… 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.
Popularity: 17% [?]
- a local rice cake, not the same texture but both are ‘essentially’ rice cakes [↩]
Oh dear. Just when everyone of my friends is home from Japan, they show something quite important like this. -_-;; I have to thank Comipress for this. Apparently, FujiTV is releasing a drama special of Barefoot Gen on the telly from August 10 to 11 to commemorate Hiroshima bombing. I wish someone in the drama community rips this and uploads it… If not, then I suggest everyone should have a chance to actually read the manga and reflect on it. And kids should not complain that they can’t read it! My university has a copy of Barefoot Gen, both in English and Tagalog for everyone to read! I’m pretty sure other universities with libraries would have this manga as well. Maybe. Nonetheless, to those people who have access to it, either by their libraries (because I’m sure it’s no longer for sale here! It’s quite vintage!) or if you’re rich enough, via buying it online, then do so. It is a must read for any manga fan not because it is an old classic manga, but because it is a manga that will open your eyes to what history really is.
In war, history is often told by the victor. This is the easiest way to teach history to students. The side of the loser never has the chance to really get themselves heard except for their own country. The reason why I think Barefoot Gen is so important is it presents to us an alternate perspective of the Pacific World War. It makes history not just HIS story, but OUR story.
World War II is such a painful memory for the Filipinos. I have met and read old folks who have nothing but anger for the Japanese due to the war. But we really can’t blame them. The war experience was truly painful and you can’t take that away from them. However, the beauty of having access to works such as Barefoot Gen is that it allows you to understand that even on the side of the Japanese, the war was just as painful. It wasn’t just the bombing that hurt them. Even before the bombing, life was hard for them. Women working hours to buy grub for families. Fathers and sons sent away to suicide missions. War casualties is never on the side of the victim alone, but also on the aggravator as well. Barefoot Gen gives us this glimpse that is understandable for anybody because it is in the form of a comic. In our case, it is both in English and Tagalog hence anybody can read it. Too bad that the tagalog version is quite vintage already and is not easily available. Bookstores too don’t have a copy of the English version. DRAT.
On my end, this is a manga that moved me more than Grave of the Fireflies ever did. In that film, it only shows the hardship of two children. Anybody can pity children. Pity is not the key to understanding. Barefoot Gen gives greater depth to this by introducing to us a whole town moved by a propaganda and a family trying their best to live. It shows you their world and the machinations behind the war. The pity bit happens only during the bombing. But after that, it was all about the will to live. I cried reading this manga. Four years as a History Major, reading this tale moved me in different dimensions altogether. I can go at length on its historical weight, but I think what’s important here is that through this tale, I found out that my country’s pain was not mine alone.
Popularity: 9% [?]
Kreuz on 
