Anime Disenchantment

I've always loved the manga style of artwork. Since I was a little girl, the few manga-style images I've seen on T-shirts and stationary fascinated me - it was these sorts of images that eventually motivated me to find out more about anime.

I used to watch Sailor Moon on TV, and whilst it wasn't really the most amazing thing I've seen (due in part to the animation quality and the annoying dubs), I enjoyed it. I also recorded a few movies from the Sci-Fi channel and sat through several hours of excruciating boredom. I can't remember what the titles of these films are - I've surely repressed them. The point was, that at this time in my life, I considered anime to be something that looked cool, but never quite managed to deliver what I wanted - an interesting, emotionally moving plot.

This is obviously due to more than just the fact that anime is boring. Of course anime isn't boring. But it seemed that the only stuff I had access to was. Despite all this, I continued to hang onto my love of the style like a little limpet, or perhaps a terrier, stubbornly refusing to relinquish my grip, no matter how many droning, nonsensical monologues were thrown at me. It was not until I managed to find manga that I actually began to fall in love with anime as well.

The Beginning of a Beautiful Relationship

Forbidden Planet, Southampton. I'm younger than I am now. (Not telling you how long ago this was, partly because I can't actually remember). I have already bought the Sailor Moon RPG, despite the fact that I'm not at all remotely interested in RPGs, and have no friends who even know what RPGs are. I have also spent a considerable amount of time staring at the manga section, completely lost, like a child in a sweet shop - but in a foreign country where she doesn't know the word for 'gobstopper'. I eventually bought a copy of Animerica Extra, and decided that I liked Fushigi Yûgi's style most of all, so I bought a copy of the first book.

It was more than love at first sight. I realised that anime and manga didn't have to be boring. I wasn't having to trade stunning good looks for a vapid interior. It wasn't beauty or brains. Finally, I could have both! (And no plastic surgery involved either) And manga also helped me realise that anime, too, was fun, and in fact I'd just been watching the barrel scrapings for the past year.

Of course, there's far more to my manga love than that. In part, my initial attraction was due to the timing of my obsession. I was too young to be able to afford a DVD player that was multi-region, (or even a DVD player at all, actually) and wouldn't have known how to go about getting imported anime anyway. Also, the anime market is much better in this country than it was even a few years ago. We're finally getting new titles! But even so, there's something about manga that will always bring me back, time and time again.

Manga's Alluring Virtues

For a start, you can be anywhere when you read your manga. You can't cart a DVD player and TV onto the bus, can you? (Especially if you don't want it to be nicked - an important consideration, of course.) You can, however, fit your lovely slim manga volume into largish pockets, or a rucksack if your attire isn't accommodating enough. Because it's portable, you can take it everywhere for those empty minutes that would otherwise be wasted staring into space. Manga is even more portable than mobile phones! Can you read manga in a hospital ward? Why yes! It doesn't interfere with equipment at all, not even X-ray machines! Isn't that handy?

Manga is also very very beautiful - at least, the shôjo I fill my shelves with. Take a look at a panel from Fushigi Yûgi or maybe Revolutionary Girl Utena and you'll see what I mean - startling detail and gorgeously individual styles are par for the course. Manga is a real art form. It takes genuine skill to produce such amazingly dazzling work - so completely unlike anything else in its representations of beauty, emotion and the body. Of course, anime has its moments too, but manga is the product of one person (along with a few assistants) and as such, you can really feel a connection between yourself and the artist. Manga is also a much more diverse art form than anime can be - with just a handful of studios creating anime, but with hundreds of artists creating manga, you get a more of a mixture of distinct styles - every series is unique in the way it represents the world.

There's something really intimate about manga. It's just you and the book in a private world. There's more of a connection between you and the creator - just read Sana's Stage to get a peek into the mind of Miho Obana or glance at the pages of Fushigi Yûgi to hear Yû Watase tell you about the trials and tribulations of life as a manga-ka. The artist has free reign here. If Obana wants to draw a picture of Sana and her friends as urban warriors, she can. Never mind that the manga really has nothing to do with that! If Masami Tsuda wants to give you an illustrated version of her diary, she can. You really feel you know the creators at work with a manga, you get a feel for their individual personalities, and you can also follow the growth of the manga itself, as they explain where they think the story is going, and how it differs from their original ideas. You don't get this with every manga, but when you do, it's a very welcome and rewarding addition.

Finally, manga is my light relief. (Of course, there's still plenty of scope to turn it into heavy relief if I really want to! Anyone want a psychoanalytical reading of Wish?) I can pick up a manga, go snuggle in a chair with a blanket, and relax. I don't have to fight for a TV, or wonder whether anyone is listening to Japanese shouting and shaking their head sadly. I don't have to allocate exactly twenty-three minutes of my time to do it, either. And after reading 'Moby Dick', 'Daniel Deronda' or 'Marxism and Literary Theory', getting to look at some lovely pictures is a very welcome break - and it's still reading!


- Article by Gemma Cox

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