“Manga as a Plague” ~ Froggy Guru Moebius Declares War on Manga

November 15, 2009 in Codex, Haruhi Suzumiya
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Haruhi Rage

Haruhi-sama is not amused

Manga Compared to a Plague

Israel Punzano : Lo que parece seguro es que a este ritmo dentro de poco estaremos todos leyendo manga. El éxito del cómic japonés entre los jóvenes no presagia nada bueno para los autores europeos.

Moebius : El manga es una plaga. La invasión ha sido total, como demuestra las cuotas de mercado que ha conseguido. Es una epidemia. Me recuerda a lo sucedido con las abejas de la Amazonia que suben hasta Norteamérica y matan a las especies autóctonas. En Francia, los camarones han desaparecido porque echaron en nuestras aguas una especie foránea que acabó con ellos. Los nuevos también están buenos, pero no son los mismos… Tienen un acento espantoso. El problema es que el manga llega a Europa, pero el cómic europeo no va a Japón. Eso es lo injusto.

“El ‘manga’ es una plaga”, El Pais, 15/11/2009

Google Translation

Israel Punzano : What seems certain is that at this rate, soon we’ll all be reading manga. The success of Japanese comics among youth does not bode well for European authors.

Moebius : Manga is a plague. The invasion has been complete, as demonstrated by market share that has been achieved. It’s an epidemic. It reminds me of what happened to the bees that go up the Amazon to North America and kill native species. In France, the shrimp have disappeared because they threw in our waters a foreign species that killed them. New also are good, but not the same … They have an awful accent. The problem is that the manga comes to Europe, but European comics is not going to Japan. That is wrong.

“El ‘manga’ es una plaga”, El Pais, 15/11/2009

See Also : Axis Powers Hetalia ~ Korea Declares War on Otakudom over Anime Dispute

2 Replies

  1. NeoMil

    November 18, 2009 at 11:15 am

    The “problem” is not the manga itself, it’s the alternative to brainless May’68 propaganda as European comics are full of. Both Punzano and ‘Moebius’ rely on this and wouldn’t dare say the thoughts and morals conveyed by manga artists are opposite to theirs. Yet at the very least subconsciously, many European otaku are taken into the new world of knights in shining armor. This world doesn’t need the knights or the armor, it just needs a revolt against the modern world, a real rebel.

    They want European comics to become popular again? Then stop the x-men idiocy! It might have worked in the ’50s, now everyone has had their fill of American McDonalds-patriottism. In a way this world has become the new conservative USA of the old or even, and I’m sorry for affirming Godwin’s Law, the new nazi empire. We just don’t realise it yet.

    “The United States represents the reductio ad absurdum of the negative and the most senile aspects of Western civilization. What in Europe exist in diluted form are magnified and concentrated in the United States whereby they are revealed as the symptoms of disintegration and cultural and human regression. The American mentality can only be interpreted as an example of regression, which shows itself in the mental atrophy towards all higher interests and incomprehension of higher sensibility. The American mind has limited horizons, one conscribed to everything which is immediate and simplistic, with the inevitable consequence that everything is made banal, basic and leveled down until it is deprived of all spiritual life. Life itself in American terms is entirely mechanistic. The sense of I in America belongs entirely to the physical level of existence. The typical American neither has spiritual dilemmas nor complications: he is a natural joiner and conformist.”
    - Julius Evola

  2. Charz

    November 19, 2009 at 6:19 pm

    There is no secret. The reason behind manga’s success in Europe and America is that “Demand Meets Supply“. There is a market for something different.

    Intellectualism, Elitism and Political correctness (and fake political incorrectness) are indeed the Cancer killing european comics.

    This is the reason why Manga is not a Plague but a Cure. An imperfect and incomplete remedy for the Real Poison that is “Current Western Culture“.

    4chan Anonymous easily explained the problem :

    >>27646494
    I haven’t even heard of this guy.

    In any case, I think the main reason why western comics are being abandoned for manga is because they DON’T WRITE FOR KIDS ANYMORE.

    They write stories for 30 to 40 year olds and grognards. They write with needless depth and often use high concepts when a low concept would do just fine.

    The comic book business was built on the 5-14 age bracket, same as Manga, but it has lost its roots in “artistic” notions and “intellectual” stories.

    Write comics for kids, people, seriously.

    Anonymous – 11/15/09 – 06:24 No.27646776 :

    Utter claptrap. The same kind of “save our culture” bullshit that comes from the French Ministry of Culture from time to time. Your product clearly isn’t connecting with a global audience and Japans is. There’s nothing wrong with that. Either figure out what you’re doing wrong and learn to appeal to a larger more global audience or learn to live with your niche in Europe.

    Anonymous 11/15/09(Sun)06:35 No.27646966

    Comics died in the 90s when they stopped being comical. Every comic now is all dark-toned conspiracy theory crap. The jappos are still making comical stuff and grab the interests of their audience at a very early age.

    Anonymous 11/15/09(Sun)06:50 No.27647181

    Reasons why comics are dying off, summarized:

    – They’re not aimed at youngsters.
    – Their target audience (adults) are either already into manga, or don’t have time.
    – They clamp down on doujins. I suspect that the success of comics is due to the fanbase using doujins to reach out to an even wider circle. I mean, if you’re threatening copyright lawsuits all over the place it’s not going to help your fanbase a lot.

    Anonymous 11/15/09(Sun)07:15 No.27647514

    Western comics are either ultra-cheesy, tired and cliched cape-shit dragged out again or worse go off into convoluted wall of text political strawman ramblings in an effort to be artsy and deep.

    Whatever happened to thinking up a wacky story with characters that can appeal to a wide audience?

    Anonymous 11/15/09(Sun)07:06 No.27647412


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