The canonise a manga thread

[Teck Loh]

Hiya fellow manga fans!

I wonder how many of you have considered this: to canonise the Japanese manga and in so doing, ensure its survival as a piece of art.

My own favourite works are Love Hina and Negima by Akamatsu Ken. Reading them has been an enjoyable experience and I am sure will continue to be so even years later. And that's why I want to ensure it survives even after the anime series runs its last episode; after the shops sell the last merchandise and a new fad arrives. Future generation should be able to share this glimpse into the beautiful world of manga.

It may seem like a childish fantasy to want to canonise comics filled with fantastical stories of magic and such stuff that fits so neatly into the daydreams of a child. But let us not forget Enid Blyton, the world famous author of Children Literature whose work survives till this day. Fairies, dragons and children who wander into magical forests are the norm in the world she created.

Works of literary greatness do not get passed down simply because they are interesting. Plots and characters can lose their appeal over time. I remember a whole generation of Singaporean teenagers all hyped up about the final battle in Dragonball Z. NOw 15 years after that final battle, nobody talks about that super duper mother of all fights anymore. You can only analyse the plot for so long before new plots developing elsewhere grab your attention. Only values and ideals can survive the ravages of time and a fickle-minded generation.

That said, I have started this thread to contribute to the survival of manga as works of arts.

Posters need not restrict themselves to any one manga series. Posts could be on the use of literary or artistic devices (such as the representation and use of Space done by Akamatsu-sensei in the design of Mahora Academy), philosophical debate inspired by any manga series (one example would be the discourse on happiness by Eva the little vampire), values and ideals represented in the manga of your choice but, need not be restricted to just the above examples.

The aim of this thread is to promote manga in its intellectual form and eventually to include manga in the canons. DC and Marvel have carried their comics from one incarnation to the next since the post-war era. While some members may agree that the quality of the manga (Akamatsu Ken in particular) are good enough (if not superior), we cannot deny that new works need all the support they can get. Who knows? Some univerisites may include the study of manga as a sub-module due to our efforts. That would be the day...

Teck Loh