Asianic Age

“Hold up!  Wait a minute!  Do you actually mean to say that Taiwan and KOREA make Manga TOO? PALATABLE MANGA??? You’ve GOT to be kidding me!”

No, my friend, I’m afraid I’m NOT kidding!  Japan is NOT the only country with a monopoly on graphic novels!

Who can say when they really began in the USA, but graphic novels have been considered popular media in America since the 1920’s (Comic Books! Come on, you ALL know what a comic book is!  It’s that thing for nerdy teenagers to drool over instead of PLAYBOY!  Does Captain America or Spiderman ring a bell?)  Japan jumped on the bandwagon after WWII, and Manga (漫画) became something so commonplace that you will often see ADULTS reading them on the trains and WHOLE STORES dedicated to the selling only manga.  Japan also has their share of Otaku (= our nerdy teenagers), but still the obsession with Manga in Japan is MUCH less underground/hidden than in America. You certainly would NOT see a grown man reading a comic book on a public train in Boston, but you definitely would in Tokyo!   Astro boy was a BIG hit in Japan post-WWII and became the first mainstream manga/anime in America – to the point where my parents believe that it was originally American ;P  Who knows why a small boy-robot in a speedo would become so popular, but we are talking about the American generation that grew up to become hippies, so I guess anything goes.

Astro Boy! Robot-Boy in a Speedo with Rockets for Legs!

“So how the HECK did manga get to Taiwan?”

Actually, China (and presumably Taiwan) has a LONGER history with Graphic novels than Japan does.. and probably America too if you take a look at Chinese art from the 1700s!  (OMG! Are you kidding?!) They were printing series by the 1920s too, and making magazines for subscriptions before Japan did.  They called their manga “manhua” (漫画) before the Japanese adopted the term “manga” (漫画 <— Hey! It’s spelled the same in both languages!  How convenient… and it sounds alike… Coincidence? I think NOT! The terms definitely share a common origin.)  Taiwanese manga is fairly widespread today, but still nowhere near as well-known in America.  So, to tell the truth and ruin everyone’s illusions, Japanese manga probably came back from China with soldiers after WWII (probably very little influence from America’s comics at all, although American animation HEAVILY influenced the TV serialization of manga as ANIME).  BUT for all you OTAKU out there who NEED to think Japan is the best! (一番！), Japan definitely made manga and anime more popular in the USA than China ever did.

I’m currently reading a Taiwanese manhua named “The One” about a model and two very handsome twin men. (女注意！<— GIRL ALERT! Ok, so I’m a GIRL! Give me a break!  I love this cheesy romance stuff!!! I SWEAR this one has a PLOT!  I actually hate romance manga/manhua without a good plot.)   I’m sure there’s plenty of manly, “shoot-em-up” Taiwanese manhua out there for you “manly men” too – I just don’t know about them!

“Didn’t you say something earlier about South Korea making Manga too?”

Oh YES.  South Korea loves their graphic novels too!  Wouldn’t you know South Korea, with it’s small, teency-weency, little obsession with taking over every good Japanese pop-culture trend, has just jumped on the bandwagon in the past 20 years or so.  They are actually getting into the USA manga market with their “manhwa – 만화 ” (hmmm…this word sounds strangly similar, yet again…). I don’t know if their manga is beating out Taiwan’s or not in the USA, but I think the S. Korean style of humor  and flow of language translates better to an American audience.  ( Just my personal opinion! )

In the future I’ll try to post my new favorite manga/manhua/manhwa….  these terms are so confusing!!  I’m just going to call it Manga from now on!