Chelsea's Blog

So I briefly mentioned the different types of manga in my third post and categorized Japanese manga in my fourth post. This time I will be talking and detailing the difference and amazing world of Chinese mangas (manhua) and Korean mangas (manhwa + webtoons)! In technical detail and terms, manga is mainly created from Japan and is multi-paneled. It starts from the top right and read from right, up to down. Manga is oriented differently compared to Western comics so the front of the manga is usually where the back or end of a Western comic is. Basically, its orientation is backwards, so you start reading from the back and you flip the pages from left to right to read it. Most of the settings are placed in Japan and incorporate a lot of Japanese culture into the works. Manga artwork varies depending on the mangaka, their art style, and the amount of people available to create that piece. Sometimes the artwork is crude and rough, while others, the artwork is incredibly detailed and is beautiful or realistic. It is also possible that the artwork changes as the story progresses either due to various reasons (such as a change in mangaka, change in style to better fit the plot, etc). And while the cover art is usually colored (in order to attract attention), the manga tends to be in black and white. Manhua are originated from China and is usually in full color and some of its panels are rendered entirely of paintings. Like manga, manhua is read from right to left and top to bottom, which makes it easier for manga readers to adapt to reading manhua. Similarly to how Japan culture influences manga, manhua is influenced by Chinese culture. This could include many aspects of the Chinese lifestyle including food, clothing, mannerisms, and way of life. Manhua can take place in modern day China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Xian), Hong Kong, Taipei, Taiwan, or even Ancient China (when emperors and nobility still existed). Unlike manga, reading manhwa is different. You read a manhwa from left to right, up to down, similar to a Western Comic. Like manga, manhwa is mainly illustration based, although the artwork can often time be rougher and less detailed than many mangas or it can be insanely detailed down to the last strand of hair, and it can be either fully colored or black and white. Manhwa tends to have more dramatic elements (much like Korean dramas) that are shown in the facial expressions or in the speech bubble, in comparison to Japanese manga (although there are many dramatic Japanese mangas). Manhwa are graphic novels that are based in South Korea and utilize a lot of Korean culture in its story elements and setting. Often times school life romances incorporate Korean gangs in their plot and a lot of romance and dating is a major plot point in many manhwas (but that doesn’t mean that all stories are about romance, the stories are actually well thought out and well written, it is just more subtle than manga). All of these mangas are so different and unique even though they share the same genre, not one of these plots are identical. Each manga, manhua, and manhwa contain their specialties which makes it fun to read. If you have never tried any of these before I highly recommend it! It is so interesting to read about how each culture affects the plot differently!

As I progressively get older, my dreams and aspirations somewhere along the line became too realistic, pessimistic, mild even. When I was younger my dreams were wild, crazy, and fun, but growing into adulthood they changed. As a young teen in intermediate school (5-6 grade) I wanted to be a zoologist, a photographer, and a patissier (pastry maker). These were partially influenced by the fictional books that I read as well as my surrounding environment at the time. Then came middle school (7-8 grade) where I started reading even more manga because the library had a small collection of their own. This and the art classes that I took influenced me into wanting to become a mangaka (manga artist/author) or any artist in general. I knew I had great ideas just not the skills to show for it. I carried this momentum with me when I went into high school. A little background about me is that I went to 2 high schools. I attended freshman and sophomore year at one school and then transferred and spent my junior and senior year of high school in another school. The first high school is where I retook basic arts and did my first year in ceramics (during sophomore year). I loved it. So when I transferred schools, I made sure to take more ceramics/sculpture classes because I loved working with clay. I thought that this was a potential future career at the time. I also enrolled in their fashion design classes because that was another interest that I had. I spent the last two years of high school doing fashion design so I thought that this was another potential future career. Even though I was not the best in the class I was willing to practice and improve if this were going to be my career. However. My dreams were squished.  My parents rejected the idea of doing any type of art as a major based on the idea that “they don’t make enough money”.  All of a sudden I had no idea what I wanted to do anymore. I didn’t want to disappoint my parents because of everything they’ve done for me so I was lost. Taking core classes at a community college, trying to figure out where I wanted to go now, I didn’t have any aspirations or dreams. All I had were standards or key components that the future career that I was going to pursue had to have. 1) Stability 2) Availability and 3) Flexibility/Adaptability. The career that I was going to pursue had to have a stable income, have enough demand in the job force, and it wasn’t just one skill or process done over and over again without variation (meaning it had to be occasionally different). I narrowed down my choices by eliminated careers I had no interest in whatsoever in order to make sure I wasn’t signing up to be miserable in my career (because I have heard multiple times as well as read in manga, to do something you love and not hate or else every day when you go to work you will be miserable). My choices became very limited at this point and I had to research a lot about majors that had creative aspects (since I did not want to cut off my creativity completely) and that lead me to Marketing. I learned a lot about marketing and the different aspects of marketing and I have to say I am satisfied with my choice. Now my dream is to be a graphic designer and I’m slowly making my way there. If you ask specifically what type of graphic designer I am still unsure since there are also a ton of aspects to graphic design, so all I can say is that I’ll get back to you on that. All of this progress would have been insanely difficult without the support of manga. Manga was where I would go to rest and refresh before I would face the world again, and it is what influenced me to remain creative. Without manga, I doubt I would be who I am and where I am today.

This is another manga that I would recommend because it follows the development of the main character after realizing that they have been reincarnated as someone who is “evil”. This manga is about a protagonist who dies and is reincarnated as a character in a game they played but as the main evil villain. I like reading how they realize that they are not evil and try to do the opposite and opposed the original villainous personality. It has comedy and an interesting plot and I would recommend it if you are looking for something a little different or if you’re tired of reading mangas where the main character is reincarnated as the main heroine (I personally love them both because they both offer different perspectives).

I am now at the ripe age of adult, and there is so much that I have seen and learned in the past few years that can I can say is due to a large contribution of college and manga. What I have learned from college, nothing huge, mainly professional and relationship development. Things like how to build a resume, how to connect to peers and professionals, how to not look like an idiot. Although they are important, the things that I learned in college wouldn’t have any significant effect and I would be able to tie it into me, myself as an individual if it weren't for the things I learned from reading manga. Yes, I am aware that manga is a fictional creative work that tells stories and not facts. But those stories helped me develop my personality and my values. The characters that were portrayed in mangas and what they did influenced who I wanted and not wanted to be. The protagonist who went through trials and challenges and became a better person was who I wanted to be. Reading that they grew from their experiences influenced me to think that any future challenges and failures are just another way of growing. The key takeaway is that failure didn’t define them, so it isn’t going to define me. All the villains and antagonist in the manga did evil things that people shouldn't do to each other, and that influenced me to not be like them and not to do what they do. These antagonists lied, tricked, and did other terrible things in order to be on top and I knew that that wasn’t who I wanted to be, so I didn’t. I know you might be thinking, how did these influence you so much that it seeped into your personality or isn’t your parents supposed to teach you this? Well, for one, I think that is because the mangas and their artists knew how to connect to the audience and displayed amazing creativity to emotionally connect to their audience. Whatever they portrayed, I took on and made it a part of me. And two, my parents did indeed teach me the basics of being a decent human, but not the details, I got the details from reading manga. Up until this day, I have read thousands of mangas (including manhua and manhwa which are Chinese and Korean “comics”), all of which are individually unique and different from one another. Not one manga is the same, all the characters, plot, setting, development is different, and I learned a lot from them. Some mangas were historical (meaning although it's a fictional storyline it uses historical facts), and I don’t even like history and now I have brief knowledge and random tidbits about others history and culture. Whereas other mangas were more educational like science fictional or sports-related mangas. I don’t like sports and I am not entirely persuaded by science, but the way they portray it is so interesting I now know random things about sports and science and how things work. Compared to learning in school, the way I learned through manga is so interesting that those things stuck, while anything I learned in school, is harder to recall. I would need to relearn any material in school, versus the things I read I can use it as prior background knowledge in order to further enhance my knowledge on that topic. School teaches you how to be book smart and how to be people smart, but who teaches you about how to be smart to yourself and develops your personality (besides personal experience). Everyone is different, but for me it was manga and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I have had multiple phases as I grew up. Photography, archery, drawing, sculpture, ballet, fashion design, reading, and some stuck around longer than others. But I don’t regret any of it or would say that it was a phase. I was and still am genuinely interested in all these activities, however, I would just say it did not fit in where I wanted to go in life. I am aware that others also have this feeling but for different reasons, and I am not negated those either, everyone is different and I believe that one thing for me isn’t the same for others, so who are you to say what is a phase and what isn’t regardless of what it is. Many years have passed and I still do some things that I used to do in the past, it is a part of me, and although I don’t use it as frequently as before, it doesn’t mean that it’s a phase. I think the most common thread in all the activities I have participated in was related to art. Anything where I have the choice to make an artistic vision or read/ see others artistic visions and accomplishments. This clearly defines my life and aspirations and what influences me, it isn’t math, medicine, or anything like that. I wouldn’t tell you what you can or cannot be interested in so I just ask you don’t do that to me. I love my parents, of course, why wouldn’t I? They raised me with love and care and only want the best of me, and I am aware that they do not come from the best environment but that is also a part of me and I wouldn’t change it either. I would just be happier doing something creative then slave away for money. Moral of the story? Money can be earned anytime but it is difficult to find something you have a passion for, so don’t blindly believe people who say it’s just a phase, only you can decide that.

I started reading manga (which are comics or graphic novels created in Japan or by creators in the Japanese language and conforms to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century) when I was young, around 11-12 years old. I discovered it at my cousin's house and I still remember it as if it was yesterday. She had a printed version, as opposed to what I read today which is mainly online, of Tokyo Mew Mew, a shoujo (which is a genre aimed primarily at a young female audience, typically characterized by a focus on personal and romantic relationships) manga. I would always spend my days at her house reading the same manga, over and over again, until I realized that there was more after the first book, with even more range in genres. The feelings that I experienced by reading manga was more than excitement and anticipation, but also awe and inspiration. It was and still is my happiness and passion. I was a shy and introverted teenager, not knowing how to get along with my peers, and going to the library and reading manga there as well as checking out to take to school often passed time by more quickly and didn’t let me feel alone as I immersed myself into the books. The start of reading manga also lead me to read fictional books and literature, which further enhanced my imagination and creativity. Before manga, my childhood aspirations were ranged, from animal photographer to baker, to anything I had a fleeting interest in, but after reading a lot of manga and books, I realized that I wanted to do creative work and produce my own works. I originally dreamed of being a mangaka (a manga artist or author of the manga), even if I wasn’t ethnically Japanese (I recently found my pride in my Vietnamese heritage too but not as extensive as the influence of Japanese culture), the culture influences a lot of my work and perspective and thinking. However, I soon realized that creating manga may not be what I am looking for, so I tried other various creative activities. Another way that manga influenced me into who I am today is it taught me multiple different values that I still follow today. Every manga has a plot, whether meaningful or not, life lesson or not, is all upon how the reader interprets the message, and sometimes the message that I get is so profound that it positively influences myself in reality. Such as enlightening advice when it comes to friendships (every friendship is different and there are red flags for friendships), relationships (all involved parties must put in effort in order to actually consider if the relationships are worth it), and self reflection (cheesy but important things like you are the most important and no one can make you happy except you). I learned a lot from mangas and Japanese culture because although they are fictional work, they create characters and scenarios that learn and grow through different experiences and trials, and that creates a connection between me and the hundreds of works that different authors have created and convey, and I empathize and grow along with the characters. The fictional works also sometimes include non-fictional references which increases my knowledge in various information. It also isn’t limited to just one style or genre and has a lot of variety which never keeps me bored and shows the limitless potential of manga. There is always new and never before thought of works that inspire more new and amazing creations because their imagination is endless. And I want to be able to do that with my profession, creating innovating and different and unique products.

Manga, Food, Comedy.