The Values of Japanese Manga and American Comics - Thesis Example

The Values of Japanese Manga and American Comics: a comparative perspective on heroes, their symbolism, and envelopment A comic, an extremely popularart form of the modern times, is widely considered as an essential companion for children and teens. Due to its abundant use of imagery, incorporation of fantasy materials and emphasis over basic emotions of both childhood and adolescence, comics, in the recent times, have created a separate range of appeal at the psychical level of youngsters. However there are several disputes regarding inception of comics as a special kind of art form in the modern world. Douglas Wolk observes in this context, “A whole subculture of comics expert spend their time debating what the first comics was, trying to find earlier and earlier examples of the form. One school of thought holds that the nineteenth-century Swiss Artist Rodolphe Topffer was the first cartoonist in the modern sense. Scott McCloud argues in Understanding Comics that the Bayeux Tapestry, which was probably created in the eleventh century, is an example of sequential visual narrative and therefore counts as comics.”i However, it seems that the audience remains unaffected by such scholarly debate over inception of comics as a separate art form; rather they are more concerned with deriving the pleasure of reading and involving themselves with the ambiance created through color, expression and beautifully crafted emotions. Chapter 1.1: Manga and Comics’ weight and extent on the market Prior to the Great War II, American comic market was mainly dominated by superheroes. However, the situation started changing gradually since the post Great War II period, as the Japanese Manga comics first intruded the market. At the initial stage heroes with human attributes did not have capacity to combat the superheroes but shortly manga heroes emerged triumphant against American superheroes. Another benefit of these Japanese manga comics was that they were highly appreciated by women and teenage girls in the society. David Okum observes, “Japanese manga developed a strong following after World War II. The themes and stories reflect popular culture and national tastes….There is a wide audience of women, men, boys and that accepts comics and animation as just another medium of storytelling. Manga is produced for every possible group and interest.”ii Though we talk about the fact that majority of the audience support such form of comics, our idea regarding enormity of such ‘huge audience’ does not become clear unless we come across proper statistical data of the existing market condition of manga comics, “The gross sales from publishing in 2002 was 2.3 trillion yen. The total number of published materials including magazines was over 750 million. 22.6% of total sales, or 38.1% of published material sold in 2002 are of manga.”iii Research of Natsume Fusanosuke is exclusively focused over market appreciation of manga comics in Japan only. He has also admitted the fact that in no other nation this form of comics has created so much of impact, but continuously expanding appreciation of this comics in the US market is threatening the monopolistic superiority of American superheroes. What are the signs of such threat? David Okum, after pondering over the current situation, comments, “The future of manga looks bright. Many mainstream comic companies are adopting a manga “look” for their books. Even comics like X-Men and Batman have been drawn in manga style by Japanese manga artists. Anime has become widely popular on television and in the movies.”iv The leading American comics’ publication companies that mainly used to focus on charming the young generation with new adventures of superheroes, are now keen on collaborating with the Japanese publications to gain a better reach to the manga comics loving US audience. Publication companies like ADV Manga of Houston, Del Rey Manga of New York, VIZ Media of San Francisco, Californiav are some of the most renowned names that have reached a broader arena of comics critics through publication of comics in manga style or popularizing the Japanese manga comics heroes. Collaboration of publishing companies regarding publication of manga comics commenced notably since the year 1986 onwards. Here it is important to mention that impact of these comics was further realized in the North American cities compared to the South, “While the other manga publishers have noted that the manga industry continues to be resilient in North America, though it’s definitely (and perhaps finally) coming to a time of adjustment, as is Hollywood and much of America in general due to the economy and other related international events.”vi Such huge response of the market was one of the main reasons that the leading US publication houses were so much interested in expanding the market of manga comics. The Viz Media has always remained the most recognized name when it comes to publication of the manga comics in the US. During the initial stage of manga intrusion into the US comics market, there was certain obvious conflicts as well as change that the new form of comics encountered. However, it does not seem that such market conflicts really affected increasing popularity of Japanese manga comics and truth behind such observation is supported by the fact that total market share of the Viz Media remains unaltered, “However, despite these changes, Viz Media remains the prominent player with about a 55% market share.”vii One of the main reasons or such huge success of the manga comics in the US market is that the typical US superhero comics never received that much of appreciation from US women and teenage girls. On the other hand the manga comics are considered highly favorite by this section of US mass. Tufts Napier, being overwhelmed with such response, comments, “I have seen groups of girls gathered around the manga shelves at Borders and Barnes & Noble eagerly discussing their favorite manga, ....They like it because it fills a niche that American comics dont: Even though the stories can be fantasy or science fiction, the characters are very human….”viii Presence of such human attribute among the heroes of manga comics make them identifiable with the general people in the society and this component is absent among the superheroes because they belong to their own world with their “superhero image”, completely untouched by the general people. Consequently, detachment of US comic book lovers with the superheroes went on increasing, making access to the manga comics easier. According to the estimation of the Publishers Weekly, “Manga sales in the USA are as high as $200 million per year….”ix Analysis of the Maruberi Research Institute on manga in the US context has also unveiled a striking fact that between the time periods of 1992 to 2002. Analysis of the Maruberi Research Institute over manga in the US context has also unveiled a striking fact that between time period of 1992 to 2002, export of manga commodities increased almost to 300% whereas only 15% growth in export was witnessed in the products of other sectors..x Thus, after pondering over the whole situation we also feel like echoing the same question asked by Paul Gravett, “Who would have thought that Japanese comics could insinuate themselves so effectively into Western culture?”xi Chapter 1.2: Their reach beyond the Regular Printed Editions: anime and everyday’s presence Foreign derivations become an integral part of the daily existence of a particular culture or a society only when people belonging to that society accept those things as a part of their daily existence. At the same time, the process of accepting foreign culture as a part of the native societal outlook is quite lengthy. In case of Japanese manga comics, however, quite surprisingly, this general conventional approach does not apply. According to the historical references manga made its appearance for the first time during the Second World War as a method in the hands of Japanese army to demoralize the opponents.xii The next six decades when manga comics has become an essential part of the American comic book lovers is surely a magnificent journey. Not only characters of these comic books influenced American citizens with their heroic attributes shrouded beneath layers of their human qualities but also introduced the fundamental traits of Japanese culture into the American cultural outlook. American superheroes are so different and distant from the common people that they have never been able to identify themselves with them. Yet, the Japanese manga heroes are making the common people believe that in every human being there is a hero and they are capable enough to change the course of their lives by themselves. How pervasive is the influence of Japanese manga in the daily course of common people’s lives? Manga has already spread beyond the realm of their conventional inception, “…manga are spreading beyond the subculture cool of club flyers, computer games, music videos and fashion mannequins….”xiii In the 2002 Football World Cup Competition the main sponsors used manga football graphics to symbolize their brand coverage. Most of the advertising agencies and art directing companies are focusing on deriving inspiration from manga graphical approaches, which they think is a major way towards achieving their commercial success. Teenagers, mainly girls, are highly impressed with such manga style and they often govern daily course of their actions as it has been projected in the colorful pages of comic books. If we go through Gary Picariello’s definition of manga, we find an impression about reasons that have made manga one of the most appreciated forms of art in the present US cultural trend, “Manga is the comic books richly illustrated Japanese cousin - exploding with adolescent strife and romance, often written with a dose of the supernatural….”xiv Through this definition we come across three important aspects, namely, adolescent strife, romance and elements of supernatural. Now, if we look deep into actual social context of the US, we will find that the US youth are highly fascinated by each of these three aspects. As plot of the manga storytelling technique is replete with these three materials, quite expectedly, these comics have created a sensation among the US young generation, “Manga ... has never tried to camouflage what it does best: telling everyday tales of growing up, falling in love and dealing with the challenges of everyday life. Thats not to say that Manga doesnt have its share of warriors and blade-wielding superheroes.”xv In the US media sector also Japanese manga is gradually becoming a major source for attracting mass attention. Use of manga “as one of the best ways to reach mass audience and shape their opinions” has long been adopted in the Japanese context and in that country manga has already received “nearly the same social status as novels and films.”xvi The situation may not be pervasive in the United States, but it is quite explicit that quite soon manga style will determine the orientation of teenage lifestyle. Pondering over the way manga has been fused into American cultural outlook for teenagers, Mike Edwards has observed, “Often they underwrite ‘serious’ literature and influence art and literature in much the same way that pop art did in the 1960s or punk in the 1980s in the UK.”xvii Thus, it can be said, that the way manga comics has impacted cultural outlook of the United States’ young generation, it has definitely made the connection of cultural trends between these two nations stronger. Consequently, it can also be regarded as a great avenue for celebrating cultural flow between the United States of America and Japan. Chapter 1.3: Mainstream Manga and Comics’ icons and symbolism: Projection of manga in the US culture has been done with a crafted fusion between anime and original form of manga. In order understand, therefore, the kind of influence mainstream manga has cast over the US society through its icons and symbolism, we need to understand the actual meaning of both “anime” and “manga”. Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher have defined anime as, “an art form that incorporates various aspects of Japanese culture.”xviii Use of this art form in various audio-visual categories and fashion trends actually elaborates the wide acceptance of Japanese cultural outlook. On the other hand manga art form is “…commonly used as a label for the Japanese print comics….Most manga characters have exaggerated eyes, simplified features, and straight “spiked” hair. Manga is known for its highly stylized and intricate artwork and, unlike American comics that concentrate on superhero fantasy adventures, manga spans a wide range of topics.”xix One of the most important characteristics of the manga comics is its abundant use of imagery, symbolism and providing the reader with liberty to interpret those images. In the Western Cultural discourse there was a common conception that images can be read or interpreted only when it will be attached with proper and adequate textual interpretation. However, limitation of such observation has perfectly been pointed out by the manga art form, “Japanese manga comics … are remarkably caption free, compared with Western comics and graphic novels. Reading manga means reading images – and this is the convention because of the general literacies among its audiences of cinematographic techniques, juxtaposition of features, representation of movement and so on.”xx Such observation clearly explains that manga comics, within its limited scope, incorporate manifold aspects that facilitate readers to derive a complete aesthetic pleasure. Precisely, the Japanese manga are actually true reflection and appreciation of both childhood and adolescent sentimentalities that often remain unrecognized by the mainstream society. It is through the comics, use of vigorous colors, flow of narrative style and real life depiction of the youth sentimentality, that American youth actually recognize their humanness, essence of their humane fulfillment. Robin E. Brenner, in his quest to find out the actual reason behind such huge appreciation of manga comics, conducted a research through his own websites, especially among the teenage girls of the United States. When they were asked this question, their reply was quite clear and specific, “…the most common answer were the art, the complex plots, the characters, the consistency and the “realistic “stories.”xxi It is quite interesting to observe that youngsters also have their own idea about realism and they are more inclined towards appreciating those reading materials that provide them with impression of their desired realism. In the conventional American superhero comics like Spiderman or Batman, the heroes are always projected as larger than life figures. Despite the fact that from narrative and visual effect perspective the American superhero comics are quite encapsulating but the missed touch of realism is actually broadening path of popularity of the manga comics. Apart from that, storyline of the American superhero comics have become pretty stereotypical, which is another reason for developing a sense of monotony among US audience. For instance, “The major comics that people recognize, like Batman and Spiderman, do have women writers and strong female characters, but even when well written, the women are drawn to be pinups for the male audience. Female fans end up reading U.S. comics despite the fact the nagging awareness that they are not the intended audience.”xxii It may sound quite exaggerated from the perspective of the teens but the fact cannot be denied that special treatment of males and implicit support of male supremacy through the superheroes is another reason why American comics are gradually falling behind their manga counterparts. In case of manga comics, however, there is ample scope for readers to speculate themselves in their own ways though their favorite characters. Unlike the typical American superhero comics, the Japanese manga storytelling technique not only focuses on the protagonist but also over all the characters in a quite individualistic manner. Hence each of the characters receives a scope to flourish in their own ways and reach the level of receiving personalized attention from readers according to their psychological set up. This is another important aspect that is creating difference between manga and American comics. The American writers are not unaware about these aspects. Consequently, they are also trying to modify characterization of the superheroes accordingly so that they achieve a closer access to readers. However, what comes naturally for manga writers does not seem to be equally natural in case of American comic book writers. Naturally, an ardent fan of American superheroes cannot hope that there will be an immediate change in the whole situation where people will appreciate larger then life superheroes more than the manga ones. While it comes to characterization of the American superheroes, there are certain typical features or symbolic depiction those become their identical features. Just the way manga characterization has its own style of depicting a character, the “U.S. comics have their own visual signals that work almost subliminally on the public. A hero is classically identified as having broad shoulders, a muscled torso, a square jaw, and a stoic mien.”xxiii Accordingly a weak or a general character also has its suitable projection, physical structure and other typical traits. Thus, such character portrayal clearly classifies the mass into two parts and the essential charm of human diversity is entirely missing. While in the manga comics, characterization does not follow traits of such typicality, they have their own style of character portrayal or usage of symbols. It is due to such personalized treatment of the subject that readers feel themselves elevated to the level of icons also, unlike the American comics where they have to regard themselves as weak characters, having “a little or no chin” or “a snobbish or scheming character”.xxiv According to the modern theories of character portrayal, each human being is a combination of, good and evil, bright and dark aspects. The Japanese manga are perfectly fulfilling norms of such humane depiction perfectly through use of symbols and imagery in character depiction of heroes. On the other hand American comic book writers are failing to survive up to expectation of the readers. Chapter, 1.4: Defining “values”: As both American and manga comics are extremely popular among children of both nations, those are also regarded as an effective medium to inject the basic essence of socio-cultural values among them. Why comics are considered important in this aspect and children are chosen as the targeted audience? If we compare between childhood and adult psychical structure we will see the while children offer a great deal of scope to learn, the adults always put the barriers of their respective logical restrains in the path of learning process. In this era of moral devaluation and social disintegration, it is very important that people are taught about basic values that have been ignored immensely since the post Great War II period. If children are taught accordingly about these aspects, then the human civilization can surely aspire for a better future and social existence. Naturally comic books have been made the way of conveying such thoughts as children have a tendency to identify themselves with their comic book idols. Technically, both American comics and manga depend on certain common features to convey their respective socio-cultural values among children, namely, “pictures…words…balloons … and frames….”xxv Both these aspects are used by writers but American comics are more focused on reaching the audience through textual elaboration, whereas Japanese manga cater the traits of social-cultural values through “ “visual narrative” as Japanese aesthetic that highlights the pictorial throughout society. Because Japan is a society situated on the visual, a quality manga work should be able to tell a story though the visual while minimizing the written words.”xxvi Values actually comprise of essential human virtues that are actually not verbose in nature; rather those need to be perceived. Visual effects, actions of characters are the best way to elucidate those aspects or inspire a person to follow paths of such values. The same attempt, whenever it is made through textual depiction, does not appeal audience to the equal extent. In this context of defining values, Jerome L. Singer has observed more specifically that, “…manga portray a more complex and realistic view of life. In manga the death of a major character is frequently portrayed, whereas in American comics the topic is typically avoided. Manga often portray adults at work … an area of life that is nearly invisible in American comics.”xxvii This simple yet elaborate observation actually has pointed out to the fact that a human being, even though he has become a superhero, cannot be always immortal. If he is choosing to fight for certain values, he surely has to make a lot of sacrifices; sometimes his own life also. Death is an inescapable fact of life. Moreover, through death of a major character, way emotional catharsis of the audience is accomplished through manga. This is entirely missing in the American superhero comics. Finally, the manga comics, through portrayal of their real life heroes actually convey the message of inevitability to the readers. No matter how strong or capable a person is, he has to pass through all the ordeals that a human being is destined to face. This is how, actually, the process of living life is done, and this is how we celebrate our humanness. In this context manga comics have defined life and its values in a more elaborate, yet extremely explicit manner. References 1. Douglas Wolk, Reading Comics: how graphic novels work and what they mean, (Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2007) 2. David Okum, Manga Madness, (Cincinnati : North Light Books, 2004) 3. Natsume Fusanosuke, “Japanese Manga: Its Expression and Popularity”, (ABD 2003 Vol. 34 No. 1) 4. “Manga Publishers - U.S. and Japan Manga Publishing Companies”, (n.d.), available at: http://manga.about.com/od/mangapublishers/Manga_Publishers_US_and_Japan_Manga_Publishing_Companies.htm, retrieved on: 2nd October, 2009 5. Benjamin Ong Pang Kean, “Changing Manga Scene - Where Does Viz Stand?”, (14th July, 2008), available at: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080714-Kodansha3.html, retrieved on: 2nd October, 2009 6. Paul Wiseman, “Manga comics losing longtime hold on Japan”, (USA TODAY: 18th October, 2007), available at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-10-18-manga_N.htm, retrieved on: 2nd October, 2009 7. Paul Gravett, Manga: sixty years of Japanese comics, (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2004) 8. Gary Picariello, “Japanese Manga and the ONE Thing American Comic Book Publishers CRAVE: A Female Readership”, (Associated Content, 30th December, 2006), available at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/107471/japanese_manga_and_the_one_thing_american_pg2.html?cat=38, retrieved on: 2nd October, 2009 9. Mike Edwards, Key ideas in media, (London: Nelson Thornes, 2003) 10. Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher, Teaching Visual Literacy: Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills, (London: Corwin Press, 2008) 11. Tony Schirato and Jen Webb, Reading the Visual, (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2004) 12. Robin E. Brenner, Understanding manga and anime, (California: Libraries Unlimited, 2007) 13. Shirley R. Steinberg, Priya Parmar and Birgit Richard, Contemporary youth culture: an international encyclopedia, Volume 2, (California: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006) 14. Jerome L. Singer, Handbook of children and the media, (London: SAGE, 2000) Notes Read More