Elements of Manga #14
By Ian Melton

June 2009 I come not to mourn Shojo Beat, but to praise it! Hold on let me back up . . . cause I came here to do neither actually, but the recent news of the cancelation of Shojo Beat got me thinking (not always a good thing) and about some very interesting tangents all tied to the ongoing con season. So let's back up and start at the beginning of my runaway train of thoughts. First, Shojo Beat started four years ago, to the month that it is being cancelled. Second, Shojo Beat is a shojo magazine, and for those who don't know what shojo is the quickest translation (but not the most accurate) is that shojo comics are ... well girl's comics. Yes, a 30 year old male reads girl's comics every month from Japan and subscribed to the magazine for its whole run after reading issue 1. (Insert your jokes here, I can wait.) Now my wife reads Shojo Beat too, but she doesn't read all the stories, but I have enjoyed almost all of them, of particular note Vampire Knight and Absolute Boyfriend. The pacing and higher use of romance, because everyone needs more romance, is something I enjoy very much. Yet, the magazine is drawing to a close next month despite good word of mouth and many fans. Why? Well as one article put it, "I'll miss it, but I wasn't buying it." Hmmm . . .

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Now the main sadness to me is a lack of monthly shojo output with variety and articles about shojo (though the articles are my least favorite part of Shojo Beat). For my wife? She was not surprised and had left reading the magazine monthly about two months ago when she HAD to know what happened next in Vampire Knight, so she went online like most American fans do. Now for me . . . uh I'm old school and I won't apologize for it. I like a magazine in my hand, not on the computer and I will pay for it. (Perhaps I'm a Mike Mignola purist. For those who don't get that, which should be everyone, I was at Emerald City Comicon having some books signed by Mignola after he was finishing his lunch. Scott Allie, writer and major editor at Dark Horse, was showing Mr. "I created Hellboy" Mignola, an extremely nice and generous creator, how Mr. Mignola could read comics on his PSP. Mr. Mignola looked at the screen, slid his glasses down off his forehead to cover his eyes, and stared at the screen. "I still can't read it Scott. Why would I read comics on that?" "It's the future Mike." "Not mine. Hard copy, book, comic, don't matter, but not that." I have to agree.) Perhaps, to be more honest psychologically though, I'm a collector and I like to be able to see and peruse my collection on the bookcase (well bookcases). However, nothing against those who go online. I do that too, at times. It's just easier . . . and cheaper. Cost tends to be the main reason most go online, and this tendency amongst otaku nowadays is creating a whole new fandom then what brought and started manga/anime fandom decades ago. However, the debate over fandom, which is better, history, is a topic for later columns. What is important here, and is always the most important to this column, are the elements of manga in this debate and Shojo Beat's tale illustrates and boosters what I saw at Sakura Con (the weekend after Emerald City Comicon) which until then I hadn't yet put together in my brain fully yet. Sakura Con is the Pacific Northwest's largest anime convention. It has grown and expanded in leaps and bounds and even in this hard year (again economy is not something I want to dwell on but it is relevant) attendance was massive. Fans pored out in droves to see and mingle, buy and chat, just enjoy the bounty of Japan and the rich anime and manga culture. (Yes, I loved it.) Many fans bought tons of goodies, most cosplayed, dressed up. In fact one man made me go blind for a full minute after dressing up as Lum from Urusei Yatsura.

(For those who don't know this is Lum: No man should try to fill that tiger bikini. NO MAN.) But the dealer room, again probably economy problems, was smaller then last year and most of that being sold was not anime, or manga, but toys, posters, and costumes with makeup. A lot of costuming supplied and make up . . . a lot, almost 30% of all that was available. That's a lot for a convention that is touted as an anime and manga convention and maybe only 20% of the total merchandise was actual manga and anime. Odd? Well no . . . Again as fandom has changed most fans get there anime and manga online, most aren't collectors. However, fandom continues to grow. They want to go to conventions, the conventions are still growing, the fans are out there, but they aren't giving their cash for anime or manga mostly, they are purchasing the "elements of manga". Let me explain . . . Most female fans, not all but a lot, my wife one of them, love the cosplay elements: cat ears, Japanese eye lashes, weird makeup colors, hair colors, anime character jewelry, they want the "elements" of manga, of the culture, that they've seen in anime or read in manga. Men as well, want their toys, or accessories to make their costumes authentic. And this stuff, they can't get online. Anime and manga are joining comics, and other prosperities, in making money off the merchandise based on the products not the actually products themselves. Weird, but true. The "elements" are more important then the manga as a whole now, they are what sells the most, not the manga, not the anime. Rights in America are probably being bought not for the quality, but the merchandise possibilities that have nothing to do with the manga or anime themselves (this might explain Death Note, and I LOVE Death Note.) This change, good or bad depending on who you are, is where otakudom is at. Things have changed and as fans, or casual observers, this is where we are at. So this month in encouraging you to sample the elements of manga . . . I guess you really can choose which elements you are sampling, and which you are buying. Jya mata otaku! P.S. If you have enjoyed the column, want to argue, agree, drop me a line, anything, just look me up! I won't bite! E-mail or IM me at vdf1@hotmail.com

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Copyright © 2009 Ian Melton