Even in a troubled economy the U.S. manga market seems to be holding its own as publishers scramble to license new titles in the Japanese market and search out new genres to bring to the U.S. This the first Found In Translation column, a new feature that will focus on finding the best Japanese manga we in the West may not be reading yet, for one reason or another. Whether newly popular works in the Japanese market, a new manga beginning to attract attention from Western fans or Classic works that have slipped through the cracks, we’ll try to bring put a spotlight on them and on their publishing history.
Our first candidate is the lovely Ms. Aya Nakahara. Aficionados of girls' manga likely already know her for 2007's smash hit Lovely Complex or Love*Com for short. Winning Shogakukan's best shojomanga award after its 2002 Japanese release and a successful five year serialization didn't slow down the Osaka native one iota. In April of 2009, she debuted her new conceptBerry Dynamite in the Japanese monthly Bessatsu Margaret.
Continuing in the sharp tradition of Love*Com,Berry Dynamite was originally a single issue comedy that made its debut last Spring. Serialization followed less than a month later with a fifty page new chapter in May of 2009. Still early in its run, this newshojotale looks to have its sights on an extended storyline similar to Nakahara's last work.
Why such quick success? It's simple really: the fundamentals are just that strong. Berry Dynamitetells the story of an idol singing duo, familiar territory for 99% of Japanese school kids. The hook is that the two protagonists, Mai and Kurumi, are polar opposites who's on stage persona contrast powerfully with their actual relationship. The ditsy Kurumi is an authentic portrayal of the typical TV idol girl. Content to sing insipid pop songs and dance around in cutesy costumes, her whole way of being seems to grate the more casual Mai, who dreams of dropping the pop act and singing in a rock band.
The conflict is simple yet ripe for the sort of insightful comedy for which Nakahara is already famous. Appealing to the universal sense of duality between what we want to be and what circumstances force us to become, Nakahara has re-created a classic conflict of identity in the form of two characters. Considering all of the social pressure to conform that Japanese young people face, it is no wonder that Berry Dynamitewas quick to find an audience. It also doesn't hurt that the comic is consistently funny and not only from a Japanese context.
Moving from new school ladies comics to old school action, there has always been one classic manga close to my heart that has not earned the western success it deserves. That manga can only be Takao Saito's Golgo 13.
Now it is not quite true to say that Golgo 13lacks an English language release. Since 1986 the prolific series has seen sporadic international release, starting with Lead Publishing Company's paperbacks and most recently Viz Media's 2006 to 2008 release of thirteen volumes.
Nevertheless this barely scratches the surface of the five decade-spanning 200 million volume-selling goliath. Spanning over 150 individual books along with numerous special edition collections, movies, video games, and a hit anime series, Golgo 13has been one of the premier action comics of Japan since the late 1960's.
Alas Saito's vision came a few decades too early, preempting the manga and anime boom that came at the end of the last century. Imagine a powerfully written, tightly plotted story of a genius assassin who jets around the world performing impossible snipes, dodging international police and crime syndicates, while getting into tawdry affairs with gorgeous women—imagine such a series coming out in 2000. It would be bigger than Naruto.
Unfortunately no English language distributor has seen fit to market the series in the manner it deserves. What is now a cult classic among die hard Japanophiles could still be a sleeper hit on our shores if the right company takes the initiative. More realistically we may see another limited translation and release from Viz Media down the road. Whatever happens, here's hoping that Saito gets the recognition he deserves both in Japan and around the world.
