School Study Guides

7

Japanese Book News

Number 17

urday to exchange information. An information journal

called Okaz, modelled closely on the city guide magazine

Pariscope, is packed with useful information on Japanese

comics and animation, including maps showing the loca-

tion of manga shops, and advertisements from several dif-

ferent fanzines.

Thirst for Detail

Needless to say, France has its own proud comics tradi-

tion, derived from the format of the serialized newspaper

strip (bande dessinée, abbreviated “BD”). René Gosciny’s

Asterix series remains popular, and France has several

best-selling science fiction comic artists, such as Enki

Bilal. How have manga managed to win such popularity

against such powerful domestic competition?

Ônishi suggests three reasons: “Even the minutest de-

tails of the characters’ everyday lives are depicted. That’s

interesting. Then again the characterizations aren’t sim-

plistic—even the villains have appealing qualities. And of

course, the drawing is vivid and striking.”

These features may be attributed mainly to the pub-

lishing environment: Japanese comics are allowed to con-

sume many more pages than would be permitted to

European or American comics. This results in differences

in expressive style and comic-frame grammar. European

comics, led by the French, are printed in color and on

good-quality, large-size paper. In terms of visual impact

and use of color they are superior to the works of

Japanese artists. However, because they have relatively

few pages, the storyteller must pack a lot of information

into each frame. Japanese comics are easier to read be-

cause artists can use plenty of frames, producing a smooth

chronological and spatial progression. The result is a fluid

rhythm in which there are no disruptive breaks (skipped

frames) in the plot development.

At present, French BD and Japanese comics co-exist on

different shelves in Paris bookshops. There are critics who

anticipate new developments in BD if only a new form of

expression can be found that combines the strengths of the

two forms.

In the publishing world, several companies produce

manga, including Glenat and Media System Editions.

Media System publishes a magazine devoted to Japanese

comics called Manga Player, which has reprinted 3\3

Eyes, Shirô Masamune’s Kôkaku kidôtai (Ghost in the

Shell), and Fujishima Kôsuke’s Taiho shichau-zo [I’ll Ar-

rest You!]. The TV animation Bishôjo Sailormoon (Beau-

tiful Girl Warrior Sailormoon) is a hit on French

television, and Evangelion the TV animation which took

Japan by storm in 1996, is now attracting attention in the

French television industry.

The fact is that French BD publishing has been in the

doldrums since the second half of the 1980s, with the best

business being done by sex comic magazines such as BD-

X and BD-Adult. It may be worth mentioning that transla-

tions of Japanese sex manga appear in these magazines,

too.

A Taste for Candy

In Italy, which ranks alongside France, Belgium, and

Spain as a great home of the comic genre, Japanese ani-

mations have long been highly regarded, with 

Dragon

Ball, Akira, 3\3 Eyes, and the girl’s manga Candy Candy

among the most popular. Interestingly, it is the Latin

countries of Europe that have been most willing to take

manga into their hearts. Even Doraemon, massively pop-

ular in Asia but generally considered less appealing to Eu-

ropean taste, was broadcast in Italy in 1995.

In Britain, a company called Manga Entertainment has

attempted to secure copyright on the word “manga,”

drawing protests from the Japan Cartoonists Association.

That is one indication of the genre’s popularity, along

with the availability of Japanese animations for sale in

video shops and the broadcasting of a BBC documentary

on Japanese manga and animations. Manga Entertainment

invested in the making of the full-length animated version

of Ghost in the Shell, and is now operating in the United

States as well.

Germany is a country with a less developed comics cul-

ture than most other European countries, and shipments of

manga do not stand out particularly. However, recent

years have seen new comics emerging in Germany which

are starting to draw attention.

Generally speaking, the outstanding feature of the Eu-

ropean market is the high level of acceptance enjoyed by

the more intellectual manga, such as Shirô’s Appleseed.

These relatively high-brow productions are more popular

in Europe than in Asia, and arguably are better appreci-

ated than in Japan itself.

Every January the French town of Angouleme stages

Europe’s biggest international comics salon, and over the

last few years manga have made a steadily growing im-

pact at this important event.

Otaku All Over the World

In this three-part series on manga I have outlined the

spread of Japanese comic publishing in Asia, Europe, and

the United States. My lingering impression is of a natural

interchange among the generations brought up on comics

around the world. Japanese cartoonists have always cre-

ated works targetted at Japanese readers alone; they never

gave a thought to overseas readers. It is quite intriguing

that they have nevertheless found so many supporters

abroad. At the same time it comes as something of a sur-

prise that the class of crazy comic fans seems to exist all

over the world. The Japanese slang word “otaku” used to

describe these people is beginning to gain international

currency.

The risk associated with this global otaku phenomenon

is that the extent to which manga have been accepted

could end up being exaggerated. Even the most enthusi-

astic countries have plenty of people with no particular in-

terest in Japanese comics at all. We must not forget that

however eye-catching the ranks of the otaku may have be-

come, most ordinary citizens are not that interested in

manga. Conversely, I must point out that Japan itself is

unwelcoming toward comics from other countries. This is

partly because the style of expression cultivated by

Japanese manga has, by imperceptible degrees, drifted

very far from that of equivalent genres in other countries.

(Ono Kôsei is a film and manga critic and science fiction

writer.)

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