A Different Presentation

This week I read a brand new genre that I haven’t had a chance to look at before; Manga. Manga and Anime are very popular on the YA scene right now, so I figured I’d go ahead and read one of them. Manga is the print version of Japanese comics, and Anime is the animated version of the same style of art. Obviously, when these comics are in Japan, they are printed in Japanese, so the Manga I read was translated into English, with the original artwork kept intact. My library doesn’t have a huge selection of Manga, but I noticed that many of the comics are actually series, and most of the first couple titles in the series were missing. I’m thinking that they were checked out because you guys like to read them. But luckily, we had #1 of Dragon Voice, a Manga put out by TOKYOPOP, written by Yuriko Nishiyama, and translated into English by Mike Kiefl.

The story centers around Rin Amami, a fifteen year old who has a natural knack for dancing. His home town is Tokyo, Japan. He is also above average in looks, smarts, and sports. He goes to school when he wants to, and makes a few dollars selling pictures of Idols, the popular singers/dancers that everyone knows. One popular up and coming Idol group is Beatmen. Rin thinks the Idols are a joke; people who can dance, but fake the singing, and just do it for the money. When Rin runs into the lead singer of the Beatmen, Shino, he finds that they are actually performers who seek to create something new. Rin dreams of being a performer, but his voice sounds something like a mix between a bullfrog and Godzilla. But, the boss of the Beatmen thinks that Rin might have a chance in the entertainment world because his unique voice has never been heard before, and has a ton of personality attached to it.

I enjoy looking at art and literature from other cultures. My friends and I have watched quite a few Bollywood films in the last couple of weeks. We think it’s cool that the culture and presentation are different, but the themes and stories are very similar. I found the same thing reading this Manga. The presentation, culture, and animation is different; but, the story of a nobody getting launched into fame and entertainment is a time tested and fun story. It took a while to figure out reading from the opposite direction and things like that, but I enjoyed the read.

P.S. There is some cussing and crude content in the book.