Peach Fuzz manga
© Tokyopop
Mumbling Kitsune: OEL Manga---Going New Places
By: Nadia OxfordDate: Thursday, May 01, 2008
The roots of Japanese manga can be found in American cartoons and comics. Pioneer manga-ka Osamu Tezuka got his start by emulating Disney, and from there the medium soared. Now that manga has found its niche in America, the roles have changed a little: American artists, as well as artists from other countries, are producing works that have a definite Japanese flavour to them.
Sometimes these ideas are pitched directly to companies like Tokyopop, which, in addition to translating manga, publish a good deal of “OEL manga.” OEL stands for “Original English Language.” It's a unique genre with some pretty varied results, though a few trends (some of them unfortunate) have become noticeable over time and will have to be done away with before OEL works can really thrive.
One accusation that manga fans often level against OEL manga is that its artists try too hard to emulate Japanese artists...and often fail. The problem here is that surprisingly few OEL authors develop a storyline that hasn't been wrung out a million times in actual Japanese manga. The store shelves are packed with stories about schoolchildren who rip off their clothes to fight evil by moonlight. Do we really need more from any author of any nationality?
Referring back to Osamu Tezuka, Tezuka revered Disney and it was obvious through his art style. That's where the similarities between the two stopped. Disney encouraged Tezuka to embrace the power of pictures; from there, he used his own ideas. Disney of yesteryear certainly delivered some powerful movies and comics, but you'd never mistake Black Jack or Astro Boy (“Mighty Atom”) for Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. You'd probably also think twice about showing some of Tezuka's work to very young children.
The Internet has been wonderful for connecting the world, even if we have to endure fifteen year olds calling each other “cheeters” and “ghey” on fuzzy YouTube videos of Grand Theft Auto footage. Artists can connect with one another and share their influences with an ease that's never been realised before. It would be nice to see some truly unique work surface in the OEL manga genre as a result of this correspondence.
It's not to say there's nothing out there worth reading. Some enjoyable titles that come to mind are Gothic Sports, Bombos vs Everything and even Scott Pilgrim. The latter isn't technically an OEL manga, but it's certainly manga-inspired and carries an identity that's can only be defined as...well, Scott Pilgrim. But a lot of what's out there slips from the reader's mind once it's digested. There are few OEL series that you'll want to actually clear shelf space for, because getting beyond volume one happens so rarely.
Some recent OEL manga titles have been outlets for post-apocalyptic science fiction stories that don't necessarily adapt to manga stereotypes. This would be fantastic if not for another problem: Gratuitous use of sex, violence and swear words.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with adult content in graphic novels, but when it appears on every page without some accompanying purpose or wit, it gets old quickly. Frankly, the story begins to sound like a bunch of schoolyard kids testing out swears for the first time on the schoolyard. In no time at all, the story turns very silly. Manga is not innocent of this practise, either: The Battle Royale manga is far raunchier than the movie, but the inclusion of such content didn't augment the story in any way. The movie, which didn't shield its characters behind rape and the F-word, was far more raw and frightening.
On average, dozens of manga titles are released in a month. That includes OEL manga. There's been some talk of the manga market becoming saturated; there's only so many times that a story can be recycled. The world's a pretty diverse place, and it's up to every artist—Japanese or not—to trade ideas and draw inspiration from places the rest of us wouldn't even think to go. It's a better idea than just leapfrogging off pages that have already been published.
