Group Admins
Chances are, if you are reading this, your kids are crazy about Japanese comic books and animation. They are probably begging you to buy them the next book or DVD that you’ve never heard of. “What’s going on here?!” you might ask yourself. “We’re Americans! Why do my kids love this Japanese stuff?”
Hopefully, I can assist make just a little sense of the appeal of Japanese comics. I am a comic book artist and Manga fan that lived in Japan for 2 years. My spouse is Japanese and after several years of studying I can claim that I am pretty good at speaking the language. Whether you are a parent or simply someone serious about what all the fuss is about, I shall do my best to explain.
To begin with, the term Manga means comic book in Japanese. Most Manga are a lot smaller in size than American comic books but each issue’s length will be about 200 pages per when compared with our 24-32. In Japan, these long comic books are put out every month! You usually have one main artist who gets top credit for the penciled and inked art (usually the writing of the story too) but do not be fooled. It could be impossible for one individual to do all of the work on a 200 page comic book each month. Believe me, as a comic artist myself, I know. Nearly all of finding manga online-ka (comic book artists) in Japan have several assistants working with them. They usually take good care of drawing backgrounds and inking panels on all of the pages.
Manga tends to have more sympathetic characters that tweens and teens can connect with. You will discover comics of every genre known to man, such as fantasy and ninja action but there are lots of romance comics and soap opera style stories. The stories can be more difficult with twists and turns that really lead you to the real end of the series. Most Manga run for a certain quantity of time and then end. They do not go on forever because there is a story to tell and when it’s done, it’s done.
This leads me to one of the main reasons people love Manga, the art style. Those characters with big eyes and spikey hair! They do not look like the Japanese (or any other ethnic group) nevertheless they have energy and life. Their style looks so different than the American comic book art style that kids are drawn to it! Its simple animated look draws them in and the energetic page layouts keep them hooked. One thing to remember though! There is absolutely no such thing as a Manga style of art. Japanese comic artists are encouraged to discover their own unique style. Believe me, when I would go to the comic shops in Japan, I would see some wild art styles that broke that stereotype that we have of Manga here in the states.
Even though I love Manga and my style has a slight Japanese influence, I hope that young adults will grow to appreciate Japanese and American comic books. True, now American comic book art is considerably influenced through the Japanese but I feel like we have a great deal to say. As a result, if your kids love Manga please encourage them to read. Hopefully, they’re going to be inspired by the creativity of the art and story and begin a love of reading. This will certainly grow and expand into American comic books, Graphic novels and literary novels.
