Chances are, if you read this, your children are crazy about Japanese comics and animation. They might beg you to buy the next book or DVD that you have never heard. “What’s going on here?!” You might ask yourself. “We are Americans! Why do my children like these Japanese things?”
Hopefully, I can help make a little attraction of Japanese comics. I am a comic book artist and manga fans who live in Japan for 2 years. My wife is Japanese and after several years of learning I can say that I am quite good at speaking languages. Whether you are a parent or just someone who is interested in what all the commotion, I will do our best to explain.
First of all, said Manga means comic book in Japanese. Most of the manga is much smaller in the size of American comic books but the length of each problem will be around 200 pages per compared to our 24-32. In Japan, these long comic books are issued every month! You usually have one main artist who gets the top credit for pencil art and is ink (usually writing stories too) but don’t be fooled. It is impossible for one person to do all the work in a 200-page comic book every month. Believe me, as a comic artist myself, I know. The majority of manga-trains (comic book artists) in Japan have several assistants working with them. They usually take care of drawing backgrounds and ink panels on all pages.
Before living in Japan, I think Japanese comic artists never sleep! I don’t know that they usually have between 3-5 assistants at a time. Yes, they still have to work hard to stay schedule but they are not robots I have ever thought they are! Why is their comic book for so long? Manga is intended to be read quickly as an escape from everyday life. I am amazed to see so many Japanese entrepreneurs on the train reading manga on the way from work. Students read manga during class (I know it’s hard to believe in some of you!). These stories usually focus on dynamic actions, drama or off beat humor.
I feel very strange to live in society where everything goes smoothly and people are serious about following the rules and respecting others. In the place where what is good for the group is better than what is good for someone, reading the manga seems to be one thing that people can do for yourself. People of all ages from 7-87 read comic books in Japan. The story of comic books is far โดจิน more creative than what is done in America. There are several rules in what kind of story or how crazy the idea must be in the manga.
I think this is one reason people here buy manga like it will get out of style! I am a teacher and many middle and secondary school students told me that they were bored with the same old old hero story. They can be predicted and tend to be boring because some things work like real life. Super die characters and life back, bad people have never been truly defeated and the idea of a muscular man with tights just looks ridiculous. You will not find superheroes in Japanese comic books. They prefer to show that you don’t have to be able to lift the building to deal with difficult situations and still confidence.
Manga tends to have more sympathetic characters that can be connected by adolescents and adolescents. There are comics from every genre known to humans, such as fantasy and ninja action but there are many romance comics and soap opera style stories. The stories can be more complicated with bends and turns that really guides you to the real tip of the series. Most manga runs for a certain time and then end. They did not last forever because there was a story to tell and after completion, it was finished.