I have been "ve-wy, ve-wy naughty"

(My brother used to say that all the time^)

I don't know about you, but I have a couple of demons that will probably haunt me all my life.  Looking around at the world, I know I'm not alone and maybe you can relate.

One of these demons is manga.  Now, if up until now you've thought fairly well of me and you're now thinking, "Oh jeez!  She likes manga.  And here I thought she was a kindred spirit!", then I don't blame you in the least.  I don't know why I like manga - probably for the same reasons other people don't.  Some says its unrealistic and so I think, "That's like saying Picasso is a rotten painter."  Some of it is really beautiful - like one series that I took for granted until my little sister (who is a big fan of the series) took it out of the library again (if interested, it's called "Kitchen Princess").  And not all manga is blood and gore, or fickle love and making out.  But there can be no denying that it can be very unhealthy for you.  Still, I think writing them off completely, particularly if you like manga, is like writing off all novels because of one lousy one.

That said! ....

Manga is not really ideal - at least not for me yet - for reading in sections like a normal chapter book (given that it can be hard to put down chapter books too).  I haven't yet learned to read it a chapter at a time and then put it down.  So when I get a new book - or even one I've read before - a whole hour or more can go by before I put it down.  Thus, I can waste a lot of time on manga.

One of my favorite authors (one on whom I'm now digging up some dirt on so I should note that it is rare to stumble upon a Christian-moral type mangaka) ........  But anyway, one of my favorite mangaka (grammar?) is Aya Nakahara, but the only series available in the U.S. is "Love Com" ("Lovely Complex"), although she does have others.

Since I've dropped out of manga, so to speak, because I'm really busy, I haven't read any manga in a long time.  Recently, my sister decided that she was going to turn fanatic over "Kitchen Princess" for a while, and manga was brought back into my life.  I don't know what my thought process was, but I do remember that I ended up reading as much as was available online of "Kimi ni Todoke", instead of ordering the next book from the library.  Then I must have gone looking for information about one of Aya Nakahara's other series, hoping some progress had been made to translate it into English.  Again, I don't remember what exactly I did.  All I know is that I then ended up spending a great deal of time reading manga online.  I came across some stuff of Nakahara's that was just not cool, but I came across other stuff which was good (not as good as "Love Com", which contrary to common first impressions, has nothing to do with online relationships).

All I can really say, looking back on two late nights (ONLY TWO???  It felt like more than two days?!?!?!?!), is that I finished all the available material (that I would dare read) from Aya Nakahara a few hours ago - which was my goal.  I was really only interested in finding more of her stuff because a lot of second rate manga has managed to cross the borders of its own country.  And now I'm like, now what?

It's not even the time I wasted that really concerns me (because I did get everything done, somehow...), it's more like what some manga does do my brain that worries me.  Suddenly I start visualizing life in a completely different and irrational way.  And when you're reading manga online, translated by who-knows-who!, the language doesn't always come out clean.  Even though I skip over any foul words that I do come across, the bottom line is that too much manga for me isn't healthy.  One way to tell is how addicted I get once I get started.

Another problem I face: American graphic novels don't make the grade.

I don't know why but I just don't like American graphic novels as much as the Japanese ones!  One thing is the style, which tends be low key, less imaginative, and more realistic in American graphic novels.  The plots might be high quality, make more sense, and perhaps don't contain as much pagan philosophy and "barbarian" tradition (if you'll excuse me), but I may never know because they lack the imagination and eye-catching imagery that I find in "native" manga.

I know there must be some really good graphic novels out there, I just can't find them!  Probably the best ones are stuck in Japan - I mean, it's the popular ones that get translated and distributed worldwide and we all know how society picks its favorites.

Ah well.  If I'm careful and I don't start looking for manga from the "Kitchen Princess" people (which is a good start if you want a sampling of manga), I might just be able to resume my normal life right now and get back to work.

The point is, God forbid that I ever forget about those demons that are waiting for a weak moment to take over again.  You know what I mean?

And then, to top it off, I spend another hour or so writing in my blog!  lol!  I just finished Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'.  I'm not sure what to make of it - any thoughts?

~Meggy