Sublime

Hokusai Manga (1814),

But let’s return now to the more specific subject of Japanese anime. Japanese anime is the result of creating animation based on original Japanese manga stories, of appropriating manga character designs, and absorbing the power of manga; it generally has involved assembling production staffs of young men and women who are aspiring manga artists.

The manga format is so readily comprehended that it has become Japanese culture’s common denominator. That is the peril faced by Japanese culture.

A totally different language for a totally different culture. If you’d like to take on the difficult but rewarding challenge of learning Japanese, I recommend you start with Marc Bernabé’s books Japanese in Mangaland and Japanese in Mangaland 2, or Japanese for Manga People by Maria Ferrer. To learn kanji, you can start with Kanji De Manga by Glenn

Yasuhiko Kobayashi and Heibon Punch editor Jirō Ishikawa