And some manga is flipped left-to-right when translated into English.
You're being a bit too literal-minded.
I suppose I am. But like I was saying. Manga can be the medium for telling any type of story. In America we tend to think of superheroes when we think about comic books. So much so that one of the major works of the medium is a deconstruction of superhero tropes. But comics can tell any type of story the writer and artist want to. The same is true of manga. In America we probably would tend to think of manga through the lens of popular anime like Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z.
Sounds like someone's living in the 90s.
Fine, like Naruto or My Hero Academia. Just like with American comic books, in manga there are entire genres where the intended audience is adults (well, geeky adults anyway), covering such topics as: adulting, the life of Buddha, old-looking children with psychokinetic powers, and, of course, traveling monster hunters in modern attire in late Edo/early Meiji era Japan.
Hmm, a couple of those examples sound like silly things for children.
Well, maybe. But, the point remains, like comic books, manga can be (and is) consumed by readers of all ages.
All right, you can step down from the soap-box. What exactly is it that you like about manga?
Well, again, manga is a pretty broad category. Part of it is the visual storytelling, I often find manga to have more interesting panel layouts than western comics which are often more grid-like (there are exceptions, of course). But it's also partly for the same reason I enjoy foreign language literature.
Which is?
It's a window into a different culture. Let's take Yuki Urushibara's Mushishi as an example.
Yes, let's. Before we start, though, who, or what, is a "Mushishi."
So, the title could be literally translated as "Bug-master," but in the story, mushi are these semi-magical creatures that inhabit a plane of reality intersecting ours. Usually, humans and mushi can't interact but when they do, the results can be unpleasant for both. The protagonist, Ginko, has the ability to see mushi, and uses this to help resolve problems arising from human-mushi interaction.
So, he's like an exorcist.
Yeah, kinda. Also, his presence attracts mushi, so he's always on the move so that he doesn't cause problems. But the setting is one of the unique elements of this manga. It takes place in a fictional period of Japanese history. It seems to be sometime in the 19th century (although Ginko's wardrobe and equipment have more of an early 20th century vibe), but neither in the Edo or Meiji periods. In any case, Ginko travels around the Japanese countryside, stopping at little villages where maybe there's a boy with horns or something like that. No good guys and bad guys, just a lone traveller trying to help humans coexist with the hidden world all around them. And for something that will often deal with body horror or ghost story tropes, it's surprisingly chill.
I still think it sounds a little silly.
Well, maybe, but manga does also cover serious topics. Like Shigeru Mizuki's Showa, a massive historical/autobiographical work covering Japan's history from 1926-1989 (the reign of Hirohito). Mizuki doesn't flinch from depicting the horrors of war as he documents the events leading up to WWII or the ways in which the war affected his own family. He also strikes a balance between showing the effects of the war (and post-war period) on the Japanese people without diminishing Japan's culpability in the war.
Sounds like kind of a bummer.
Well, history is kind of a bummer. In any case, Mizuki also pulls of a neat trick by integrating nearly photorealistic art with his own cartoony style. Which may or may not work for you. But have I convinced you that manga is more than just transformation sequences and power levels?
But it's okay if it's also those things, right?
Of course.
I guess you've convinced me then.
That's the spirit.
Links:
As you can tell from the opening theme from the anime adaptation, Mushishi is super chill.
In addition to his historical manga, Mizuki is also known for creating Gegege no Kitaro, which draws on monsters and ghosts from Japanese folklore. Here are the opening sequences from the first and most recent anime adaptations.
LUCAS!
HYPOTHETICAL READER!
LUCAS!
Wanna talk about manga?
 |
| Most of the manga that survived the most recent purge. |
Seriously? Manga?
It's actually pronounced manga.
I don't think that's going to work in type unless you spell out how we're pronouncing it. Anyway, here on your blog about books you expect us to have a serious conversation about those funny backwards comics from Japan?
Wouldn't be the first time.
Well, yeah, but that's because if, and I quote, you reads, it ledes.
End quote.
Quite.
Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on it, I mean I did take that "Japanese Popular Culture" class in college, and I've read the work of several well-known mangaka like Shigeru Mizuki, Akira Toriyama, Osamu Tezuka, and Katsuhiro Otomo.
 |
| When it comes to manga, I'm basic. |
Mizuki isn't that well-known outside Japan. Also, western audiences would be more familiar with Toriyama, Tezuka, and Otomo from the anime adaptations of their work.
Well, Otomo did also direct the anime of Akira. And he correctly predicted that the 2020 Summer Olympics would be held in Tokyo.
Neo-Tokyo.
Still. My point is that manga is more than just silly backwards comics from Japan. Also, I should point out that in Japan, books are–
I know, printed from right to left. As are comics.
And some manga is flipped left-to-right when translated into English.
You're being a bit too literal-minded.
I suppose I am. But like I was saying. Manga can be the medium for telling any type of story. In America we tend to think of superheroes when we think about comic books. So much so that one of the major works of the medium is a deconstruction of superhero tropes. But comics can tell any type of story the writer and artist want to. The same is true of manga. In America we probably would tend to think of manga through the lens of popular anime like Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z.
Sounds like someone's living in the 90s.
Fine, like Naruto or My Hero Academia. Just like with American comic books, in manga there are entire genres where the intended audience is adults (well, geeky adults anyway), covering such topics as: adulting, the life of Buddha, old-looking children with psychokinetic powers, and, of course, traveling monster hunters in modern attire in late Edo/early Meiji era Japan.
 |
| Some manga are more mature than you might think. |
Hmm, a couple of those examples sound like silly things for children.
Well, maybe. But, the point remains, like comic books, manga can be (and is) consumed by readers of all ages.
All right, you can step down from the soap-box. What exactly is it that you like about manga?
Well, again, manga is a pretty broad category. Part of it is the visual storytelling, I often find manga to have more interesting panel layouts than western comics which are often more grid-like (there are exceptions, of course). But it's also partly for the same reason I enjoy foreign language literature.
Which is?
It's a window into a different culture. Let's take Yuki Urushibara's Mushishi as an example.
Yes, let's. Before we start, though, who, or what, is a "Mushishi."
So, the title could be literally translated as "Bug-master," but in the story, mushi are these semi-magical creatures that inhabit a plane of reality intersecting ours. Usually, humans and mushi can't interact but when they do, the results can be unpleasant for both. The protagonist, Ginko, has the ability to see mushi, and uses this to help resolve problems arising from human-mushi interaction.
So, he's like an exorcist.
Yeah, kinda. Also, his presence attracts mushi, so he's always on the move so that he doesn't cause problems. But the setting is one of the unique elements of this manga. It takes place in a fictional period of Japanese history. It seems to be sometime in the 19th century (although Ginko's wardrobe and equipment have more of an early 20th century vibe), but neither in the Edo or Meiji periods. In any case, Ginko travels around the Japanese countryside, stopping at little villages where maybe there's a boy with horns or something like that. No good guys and bad guys, just a lone traveller trying to help humans coexist with the hidden world all around them. And for something that will often deal with body horror or ghost story tropes, it's surprisingly chill.
 |
| Some manga are not. |
I still think it sounds a little silly.
Well, maybe, but manga does also cover serious topics. Like Shigeru Mizuki's Showa, a massive historical/autobiographical work covering Japan's history from 1926-1989 (the reign of Hirohito). Mizuki doesn't flinch from depicting the horrors of war as he documents the events leading up to WWII or the ways in which the war affected his own family. He also strikes a balance between showing the effects of the war (and post-war period) on the Japanese people without diminishing Japan's culpability in the war.
Sounds like kind of a bummer.
Well, history is kind of a bummer. In any case, Mizuki also pulls of a neat trick by integrating nearly photorealistic art with his own cartoony style. Which may or may not work for you. But have I convinced you that manga is more than just transformation sequences and power levels?
But it's okay if it's also those things, right?
Of course.
I guess you've convinced me then.
That's the spirit.
 |
| And some manga are written by legendary anime directors. |
Links:
As you can tell from the opening theme from the anime adaptation, Mushishi is super chill.
In addition to his historical manga, Mizuki is also known for creating Gegege no Kitaro, which draws on monsters and ghosts from Japanese folklore. Here are the opening sequences from the first and most recent anime adaptations.
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