Champ-Magné
From here:
In an August 2006 Time magazine article, America is Drawn to Manga, VIZ Media went as far as to say that “true manga” was made only in Japan.
And true champagne is only made in France, and the identical drink made elsewhere must be called “sparkling wine.”
Please. They’re cartoons. Cartoons where the main draw is scantily clad women and giant robots, and usually everyone has monstrously huge eyes which, if real, would scare the crap out of you instead of looking cute. (Yes, I know, manga is more than that, but I never really got into it much and really don’t care.) It’s a style, and style can be copied, often times very effectively.
If you can drink a beverage and really discern which country it was made in, then congratulations, you have far too much free time on your hands. Everything else is marketing and turf, or otakuppoi interest at the level of who-is-better-Kirk-or-Picard.
But then again, on second thought, maybe there are not very many casual readers of manga. In which case, the distinction might very well make a difference to everyone who reads the stuff.
American manga (imported and domestic) still has the comics are only for children stigma… An importer will censor and edit the crap out of a Japanese manga aimed at adults, just so they can sell more stuff to 13-year-old Dragon Ball Z fanboys. If “true manga” is only from Japan, shouldn’t American readers of “true manga” get to read “true manga”?
Here in Jesusland manga importers are ‘nice’ enough to draw clothing on the scantily clad women and make sure nobody says anything worse than ‘darn’ or ‘shoot’. I’m looking at you American Shonen Jump. The Full Metal Alchemist manga had a few graphical changes just to remove the image of a guy on a cross. The stone cross he was crucified on changed to some random shaped slab… Even the novel Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino was censored by the the US publisher… I really wish that I could get the ‘true’ Japan here in the states, instead of “OMG Power Rangers!!” Japan.
As for Kirk vs. Picard… Everyone knows that Sisko could kick both of their asses at the same time!! =p
Hmm, interesting, I hadn’t thought about censors. Didn’t occur to me, considering the rather graphic nature of the drawings I saw on my 10-year-old nephew’s wall last time I visited. Of course, that’s in the SF Bay Area, and on top of that my sister would be cool enough to approve the purchase anyway.
As for Sisko, I’m not sure about that, but I do know that Janeway would walk away with the Best Kathryn Hepburn Impersonation trophy; she’s already at the right pitch and even has the hairstyle, she just needs to warble and waver a bit.