Hellow... manga culture in malaysia? anyone please...

[k4rna]

hi, there.
i wish i could make some friend here. i'm doing some study on manga culture in Malaysia. Hope you don't mind to help me. =)
my friend ask my favor to write a short article on manga culture in malaysia for his independent comic's magz. please help me to gain general knowledge about it.

1.   Can you tell when the first manga and anime came to Malaysia? As long as you can remember What titles were they?
2.   Why manga can be so popular amongst children,teenager, even adults in Malaysia?
3.   Does the popularization of manga and anime follows by other kind of culture from Japan (such as music, fashion, art, etc.)?
4.   In your humble opinion, how is the acceptantance and rejection of manga culture in the local comic's scene?
5.   Put aside the manga translation in English language, are there a lot of manga translation in Chinese language and Malay language distribute in Malaysia?
6.   What kind of story that most attracted to the local readers? (shoujo, Shounen, or others, please mention it)
7.   Please share your opinion about the impact of manga culture in our society so far.
8. Arigato gozaimasu! m^^m

[yuii]

Hie and welcome

I think if you follow the rules and *hem* no foul language, you're gonna make loads of friends here (be it active members or ghost members LOL). Here's my answer:

1. Sorry, i have no idea. but i remember back in 1996 i got really hooked up watching Sailormoon on TV and started purchasing the manga (which was in BM).

2. In my opinion, the Japanese manga has got different elements in different stories to cater for readers from different age group and interests. For example, romance-humor manga/ anime like Honey & Clover caters for teenagers and adult, especially the female population. Action-packed Gundam targets more to teenagers/ adult on the male population. Then there are those like Pokeman and Digimon for children. Better still, there are stories like Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) that caters for all population and all age group. Even my mum likes to watch it! The choices that they offer are wide and among them, there must be some that each person can relate to.

3. It may or may not. It depends on individuals. Basically I believe that those who love anime/ manga, also have some sort of attachment towards Japan - whether the culture or way of life, or even the language. But if you want to talk about overall influence, i'd say yes, it does pose some sort of influence.

4. Well I'd say it's pretty good. Seeing the gaining popularity and acceptance of manga/ anime among Malaysians is really an improvement. Local TV stations are airing anime, there are local magazines that translates the Japanese manga in Chinese/ Malay and even local newspapers like The Star are contributing several pages of it's Sunday column to introduce manga.

5. If you EVER go into a local comic shop, you'll be very clear that there are tons and tons of Chinese translated manga. The Malay-translated version are more limited and I'd say the volumes released are somewhat slower than the Chinese version.

6. For local readers... i'd say both shounen and shoujo are popular. Shounen manga are not necessarily for males only because apart from the action, there are also romance, humour and etc involved - catering for other groups of readers. The same goes for shoujo, even though I personally only followed 2 shoujo (Ouran, Gokuraku Seishun Hockey Club). I prefer shounen like One Piece (very obvious for those who knew me LOL), D.Gray-man, Jyu-Oh-Sei etc etc

7. The impact is huuuuge! The increased numbers of cosplayers (years by years) in every event, increased numbers of manga/ anime shop (no doubt, the anime and manga itself), anime/ manga merchandises, increasing Japanese soundtracks for sale in CD stores, more people going for Bon Odori (seriously!), higher demand for Japanese lessons, more travel & tour groups organizing packages to Japan,  etc etc

8. No problem!

[raging_burning_blazing]

I love answering these kinds of questions... Here's my answers for whatever it is.

1.   Can you tell when the first manga and anime came to Malaysia? As long as you can remember What titles were they?
- Have no idea, but I do recall seeing Doraemon when I was still a preschool kid.

2.   Why manga can be so popular amongst children,teenager, even adults in Malaysia?
- It's overall concept ranging from storyline, art and etc, I think?

3.   Does the popularization of manga and anime follows by other kind of culture from Japan (such as music, fashion, art, etc.)?
- I am not for these Japanese miscellanous things if I count only manga and anime, but the effect of these two seems to have an imminent impact on the others.

4.   In your humble opinion, how is the acceptantance and rejection of manga culture in the local comic's scene?
- Acception! It's getting better and better! I can even see pakciks and makciks coming to CF last year! This is good.
- Rejection! I don't want to elaborate but my parents think I turned from the path of engineering (which promises a good and stable income) because of that. I only deviated because my own interest in it has waned to the extent of total zero interest, no matter if I ever learnt what is manga and anime or not anyway.

5.   Put aside the manga translation in English language, are there a lot of manga translation in Chinese language and Malay language distribute in Malaysia?
- A lot. I can locate a shop which has shelves full of Chinese-translated manga in a sub-urban shop near Parit Buntar, Perak (although I can't read Chinese but I seem to understand a bit what are they actually talking about thanks to their actions in the comic panels). Hehehehe... Malay? I can't see it much nowadays... I miss "Aa! Megami-sama!" so much!!!

6.   What kind of story that most attracted to the local readers? (shoujo, Shounen, or others, please mention it)
- Shounen. But there are some people who read shoujo...

7.   Please share your opinion about the impact of manga culture in our society so far.
- It's good and I can't think of anything much, but to me they have helped to create a wide scope of thinking in those who indulge into them. But well, there are always moments/places/times where some people spoil everything...

8. Arigato gozaimasu! m^^m
- Doitashimashite!

[syah2020]

1.   Can you tell when the first manga and anime came to Malaysia? As long as you can remember What titles were they?
I cant remember much. It was a fad that time also with Sailormoon, Doraemon, Dragon Ball and other. Which came out first? I have no idea until now.

2.   Why manga can be so popular amongst children,teenager, even adults in Malaysia?
Because it's graphic. People love looking at pretty picture and reading up what the picture means.

3.   Does the popularization of manga and anime follows by other kind of culture from Japan (such as music, fashion, art, etc.)?
Normally yes but I dnt think because of those things, other kind of culture from Japan was adapted here. We was 'invaded' by Japan last time -_-

4.   In your humble opinion, how is the acceptances and rejection of manga culture in the local comic's scene?
Now, a lot of local artist are adapting the manga culture. You can normally read it up in local magazines.

5.   Put aside the manga translation in English language, are there a lot of manga translation in Chinese language and Malay language distribute in Malaysia?
Yes, it's not a lot but it's sufficient enough to keep people at bay on what's hot and what's not in Japan.

6.   What kind of story that most attracted to the local readers? (shoujo, Shounen, or others, please mention it)
In Malaysia, shoujo genre is adapted a lot in the comics. Some other people like the comedy ones too just like in Ujang and so on.

7.   Please share your opinion about the impact of manga culture in our society so far.
The impact of manga culture in Malaysia has reached interesting levels. People from all kinds of races read manga nowadays. Plus, with the existance of cons such as CF and GACC, it helps them in understanding what Malaysia readers wanted and let em experience the joy of manga.

Hahaha. Good questions. Is it for an assignment or smth?