Effects of Manga

By Arisa Otsuka

Does manga give us some bad effects? One Thousand Years of Manga written by Brigitte Koyama Richard says “In the eyes of their many Westerners, manga are above all a vehicle for sex, violence, and gore.”(161)  I think it is true. Some manga are not good at discipline and sometimes bad crimes are connected to manga. In 2007, one girl killed her father by a hatchet and some TV shows told she liked horror manga and heroine in this manga uses it so she killed him. I don’t think it is the reason and it isn’t good to report without any proof. Crimes shouldn’t be connected. Criminals just can’t distinguish between manga, fantasy and reality. Nowadays, the Japanese government is seeing illiteracy as a problem.

But it is also true that some manga give good effects. Some manga are educational. For example, Japan has many historical manga. Kyouiku-manga series are very popular. Their contents are about great people in the world like Helen Keller, Marie Curie and so on. Children can study history or people in this series. The Tale of Genji is also famous. Many people say it is a valuable literary work. It doesn’t change story however book or manga. And manga are easy to read and understand so some schools use them in class for text book recently. I also studied world history by manga at first. I think Westerners and governments must know educational sides.

I think manga give us good effects, too. And we may read them and manga need not regulate.