Anime and Manga: Cartoons and Comics Are No Longer Just Child’s Play
By Jacqueline Roth
What was your favorite cartoon? What pulled you eagerly out of bed every Saturday morning? What was your favorite comic book? What did you race to the newsstand for or pester your mom up and down the aisles of the supermarket for? Was it Underdog? Super Friends? He-Man , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Did you buy Richie Rich, Archie and Friends, Superman, Spider-Man or other super heroes? Whatever our choices, cartoons and comics were indelible parts of our childhoods, our favorites marking our generation and telling our age.
But then we grew up and comic books were relegated to the dusty box in the back of the closet. Cartoons were marked as childish and put away unless we had the excuse of a child nearby to sit and watch again. Think about the stereotype of someone who is adult and still into comics and cartoons. Geek? Dork? Still lives in his mother’s basement? One way or another, the
Action centered manga and anime is highly popular with both males and females and with all age groups. Popular titles include the familiar Sailor Moon, Naruto, Death Note and Blade of the Immortals.
watching of cartoons and the reading of comics is tied to impressions of immaturity and childishness.
But there is a place where this bias has not been applied to animation and comics. Japan. We’ve all heard the terms anime, graphic novels and manga. They seem to be buzz words of the current younger generation. We think of the Power Rangers, we think of The Power Puff Girls, we think of Sailor Moon, we think of the currently popular Naruto. But what we don’t think of is adults.
Manga is the Japanese term for print comics. Anime is simply the Japanese abbreviation for animation and is used for all animated entertainment. According to Jonathan Lu, a Librarian in Cartersville, Georgia; in Japan, animated material is not just for children. And
this is what is at the root of the explosion of the Japanese anime and manga.
In Japan comics and animation have never had the disservice of being relegated to children’s entertainment. “In Japan there is more of an adult base with some exceptions,” said Lu who sponsors twice monthly anime screenings at the library. The showings began as a way to encourage teens and the younger, twenty-something males to use the library. The screenings have been hugely popular and with more than just the expected audience. The audiences have been much older and fairly evenly split between male and female. Across the country, according to data from the American Library Association, library patrons are demanding more anime and manga while libraries are scrambling to meet the demand. Not all are lucky enough to have an expert like Lu on staff.
Anime, and by extension manga, according to Lu, “is
Artist: Brooke Wright, age 13
geared to various demographics.” There are anime and manga targeted to children, to men, to women and across all ages. “A lot of people get sucked into the plot,” said Lu. He went on to describe the action based story lines and the science fiction/fantasy genres as being large draws.
And anime fans agree. “I like the action and the stories,” said Colin Pothoff, age 14. Pothoff is a huge fan of the action genres such as Naruto and Death Note. And it’s not just the anime that is hooking American audiences. The American Library Association recently sponsored a “Get Graphic at Your Library” themed Teen Read week. The program was designed to encourage schools and libraries to use graphic novels, the large percentage of which are the Japanese manga from companies such as TokyoPop, the largest US publisher of original English manga to hook teens into reading. And Pothoff says this works. “It gives me a reason to read. It doesn’t take long to read one and it helps with my speed and to visualize the pictures going on with the words.”
But action/adventure isn’t the only genre that’s drawing huge numbers of fans. As in Japan, American manga and anime are diverse in terms of genre, including what 14 year-old Cydney Mackin calls the “lovey dovey stuff.” Known as Shoujo, there is a wide variety of manga and anime that deals with romance and the paranormal or Gothic themes.
But it’s not just the stories, plot or themes, which can even include comedy, that draws fans. That may encourage readers, but manga and anime are also inspiring a new generation of artists. Lu agrees, “The art work is a big draw. It’s not as cartoon-ish as say, Archie and Jughead. Manga has never become ‘kid based’ comics.”
Shoujo manga or what 14 year-
And the Japanese influence can clearly be seen in the work being produced by young artists. Amandaline Brandenburg, 13, and Brooke Wright, 13, agree that anime and manga have been tremendous encouragement for them to draw. Not surprising since, as Lu noted, “Anime has strong female characters.”
It is most likely those characters that have inspired young artists who have shared their work with us this month.
Movies currently seem to be providing a chance for the older generation to live out their comic book fantasies. In Superman, The X-Men , Batman and both recent films based on the work of Frank Miller, Sin City
Again the artists of tomorrow are bearing him out. Meghan Clackum, 13, likes the way the figures are drawn. “You can tell who the artist is by the details,” she says. For Mackin it’s the overall Japanese style that is the draw. “The characters have big eyes. The Japanese believe the eyes are like windows. It is realistic but yet not really detailed.”
Artist: Amandaline Brandenburg, age 13
and 300, we can see how comic books have shaped the current movie landscape. It remains to be seen how much of the anime and manga influence travels with the next generation of movie makers but with the upcoming Priest based on the TokyoPop graphic novel scheduled for 2009 release, we may be on the verge of finding out.
Quick list of Conventions
Most major cities have comic book and animation conventions and commonly include anime and manga as part of that.
San Diego’s Comic-Con
New York’s Comic Con
Motor City Comic Con
Baltimore Comic Con
Phoenix Comic Con
Atlanta Comic Con
Dragon*Con
For anime and manga specific conventions visit The Anime Convention Nexus
Most major cities have comic book and animation conventions and commonly include anime and manga as part of that.
San Diego’s Comic-
Motor City Comic Con
Baltimore Comic Con
Phoenix Comic Con
Atlanta Comic Con
Dragon*Con
For anime and manga specific conventions visit The Anime Convention Nexus
Artist: Brooke Wright, age 13
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