Week 8: Diversity w/ Gender and Sexuality in Manga

My Solo exchange Diary (Sequel to " My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness"), was much more real than I expected. The piece very much reminded me of several webcomics I like that simply update when the artist experienced something interesting in their life and decided to draw it. It was extremely relatable and interesting and I'd love to read more of it. It did not read as a usual manga at all and I'm very curious how it did financially (as all types of these I've ever seen are free and online). 
   I think this format of manga is the most help full when it comes to representation. Sure, its nice to have a gay character in a fiction series- but seeing this real life scenario play out not only describes a day in the life of a real person who is a member of this minority, but in doing this it educates its readers and makes them feel ok for being themselves. It also makes people feel like they're not alone- and normalizes the minority to those who don't belong to it- humanizes the minority and makes them on the same social "side" as everyone else.
      This is the exact kind of thing we need more of, and is exactly what I would like to read more of- I only hope the public at large feels the same.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 7: Shonen Seinen

   Bakuman is a dramatically drawn exaggerated comedy about a serious 9th grader who wants to become a Mangaka. The first chapter is so appealing in how the artist is able to illustrate passion. In the same way that hearing someone gush about a topic they love (even one you may not understand at all)- this art gives way to the same feeling. The energy and excitement is contagious.    By dramatically drawn I mean its average level of detail maintains a high standard. It certainly gets simpler for comedic effect at times- as well as more detailed at important moments- but normally the detail and edge work is very fine and neat. Every panel without a closeup has a background- and the entire manga contains shading and textures.    The piece is exaggerated in both its art style and story. While a student who wants a normal life and has given up on a dream is fairly normal- the length this character goes to with explaining how impossible the dream is- makes it ...
Read more

Week 3: Gekiga

   After reading the first volume of Golgo 13, as well as Cigarette Girl, I started noticing a similarity between them. They both encompass an incredible contrast between their stories and art styles. Golgo 13 is drawn in a very dramatic and detailed matter- something that takes longer to digest and go through visually, while the story is that of an assassin for hire. Not exactly complex or new at all. Cigarette girl has the same contrast but in reverse. The style is very cartoon-ish. Very simple and appealing characters and backgrounds- very easy to understand visually from a quick glance, however the stories in Cigarette Girl are much more "real life" and complex. They don't have standard and easy to understand problems and solutions. In fact most of  cigarette girl doesn't have any solutions at all. The stakes are never exaggerated and stay more to real life, while this character's simple  goals remain constantly out of reach. This creates a much more relatable...
Read more