I
am a great believer of doing what you love is the best way to live your life to
the fullest. Hence, I do many things that delight me, one of which is reading
manga, Japanese comic books. However, for a quite long time, it has been
bothering me a lot that many people have jumped into some notional assumptions
that manga are merely intended for children, and adults, absolutely, should not
read them. This misunderstanding needs to be questioned, or even better,
cleared for good. In fact, contrary to the popular belief, a survey conducted
by ICv2, a pop culture magazine, in 2011 have revealed that the number of manga
readers from all ages has grown for the past few decades. The result, indeed,
has indicated that manga have become a sort of consolation in the hearts of
loyal readers, and surely, had a special place in the realm of work of art and literature.
With that being said, there are several reasons why everyone should start
reading manga: the wide range of genres, the enjoyment, and the benefits.
The
first reason to start reading manga is that there are many genres based on demographic
groups and genders e.g. shonen, shoujo, seinen, and josei.
Such grouping is carried out to attract wider range of readership, as well as
to ensure that everyone reads manga according to the age appropriateness. Manga
for male readers are subdivided into two according to the range of age: shonen
for 10-18 years old and seinen for above 18 years old. As for female
readers, shoujo and josei are the equivalent, respectively. The
genres and art also vary depending on the demographic groups. Female manga tend
to have artwork that is softer and more fluid; while for male manga, they are drawn
flashier with intense and brave lineart. In terms of genres, seinen and josei cover wider and maturer genres such as slice of life with a
touch of philosophy, psychological thriller, history, crime, and sci-fi. They
have more intricate and thought-provoking plots, yet are as intriguing as those
of shoujo and shounen which provide light-reading stories with variation of,
usually, rather mainstream genres targeted for younger readers e.g. comedy, school
life, romance, sport, fantasy, and adventure. Therefore, with limitless choices
of manga, whether you are a child or an adult, there will always be one that
suits your interest and taste well.
Another
simple yet important reason for putting manga in your reading list is that they
are very enjoyable to read and also rich in knowledge. Reading manga is
visually way much enjoyable rather than reading novels filled with words only.
As a medium of art, manga are embellished with amazing artworks and
nicely-written panels, take for example, Mizuho Kusanagi’s Akatsuki no Yona and
Takeshi Obata’s Death Note. The way the authors draw the characters and
backgrounds in a very detailed manner and intertwine them with well-organized
panels deserves kudos from the readers. Visual aside, manga also broaden your
horizon of knowledge by reading through the pages. Many manga use historical
theme, for instance Naoki Urasawa’s Monster featuring a story of a surgeon
living in Germany and Czech during full-of-conflicts post-war era that will
enrich your knowledge about world history. The pleasure and excitement coming
from flipping one page to another, reading dialogues from above to below, grasping
the blend of emotions depicted by the expression of the characters throughout
the plot, and fathoming all of them into a thought are the reasons why readers
are engrossed in manga. By the time you finish reading one, instead of feeling
bored, you will be eager to read what happens in the next volume. In other
words, manga can be remedy or escapism that you may need.
Along
with providing you with enjoyment, reading manga also helps you improve both
thinking and reading skills i.e. quick-reading and critical thinking. When
reading manga, you are supposed to put your knowledge, concentration, and
imagination altogether so that you can understand the story—it brings your
brain to read in another new level. Suppose you read manga about detective
involving a lot of criminal cases with complex tricks and explanations e.g.
Aoyama Gosho’s Detective Conan and Seimaru Amagi’s Detective School Q in daily
basis, it will subtly accustom your brain to think harder and faster—because
you, at the first time, would skim all the way to the ending, and then read the
elaborate explanation thoroughly to fully understand the cases while
maintaining the reading pace so that the suspense won’t slip away; and consequently,
you will master both skimming and quick-reading. In addition to that, there are
much more to learn from the story because sometimes the stories “demand” the readers
to perpetually question and interpret the underlying motives of the characters through
the dialogues, or wonder where the plot is heading to; and this, I am sure,
will enhance your critical thinking. Manga also help you expand, or even alter your
perspectives of seeing things. Many cultural or social themes, such as family
issue, poverty, nature, epidemic diseases, and so on, have been featured in
manga. Take a good look at Mizu Sahara’s Watashitachi
no Shiawase na Jikan, Hayao Miyazaki’s Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä,
Hajime Isayama’s Shingeki no Kyojin, and Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal
Alchemist. Those manga approach readers indirectly with sensitive issues, which
some people find it quite offensive, like sexual harassment, gender
discrimination, and humanity. You can learn the idea of being a strong woman by
reading Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan, how to forge a strong bond in
a family by reading Fullmetal Alchemist, how to preserve nature by reading Kaze
no Tani no Nausicaä, or how humanity works by reading Shingeki no Kyojin.
Manga have offered a bunch of life lessons, and many of social values to be
implemented as the result.
To
sum up, there are unquestionably many advantages of reading manga. It is not
only visually fun to read, but it also elevates the way you read and think. By
reading manga, you will also learn many moral values as you read through pages.
Those reasons alone are more than enough to explain why everyone, regardless of
their ages, should start reading manga.
Annisa Lista Sari
Persuasive Public Essay
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