28 • SKIN DEEP MAGAZINE
While manga refers to published comic-books,
anime is the catch-all name given to Japan’s vi-
brant animation industry. Like manga, it’s a
grown-up medium when compared to the West’s
kiddie-friendly animations. Themes such as life,
death, sex, sexuality, and what it means to be hu-
man are all part of the mix. And much of the ani-
me that we know and love started life as manga.
From the high-drama and daring colour
schemes of “Akira”, to the convoluted plots of
“Ghost in the Shell”, and the wild character de-
signs of “Death Note” it’s the source material that
made some of Japan’s best anime so memorable.
And it doesn’t stop there. Manga is ubiquitous.
Love video games? What about Japanese cin-
ema? Studio Ghibli? Cosplay? Tattoos? Fancy a
“Sailor Moon” silhouette, a “Dragon Ball” sleeve,
or the iconic mask of “Tokyo Ghoul” etched on
your skin? Every medium has either borrowed
from manga or fed into it. Kurosawa’s epic take
on “Macbeth”, with all its stylised comic-frame
drama, opens with the lines: “Look upon the ru-
ins of the castle of delusion haunted only now by
the spirits”. It could well be the start of a manga
graphic novel.
But, in manga, the source material doesn’t need
to be Japanese. One of the joys of the medium is
that it’s not afraid to borrow and blend to create
a continually evolving and surprising art form.
Classic Western novels are hugely popular in
manga-ised form, especially the works of Lewis
Carroll. Otomo Katsuhiro, who created “Akira”,
also produced a compelling retelling of Alice in
five pages that plays with space and storytelling.
The final page can be read from numerous angles
each with different storylines. But, then, even
when a medium is as varied as manga, there was
always going to be at least one story about a cut-
sie girl... Fancy^ a^ “Sailor^ Moon”^ silhouette,^
a “Dragon^ Ball”^ sleeve,^ or^ the^
iconic^ mask^ of^ “Tokyo^ Ghoul”^
etched^ on^ your^ skin?