Hey, BBC, you guys should know better than this!

[Tabby_Cat]

How Mills and Boon turned to manga comics

Mills and Boon is synonymous with fluffy love stories populated by dashing heroes and swooning heroines. Japanese manga comics, on the other hand, conjure up very different images - of violence, simpering schoolgirls and explicit sexual content.

Tennis manga, Go (board game) Manga, Basketball, *school *(note, these are only the titles that actually managed to get translated into English), and what does the BBC go for?

Porn.
I mean, come on, at least go for the cute fluffy romance manga? You know, the kind in which it’s a running gag for the girl to kick the guy into orbit every few pages? Or even the serious romance kinds, which middle aged office ladies read on the train?

“Oh, no, manga is all about depraved homosexuals, or sexually explicit drawings of schoolgirls being raped by tentacle monsters. We need to rescue them with wholesome love stories that will shame them and show them the error of their perverted ways.”

:rolleyes:

[rjung]

To be fair, maybe the BBC wasn’t trying to say that all romance manga involved violent tentacle rape – maybe “Japanese manga comics, on the other hand, conjure up very different images - of violence, simpering schoolgirls and explicit sexual content” was a reference to

Fighting manga (definitely violent to extremes),
Teen romance manga (simpering schoolgirls), and
Generic pornographic manga (at least as much explicit sex as the censors will allow).

On the other hand, maybe it’s Sweeps Week in the UK…

[Gatopescado]

I don’t have the slightest clue as to what I just read.

[Tentacle_Monster]

Let’s not forget kitty manga and wordless, humanless dinosaur manga. Even educational manga (By the way, Larry Gonick rules!).

I suppose it boils down to which phrase generates the most attention: “a wide variety of subjects and styles” or “sex and violence”. Pit-worthy nonetheless. I give this rant a 7. It has a good beat and you can dance to it.

[Nanoda]

I dunno about the “and” bit in their trifecta… the standard demon and cool samurai mangas might hit one out of three.

That’s not even very well drawn hentai if you ask me. I’ve got a way better one right here with four schoolgirls and these ten… um… who… uh… nm.

[Hamish]

The quote in the OP just made it sound like they were talking about popular perceptions. Then I read the story. Gods, it is awful.

I mean, romantic manga is pretty much the largest genre of manga out there, and much of it is not sexually explicit. Publishers out here don’t translate and market that stuff usually because they don’t think it’ll sell.

Oh, yeah, and that last little bit on YAOI and shounen ai:

These are not produced for gay men, but are aimed specifically at women. While Western romance has made its mark in Japan, it could be that this sub-section of the genre may not be making the return journey quite yet.

Actually, it already has. It always had an underground fan base in Western nations, and with the internet, that base is swelling. I can’t speak for anywhere in England, but our local manga-sellers in Montreal can’t keep Fake and Gravitation off the shelves.

[Cervaise]

@Hamish

that base is swelling

So to speak.

[Hamish]

@Cervaise

So to speak.

Damn you Cervaise!

[kimera]

@Hamish

Actually, it already has. It always had an underground fan base in Western nations, and with the internet, that base is swelling. I can’t speak for anywhere in England, but our local manga-sellers in Montreal can’t keep Fake and Gravitation off the shelves.

Here in the US those titles are also selling pretty well and they are constantly bringing new ones over. My friend has made enough to afford a nice house in San Fran just off of selling “boy’s love” things to the American audience. I also attend a convention every year devoted to yaoi/boy’s love and we have a fair number of attendees.

[Hamish]

@ava

Here in the US those titles are also selling pretty well and they are constantly bringing new ones over. My friend has made enough to afford a nice house in San Fran just off of selling “boy’s love” things to the American audience. I also attend a convention every year devoted to yaoi/boy’s love and we have a fair number of attendees.

The YAOI-con? I was at the first one in San Francisco in 2001 with a couple of friends. If I can afford it, I’ll be going this year as well.

[sturmhauke]

@Hamish

that base is swelling

All your base?

[kimera]

@Hamish

The YAOI-con? I was at the first one in San Francisco in 2001 with a couple of friends. If I can afford it, I’ll be going this year as well.

I’ve been in 2002 and 2003. Some of Esprix’s friends also attend regularly. High Priestess has been the con mascot for 2 years and he’ll be attending again this year. Maybe we’ll see other Dopers!