This week make the end of one of the most well known and well recognized manga in history, Naruto. Written by Masashi Kishimoto, this is the story of a young boy named Naruto, an outcast of society, whose goal in life is to become Hokage, the strongest person as well as the leader of the village. This manga is one of the best-selling manga series in history and has a legacy spanning fifteen years. It will continue to expand so as it has made its mark in Japanese history.
So what exactly is manga? A simple way to put it, it is the comic book of the East, Japan in particular. South Korea publishes similar comics known as manhwa and the countries of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong publish manhua. Where American society views comic books as trashy (but nowadays it's getting the respect it deserves), the Japanese society embraces manga and embedded this as their culture. In Japan, "manga" is referred to every type of cartoons, animation and comics, while in America, "manga" is strictly the comics published from Japan, and the animation produced is known as "anime".
Manga first started out on scrolls. These scrolls told stories that were accompanied by a series of images. With the creation of paper, these images were then transferred onto them. Unlike the English alphabet, Japanese characters are read from right to left, as opposed to left to right, because it (right to left) is the natural direction the eyes move. Unlike American comics, manga actually has endings. It doesn't continue on forever. Sure, the characters might not age for long periods of time in manga, but let's face it, Spiderman has been a college student since the beginning of time. Another thing to note:(and this is my personal pet peeve...) What is up with the parallel universes? Can't the authors just stick to one story? There are so many stories to one character, that I don't even know where to begin, or what to talk about when regarding that specific character. This can get overwhelming and unbearable at times, but the good thing about this "problem" is that it can create endless stories for filmmaker to work on when creating phenomenal movies.
Well that's my time for this week. Check out the last chapter of Naruto by clicking on the link. Also in other news.....
Until next time
I have friends who are VERY into Naruto. They have read every chapter of the manga and are currently re-watching the show. I used to watch the show, but I fell off the bandwagon a few years ago. In terms of anime, I prefer feature films as opposed to series, because I do not have the attention span to watch hundreds of episodes of a show, usually (unless it is named Lost). I am a huge fan of anything made by Studio Ghibli, and my absolute fave is From Up On Poppy Hill. Also, I like the series Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop. I like this post.
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