4 ms·

Manga comics turn gray – but spirited – along with readers

55 points by petethomas 8y ago

cupofjoakim 8y ago
This is fascinating to me even though it shouldn't be. Since manga has been around as a mainstream thing i japan for as long as it has it was bound to start happening. I mean, fans of American superhero comics will likely still enjoy them as they grow older but will need a different type of character to keep being able to relate to the comics. Looking forward to any superhero story that takes the old "bitten by a bug -> now has powers" to an actual perspective from an elderly person, and get their unique take on the events following.
- wigglelot 8y ago
  "Inuyashiki: Last Hero" is an interesting anime take along the lines of the premise you mention.
  - PurpleRamen 8y ago
    And was a manga first. It actually was the one that came mind when reading the article. It's the perfect example of an old sad salary-man gaining supwerpower and rescuing the world and beating some sense into the ignorant youth. Because rule of thumb for japanese productions is that the main characters are reflection of the main target group.
  - xboxnolifes 8y ago
    I will thought of the same thing when I read the parent comment. I didn't read the manga itself, but the anime gave a good, different feel of having an older protagonist.
  - xrd 8y ago
    The mashable review makes it sound like it is incredibly violent. I'm intrigued by the storyline but the increasingly violence portrayed in films these days, even one step removed by going anime, is tough for me to stomach. Is it worth it if that's difficult for me?
- Hoasi 8y ago
  > Looking forward to any superhero story that takes the old "bitten by a bug -> now has powers" to an actual perspective from an elderly person, and get their unique take on the events following. This could even refresh the genre.
  - true_religion 8y ago
    Not a superhero series, but there is a book called Old Mans war where the protagonists are elderly who get bioenhanced bodies to go fight a war against aliens. If nothing else it was fun seeimg society that glamorized war but thought 18 year olds or even 40 year olds were mere children too young to choose to risk their lives.
- watwut 8y ago
  I mean, it is not that superheroes would take point of view of young people (or anyone else real). They are wish fulfilment stories.
xrd 8y ago
Living in Japan as an exchange student in high school, I used manga as a way to learn colloquial Japanese. It was a good experience overall and the stories are engaging. Plus, lots of the kanji have jimaku (written in the phonetic characters) underneath because many readers, like me, were learning all the characters required to read at an adult level. The only problem I encountered was reading one during classical Japanese class, which I couldn't understand at all. The teacher was lecturing in the room and walked up behind me talking. Everyone else would read comics in class, so I didn't stop. My Japanese was not good enough to realize his conversation had shifted away from the subject of koten (classical Japanese literature) to me and my reading material until a few seconds, by which time the whole class was laughing at me. I think he knew I was committed to learning the Japanese I could at that moment in my learning.

55 points by petethomas 8y ago

This is fascinating to me even though it shouldn't be. Since manga has been around as a mainstream thing i japan for as long as it has it was bound to start happening. I mean, fans of American superhero comics will likely still enjoy them as they grow older but will need a different type of character to keep being able to relate to the comics. Looking forward to any superhero story that takes the old "bitten by a bug -> now has powers" to an actual perspective from an elderly person, and get their unique take on the events following.

wigglelot 8y ago
"Inuyashiki: Last Hero" is an interesting anime take along the lines of the premise you mention.
- PurpleRamen 8y ago
  And was a manga first. It actually was the one that came mind when reading the article. It's the perfect example of an old sad salary-man gaining supwerpower and rescuing the world and beating some sense into the ignorant youth. Because rule of thumb for japanese productions is that the main characters are reflection of the main target group.
- xboxnolifes 8y ago
  I will thought of the same thing when I read the parent comment. I didn't read the manga itself, but the anime gave a good, different feel of having an older protagonist.
- xrd 8y ago
  The mashable review makes it sound like it is incredibly violent. I'm intrigued by the storyline but the increasingly violence portrayed in films these days, even one step removed by going anime, is tough for me to stomach. Is it worth it if that's difficult for me?
Hoasi 8y ago
> Looking forward to any superhero story that takes the old "bitten by a bug -> now has powers" to an actual perspective from an elderly person, and get their unique take on the events following. This could even refresh the genre.
- true_religion 8y ago
  Not a superhero series, but there is a book called Old Mans war where the protagonists are elderly who get bioenhanced bodies to go fight a war against aliens. If nothing else it was fun seeimg society that glamorized war but thought 18 year olds or even 40 year olds were mere children too young to choose to risk their lives.
watwut 8y ago
I mean, it is not that superheroes would take point of view of young people (or anyone else real). They are wish fulfilment stories.

xrd 8y ago

Living in Japan as an exchange student in high school, I used manga as a way to learn colloquial Japanese. It was a good experience overall and the stories are engaging. Plus, lots of the kanji have jimaku (written in the phonetic characters) underneath because many readers, like me, were learning all the characters required to read at an adult level. The only problem I encountered was reading one during classical Japanese class, which I couldn't understand at all. The teacher was lecturing in the room and walked up behind me talking. Everyone else would read comics in class, so I didn't stop. My Japanese was not good enough to realize his conversation had shifted away from the subject of koten (classical Japanese literature) to me and my reading material until a few seconds, by which time the whole class was laughing at me. I think he knew I was committed to learning the Japanese I could at that moment in my learning.