Manga Propaganda?

All the Anime that's fit to print.....in serialized novels
Post Reply
User avatar
cutiebunny
Yosutebito - Hermit
Posts: 1936
Joined: Sat Jul 23, 2005 1:55 pm
Location: Rockin' da Cats-bah
Contact:

Manga Propaganda?

Post by cutiebunny »

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10851195
Four comics featuring a Japanese girl and a visiting US boy will be posted online, each exploring how US and Japanese troops work together.

A US spokesman said they were intended as a light-hearted explanation of the history of the alliance.

The comics, marking 50 years of the security pact, come amid strained ties over US bases in Okinawa.

The first Japanese-language manga comic, entitled Our Alliance - A Lasting Partnership, will be posted online on Wednesday.

In it the young girl, Arai Anzu - which sounds like alliance when pronounced by a Japanese person - asks the boy, Usa-kun - a play on USA - why he is protecting her house.

"Because we have an alliance," he says. "We are 'Important Friends'."

"It's good to have a friend you can rely on to go with you," the little girl concludes.

The manga format was chosen because it was "a very commonly accepted format of media in Japan - it is read as much if not more than newspapers", he added.

Some paper copies of the comics would also be available at bases, he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here's the manga(it's work safe!), in case you want to read it for yourself - http://www.usfj.mil/Manga/Vol%201/Index.html

I'm still not quite sure why Usa-kun generally speaks in katakana for some Japanese words, but then uses kanjii...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm not sure if I should be upset by the propaganda-ness of this, or if I should be utterly bowled over by how cute Usa-kun is. I'm actually leaning towards the latter - I want Usa-kun's sweatshirt! So cute!

I don't think that this will have the intended effect that the US government is hoping it will on Okinawa residents. Sure, there might be young children that will read it, but most of the older citizens are aware of the crimes that some US service personnel have perpetuated.
User avatar
sensei
Moderator and Admin-in-waiting
Moderator and Admin-in-waiting
Posts: 4997
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:55 am
Location: Cephiro
Contact:

Post by sensei »

Some readers might be flattered that US officials knew enough about Japanese popular culture to adapt the manga format for the purpose. Yes, it's certainly true that some military personnel have at times been ugly Americans, but the removal of the base for this reason might have some radical implications for Japan's security. It's still by constitution a pacifist state, but if the Americans remove the bases that provide a deterrent to other states (e.g., North Korea), then Japan will have little option but to revive its military forces in self-defense, with or without American aid.

Using a manga with a cute Usa[gi]-chan (looks a lot like Momiji, ne?) might be a reader-friendly way to review the history of the "special relationship" between the US and its defeated enemy. If Japanese kids are similar to Americans, even the Cold War is now the stuff of dry facts memorized in preparation for tests, and Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, and the Bombs increasingly something read about or seen in movies, not living history.
Image
User avatar
JWR
Kitten Rescuer - Moderator
Kitten Rescuer - Moderator
Posts: 2821
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 9:40 pm
Location: Eagle Rock , California
Contact:

Post by JWR »

Comics have been used over the years as a medium to put forth a message to a target group in a way to get them to read it and hopefully keep their attention.

The US Military contacted Will Eisner to make the "boring" manuals into ones that are actually read and saved.
I have some examples in this section of my gallery http://ryan.rubberslug.com/gallery/mast ... esID=27271
Joe Kubert is still currently creating them today.

Stan Lee at the behest of the goverment wrote a story in Spiderman 96-98 about the dangers of drugs. DC comic later came out with a simular story in Green Arrow.
"Like the wind crying endlessly through the universe, Time carries away the names and the deeds of conquerors and commoners alike. And all that we are, all that remains, is in the memories of those who cared we came this way for a brief moment." Harlan Ellison
Post Reply