Hi, I am wondering what others think of OEL manga, or manga that is not originally from Japan or Korea - called world manga(?)
I would prefer not getting into classifications if OELs and the like are actually manga or not, (I guess people argue about it alot?) but rather:
Do you like or dislike manga-styled comics not from Japan or Korea?
What do you think of the quality of art and story?
Which ones specifically do you like or dislike?
Any other thoughts?

For me, I really like Svetlana Chmakova's stuff (DramaCon from Tokyopop and NightSilver, a webcomic at Wirepop). I think she has the sense of what manga-style is down pat, and her story-writing is excellent. The artwork is definitely good and manga-ish, but still has her unique style.
Another I like from Tokyopop is *Sorcerers & Secretaries *by Kim Ganter. The story and art is well done, just maybe a little less manga-like (imo, but reminds me of Emma, whose style seemed rather Western to me??).
Shoujo goodness!
Unfortunately, alot of Tokyopop's other stuff, to me, is not that great of quality, and some I'd hardly call manga or manga-style. Does it seem like Tokyopop's printing quality has gone down some?

And I think the OELs published by SevenSeas are good quality and stick to the manga-style very well. I have Last Hope, but others look very interesting.

The webmanga Blackbird, which was mentioned recently is excellent in story and artwork.

Red String by Gina Biggs, published by DarkHorse is pretty good too. Nice story and the manga-ka has the shoujo formula down pat as well, but I think the paneling and flow of panels seems a little jerky or abrupt? But I like it anyway.

Really curious to see what will become of this BL manga-zine that will be published in the US, too. (See front page of MU for news) How will they get submissions and from whom?

btw, is there a site that has a database/list/compilation of OELs?

Well I don't exactly like OEL mangas and let me explain why:
While it's true that the art is getting more and more manga-ish and the ecchi element for example seems to be in more frequently used. But what I like about manga isn't the art, or the ecchi...
For me it's the different view... I don't know if you know what I mean, but asian manga is written by people that do not share the western mindset. Their though patern is different, and their view of the world, their spirituality and almost everything that can be source of inspiration to a writer is different.
For me it's a window to a different world. A western writer, no matter how much he works on his art and how many manga he reads, will have a hard time to overcome his "cultural instinct" to write something that could give me the same kind of new perspective.
Well I'm not saying I can't enjoy anything written by a western writer, but the media used should be different imo. I don't know, but I don't like the way that everybody starts to imitate the most recent cultural trend... Well everybody should stick to his culture, Comics and BD (bande dessiné) have they good points. The cultural differences are something we should be proud of, and not something we should try to get rid off.

Well now after re-reading myself... That didn't make much sense did it? well but after bothering to write ALL that I'm not going to cancel it. I'll just post, maybe someone could see a glimpse of logic there.

Stealth, I know exactly what you mean, and I can't describe it either.

For some reason, the supernatural high school OELs pain me to read, and I have yet to see an OEL that has art that I really like (there's just something about it...)

[img]http://myanimelist.net/createimage/SirGir.png[/img]

If there's no funny name endings then it's not worth reading Ladybrasa-san!

^_^

The only one I have like is Aoi House. Dramacon was ok. Megatokyo is great if you count that. Other than that, i'm not too fond of OEL kinda the same reason as stealth.

[img]http://myanimelist.net/createimage/Faust721.png[/img]

Juneau:
If there's no funny name endings then it's not worth reading Ladybrasa-san!

I guess many people here are a "chan" for me 😲 Juneau-chan!

Stealth:
Their though patern is different, and their view of the world, their spirituality and almost everything that can be source of inspiration to a writer is different.

I also know what you mean, and its totally true. I also enjoy this aspect.
But I also like the manga-style type artwork and the story as major factors, so if its not original japanese its okay.
Which is why Emma surprised me (only read one volume) ... its so 'English-ey' to me in art, story, and sensibility. At first glance in the bookstore I thought it was OEL.

Stealth:
I don't know, but I don't like the way that everybody starts to imitate the most recent cultural trend...

Mimicking the manga-style - its just because its awesome and ya just can't get around that. Hopefully anime/manga won't be just another trend that winks out. 😁

SirGir:
For some reason, the supernatural high school OELs pain me to read, and I have yet to see an OEL that has art that I really like (there's just something about it...)

Yeah, you mean like *Avalon High *and Pantheon High? Using 'High' makes me instantly think of like my parents' generation. 😔

For the most part, I don't like U.S. manga or comics (I don't know about other countries' comics, because I've only read one or two). Both of these dislikes have their root in the art, but there's also, like Stealth said, more of a draw to Asian manga because of the different worldview... you just can't replace that.

As to the art - classic U.S. comics usually have blocky, muscle-bound, big-boobed art, which I hate. (I notice that a lot of the modern ones are smoother, but sadly I haven't gotten a chance to try any). Most American manga shares one big problem imho, namely that the characters' movements, as drawn, seem plastic and lack the aliveness which even the most sketchy Asian art has. It doesn't look like snapshots from a moving story, it looks like individual promo posters pasted together, if you get my drift.

And there's always the sneaking feeling that we fans are being copycats. I know it's not right in most cases, and that I really should give U.S. mangaka a chance (I know I would want some understanding!)... but I can't help myself 😔

All this said, there are a growing number of American manga out there which look interesting to me in their own right. (The latest of these is Hollow Fields, a semi-horror manga about a little girl. While the art is still a bit snubby and plastic, the story itself allows the art some room. It's a little girl - she's supposed to look snubby, right?) Not because they're off-shoots of the manga craze, but because they're unabashedly Western - just in a new way. I mean, everybody's going at it as if American mangaka have to be as Japanese as possible, but why can't giant mecha be done American-style? Magical girls? Tentacle porn? 😁

So, while I don't know if I'll ever get into Amerimanga with any regularity, I think that if enough U.S. mangaka can avoid just blindly copying Japan and try mixing their own culture with this new media instead, they can find readers not only in the anime community, but also in the mainstream. Frankly, I'd rather see an American novel in manga format than a bland rendition of pseudo-Asian culture any day.

I don't know any, so i can't say any examples.

But since i like all US/UK/French/Belgian/german and japanese comics i don't think i have a reason to dislike them.

Hoping manga stays japanese is like hoping beat music stayed britisch. Style is style, styles evolve, if a manga fan in the US wants to draw Manga he/she should go ahead.

Edit: and although i hate to not be on the same side as Stealth, i think that the uniqness of japanese manga due to a differant cultural heritage is not true for many manga.
lets start with the most famous of all, DragonBall. Don't see much there. Or such famous new ones as Blame!/Bleach/20th century boys/Monster/......
sure, high school mangas/slice of life are different due to different high school systems/ differant goverment and different culture, but a lot of manga could pretty much come from anywhere.

Many japanese mangas feed very heavily from "western" cultur, such things as cowboys, blues, jazz, rock, angels, ..... are all imports. Hell, manga started after the american soldiers brought comics to japan. Its all a big mix up. What goes round comes round.

P.S. And i personnally am not a big fan of the name endings.

the Warcraft manga is awesome

I almost can't stand OEL 🤣 I mean, part of the reason I read manga is to learn more about the Japanese culture and OEL just doesn't have that. Plus, the art of OELs are nowhere near as good as the art of manga. I mean, have you seen the art of 'The Dark Goodbye' or whatever? I mean, holy crap, that's just flat out ugly. It's almost insulting to call it manga 🤣

OEL isn't real 'manga' anyway. The definition of manga is Japanese comic books or graphic novels. I mean, come on! It even says Japanese in the definition! A big part of it is the authenticity. So in other words, I only enjoy the 'real' stuff from Japan. OEL just bothers/annoys me too much, and you would never catch me reading it, let alone buying it.

No offense to the manhwa readers, but I don't really like manhwa either, although it's more tolerable than OEL (I enjoyed Kill Me, Kiss Me -^.^-). At least they call manhwa 'manhwa'. The thing I don't like about Tokyopop is that they publish OEL and manhwa and call all of it manga! It's just... 🤢

Quote from Arahyacinth

For the most part, I don't like U.S. manga or comics (I don't know about other countries' comics, because I've only read one or two). Both of these dislikes have their root in the art, but there's also, like Stealth said, more of a draw to Asian manga because of the different worldview... you just can't replace that.

😃 I agree with you and Stealth about that. There's just such a big difference. I don't really like American comics either. They're just...too cliche 🤢 and the art is never enough to keep me reading. The only American comics I read are the ones in the newspaper and usually only on Sundays 😛

Quote from Arahyacinth

I know it's not right in most cases, and that I really should give U.S. mangaka a chance (I know I would want some understanding!)... but I can't help myself 😔

This is exactly how I feel 😲 I feel bad for just shooting them down, but I just can't force myself to read OEL 😔

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People can create whatever they want, it's their god given right.
What I DO think is ridiculous, is the term "OEL Manga".

That's like labelling yourself "faker" right from the start.

Does this site allow OEL mangas cause I added a series called Shutterbox a while ago and now it's gone. The artist I've added are still there though: SIMONS Rikki but I can't find "Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons", the other artist I added.

I bet there's a similar topic in a Japanese forum somewhere about how mangakas are imitating American/European comics =)

I generaly prefer manga from japan, korean comes next, but i really american so called manga (No offence) it's just plain boring...also the drawing always seems unnatural, or i just hate american drawing style, thats also one of the reasons, I always go for mangas published by Viz and Delrey.

Reader Beware, always check the Author's name before you check anything about the book. if you find any trace for american you should refrain from touching the book. 🤣 I read that somewhere

[img]http://www.ponpokopon.net/Katsu1.jpg[/img]

I think a lot of it depends on the author themselves though. I've seen some terrible manga but some quite good 'manga style' comics. I can't speak/read Japanese so the only manga I know of are those popular enough to be scanlated, so I'll never see many 'not so good' manga that don't make it to the scanner. That being said, I haven't read much 'imitated' manga other than web comics I used to read.

I think I just contradicted an earlier post of mine. ^^