MANGA

So I haven't really read manga ever. I've watched anime before an are somewhat familiar to the outlying genres. But this was my first foray into the actual medium ever. I chose to read Dororo by Osamu Tezuka and I loved it.

It follows a story simple enough for what a very raw manga reader like myself can follow. A power hungry man sells the pats of his unborn child to demons for power. Having no limbs or appendages they give him up. The child is found and raised by a sword smith who fashions the child limbs and such. They start having to fight off demons who want the rest of the child. The child then leaves to vanquish the demons to regain his parts, using sword arms. Thats pretty metal.

On the way he meets the titular Dororo, whom is also an outcast with a tortured past and despised by most of the nearby villages. They form somewhat of a brotherly bond and travel together.

Like I said, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure what specifically was the crutch of it, but the idea is just so strange in that a blind, deaf young man with swords for arms is traveling the countryside looking for demons to kill. Its pretty hardcore, but adding the Dororo character opens it up to be much more relatable. being relatable is often of fickle thing in what anime I've seen. It's always some grandiose quest or scheme with wacky characters that will sometimes slow down and do something regular or have juggle everyday life with protecting the earth. I think I prefer the more natural feeling Dororo character. He's just struggling to fend off human urges while under the scrutiny off those around him. He just also happens to have a friend with sword arms.

Stereotypes Y'all

Its a double edged sword. Stereotyping is a tool that must be used precisely if at all. The way I see it, implementing stereotypes can be used many different ways to man different affects. It can be used as a story device, it can be used as a story crutch, it can be used joke, it can be used as satire, it can be used as an insult, it can even function as a compliment.

For the most part, I see a lot of stereotypes in the media used in a very lazy way. Introducing a character that just functions as a stereotype and a means to an end. One I see the most of is the angry black captain. At this point it's almost evolved past a basic beat cop story idea to an inside joke of a trope. Its a bit more tame of an example, but it shows the evolution there. Something starts as quirky but insulting characterization and evolves into something self aware and at times insulting but most always lazy.

Is it necessary? Stereotyping may be helpful in some aspects of story telling when it comes to secondary and tertiary characters, but it shouldn't. As stated earlier, its a crutch. Past the face value of insulting summation of an idea, its just lazy to me.

Graphic Novels

Barefoot Gen was a trip. I wasn't sure what I was watching when the movie started rolling. Not being very familiar with either manga or anime, I wasn't sure where the movie was going. I saw the beginnings of a familial story take place, then they started talking about war. Naive me didn't know whether it was a mech war or spirit war, the types that could be solved with a hungry main character yelling at the bad guy. Unfortunately I found out how wrong I was.

When the bomb actually dropped, I still didn't quite understand what I was in for. There was no real winner there. It was all graphic, sad, oppressing and ultimately powerful 

Barefoot Gen was my first real foray into a manga-esque film, outside Dragon Ball Z movies, and it surprised how deep it went. The many ideas it brings up in its story like the struggle of taking care of a poor family, a strong brotherhood under strain, following a government without the best interest at heart are palpable without an atomic bomb and the following aftermath wrecking the entire area and turing the story in its head. It then gets a darker tone and deals with the more darker tones of life after the bomb.

Whats really strong about the film though was the underlying message of life. The struggle of preservation, the struggle of recovery, the struggle for survival.

Underground Comics

People are weird. I'm sure at the time these comics came out, they were the peak of social pariah-hood. A formal publication that followed ideas of drugs, war and sex seems like the taboo of the time. The Vietnam War instilled a large rift in the culture, separating more traditional ideas with radical ideas, with modern ones. Where can comics lie at this point? Underground comics emerged and existed for the rift then created. They symbolized the fringe ideas that came heavy with a stigma very frowned upon. But as I read the likes of Dopin' Dan, I'm only left with a foul taste in my mouth. Not that I find the contents distasteful of deplorable, but kind of immature.

I get it that this was the culture these books were for, the time, the significance. But for me it just doesn't hold up. I couldn't say whether its just not for me or if it doesn't hold up overtime or if just doesn't translate well. Specifically in Dopin' Dan, its stilted towards the military, reserves, crowd, of which I'm not apart of. But I can pick up on the partying, drugs and sexual culture thats apart of the story and it just seems to be their just for the edge of it.

As a whole, that was the attitude I was feeling. Between Dopin' Dan and Mr Natural, I feel like most underground edgy comics of the time were just being different and edgy for the sake of it.