Introduction to Manga The Japanese has taken the world by a storm in terms of both technological advancement and influencing the teenagers with interesting and inspiring literary comic novels which they call "manga". These comic novels have taken the world by storm and gain followers everyday or more like mad enthusiasts everyday. The mangas can be based on anything from fantasy adventure based stories to a typical romance drama. These mangas are very interesting and the plot of most of these have a tight grip on the reader.The fan following of these magas is so addictive that people try to copy their favorite characters attire which is called "cosplay" and meet up at various convention to share their views and interests.In Japan the craze…
Shoujo Manga, and the Rise of the Feminine Man The topic of masculinity is a topic that is often discussed and interpreted in today’s society. Many wonder what it means to be masculine or if we can even describe such a broad term. What is a man’s rights and responsibilities? What should a “man” be like, and what must they do to fulfill their roles? Most people will answer that masculinity can be interpreted as something close to hegemony, a quality defined by dominance, control, and power over…
Comics, graphic novels and manga can tie generations together, can start a trend or a give a group of friends a place just to hang out. And the store that houses them can make a difference. Going into a mainstream store as opposed to a smaller-in the hole-comics/graphic novel store is a bit different. For instance, you really have to dig deep within the comic locator or friends of friends to find these small-tucked in the corner of nowhere-places. The mainstream bookstore that I went to was…
Syaoran Li Syaoran Li ( リ・シャオラン Ri Shaoran) is a fictional character from CLAMP's anime and manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. At the start of the series, Syaoran appears as an antagonist. Being a descendant of Clow Reed, he believes that he should be the one to inherit the magical Clow cards than Sakura. He often criticizes her for her flaws but as the story progresses, he becomes Sakura's reliable ally and friend despite their differences. Sakura Kinomoto Sakura Kinomoto (木之本 さくら, Kinomoto…
promoting the three sources of soft power. Firstly, in terms of culture, culture is a piece of art and any other forms of that people can share their values, behavior, norms, language, and even the way people’s live (Defense Language and National Security Education Office, 2016). For a country that has been successfully established soft power diplomacy for long time, Japanese is often identic with manga and anime which became part of Japanese pop culture (Kelsky, 2001, p. 548). Historically,…
of an otaku, with your love of shows like Fist of the North Star, you are sure to want to fill your life with cool anime merchandise. The great thing for anime and manga lovers is how there’s now abundance of shops that sell little treats. We listed a few of the best shops for anime merchandise. Our selection includes many so-called mainstream retailers, as we wanted to find shops that might have hidden gems you didn’t know about. ThinkGeek ThinkGeek is a retailer for geeks of all color.…
Religion is prevalent in many aspects of Japanese culture, even in pop culture. Specifically, religious themes and aesthetics are common in manga, Japanese graphic novels and comic books, or anime, which are animated movies and television shows commonly based on manga. Religion can be weaved into these mediums in various ways to create different effects. For example, religion can be used solely for cosmetic effect, or the story itself could be centered around religion as a plot device. Depending…
In 1997, Kaiji Kawaguchi, a Japanese manga writer, published the novel, Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President. Kawaguchi‘s stories involve the Japanese culture and the moral choices people make in intense situations. He has written multiple manga comics besides Eagle and has won various awards in the manga society. His qualifications regarding the style and information he puts into these comics really gives the reader a strong interest to continue to the very end. His style is…
focus on “adult themes” that, at times, contradicts the theme of Dragon Ball Z being a “shonen” style of anime meant for age groups within the 8-16 range. Finally, I agree with the essence of what Kincaid is attempting to define in the “modernization” of Dragon Ball Z from the ‘chibi’ style to the adult themed anime, but there was a far wider range of anime films a and manga illustrations styles that define innovations that were eventually used in Dragon Ball Z. Kincaid could have focused on…
In the world of comic books, graphic novels and manga, I have acquired my love for these types of reading for entertainment, but learning from the course of Reading Graphic Narratives, I learned to not only value the text or only the drawings when reading these types of texts, but to instead value both text and drawings to compile the meaning of the whole story. Another meaningful detail I learned in this course was, video games and graphic novels both share the elements of text and visual art.…