THE DEALY ON MANGA

by Jonathan Sukarangsan

First of all, manga is just the Japanese word for comics. It is not an art style, though that's what the term denotes when it is used in the west. There are a lot of stereotypes flying all over the place about what manga is and what it isn't. People are quick to judge manga. Although they haven't been exposed to it except for maybe noticing those few Viz or Dark Horse titles in the corner of the local comic shop, or some advertisements in Wizard or Previews. Another great hype is the associating manga with anime (japanese animation) and labeling it all as sci-fi crap or monster porn.

In the works.

A lot of what manga really is roots from what a LOT of people don't understand: the way the japanese comic book industry works. It's very different from the comic industry in the U.S. There's no giant capitalistic publishers, no creator-owned studios, no comics code authority, no such things as the "big ones" and the "indies", and so on. Even the way comics are made is different. Usually the same artist will do all the writing, scripting, penciling, inking, coloring, lettering, and everything else that goes into the pre-press production. Manga is much like a normal book, in that the creator's idea is his own and only he can convey it into a story. Having two or more different minds doing story and art would stray from the original concept; therefore, not producing what was originally intended. There are some exceptions to this, such as the superstar Team Clamp (X, Tokyo Babylon) and the duo of Sho Fumimura/Ryoichi Ikegami (Sanctuary, Fist of the North Star). A majority of manga titles, however, are created by a one-man team.

This same artist will stick to his comic and will see it to completion. Almost every manga series runs no longer than the equivalent of an American comic mini-series. The longest manga series, to my knowledge, is Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko "queen of manga" Takahashi. Ranma 1/2 had a 7-year run, producing 38 volumes in total (equivalent to around 350+ issues). Ranma 1/2 concluded in 1997. The only comparison to this, that I'm aware of, is Dave Sim, who has been doing Cerebus since the late 70's. It's nearly an adequate example. However, a manga artist who shares his creation with other writers/artists and agrees to crossover deals is relatively unheard of. The short length of mangas is namely because the manga artists (who are also the creators, keep in mind) operate much like book authors. They go from title to title, and like authors do book after book. Manga artists don't worry about their publisher, just as the common book reader doesn't care if something is published by Random House or Penguin (I assume). What factors into the reputation of a comic book in Japan is the creator or the creative team, not the reputation of the publisher. The DC, Marvel, and Image stereotypes, which are widely recognized in America, don't exist with their Japanese counterparts like Kodansha, Shogakukan, and others. Publishers in the most part don't have a certain type of comic which they distribute, such as "superhero stuff" or "detective comics" or "non-mainstream comics".

Who owns it?.

Copyrights are also a whole other deal in Japanese comics. Someone once asked me about the copyright conflicts between two characters of the same name in two different titles. Kenichi Sonada's Gun Smith Cats and Yoshihisa Tagami's Grey both have a main character by the name of Grey. If this were in American comics and DC decided to name a character Wolverine, or if Image decided to name someone Clark Kent, there would be obvious problems. But in manga, a name is a name. It's the character that's copyrighted. There are many names used by more than one manga, just like Bob or Joe are common names used in more than one American comic. As for the trademark names of superheroes and the like... there is little need for that in Japan. The superhero trend doesn't extend overseas. The closest thing to superheroes are sentai (literally "task force"), or action-fighting teams, like the Power Rangers or something similar. One of the most popular sentai manga is Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi. But even this comic can't have many copyrights, because the full Japanese title translates into "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon", which is pretty vague. Basically, what you may call superheroes in Japan don't come with as much trademark imagery as American comicbook superheroes such as Batman, Wolverine, or Spiderman do.

Consenting audiences.

Censorship, it's a bitch, ain't it? Any comic in America under the comics code authority is rendered unable to exhibit violence, profanity, and nudity which may actually help the artist or writer express the comic more vividly. In Japan, expression is what comics are all about. Art knows no boundaries, and neither do manga creators. Most publishers don't have censorship rules. In fact, most publishers don't control what the artist does in any way, aside from technical matters involving printing and publication. If the artist produces something overtly vulgar or draws something a little too hardcore, the comic will simply be limited to that shelf in the bookstore with porn on it. Many Americans are surprised at the amount of what they call "liberalism" in manga. Comics in Japan which are considered normal in terms of material contain bare breasts, butts, organ-revealing violence, use of R-rated profanity, and more blood than an ER marathon. You're probably wondering "then what DO they censor"? They really don't censor anything. What they do restrict to consenting audiences are those comics which contain porn anatomically graphic enough to impress a gynecologist. In the most part, as long as sexual situations don't expose vaginas, they're put on the shelves for all readers.

Another reason why many mangas have such explicit themes is the general audience in Japan. It's not just kid's stuff, as the stereotype for comics in America. People of all ages read manga. Comic books are much more popular in Japan than in the U.S., and the comic industry is booming. Among high school students and younger, more than 69% are comic book readers. In America, the figure is 13%. You can almost say comic books are universal form of entertainment in Japan. Comic books just don't share the cult-like status that comics do in the states.

The way they draw.

A lot of people just don't like the way artists in Japan draw. "It's too plain," they say. "Anyone can draw big eyes with a small nose and mouth," they say. I think some people ought to realize the best art isn't always the one with most color, most detail, and most money put into it. The vast majority of manga artists draw black and white because they either just like it better, or can't afford to spend that much money with the amount of comics they put out. An average Japanese manga artist produces twice as much as an American artist, in any given month. In terms of the style, they draw in the relatively simplistic contour-like drawings of manga artists stems from ancient watercolor Japanese techniques which dates to way back when. I'm not a historian, don't look at me. Another thing, that people seem to say is all Japanese comics look the same. Ask a real artist and they could tell you this isn't true. In a conversation which I had with a girl from Japan, who had recently moved to the U.S., she told me that when she looked through the many American comics at a store, and they all seemed the same to her. Every character was big and muscle-bound -- either flying around in a skintight costume, or carrying guns and equipment which seemed hardly plausible as weapons at all. Though some might not notice, manga artists do have their own unique styles. From Naoko Takeuchi's dreamy-like art, to Ryoichi Ikegami's realistic rendering, to Clamp's bold and fluid collage of panels, every artist has his own touch which creates the mood for their comic. In my never-humble opinion, manga art is the superior style for the purposes of storytelling. It sometimes seems to me that American art is too flashy, too erratic, and (ironically) too plain for conveying a mood, creating an atmosphere, and accurately depicting the emotions of a character.

Genres:the great hype.

The type of commercialism and advertisement afforded for manga titles is effective, but not really progressive. Plugs and ads I see in comic books, Wizard, and Previews are mostly directed towards the extreme science fiction audience aka the "Trekkies." Many people also have impressions rubbed off from anime tv shows which made it to American shores, including Voltron, Robotech, AstroBoy, Star Blazers, Battle of the Planets, and the ever-famous Speed Racer. Among the most stressed sci-fi manga titles out there today are Guyver, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Battle Angel Alita, Metal Guardian Faust, including many adult titles like Kekko Kamen, Bondage Fairies, and J-Pop's new adult anthology, PULP. That's not to say the commercialism is misleading about what the Japanese comic industry has to offer. There is an enormous amount of science fiction and possibly even more adult oriented titles in manga, but by no means do those two genres overshadow all the other genres. What the manga industry in America has yet to do is to advertise the more complete lineup of imported manga.

Although the science fiction genre does seem to overshadow the others in regards to imported manga, it does offer a lot of great stories. As mentioned earlier, Neon Genesis Evangelion by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto is about a grim future in which half of the Earth's population has been wiped out by mysterious beings known as Angels. 15 years later, when the Earth seems to be recuperating, they attack again. NERV is the secret organization which combats the Angels with a team of bio-technological units (giant robots) called Evangelions. The series offers great action, suspense, and psychological conspiracies to match the X-Files, according to one review by Wizard magazine. Neon Genesis Evangelion is just one example of the popular type of manga which Animerica editor Trish Ledeaux dubs "Mechatopia." Basically the formula includes a messed up (usually post-apocalyptic) future in which mankind is just trying to survive and a story someone whose life is being drastically effected by these circumstances. Throw in some giant robots, spaceships, aliens, some heavy psyche profiles and you got your self a best seller.

What I want to introduce, however, is not the all-to-familiar sci-fi "geek stuff", but something you may not usually find in your local comic shop. X, by Team Clamp, is not your ordinary example of Shojo (girls' comics) manga. Most shojo falls under the lines of Sailor Moon or something with bouncy girls and heavy on the romance. X can be summed up as a story about the end of the world. Kamui is young boy trapped in a conflict involving the seven seals (good guys) and their counterpart, the seven harbringers (bad guys). Over the course of the story, events unfold which render Kamui, the wielder of a powerful sword, unable to make a decision about his loyalties, loves, and friendship with his childhood friends, who arealso caught in the middle. The fate of the world is literally in his hands, but he can't stand to face the sacrifice which he'll have to make in order to save it.

Another great manga, and my personal favorite, is Kenichi Sonada's Gun Smith Cats. Sonada is the manga industry's resident weapon and car enthusiast. So you know his comics are gonna be great. (No made up crazy looking gadgets a la Team-7 here....this is the real stuff: Czechs, Sigs, and Glocks galore) Gun Smith Cats is a romp through the tough streets of south-side Chicago with two sexy bounty hunter women: the marksman extrordinaire Rally Vincent, and her sex-obsessed sidekick with a gunpowder fetish, explosions expert Minnie May Hopkins. Together they get into all sorts of conflicts with everyone from the mob to gunrunners to ordinary goons. What makes this comic great is the detail put into the gunfights, Sonada's expertise on weapons and his ingenuity in gunplay and car chases put even director John Woo to shame.

In short, I'm writing all this as a message to those who wrongly stereotype manga. Don't judge what you don't know. Ignorance is bliss, but it can also make you sound like an idiot.

-Jonathan Sukarangsan

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Copyright © 1998 Jonathan Sukarangsan

E-mail Jonathan at: flipinguns@aol.com