A little girl, eleven years old, is standing in front of the counter; she can barely see over. Her eyes poke out. Her hand comes up with a wad of dollar bills all crumpled up. She has saved her allowance for this. And it’s worth it: a book with pictures. She leaves with her eyes glued to it.
Manga (pronounced ‘mahn-ga’) is not new, but here in the US it’s been catching on. Modern manga’s roots in Japanese mainstream culture go back to World War II, after the surrendering of Japan and the American occupation added a Western style to Japanese animation culture. But in the last decade manga has steadily risen in popularity with males and females ranging in age from 10-25. There was a time when most manga was marketed to adolescents and many would stop reading them by junior high. Now with simple rating systems and recommended reading ages, the manga publishing industry has attracted a lot more people.
“[Manga] is now influencing Western pop culture by bringing together American and Asian artists and writers,” says Susan Hale, Director of Public Relations at TokyoPop, Inc. The themes in manga involve, well, just about everything. And the major publishing firms that distribute manga here in the US (TokyoPop, Darkhorse, ADV Manga) have found unique ways to attract a greater, often older, audience.
There’s truly something for everyone. Comedies, fantasy, erotica, a genre called “boys’ love,” even manga for young mothers. Then early last year a Tokyo district court ruled a manga called “Misshitsu” as obscene. The publisher was given a one year prison sentence. Yet there is a significant female identity in many mangas, where women often resemble superheroes. One manga depicts two young girls who police the world in year 2100 against a corrupt government. Another has a woman selling cosmetics but is really a special operative. Manga’s attraction to young girls is not a surprise to Susan Hale, “Prior to this, comic books were only sold in traditional comic book stores, where young girls never felt welcome (or safe) entering. TokyoPop put manga inside Waldenbooks, [and] sales have skyrocketed.”
Manga tackles everything: drug use, homosexuality, gender reversal, murder, and semi-nudity run rampant. Even though many of the age levels are questionable, it’s no worse than television and at least they’re reading something.
Manga has slowly found its way into the American psyche through trading card games and anime films. Manga is a billion dollar a year industry and has plenty of room to grow. The relationship between US and Japanese cultures has always been imitative. But now we’re imitating them.
