I picked up the last two volumes of the splendid Alice 19th over the weekend, and it’s just a pleasure from start to finish. What started as an engaging teen melodrama with supernatural elements ends as a battle to save the world from darkness, with the future in the hands of shy, painfully normal Alice.
This story evolved so nicely, with the stakes raising progressively with each volume. Mangaka Yu Watase paces things superbly, gradually introducing the supernatural elements without losing the humanity at the root of Alice’s struggles. And I still love the idea of the power of words that Watase explores.
So, this was my first “everygirl discovers amazing powers, saves the universe” manga, and I have to say I loved it. If anyone has any recommendations of other stories in this vein, let me know. I’m already enjoying Watase’s Imadoki!, which is more a case of “everygirl struggles doggedly to convince people around her not to be such jerks.” (I guess that can count as a mythic struggle, now that I think about it.)
I was wondering in earlier volumes why Watase included those text pieces in some chapters, where she talks about her work, her travels, how cold it is, whatever. I found out the thinking behind these pieces in the invaluable Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. Apparently, they’re fairly common, particularly in shojo, and they’re seen as a way to let the readers connect with the creator more informally. It almost seems like a means of building brand loyalty, if the brand is the mangaka in question. So Watase chats amiably about how she’d love to have a pet if her apartment wasn’t so small, and readers nod and smile in recognition, like they’re having coffee with a friend. Simple enough.
For those of you who are interested in manga, I can’t recommend Paul Gravett’s book strongly enough. It’s a fascinating overview filled with illustrations from a staggering variety of manga. It’s also wonderfully written, with a scholarly foundation but in a really engaging, almost casual voice. And the sample pages from manga of every stripe alone are worth the price.
It’s amazing to look at how the manga industry grew up with its readers, adapting to reflect their interests and tastes. It seems to be more integrated into the culture, too, not just a niche hobby like comics are here in the U.S. I don’t know if Marvel and DC can learn any lessons from manga at this point, but it will be interesting to see howOni does with its manga-esque “real mainstream” approach and varied genres.