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David Golombek\\
21F.030\\
Journal \#6\\\\
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Manga is a nearly unique artform in the modern world.  Its combination
of childlike drawings and adult themes is unmatched in any culture
besides Japanese (and its direct derivatives in nearby Asian
countries).  The American graphic novel comes close, with its
frequently dark tone and more serious subject matter, but it is
distinguished by a much fancier artistic style and more limitted scope
(graphic novels are stand-alone issues, whereas manga tends to be
serialized).  Some of the European comics also come close, but they
tend to be aimed towards children, and happen to have adult themes
hidden in the background to make them more enjoyable for adults to
read to kids (ala Disney's Aladdin).  Due to manga's near unique
status, there are no existing standards for its quality or content.
Thus people have had to adapt to this new medium, and they are still
uncertain how to treat and possibly regulate it.

The first issue that comes up with all forms of printed media is that
of censorship.  Manga runs directly across the path of censorship due
to the many explicitly sexual drawings contained within, as well as
its (less frequent) use of obscene words.  There are two issues at
work when dealing with obscenity; first is the accessability of the
material to minors, and second is the issue of public standards of
decency.  The first issue can be very complex because it involves the
protection of children from an uncertain harm --- how will they be
affected by pictures of nude men and women engaged in sexual
activities?  Because manga is so widely available, it is virtually
certain that children will be able to gain access to it, and thus will
see these pictures that may expose them to previously unheard of
topics.  In manga's defense, because these pictures are hand drawn,
and very sketchy in many cases, they are much less explicit than their
photographic equivalents (this is excluding the manga designed to be
pornographic, which can easily match photographs in explicitness).
The final decision on this point is one that each culture must make
for itself; I personally believe that children aren't harmed by
exposure to pornography, and Japanese opinion is obviously much the
same.  The second issue is much simpler, because the Japanese have
made it very clear that the level of obscenity in manga is acceptible
to them by buying large quantities of manga.  Thus, manga should not
be censored, because it is deemed non-harmful to children, and
acceptible to the majority of adults.

Although censorship of materials used to be solely based on it's
possibly obscene contents, the recent TV ratings wars in the United
States have brought the general influence of a show into the realm of
censorship.  Thus, manga must also be judged by the effects it has
upon its readers.  The main quality of manga besides its pornographic
portrayals that would raise concerns is the depiction of extreme
violence.  In the United States, rising levels of violence among youth
led to pressure to create our new TV rating system; there is no
similar increase in violence among Japanese youth to warrant a similar
rating system for manga.  

Manga is a very emotional artform, in that it explores the full range
of human emotions by putting its characters through an amazing variety
of situations (some very contrived, some very realistic).  By making
the characters inside deal with such a wide range of situations, the
creators can explore all the thoughts and feelings that go through
their characters (who are at least minimally modeled on real people).
Because manga is at least partially a book form, we are able to see
the thoughts of the characters directly, without them having to talk
out loud, as is required in many other forms, especially movies or
animated films.  And because the characters minds are open to the
readers, the author has a much simpler way of communicating with the
reader than using dialogue everywhere, which is a poor way to express
what a character is truly thinking (hence the monologues of
traditional stage plays).  

Manga can be a great medium for the communication of views due to the
aforementioned abilities.  Manga gives a great deal of freedom to the
author, indeed, more freedom than almost any other popular medium.
The traditional novel has the problem of taking all visual cues away
from the reader, forcing them to create many details on their own.
Although this may be termed a feature by many, it makes it difficult
for the author to control many of the details they want to.  By adding
drawings, the author is able to control many of visual queues that
they find important, making sure the reader interprets them the same
way the author intends.  Traditional comics tend to be more limited in
range, when compared to manga, which is generally free to cover
whatever subjects the author is currently interested in.  Films and
animated shows lack the ability to express the thoughts of the
characters directly, and thus are limited in what they can
communicate.  Of course, each of the mediums listed makes up for its
deficiencies through the creativity of the directors, but manga allows
its authors to communicate directly without having to go to great
lengths.  By reading manga, one can learn a lot about current issues
in Japan, and what is of concern to the target audience of the given
piece.  For although manga allows the author great flexibility, the
authors are still limited to what is of interest to their readership.

Manga allows the author to cover a wide range of subjects, according
to what is popular with their readership.  The fact that manga
includes a lot of sex and violence is of little surprise, since
Hollywood has shown very well that this is what sells to the modern
public.  Although manga is selling to a slightly different audience
than Hollywood, we are all still humans, and the same basic things
appeal to us all.  Manga should not be censored, because it is what
the public wants, and it doesn't appear to be doing harm to the
society.  In fact, manga seems to be an all around good art form, and
one that gives the author a great deal of flexibility.

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