Most of my friends are “normal” non-artists. They think the
fact that I like anime/manga is weird, or any cartoons for that matter. Of
course, they like Family Guy and The Simpsons, but God forbid they be caught
watching any animation not specifically aimed at adults. In class someone asked
why people in America frown upon anime/manga, and I think the basic reason is
because its geeky, dorky, whatever. Someone pointed out that the reason could
be a little racist, that the public at large isn’t keen on watching something
foreign or in another language. I think that’s a good point too. But I think
the stigma is generally that anime is watched by overweight, unwashed, socially
awkward “fangirls” and “fanboys”.
The first anime I ever watched was Sailor Moon. My best
friend in 2nd grade had a bunch of the movies on VHS, and we would
watch them basically every time I was over. I had never seen cartoons like
that. Everyone was so pretty and I wanted to wear their outfits, the cats were
cute and Tuxedo Mask was a total hottie. Plus they had superpowers based on the
planets. And they kicked ass. It wasn’t until 8th grade or so that I
discovered manga. I had only read Archie comics up until then.
This week I read Black Jack, and I loved it! It was so
awesome. The stories were slightly creepy but you just had to find out what
happens. I noticed that the stories were pretty universal, they could have been
taking place anywhere, not just Japan. It was cool to see that style of art
with dark stories, as well to just witness where the style originated in the
first place.
I think manga is a gateway to comics for a lot of people.
There are stories for everyone, no matter how strange or niche they are, and
they are told in a huge variety of styles. I think that’s what makes Japanese
comics so alluring.
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