I honestly had no idea how expansive and popular manga & anime are in Japan. And I know I’ve said it once before on the course discussion board, but to constitute upwards of 40% of an entire nation’s text consumption is difficult to fathom…
I haven’t had much previous exposure to manga or anime. Granted, like every kid, I watched a few Japanese cartoons…but manga was generally out of my reach. I’m kind of overwhelmed by how many different kinds there are – for every novel genre I can think of, there is a manga to match (and at least ten other similar kinds). Because there are so many manga genres (shoujo, shonen, mecha, etc.), comics appeal to everyone, which makes it very plausible for manga to be an anthropological phenomenon in that they are a way for casual language to permeate multiple generations. I don’t know if I could draw a parallel like that to America – do we actually have anything like manga specific to our culture (aside from silly chick magazines) that is able to that?
The manga/anime presentation in class today was enlightening, and I’m looking forward to exploring more before our trip to ACen.
- Jorie
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