By Gene Luen Yang
This is an award-winning graphic novel that tells three parallel stories. One is about the Monkey King of Chinese Legend, one is about Jin Wang (a young Chinese American boy trying to fit in at a new school) and the last is about Danny and his cousin, Chin-Kee (a living, breathing Chinese stereotype who comes to visit). To say more about it might be to give too much away. However, in each storyline the characters struggle with questions of identity, the nature of culture and desire to belong to something.
I think the artwork is tremendous, and it communicates some things that might only come across visually. Parts are laugh-out loud funny, parts make you cringe, and some scenes are devastatingly sad. If you have not read comic books or graphic novels before this might be a good introduction to the genre. It deals with weighty topics in an accessible way.
Students in my class liked it. Many enjoyed the format and the storylines. There was a general sense that this could be used in the classroom, with some caveats. The racism that is parodied might be read without the satirical edge and could be taken at face value. Young students might not get, right away or without support, that Chin-Kee represents a history of racism towards Chinese Americans, rather than an object that they should laugh at.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Fruits Basket #1
Natsuki Takaya
This is the first volume of a very popular shojo (girls) manga. It centers around the experiences of Tohru Honda, who moves in with the mysterious Sohma family. She has recently lost her mother and was living in a tent on the Sohma family property. Since she is still going to school this creates some complications in her life. The Sohma are young men, all of whom have a strange power. They turn into the various animals of the Chinese zodiac (the dog, the rat) and one that is not allowed to join (the cat). They invite Tohru to live with them and take care of the place while she figures out what to do next. She develops a crush on one of them and there is definitely romance in the air. There is also great tension among the Sohma, which often results in violent confrontations. If that sounds straight forward it doesn't capture the full chaos of this manga.
Just like comic books in the US, not every manga is alike. There are other manga that are more sci-fi or fantasy, and some with different amounts of violence. This is just one place to dip into the manga pool. People new to the format (text and visuals arranged in Japanese order, from right to left and top to down) might struggle with the organzation. They might also struggle because the story is told in anything but a linear fashion. The print is small, and some key cultural points are not explained. It is not for everybody. But is is for the ever growing community of manga readers in the United States.
Most students in the class did not even finish this book. However, they recognized that their local bookstores are often filled with kids sitting on the floor with their noses stuck in manga of every stripe. Depending on the manga, they can be jumping off points for discussions of the genre and possible differences in visual culture in the US and Japan.
This is the first volume of a very popular shojo (girls) manga. It centers around the experiences of Tohru Honda, who moves in with the mysterious Sohma family. She has recently lost her mother and was living in a tent on the Sohma family property. Since she is still going to school this creates some complications in her life. The Sohma are young men, all of whom have a strange power. They turn into the various animals of the Chinese zodiac (the dog, the rat) and one that is not allowed to join (the cat). They invite Tohru to live with them and take care of the place while she figures out what to do next. She develops a crush on one of them and there is definitely romance in the air. There is also great tension among the Sohma, which often results in violent confrontations. If that sounds straight forward it doesn't capture the full chaos of this manga.
Just like comic books in the US, not every manga is alike. There are other manga that are more sci-fi or fantasy, and some with different amounts of violence. This is just one place to dip into the manga pool. People new to the format (text and visuals arranged in Japanese order, from right to left and top to down) might struggle with the organzation. They might also struggle because the story is told in anything but a linear fashion. The print is small, and some key cultural points are not explained. It is not for everybody. But is is for the ever growing community of manga readers in the United States.
Most students in the class did not even finish this book. However, they recognized that their local bookstores are often filled with kids sitting on the floor with their noses stuck in manga of every stripe. Depending on the manga, they can be jumping off points for discussions of the genre and possible differences in visual culture in the US and Japan.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)