This weekend, I can’t help but enjoy John Jakala’s slew of ideas with regards to mixing mangakas with amecomi. :3 Actually for the past two weeks, he’s been enjoying the idea of mixing eastern stories with that of the west. My favorite was the Yotsuba with Calvin and Hobbes (soo cute!) and now, even drabbling with the idea of Takeshi Obata drawing Batman. Well, why not!? Although I highly doubt they will ever drabble into creating something like that, it’d be amazing if they were commissioned to do something like it. Just make sure you have someone like Jeph Loeb as the genius to write a story for Obata, I’m sure he’ll pull it off. I mean, he made go interesting! There’s so much he can do! (obviously, I’m a fan. lol.)
What was interesting was Ed of Mangacast pointing out which of the American counterparts would draw something from Mangadom. Would you see Frank Miller drawing something like Monster or maybe Vagabond? Would you imagine Jeph Loeb writing something like Liar Game? I know a Filipino comic artist, Elmer Damaso, is drawing Speed Racer for Seven Seas (Yay, Mer!), but I guess he counts now for the American manga industry. Going back to Seven Seas, imagine Madeline Rosca drawing Card Captor Sakura and other youthful Clamp stories. It’s quite interesting, and perhaps if America’s doujin community is as nurturing as the Japanese market, we could have seen the likes of these experiments in the West.
Another interesting mix is the study on the concept of Superheroes being similar in both the West and the Japanese. Many manga fans have scrutinized the American heroes saying they don’t compare with their American counterparts. Some of my comic reading friends think that manga charas don’t compare with their superheroes. Well, read and weep, disbelievers! This article fleshes it out for you how they can be similar too… in some aspects. :3
Lovely weekend reads that made me wish that there was a Kinokuniya nearby for me to flock and oggle over books for. *prays December*. Well, this three day weekend allowed me to catch up on some fun reads, including some highly sought after Metal Gear doujins! (Yay!! Snakey-wakey schmex!!) *sigh* I hope next week, I don’t get eaten by work again. :3
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Not being able to read some of my feeds during the weekend caused me to react late about some things about this whole Global Manga rantage. The need to blog about the topic is almost ‘monumental’. In history, it is often in rabid rants and rages that people actually realize that they have to formalize something. Hence, our friend’s rantage provoked some thoughts which eventually lead to the beginning of the Global Manga Manifesto. It is an attempt to conceptualize, maybe someday formalize a burgeoning movement in the comic industry. Perhaps someday, it’ll be something that comic historians might check or follow.
To make this whole discussion more ‘global’, the issue has also been opened among the Filipino comic enthusiasts around the year 2000. During that time, a crew of manga enthusiasts published a ‘monthly’ comic called Culture Crash. It was a brave attempt in trying to mix their manga influences and American influences together. Local comic artists considered this as unoriginal because they just copied manga style. The truth is, for a manga reader, only a few elements of it really reminded readers of manga (usually just in the character design and setting) but everything else seems to be a hodgepodge of American and maybe even Filipino comic art. It is something beyond the pre-conceived notion of a manga but rather an evolved art form that utilizes some manga elements. Perhaps it is in this same notion that the term global manga has been created.
The thing I’d like to question is the technicality on the use of the word global and manga together. I was discussing with a friend on the issue and she and I are a bit confused with the whole idea. Global manga is such a colloquial term among foreign manga enthusiasts that it is indeed a proper terminology for manga-styled comics published outside of Japan. However, I somehow feel conflicted, maybe confused, that somehow Japan doesn’t seem to be included in this global manga effort. If Japanese manga is manga, and global manga is ‘distinct and not isolated from Japanese manga’, then it kind of refutes the idea that it is global, meaning Japanese manga should be a part as well as integral to this whole global manga movement. Any comic that is ‘distinct and not isolated from Japanese manga’ created and published in Japan should rightfully be a part of this movement.
But how does the West define Japanese manga and its correlations? How do you know when a drawing of global manga is distinct already from what is out there? Is Maruo Suehiro still a manga or a global manga? How can you say that Elmer Damaso’s Speed Racer be different from how Yellow Tanabe draws Kekkaishi? Isn’t the mere mention of global and manga a complete contradiction already? If global is encompassing, then manga is limiting. Am I right in being confused here?
I think that if they are included, they are part in part a source or a point of reference, but they don’t feel like they’re part of this genre. Unless I maybe misreading it, either the definition of global manga is really just manga created outside of Japan by non-Japanese people, maybe something closer to ‘外漫画’ or it really is just an overcomplicated politicized definition of manga. Because from my understanding, manga has always been global in its essence. The only thing that made manga ‘manga’ is the fact that it’s in the Japanese language, published in Japan, and has a Japanese perspective. In the end, like others, it’s just a comic, which in Japan, they call ‘manga’. The reason why we appreciate manga today is the fact that it is global in terms of art, style, theme, and narration.
Manga, as I have understood it, has been global from the very beginning. The art itself is an evolution from the infusion of classical Japanese art forms such as Toba-E and Ukiyo-E with editorial comics, and later on the popular comic as we know it. Many scholars also recognize that even Osamu Tezuka has taken inspiration from Western cartoonists. In its earliest commercialized conception, it has been very global with its whole east and west concoction. You even have the likes of Jiro Taniguchi who pushed the range of manga art closer to its French relative, the bande dessinee? The blog SameHat! SameHat! is a reminder of how diverse the genre of manga can be that even Japanese artists no longer fall on what is easily considered as manga. These are artworks ‘distinct but not isolated’ from its Japanese form. In Japan, these are still called manga. English-published studies of manga still call these works mangas. Should we then start calling these ‘Global manga’ as well?
For me, why not just call it manga if you really want to be considered a part of it? I mean it is, in the end, an effort to attain the style, right? Or if you feel that you are a step higher or a far deviation from manga, just ‘something something’ graphic novels? Or Manga-styled comics? Maybe a new name like ‘Mangaism’. Anything else but global manga, because it creates ironies upon ironies.
The concept of global manga confuses the manga nut in me. I think if people just looked back in Manga! Manga! and more manga history books and perhaps read older mangas and compare it with the new mangas, they will see and understand that the ‘global’ characteristics of manga. It’s been there, before people even thought of drawing comics in the same style as mangas.
Definitions are a pain. Unless the lines are clearly marked, this quest for a Global Manga Manifesto will be a little troubling. But as the Japanese put it… ganbatte ne. ^^v These ‘global mangas’ definitely need a voice but I believe they should start shaping a truly distinct identity.
For me, honestly, some of these ‘global mangas’ no longer needs to be called ‘global mangas’. You guys are doing a great job that you can already merit the word mangas itself. I think that’s part in part why the International Manga Competition was named International Manga Competition and not International Global Manga Competition. You are part of the art.
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… and I missed my celebration! ??????(?????????) ?????????????!! I honestly wasn’t able to keep track of when I actually actively started this blog and it turned out that my site went in motion on August 23 and I forgot to celebrate. lol. I’ve been busy during the past few days as well due to the bookfair so the date just slipped away. Gomen ne. ^^;;
A lot has happened back when I started. Back then, I was on student allowance and now I’m fortunate to at least have something to sustain the hobby. lol. More so, there’s been a lot of developments in terms of manga in the Philippines.
In the past year since I started, there’s been a surge of English translated manga in the Philippines. Booksellers have become sophisticated in their choice of mangas and have started to bring in a lot of more popular titles as well as some to cater for those who have eclectic tastes (but trust me, just like in the US, finding them can be a total pain. -_-;;) . Another interesting thing to note is the resurgence of Japanese mangas in the Philippines through Manga Kissa 10 and the JFMO library. Although you won’t be able to buy the manga, at least you would have access to the weekly magazines and the likes.
But perhaps the most interesting development this year was the discovery of my friend while going through their local Japanese grocery. In this said grocery, they started selling tagalog translated volumes of Doraemon. The book is not as well printed as its American counterparts. If I have something to compare it with, it’s closer to the Malaysian manga releases. Not so sure if it’s the same for Indonesian prints. The paper’s closer to newsprint and the print was closer to that of the weekly magazines than it is that of a tankoubons. For the cheap price of P60 ($1.20) , it’s the best kind of print they can do.
In terms of translation, the manga turned out quite well. The conversations were casual and some things were appropriately contextualized. Mochi was turned to Bibingka1 and the translators were not afraid to use colloquial terms over those that would deem to be more proper in literature. Sound effects and variations thereof were also translated which made it all the more fun. In short, the translators made an effort to keep the spirit of Doraemon by sticking towards a translation that is closer to home. I hope that this characteristic and its cheap cheap price could spiral a new industry in the Philippines.
I just realized this morning that this was not the first tagalog translated manga in the Philippines. (Sorry about that Ed. ^^;;) Barefoot Gen was also published in the Philippines for a short while before the 80s. In fact there was a big effort after the war to distribute Barefoot Gen to the Filipinos to show the impact of the war to the Japanese, but I’m not so sure what happened afterwards. The choice to translate Barefoot Gen was more of a political effort than a commercial effort. What makes this Doraemon release special is the fact that it’s being released commercially. As I told Ed this morning, there are around 4 volumes available and this could be the start of something new for mangas in the Philippines. Many countries in South East Asia makes a big effort in translating Japanese manga to the local dialect. Indonesians has a bustling translated manga industry. The same goes for Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. These countries have been ahead in the game, and it should be time for Philippines to follow suit. Hopefully… HOPEFULLY, this publisher could get more licenses with more titles and start publishing them here.
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- a local rice cake, not the same texture but both are ‘essentially’ rice cakes [↩]
Last week, Oricon released a poll citing the prettiest women in manga. The question was simply “who are the prettiest women in manga?” However, as the answers started piling it, the list turned out to be closer to ‘who are the most amazing women in manga?’ The list is very interesting, consisting of ladies that are really at the top of their game. However, what I find most fascinating about these choices is the variety of women in the list, most especially the choice of a swindling lady like Fujiko and the girl next door Minami. Is Mikiso Hane’s theory of the ‘pure lady as the most attractive’ already of the past? Do Japanese men love their ladies to be a little ‘dirty’? To further look into the issue, let’s see first the list of Japan’s top 10 hottest women in manga.
Manga’s Hottest Women – The general choice
- Fujiko Mine (Lupin III)
- Minami Asakura (Touch)
- Sailormoon (Sailormoon)
- Nana Osaki (Nana)
- Maetel (Galaxy Express 999)
- Reika Ryuzaki (Ace wo Nerae)
- Oscar Francois de Jarjayes (Rose of Versailles)
- Lum-chan (Urusei Yatsura)
- Ran Mori (Detective Conan)
- Nami (One Piece)
Free-spirited ladies
There are many girls in manga that the choices for this survey was rather hard and quite broad. But it seems that the respondents had a universal stereotype that they loved. And these were, the free-spirited ladies.
From the rocker chick to swindlers, the girls listed down are all tough and free-spirited ladies. Does this mean that the Japanese have had it with princesses? What about Sailormoon? Well Sailormoon is still a little of a ditz, but in the end, she still has a strong personality. More so, they wrote Sailormoon and not Usagi.
I once read Mikiso Hane’s Easter Phoenix and in his last chapter, according to him, the Japanese have a particular preference for the pure types of ladies. Hence innocent characters such as goddesses and demure princesses were always the preferred characters of men during the postwar era. But if we look at these choices, the types of ladies chosen are those that have prolly grown out of their shells and have faced reality. Just look at Fujiko. She is far from being naive. Some of the girls may be a little ideal such as Minami, however they do resemble a more real woman, one who doesn’t just cry in a tower to wait for her prince. Perhaps for most Japanese, the free-spirited woman is the new ideal.
Girls like ‘em tougher while men love them sweet.
Along with the top 10 list, Oricon also released the top 5 choices of men and women. It seems that women prefer Fujiko, Nana, Sailormoon, Reika, and Oscar. While men prefer Minami, Fujiko, Maetel, Nishino Tsukasa (Ichigo 100%) and Nami.
The girls’ choices were really geared towards the liberal women. You have strong characters like Oscar and Fujiko who really set a trend in terms of characterizing women in manga. It is easy to say that they chose these women because they have characteristics that women wish they had. Even I understand why Fujiko is at the top. She’s sexy, smart, sly, and always gets her target. But at moments when her heart is in turmoil, she always never forgets that she is a woman first. Perhaps a more organic feminist?
Looking at the boys’ choices, most girls were sweet in nature. I cannot say for Nishino because I haven’t read Ichigo 100% (Should I? TAT;; I fear to tread this harem manga! ><;;), but at least for Minami and Maetel, they have a very endearing and charming element in them. If we look at the top 10, other girl next door types like Ran and Minami are there. The charming point is the ever loyal girlfriend who will always fight for you and be your best friend until the end. Fujiko also has this sweet aspect in her. Even Nami, as long as it doesn’t concern money, can be a very charming lady as well. Men pointed their choices towards their ideal girlfriend. Which points out an interesting thing… even men can’t stand to have a girlfriend like Sailormoon. lol.
In the end, they were very cool girls.
In my case, I think the choices are fair and justified. I too love these characters and they are really beyond just pretty characters, they are truly amazing.
I was quite surprised that Ran of Detective Conan was there. Ran is one of my favorite female characters in manga because unlike some leading ladies in shounen mangas who only serve as an excuse to make the manga look straight and not a potential BL manga (Sakuno? Misa?), Ran is such a strong character who Aoyama really utilizes to bring the story forward. Conan may appear a little episodic for now, but I’m going to look forward to the day that she finally meets Shinichi again. Hang in there Ran, Aoyama-sensei will take care of you.
I’m surprised that the likes of Maya Kitajima of Glass Mask (or at least Ayumi Himekawa) didn’t make it to the list. They were quite strong themselves. Maybe they’re not enough spark for the top 10 (or has the series been too long that Japanese fans are already drained of the story? ^^;; I kinda understand that too). Otaku favorite Suzumiya Haruhi or Seed’s Lacus also didn’t make the top 10 cut. Isn’t that quite interesting?
If I were to make a list of the most beautiful women in manga, here’s what my list would look like: Oscar de Jarjeyes, Minami Asakura, Miyuki Umino (Happy), Megumi Noda (Nodame), Ran Mori, Nami, Nico Robin (One Piece), Maya Kitajima (Glass Mask), Sapphire (Princess Knight), and Tokine (Kekkaishi).
How about you? Who would be your top 10 amazing women in manga?
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This morning, I was reading through my feeds to see a translated interview of Hagio Moto by Matt Thorn. I was rather surprised to find Hagio-sensei to be a girl. All this time I thought that the writer of one of my favorite SF stories, They were 11, was a guy. I ahve never read the manga and only saw the anime through a friend and I was breathtaken. I was rather surprised to see that she was a girl. More so, she’s one of the Magnificent 24!! So I just had to read it and sure it was fun to see her experience as a writer and how she is paid this much money for a page (which then made my wonder… “do mangakas take advantage of the amount of cash they earn per page that’s why sometimes… they waste pages on long and pining battle scenes?”) What was interesting to read though was when Moto-sensei mentioned…
She said this in lieu of reading Ozamu Tezuka’s Shinsengumi!. For her, seeing characters express their feelings and being caught in their emotions was the heart of being a mangaka. My heart went a flutter just thinking of all these nostalgic moments in manga where I have wept, leapt, and tore my hair out in frustration for the next chapter. And true enough. There is a strength in manga which I seem to not find much in anime. It is this aspect of feeling the character, as though you were that character or his best friend.
Anime is all about the visuals, like a wikipedia entry or a webpage that doesn’t like to use the cut option. Everything is laid out and all the cards are shown. Not all animes are like this, however weekly animes tend to be as predictable as cheeseburger. They expect you to accept the character for who he is. Unlike in manga wherein you grow with the character.
Growing with the character is something that I think you can grasp stronger in manga. It is in manga where page by page you discover more about the character and mangakas make every effort to make a panel say a thousand words. There is an inner mystery that only the mangakas reveal and only those who get affected can discover. And so true. God, I can attest a lot of scenes that have swept me off my feet and have literally taken me to their world.
Ahahaha! I can only imagine a number of anime nuts who could possibly hate me for this entry. But this isn’t an entry about an age old debate. Anime and Mangas are two entirely different mediums and you can’t compare an apple pie and an ice cream sandwhich. Both are great in their own right and have their own strengths and weaknesses.
I wrote this because well, friends always find me silly crying, whining, laughing over a manga. They’ll say “Dude! It’s just manga.” But to me, the emotions felt in a manga are real. The emotional connection between a character and its reader is no different to that of the reader and his friend. Its true and as pure or deceitful as it gets. Just like real life. Hence, I know how you feel… exactly how you feel.
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Gan on 
Goran Markovic on 