Ask John: Why Do Americans Classify Manga as Anything Resembling Manga?

Question:
Why are some fans of manga dead-set on categorizing manga as a style and emulating it? To me, it’s a cultural extension of Japan and a subset of a medium. I find the effort of some fans limiting manga as a style to be severely counterproductive, especially given differences in titles like Monster and say, Fullmetal Alchemist. Osamu Tekuza took what was good from Disney and Western art and fused it into the beginnings of manga as seen today, but he did not call his works American. Why can’t fans here try to be proud of their own creations for what it is instead of trying to desperately latch on to the word manga?

Answer:
There’s some irony in the fact that American anime fans seem to insist upon a strict delineation between what is and isn’t anime, but at the same time refuse to treat manga the same way. Both “anime” and “manga” are imported, loan words. Americans largely restrict the definition of “anime” to “Japanese animation,” but don’t restrict the definition of “manga” to “Japanese comics.” My training as an English teacher leads me to support the proper use of appropriate terms. I can’t support the application of the term “manga” onto anything superficially resembling Japanese comics, but I do recognize why it’s happening.

The earliest generations of American anime and manga fans were acutely aware that manga and anime were imported Japanese art. Manga and anime were foreign, and they were difficult to procure. In the early days of the American fan community, fan artists replicated Japanese art styles but never tried to claim that their work resided within the same category as imported Japanese art. In recent years manga and anime have become more commonplace and familiar in America. There are now generations of American fans for whom manga and anime are not strange, rare, foreign imports. Naturally, many of these fans who are so enamored with Japanese manga want to make manga themselves; want to be part of the manga industry. Old school American anime fans were content to be outsiders appreciating imported Japanese art. Today’s American fans aren’t content to be just an audience; they want to create their own manga.

Based on the traditional American interpretation of “manga,” one must be a Japanese artist to create Japanese comics. But today’s international fans don’t want to be excluded, don’t want to feel like they are, and can only be, consumers. International fans have looked at Japanese manga and noticed its characteristic use of asymmetrical panel lay-out; its use of “speed lines” and screen tone; its creative use of “sound effects” and other visual text; its tendency to illustrate story through visuals as much, or more so than dialogue; its character design which often employs large, round eyes; its tendency to unfold stories over an extended length. All of these characteristics are superficial, mostly visual ones, yet Americans have presumed that these are the defining characteristics of manga. So much focus has been directed at superficial characteristics that international fans have overlooked the fact that the true defining characteristics of Japanese comics is the fact that they represent Japanese artistic and social values and philosophy. A skilled artist may be capable of creating a painting that resembles the work of Van Gogh, but the regardless of how similar it may look, it’s still not a Van Gogh because it doesn’t have the inherent natural quirks and artistic sensibility that Van Gogh had.

Proponents of a broad definition of the word “manga” cite the fact that native Japanese speakers use the word “manga” to refer to any comic art as justification for labeling non-Japanese comics as “manga.” However, this justification makes little sense. In fact, native Japanese speakers use the term “comics” much more frequently than the word “manga,” yet American fans resist referring to Naruto and Fruits Basket as “comics.” At the same time, while Japanese speakers may use one broad term to refer to all comic art, Americans refuse to classify Naruto and Fruits Basket within the same category as Superman and X-Men. So, in effect, the way native Japanese speakers use the term “manga” has no relation at all to the way the term is used in America.

I’m not a proponent of importing foreign words then significantly altering their meaning. I’m also not one to encourage the use of terms that are inherently contradictory, like “Japanese comics that aren’t Japanese.” But I can’t be too harsh on American fans that have willfully revised the definition of “manga” as a result of their enthusiasm over the art form.

Rather than use the term for Japanese comics to refer to international comics inspired by manga, I think that a completely new, original categorization should be developed to identify these works, and signifiers like “OEL manga” and “World manga” are not adequate for the position. But since I’m not a visual artist nor a critic of international comic art, I don’t feel qualified to suggest a new term for manga inspired comics.