Theme by nostrich.
Logo by vivdesigns.
Keep updated with Manga Therapy by subscribing to my RSS feed! "Like", "Follow", or "+1" me for more lovely conversations about manga & Japanese pop culture!
Text
Has The Internet Changed The Way You Think About Manga?
Here’s a scenario that I want everyone to imagine with me. Ready?
Think back to a time where computers didn’t exist yet. Think back to when it was very difficult to find information about anything you wanted. Think back to when sharing one’s interests over a huge communication channel was almost impossible without going to a big-name media outlet. Now, hold those thoughts and ask yourself if the Internet has the changed the way you think about manga. Regarding manga, the Internet has truly made it global, but with a price. I sometimes wonder if the Internet is both the creator and destroyer of manga fandom.
Before the Internet became popular, the only way I found out about manga news was through the defunct WIZARD Magazine. I remember the first manga I heard about from WIZARD was Masamune Shirow’s Ghost In The Shell. After reading about the controversy surrounding Ghost in the Shell (i.e. the cybersex scene), the whole idea of manga began to appeal to me. I was watching Chinese dubs of Dragon Ball Z at the time and my interest in Japanese media continued to grow. When I found out Dragon Ball was originally a manga, I browsed text summaries of the original manga series online back in 1999. You don’t know how obsessed I was with looking for information on DBZ at the time. Thankfully, VIZ Media released the Dragon Ball Z manga in America and I bought all the volumes. The same thing also happened when I followed Rurouni Kenshin in the early 2000s’. I was reading text summaries of chapters online, visiting fansites to satisfy my cravings, and later bought all the volumes because of my love for the samurai epic.
Fast forward to the proliferation of scanlations. I decided to follow BLEACH (during college around 2005) after hearing some of my friends watching the anime. I bought the first few volumes from VIZ and was hooked. What happened next was I began using the Internet to find out more information about the characters. I found out about what was currently going on in the BLEACH manga from a fansite at the time, which was Sosuke Aizen being revealed as the main villain. That just piqued my curiosity even more and I wanted to know what happens next. As a result, the world of scanlations entered my life. I was pretty ecstatic to know that I can keep up with what’s happening with BLEACH. I also discovered many other series through scanlations as well. I was still buying manga and didn’t really think about how scanlations affected the manga-publishing industry.
And now here we are with the manga industry in a huge state of flux. What does that tell me? The Internet (the power of the creator) is great for manga since it exposes everyone to a wide variety of series and creates passionate fan communities, but the Internet (the power of the destructor) gives off this illusion to certain people that manga easily grows on a tree and everything’s dandy, when things really aren’t fine.
I don’t know about you, but there is one thing that bugs me about scanlations. Scanlators and aggregator sites often put up a disclaimer message telling everyone to buy and support a manga series if it’s available in their region. But, what if the manga is not available in their region and possibly never will be? What if the reader is an 8-year old? Also, I know a few people who work full-time that read scanlations and are not even interested in buying physical copies of manga. Do scanlators even understand their intended audiences and their consequences as a whole?
The Internet has made me believe that manga will be an online-only interest globally and will stay that way (though it seems like it already is). Outside of Japan, manga is still very niche to a majority of people. Combine that with free scanlations and you have a recipe for “fun interest that appeals mostly to Internet folks”. Though part of me believes the Internet is perfect for manga because most people like to read things online these days and they LOVE images on the Internet.
Another thing was that before the Internet, I thought every manga title out there was godly. Since the increased popularity of the ‘Net, I realized that there’s a lot of “junk” to sort through before you even get to the good stuff. Sometimes, I wonder how certain titles became published in the first place. Such is the harshness of reality.
One question does plague me: should the manga community accept those that read scanlations of a certain series and don’t really buy any form of merchandise related to the series (yet are extremely passionate about it) as members of the community? Would someone care to enlighten me on how those fans should be viewed?
With these inner thoughts in mind, I continue to research the crazy world of manga online and offline (I still buy volumes of manga) as many series have worked their charm upon my visage. Oh Internet, you’re as tempting as a bishojo girl nagging her “big brother” to spend time with her and leaving him with a colorful array of conflicted feelings.
Text with 35 notes
Do Girls Really Like Vegeta?
Yes, this is a man who oozes sexiness every time he walks into the room.
Like a fine wine that continues to age well, Dragon Ball is still continuing to be relevant in every anime/manga fan’s lives. Just recently, the ever-rageful Prince of the Saiyans, Vegeta, became a target both positively and negatively. Our anti-hero was voted #2 on a list of top 9 anime/manga boys that women wish were real. Gintama also made fun of his entire character in Episode 242 (Volume 42, Chapter 364 in the manga), where the girls of Gintama discuss Vegeta and question his appeal to women in front of a female Vegeta fan. As Gintama’s episode title proclaims, “Girls Like Vegeta”. Is the bad boy appeal of Vegeta extremely powerful for women to resist?
Here’s one girl’s thought about Vegeta:
“He’s always strong, but his loving tsundere-ness towards his family really gets me.” (A quote about Vegeta from the list conducted by Girl Sugoren)
After hearing that quote, it makes me wonder about Vegeta’s popularity after the Freeza arc. Most of us know that he cried during the arc and begged Goku to beat Freeza. Was that the moment made girls go “Awwww”? Vegeta’s character slowly changed afterwards, as he started to settle down a little with a family while still being the prideful Prince of Saiyans that he is. The guy was literally a complete a-hole who didn’t care about anything, except defeating Goku in battle. Vegeta did show some signs of love to his family, as he went berserk when his son, Trunks (whose future version was also VERY POPULAR among girls) was killed by Cell and risked his life to save everyone from Majin Buu. Of course, there’s that confident smirk, evil laugh, and arm fold he does that seems to draw a lot of attention.
With those characteristics that Vegeta has, why are girls drawn to them? Do we blame Hollywood? Do we blame the media? Or do we blame human nature? It could be girls’ inherent preference of “good genes”. “Good genes” in men tend to be a high level of masculinity and symmetry. Women at a younger age seem to enjoy seeing acts of bravery and risk-taking (which bad boys tend to do). There’s also the belief that girls secretly harbor the fantasy of turning the bad boy into a loving man who is committed to them.
Do Vegeta fangirls see hope that it’s possible for a bad boy to become a nice guy and still remain tough? Or do they appreciate the fact that Vegeta is a “bad boy” character that lives up to whatever perceived fantasies they have of him? It was interesting to see Bulma being attracted to Vegeta, but it somehow makes sense for her. Vegeta’s confidence in wanting to be stronger than Goku probably attracted her in the first place, since he was very determined to reach his goal at all costs. Also, as Trunks once stated, both his parents were lonely and that’s why they got together. A combination of strength and love can create interesting opportunities, don’t you think?
I do like to point out that the group of women who voted Vegeta on the Sugoren list were women in their 20s’. What happens when they get older? Will their opinions about “bad boys” change? Will they like Vegeta less? As women get older, their appreciation of certain types of men evolve.
Vegeta seems like the perfect guy to many girls. He is still a “bad boy” at heart, but he also fights with some sense of altruism. I think this is the secret to his popularity among women. The fact he’s an somewhat altruistic, tough guy. Both younger and older women can find him to be a character that satisfies their criteria for a great male character. Vegeta has been able to activate so many emotions in people’s (especially women’s) hearts, that you can’t help but react (and women tend to focus on emotions). Look at all the things he has said and done over his history in Dragon Ball.
Even though I’m not a girl, I love Vegeta. He’s played a big part in how my personality is shaped. I don’t know about this perceived notion that guys don’t like him, but like Piccolo (as Gintama hints). All I can say is that guys might feel a bit inspired to develop some sense of pride to keep themselves strong. To the female Vegeta fans out there, is his pride a strong factor in why you love the beloved Saiyan Prince and do you perhaps enjoy that quality in a man?
Power, brash confidence, and a good heart - when it comes to the ideal man, isn’t fiction just grand?
