Japanese Manga - Helping children's reading?

Last Friday we had to create a poster for our lecture, or as our lecturer called it "A graphic organiser". Well it was for a creativity lecture, so I went all creative on it and ended up drawing Azusa from my one of my favorite anime and manga Series K-on (Featured on the right). She was holding her guitar and the information was dotted around her in musical notes. Well of course my lecturer thought this was fantastic, and throughout the break she then threw some very difficult questions at me about anime and manga.

According to my lecturer she watched a program on television which was all about how Japan's birthrate was dropping because middle aged men were all too involved in anime about teenage girls. This of course shocked me, but then again somehow it didn't really surprise me. The one thing I did make it clear to her was that Japan was a totally different culture and out ideologies and society wouldn't function over there. Anime and Manga is a huge part of the Japanese culture and is expanding past their borders and has been adapting itself into other countrie's socities.

However because this is a childcare blog, I have to relate it somehow to that don't I? Well I have some very perfect links. Anime and Manga is not just aimed at the older teenagers. Infact it has many genre's just as our fiction does, and even though it does seem to have the odd obsession with the female endowments, it only seems to tell the truth. Most people that you could bump into the street would pick up a Manga book, see that it has one or two lines about one character commenting on how another character's breasts look bigger than they were yesterday and their automatic reaction is to believe it is some form of hentai.

For those who don't know, hentai is the Japanese word for 'pervert' and is a genre of Japanese Manga and Anime pornography. I wouldn't Google it if I were you, unless of course you're into that sort of thing.

But one thing I have come across is that I have found Manga and Anime a great tool in the past for children. Japanese children read Manga from being able to walk and they are much better readers than we are. The one thing that makes Manga different is that the pictures are high quality and it allows children to easily identify what is actually happening. If you look at a Manga book that hasn't been translated into English or the language that you speak you can easily work out what is going on and have a rough idea what the characters are saying to one another.

So why don't we have that in Western Culture? I'm not saying give five year olds Manga that is set in high school and is about high school clubs and activities. Obviously you'd keep it age specific. However when you look at the reading material's that children are expected to learn from in 2014, they can't hold a candle to what Japanese children are reading. For example, on the left is a page from an Oxford Reading Tree book about "The Magic Key". A key which takes the children on wild adventures. My analysis of this page shows that there is not a lot going on in the pictures. Can you really tell that Chip is saying goodbye and thankyou, and that the pirated don't want them to go? Not to mention the illustrations lack any sense of adventure and action which children nowadays want and which keep them interested into the story. Would you really want to turn this page over and continue? Would you be interested in seeing what happens next? I know I wouldn't.

So now on the right I have put in a picture of a page from a Manga Called "Shugo Chara" which is about a girl in a Japanese Elementary School who has 3 magical character's called "Guardian Characters" which each represent who she wants to be in her heart. In this scene she has found an old observatory whilst looking for a lost friend and has decided to go inside. Typical Manga is printed in greyscale to allow for more emotion in the pictures, however you do get some in colour. You can clearly see the character's expression and worry on her face and you can see what is happening in the pictures alone. Anyone reading this would find it easy to estimate what was happening from just the pictures alone, not to mention even though it is simply entering a building, it has a sense of adventures and makes people want to turn the next page. Captivating an audience and keeping them held into the story. The whole idea of "I never put this book down".

This type of reading material is much more modern and to me is more suited for children on the 21st century. We are living in a world where the media has a firm grasp on children's childhood. There probably isn't one child living in the UK that hasn't heard of Peppa Pig, Ben 10, Thomas the Tank Engine or Bob the Builder. It is through the television and cartoons that children are captivated. A fact for those parents out there, did you know that Ben 10 (Which if you have a child, you've probably had to sit through the torture of) was influenced by Japanese Anime and Manga, hence why the character's have the 'Manga Eyes' that people associate with Japanese Mange and Anime.

If age appropriate Manga was selected for children's reading, I believe they would find it much easier to read. Not only do the illustrations allow children to physically see whats happening and associate the pictures with the text but it is in a modern format which children can correspond to. I know that the hardcore teachers will be like "No, this isn't literature, it should be Great Expectation and Romeo and Juliet that they read first" but I do honestly believe that those types of literature are not the best in the modern changing world.

Children change and evolve with society and so has entertainment. A hundred years ago children would have had books with no pictures in. Then illustrations came along and made it better. Then comic strips became comic books and they took off like a storm. Manga was created across the other side of the world and it has evolved with the times. You will see more children reading comics or magazines now than sitting down with a copy of War and Peace. So why can't we make it part of the curriculum and allow children to get what THEY want out of THEIR reading? I believe that we should allow children to read Manga or Comics, its far more interesting than the Oxford Reading Tree's materials.

So thats my thoughts on Manga when it comes down to children. This is one of the many points I couldn't get my lecturer to understand at all... she was definately old school. I personally believe this is the way forward and any future children of mine will be allowed to read what they want within reason and as long as it is appropriate for the reading level. And seriously, don't Google hentai. I'm not being responsible for anything you may find...