Slap Comics

Manga. Japanese Comics. Its taken awhile to appreciate the genre. Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh were the anime that I enjoyed when I was younger but I didn’t make me a fantic going forward Their comic book counterparts seemed a little harsh to me. Manga was something i had to get used to. It reads differently. The art looked works differently than the American comics i was used to. And most importantly the story worked quite differently. It’s very much a culture shock. 

First of all, the English language reads from left to right. Japanese language goes right to left. So you as a reader need to get used the format fast so you can to enjoy the story. Plus their back cover is our front cover and vise versa. The publisher ToykoPop will remind you on their books. The art is also quite different. From the big eyes to the speed lines the art flows different. I find it beautiful and serene. The art panels work differently too. So you have to start with the upper right panel, go left and work your way down. Takes a bit of patience sometimes. 

Recently i got into a book called Heroman. Mainly because it was create by one of my heroes Stan Lee. A cool book. Ran for 6 volumes. It was about a boy and his robot. While not a unique concept it was entertaining and Had that Stan The Man flair. 

Then finally came the manga/anime that I fell in love with. Cardcaptor Sakura. I watched it when it was the series Cardcaptors on Kids WB. Loved it but not as much as I loved it later. Later I found it was heavily edited. There were about 32 episodes of that US series. In the unedited Japan series there was 70. A lot of depth was removed about the relationships between characters and edited to make the character of Li more of a lead character to appeal to boys. I loved it more. 

Finally after about 20 years a sequel series comes out Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card. A very much a fan service show but enjoyable. While a fan service there is still a nice mysteries and animation is gorgeous. The two opening themes song are great even if I cant understand them. 

Looking into possibly expanding my taste into the genre. Maybe I will find one that I love just as much or more. 

Later