New uses for Manga

Trident · Post by **Trident** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 4:33 pm

I apologize if this veers off the subject of anime, but as it came from AnimeNewsNetwork...

Manga and the Japanese government?

Okay--to an extent, using a non-traditional form of media to communicate ideas is okay. I mean, I may not agree with Michael Moore, but he has the right to create Farenheit 9/11 if he wants (just like Ray Bradbury has the right to be mad at Moore because of the title, which is a completely separate issue). But does that mean that, say, Stan Lee should put the State of the Union address in comic book form? Can't the Japanese government figure out how to inform its young people of current events some other way? Do they really have to dumb down a political document that much?

HeartbreakerByZep · Post by **HeartbreakerByZep** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 4:35 pm

Some comics deal with important issues, like the drug issue of Spider-Man, and he 9/11 issues of Spider-Man (and Captain America?) but that kind of stuff should be on an emotional level and completely optional.

I don't see a point in manga-ifying government stuff.

azulmagia · Post by **azulmagia** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 5:34 pm

A White Paper as Manga!?

Seriously, members of the Japanese parliament have been admonished because they've been reading manga while it's in session. According to Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga eventually everything will be manga-ized including death certificates, draft notices and rulers.

Japanese voter turn out has been extraordinarily low in recent years, hovering around or under 50% in many districts and across the country. Comparatively, most other countries that use proportional representation typically enjoy voter turn out rates of 70-90%.

Well of course because in Japan electoral politics is not all that important and most of the real decisions are made by bureaucrats.

ChosenOneKory · Post by **ChosenOneKory** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 6:24 pm

Here's a use for manga: Toilet Paper.

..Not that I'd ever do that or anything.
O_o;; Lest it was old woman manga hentai.. <Shudders.>

ChosenOneKory · Post by **ChosenOneKory** » Fri Jul 09, 2004 6:26 pm

Man, I never want to type up "Manga" in a google search and find pages full of government papers...

dogger · Post by **dogger** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 6:26 am

i remeber when i was younger my mum had a comic book of the pope

*inverse* · Post by ***inverse*** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 2:24 pm

Crazyness. But this is only in Japan - probably don't need to worry about it here.

Trident · Post by **Trident** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 9:05 pm

True--the U.S. government would probably be more likely to turn any important political news into a sitcom a la Comedy Central's "That's My Bush!" *sits back and waits for someone to make a contract with Saddam Hussein for his own TV talk show*