Looking for Manga

 Growing up in Tampa, FL back in the 80’s, you were very lucky to get any manga at all.  I first saw manga titles and it didn’t register with me that I was looking at manga.  Rather, when I was browsing my local comic store, I was looking for titles of current shows that I enjoyed.  That is how I picked up Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman) by Gold Key, Robotech by Eternity Comics, and Ben Dunn’s Ninja High School also from Eternity.  When I was in junior high school, someone recommended a violent comic with cute girls beating the crap out of each other and so I decided to run to the store to check out Ninja High School.  I admit that NHS is not a true manga but it was heavily influenced by manga titles and it was good for that time.  

 Sometimes I would be looking through old comics at the Goodwill in South Tampa and I was lucky enough to find First Comic’s Lone Wolf and Cub with covers by Frank Miller.  This was also the time I was taking advance placement art classes and my favorite comic book artist was definitely Frank Miller.

 I also found Mai:  The Psychic Girl and Legend of Kamui back in the late 80’s.  Mai was interesting and I got engrossed in the story only to discover that new issues were hard to find.  Americans just wasn’t really into manga revamp as comics.  Legend of Kamui was about a young Ninja trying to get away from his clan.  

 I admit that I was lucky to get anything as I studied Japanese and prepared for my first trip over.

 Arriving in Japan, I quickly met other American students who grew up on the same stuff that I liked.  However, I also met fans who had knowledge of niche titles that were hugely popular in Japan but only known by hardcore fans back in North America.

 The best place to go were used bookstores because you didn’t have to pay a lot to check out a series and see if you were interested in reading more.  Plus the used bookstores would sell entire collections.  

 The first manga that I really enjoyed was Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure that is now already translated and marketed by Viz Media.  I was lucky enough to read Jo Jo’s in the original Japanese, which helped my reading ability tremendously and got me into niche titles.  

 Someone recommended Dr. Slump and all the references that were both Japanese and American like Superman, Ultraman, Star Wars, and numerous video game characters hooked me. What I really liked about Dr. Slump was all the dirty jokes that made the manga so great.

 There are a few manga that I own in Japanese that have yet to be translated in English like Sister Princess and Asakiyumemishi, the latter is a manga based on The Tale of Genji which I think could possibly find a market in the US.  As more and more college students study Japanese literature in Humanities, Asakiymemishi can be a valuable visual aid.  

 The biggest manga that has crossed over is Doraemon.  Doraemon is a cultural phenomenon in Japan and I believe that it can become a hit in the US for the children’s market.   

 Just like 50ish fans fondly remember Astro Boy, Doraemon could become something like that to the next generation.

 Each time I visit a Barnes and Nobles, I usually take a peek at the manga section and I can’t believe how much it has grown since my time in the 80’s when I was lucky to find a used copy of Mai with a torn cover for a buck.