Manga & Anime

This week for the topic of Shonen, I read 20th Century boys by Urasawa. I found the storyline hard to follow at first due to the fact that the author jumps back and forth through time as well as narratives. But after Hanlu's presentation in class, she clarified that the author was purposefully in doing that. Overall, I really enjoyed the mystery of the series and how just when I thought I knew whodunnit, it was revealed to be someone else. While that was frustrating, it kept my attention.

This week we discussed Love and Sex in Manga and Anime. Since I was one of the students presenting, I compared two different mangas on how they both portrayed similar issues but the outcome was completely different. Going back to our second reading, Ayako, I compared that to Mars by Fuyumi Soryo. Both take on issues involving rape, abuse, and the idea of love. While Ayako's approach to these topics was raw, uncensored, and despondent ending, Mars was more "flowery" and had a happy ending. It was just very interesting to see how such similar conflicts can be portrayed and resolved.