Sunday September 17, 2006
3 manga celebrate 30th birthday
Three favourite manga are still going strong after 30 years, writes KANTA ISHIDA.
 |
The comics, also published in paperback editions totalling 241 volumes among the three, are regarded as “monsters” in the manga world because they have maintained top-level popularity ever since their launches.
 |
The serialisation of Garasu no Kamen in Hana to Yume, a comic magazine published by Hakusensha Corp, started in January 1976. There had never been such an extensive theatre-themed comic before. Miuchi was not necessarily well versed in stage affairs, either.
But Miuchi said she was deeply impressed with a performance she saw at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo immediately after her debut as a comic artist and realised there was no difference, in artistic terms, between actors playing roles and comic artists depicting characters.
Driven by this epiphany, she has poured herself into the character of Maya Kitajima, the child drama prodigy who is the protagonist of the story.
Newly-written instalments of Garasu no Kamen are currently not carried in the magazine, but have been published in book format. Now in its 42nd volume, the story is building towards a climax.
 |
Akimoto has never taken a break from its weekly serialisation during the past 30 years. “I have been getting along with the comic fairly well, understanding its strengths and its shortcomings, as if it and I were a married couple.”
In honour of the long series, a statue of main character Kankichi Ryotsu (Ryo-san for short), a sometimes hapless middle-aged senior policeman instantly recognisable by his comically exaggerated eyebrows, was installed in front of JR Kameari Station in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, in February. “I was able to continue the series without getting weary mainly because I could put myself into a different mode every week as it is a one-shot gag cartoon,” Akimoto said.
Oke no Monsho is a story about a girl named Carol who is transported 3,000 years back to ancient Egypt, where she has a romance with King Memphis after a series of adventures. The saga has been serialised in the monthly magazine Princess, published by Akita Shoten Co.
The comic is now past its 50th paperback volume.
 |
The characters of Kitajima and Ryo-san never seem to age. But comics can never be completely unrelated to the changes of the times.
In the 42nd volume of Garasu no Kamen, for example, a mobile phone appears for the first time. “Younger readers might think it odd to see coin-operated public phones, for example. When I think about the changes in communication tools, my head aches,” Miuchi said.
 |
The three manga made their debut in a tumultuous year. In 1976, former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka was indicted on bribery charges in the Lockheed payoff scandal. A defecting Soviet pilot penetrated Japan’s air defences to land his fighter jet in Hokkaido. And China forcibly put down a demonstration in Tiananmen Square, foreshadowing similar violence in 1989.
Critic Yukari Fujimoto, who analyses comics’ treatment of gender and sexuality, said the year was a milestone of the 1970s, a decade that saw serious changes in the history of comics. “And it was around that time, with the appearance of a generation of comic artists who were born in or around 1949, including Moto Hagio and Keiko Takemiya (two giants among creators of comics aimed at girls), that the range of comic expression and readership greatly widened.
“The three works, I suppose, were supported (by readers) as they stick to the basic appeal of comics as something to enjoy, while respecting the changes of the times,” Fujimoto said.
The three works also share an advocacy of “passionate devotion,” whether it be Ryo-san’s devotion to his police work, Maya’s to her acting or Carol’s to her King Charming.
Today, it is often said to be harder for each one of us to find a dream to fix our hopes on, as compared to 30 years ago. There must be a lot of fans who hope the stories will not conclude for a long time. – The Daily Yomiuri/Asia News Network
RSS
