Despite being popular reading, manga has never had a good reputation. It is either seen as too childish or too obscure to be considered popular literature. This report discusses pre-existing stereotypes and compares them to actual reading practices of manga readers. I explore three topics: who reads manga, how manga is read, and how it is used by its fans. To answer these questions, I draw from my own experiences and interviews I have conducted. I interviewed one of my friends, “Jane Doe,” who is an avid manga reader. I also interviewed Tania, who works at Happy Harbour Comics, and Ilona Storie from the Stanley A. Milner Library.
There is a stereotype that only a select group of people read manga. For example, people assume it is only for children because of its cartoonish art style, or that it is so obscure that only nerdy Asian teenage boys would read it. Is the readership for manga as narrow as people may think? At first glance, it is easy to assume that manga only caters to one group of people, but manga has a diversity of genres and caters to many audiences.
Firstly, manga can be divided into two gender binaries. There are shonen and seinen, or boys' and young men’s manga. For girls and young women, there is shojo or josei manga. Children’s mangas are called kodomomuke. However, readers do not necessarily adhere to these labels. Girls read shonen manga all the time, and boys can read shoujo manga as well. Older people can read children’s mangas. Younger audiences, even though they are probably not allowed to, can read adult mangas. Furthermore, each type of manga has its own range of genres that cater to more specified audiences.
However, broad selection is not the only reason for manga’s popularity. In Angela Drummond-Mathews’ article “What Boys Will Be: A Study of Shonen Manga,” she points out that in manga, especially shonen manga, artists “take risks with taboo forms of expression” whereas “American comic book artists were struggling against the industry of self-censorship of the Comics Code authority” (63). Manga artists can exhibit sexual and violent content without censoring themselves. Along with the shock factor, Drummond-Mathews also notes that shonen manga deals with complex themes such as pacifism, exploitation, identity, and genocide. Such taboo and serious topics draw in readers rather than repel them.
Additionally, shounen-ai and yaoi manga feature homosexual relationships between two males, which can seem taboo to a North American audience. Some volumes can be extremely sexual, but they are in high demand among girls and gay men. Tania confirmed along with popular and mainstream titles, Happy Harbour sells a lot of yaoi manga. Ilona Storie also mentioned that, although there is a decreasing interest in romance, there is a high demand for yaoi and shounen-ai manga. Jane Doe has an interest in such genres, and she says that they provide alternate storylines to the young adult books she reads. She feels many books today tend to have recycled storylines and heterosexual characters with the same overused tropes. By using taboo topics, manga piques the interest of North American readers.
Readership is larger than people might think. Tania told me that Happy Harbour sells a lot to teens and preteens. She argued that “younger people getting into something shows a growing fan base rather than a declining one.”
There are differences in print reading and digital reading. Both have their difficulties and advantages, depending on one’s finances and ability to access certain series. While many read manga online, there is still a demand for comic book stores and libraries.
In an interview with Jane Doe, I was given general reasons why people would choose to read online. Buying books can be expensive. People do not want to pay for books that are ten to fifteen dollars for each volume. There can be a large number of volumes in a series. Naruto and Bleach are two very popular series that have been around for over ten years and both have approximately seventy volumes. To expect a pre-teen or a university student to pay for each and every volume is ludicrous.
Digital books take up less space and you can read them on your phone or tablet. Manga publisher websites, such as Viz and Tokyo Pop, sell manga digitally. The digital copies are cheaper, but not by much. Jane Doe told me she would buy a copy if she wants to support an artist or if it’s a volume that she especially likes. In contrast, the interview with Tania revealed other purchasing motivations. As mentioned, there is a large readership with teens and kids. Copies are bought for birthday gifts, and there is a high demand for manga at book fairs.
According to Tania, “[Happy Harbour] deals with schools more than anyone in this community.” Schools look to comic book stores like Happy Harbour to see what materials are age appropriate. From an outsider’s perspective, it is hard to determine the book’s intended audience by the cover art. Many adult mangas are cute and colourful, and might be (mistakenly) assumed as appropriate for children.
Younger audiences still provide a high demand for print, including older titles. Death Note, a manga and anime that ran from 2003 to 2006, is still requested by teens and preteens despite being finished six years ago. The interview with Storie confirmed Tania’s words. For Stanley Milner Library, there is always a high demand for new and upcoming series as well as older titles. One-fifth of the juvenile budget goes to manga. There are lots of requests from teens, who often return to request the next volume of the same series. Digital reading is in demand with university students, whereas preteens and teenagers are willing to ask librarians for print copies.
Manga and anime fans may not always be visible because most of the community is online, but these communities are huge. An outsidermay not see this from looking at a bookshelf in Cole’s or Chapters, or even in comic book shops, where manga takes up a small part of the store. Still, there are many ways fans can outwardly show their interests. Fan fiction is one of the most popular ways to do so. Fans may fantasize two characters being together, self-insert a character, or change parts of the storyline. On Tumblr or other social media sites, there is the option to role play. People make a blogs or accounts pretending to be a character and interact with other people who do the same.
Fan art includes more than just paintings, sketches, or doodles. Fans also make their own jewellery, buttons, key chains, cups, and clothes inspired by manga. I personally use polymer clay to make creations based off of series that I like. When I had a public art blog and Instagram I got a lot of requests to do fandom-inspired creations. Pandering to popular fandom may increase your popularity as an artist and draw attention to what you do. Cosplay is another form of fan art that is popular, although cosplaying in Edmonton is not as prevalent as it was when I was into manga and anime four or five years ago. There are many cosplayers that have gotten publicity and drawn in new fans for manga, anime, and video games. For example, Jessica Nigri is known worldwide for her cosplays, which she makes for popular anime and video game characters. Yaya Han is another cosplayer that attracts publicity. She even had her own TV show on cosplay competitions. However, despite the publicity, cosplayers often present a sexualized view of manga and anime, reinforcing the assumption that manga is a sexualized product, which is, at the very least, a restricted view of the wider sphere of materials and reading practices represented by manga.
Merchandise is also another good way to outwardly show an interest in a manga series, but there seem to be fewer places that specialize in selling manga merchandise. Happy Harbour did not seem to have a lot, but Tania said that whatever they have usually sells. Tania also mentioned that “Lady Geek Night” has started to have more manga-centered discussions. For example, some give cosplay advice. Anime conventions were once a way to meet other fans and get merchandise, but nowadays there are limited options in Edmonton. There used to be a selection of anime conventions run by high schools and junior high schools, but a lot of them have stopped. Taste of Animethon and Animethon still exist, but that only leaves limited options for Edmontonian readers. Edmonton’s way of showing interest in manga has definitely changed. Though it is still popular, people do not show their enthusiasm in the same ways they used to.
Today, there is greater demand for free online reading. This may be attributed to technology that was not available to my friends and I until we reached our mid to late teens. However, some things have not changed. For example, manga is still popular among pre-teens and teenagers. Print copies are still growing in demand in comic book stores and libraries. Manga, unlike what most people believe, is read widely by audiences of different genders and ages. Though often stereotyped as overtly sexual or childish, manga still explores serious and complex themes that many readers can relate to or learn from.
Sources
Doe, Jane. Personal interview. 6 June 2016.
Drummond-Mathews, Angela. "What Boys Will Be: A Study of Shonen Manga." an anthology of global and cultural perspectives. Ed. Johnson-Woods, Toni. New York: Continuum, 2010.63-76.Digital.
Tania. Personal interview. 9 June 2016
Storie, Ilona. Personal interview. 9 June 2016.
