I've been reading a lot of Japanese manga (comics) and one interesting thing strikes me...

[Locut0s]

unlike western comics there is always a very strong underlying message of friendship, love and support. In fact quite often it's so strong as to be hard to take, it turns into drippy poetry and purple passages. These are comics aimed at teenage boys and guys in their early 20s as well, not women (there's a different sub-genere aimed at women). I suppose it should come as no surprise given how strongly Asian cultures hold collectivism as a virtue but it is surprising how stark and close to the surface it is. This isn't something that you see in western comics much and I think it would be interesting to see them incorporate some of these themes. These aren't by any means "kiddy" comics aimed at 5 or 6 year olds either. The same themes you see in western comics of super heroes with super powers, facing off against super villains, think any of your favourite superhero comics, are just a prevalent. So is the sex appeal you see in modern comics. Actually the flip side of the coin perhaps is the number of scantily clad big breasted women you see, just about every female character is a stereotype falling out of her dress. Yet it also strangely seems to be a lot more innocent in it's sexuality than a similar portrait of hyper sexualized girls might seem in the west. But then there's the rather disturbing childlike quality to these characters too.

Anyway I'm quite hooked on a number of Manga at the moment. Some have fantastic story development, long arcs told over hundreds of chapters. I'm particular fond of One Piece at the moment.

[TDale313]

1. The genre really intrigues me,

But I've never really known where to start. Any suggestions?

[DonCoquixote]

2. InuYasha

Do not judge it by the cartoon, it is one of the best sellers, but unlike a lot of manga, it is written by a female author. This shows in the way her heroines are not just "we are females but fight like men", think of Joss Whedon and the strong, but human, heroines.

[TDale313]

3. Thanks, I'll look into it. :-) n/t

[Locut0s]

4. Never thought of getting into InuYasha, I should take a look at it. I know the basics of the plot.nt

[keroro gunsou]

11. inu yasha's ok...

maison ikkoku is takahashi-sensei's best in my opinion. no demons or other supernatural weirdness (unless you count yotsuya-san) just a sweet love story. the hero definitely earns his happy ending.

[MrScorpio]

5. What about Hentai? nt

[JHB]

6. What about it? It's not everything.

[Locut0s]

7. What about it? Animated Hard Core Porn. Often with twisted unsettling themes. I don't mind porn...

Don't get me wrong. As a 30 something guy in no relationship I watch porn regularly. But that wasn't what my post was about. My OP is talking about main stream manga of which there are thousands.

What did you mean by "what about hentai"? Did you mean

Do I like or know about it?

[MrScorpio]

8. I just wanted to hear your opinion about it

That's all

[JHB]

9. Manga is an entire publishing industry, and covers a lot of ground

America has two comics industries: the syndicated strips and the magazine-format comic books. The manga industry has elements of both (e.g., production methods and rights-holding is more like our strips while the large multipage format is like our books), and the different mix allowed it to grow in different directions.

It covers a range equivalent to Blondie, Boondocks, Archie, Maus, Batman, For Better or For Worse, The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Little Nemo in Slumberland, Avengers, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Cathie, Tijuana Bibles, and just about any other incarnation of visual storytelling. Of course, like any popular entertainment there are vast rafts of copycats and things that are are pretty much variations on the same themes, but that bigger base gave it more room to grow, and in more directions.


What about hentai? Sex usually doesn't need much translation so it made up a larger-than-normal share of what made it over here, but it's still just a niche.

[Locut0s]

13. The manga industry has suffered in recent years, probably due in part too...

Probably due in part to said raft of copy cat fluff that seems to have saturated the industry. That and the economic down turn. Perhaps there are parallels to the western slump in comics pre and post silver and golden age?

[JHB]

14. There's also games and such competing for attention...

...and the usual corporate lunkheadedness in trying to adapt.

[keroro gunsou]

10. one piece rocks

700 plus chapters of goofy shounen goodness

granted there are "classes" of manga (kodomo, shounen/shoujo, seinen/josei) there is tremendous cross-over appeal. if the art and story are good, everyone reads it.

i'm a guy, and i read just as many "girl" comics as i do "boy" comics....

/hastily tries to hide his stack of shoujo manga

[Locut0s]

12. Indeed there is something special about One Piece...

I don't know how Oda does it but he manages to still keep it fresh and intriguing after so long. Not many mangaka can do that, most settle into a pattern and it gets stale quickly. Somehow I still care about these characters 700 chapters later

No problem in liking the full gamut of manga

[The Straight Story]

15. Sounds like My Little Pony

[Locut0s]

17. The art style is certainly influenced by manga to some degree, however...

I don't think the stories are much. I know that MLP has a large adult following, which I never really understood that well.

[Recursion]

16. There will be whole story arcs reflecting on filial piety

Then again that's a single word in Japanese, but the fact that it isn't in English probably says something too