The meteoric rise of manga in the UK, according to Japan

Gawyn, I agree with you in principle. I don't like it when the term "manga" is used just as a marketing ploy, or if artists jump on the manga bandwagon and call their stuff manga just cos they've slapped big eyes onto it.

Most people agree that although manga-style does utilise a unique look of character art, it always needs the right layout, pacing, presentation, stylistic devices and visual grammar.

The main reason why my stuff is usually called manga, is just because if you had to describe the style of it with one word, manga is the easiest word to use. I usually prefer to use "manga-style comic" so as not to get people's backs up.

Sweatdrop Studios calls its stuff "UK Manga", cos it kind of is very British, though in manga style. So several publishers have tried to adopt the term "World manga" because... that's what it is. Comics in a manga style made by people around the world.

If you just use the word comics, it does not accurately reflect the style of comic drawn. Whenever someone says they're into comics, I always probe them "So, do you mean Manga? Or Indie? Or Sci-fi? Or American Superhero? Or French bande desinee? Or strips? etc." You see the problem?

Theoretically, because I'm of Chinese ethnic origin, I should call my comics "Manhua", but visually, my stuff looks more Manga than Manhua. XD And I know Japanese and Chinese artists who work for DC or Marvel, drawing stuff like Spiderman - should their stuff be called manga?

Anyway. This argument has been going around for years. I don't really care if people call my stuff "Manga" or "Manga inspired" or "Manga-style" or even "pseudo-manga" (though this term is slightly patronising).

I just want it to be put on the right shelf in the bookstores XD
 
The one I thing I still find slightly wrong is that you seem to be intoning that manga is merely a 'style' of comics, when in fact they are words for the same thing in two different languages. They are things which are stereotypical of manga (at least from the western point of view, were we are only exposed to contemporary teen and young adult-aimed series) but saying your work is manga-like to a Japanese person really doesn't mean much at all. It is also incredibly offensive to lump all Japanese creations together as 'manga' (and French as bande desinee) but to sub-divide English-language productions into super-hero and inde etc., when similar divisions exist in Japan. I know that you probably didn't mean to do this yourself, but it's possible to mistake it as such because so many other people (mainly shops) do. Thinking about it like that, it also happens at least as much from the other way round, with manga readers having to explain that what they like is 'different from American comics', as if comics are something to be frowned upon. And I used to myself, as I very much dislike the overly masculine style of the popular American and British comics which used to be all I knew of - but then I discovered the indie side of the western comics industry. I found this to be populated with various visual and story styles, and often even more expressive than manga. Now I'm not afraid of the word 'comic', and can use it interchangeably with 'manga'. However, it does save me a lot of breath (and even more of typing) if I use 'manga' for 'Japanese comics' and manhwa for Korean comics and so on, and so that's the main reason I use such words.
 
Yes, I just use whatever words the person I am speaking to will understand. ^_^ I know manga is not just a style, and that manga = irresponsible pictures (literal tranlsation) = comics = Japanese word for comics, etc. etc. And I know the comics produced by the various cultures around the world have many genres and subgenres and styles etc.

This is a forum, it's a place where I make a quick post or chat casually. I'm not going to write a full blown essay to explain absolutely everything behind what I think, or why I have used a particular word. That's like... working! XD

Whatever dude - No offense intended to ANYONE, or ANY comic style/culture/genre/country/shop. Give me the benefit of the doubt, I'm the pariah here ^o^ (OMG, manga-ka wannabe generalised about comics, let's have us a WITCHHUNT! :lol:) I'll leave this thread alone now. I mean, what do I know about comics, really? ^_~
 
CLEARLY nothing! D:<

(joke :p)

How come every time we get a "manga is rising" style topic here a semantics argument about the definition of the word 'manga' breaks out...
 
Raujinn said:
CLEARLY nothing! D:<

(joke :p)

How come every time we get a "manga is rising" style topic here a semantics argument about the definition of the word 'manga' breaks out...
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Mostly because it is an extremely conentious issue for many fans. There are as many arguments, both for and against, as there are people.
 
I wasn't starting another argument, I was just using a part of the previous comment as a springboard for some thoughts, when I really should have been getting on with some work. As Sonia said,
This is a forum, it's a place where I make a quick post or chat casually. I'm not going to write a full blown essay to explain absolutely everything behind what I think, or why I have used a particular word.
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No offense intended to ANYONE
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Especially someone else who has ×××HOLiC as thier single most favourite manga. Not to mention someone who can create their own stories which are almost equal to it. :shock:

And that reminds me - I tend to refer to the short stories by Sonia and other Sweatdrop artists, and my own relatively craptacular work, simply as "stories". Stories are what I like most of all, and to me a combination of words and images seems to be their most natural state. Heck, I even use the same word for stories by Park Young-Ha and CLAMP. I suppose it's my way of trying to avoid other people's negative connotations of both 'comic' and 'manga'.

And now I'm unsubscribing from this thread, to stop me wasting any more time here when I could be looking at Cardcaptor Sakura. :p
 
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