Manga and anime are hot commodities in Tokyo. And their popularity is steadily rising in the USA.

So why aren’t Christian publishing companies bursting with fresh manga volumes and anime series? Is this just one more example of how our artistry seems to be light-years behind what the mainstream is already doing? OR am I still too new to the genre and simply “out of the loop”?

You tell me.

The following is my venture into the world of all things manga…

Before I ever heard of manga, there was anime. And most of the time I tossed that aside as either A.) Kids’ stuff or B.) Raunchy adult animation. There was that whole Pokemon craze where it seemed like Pikachu was out to rule the world. And before that, there was Sailor Moon. I didn’t cared too much for the visual aesthetics of anime. The big eyes, the big mouths and the fast-paced camera angles didn’t fit my tastes. I was accustom to American animation, old school Disney and new school Pixar.

When I found out about manga I wasn’t too enthusiast because I figured if anime didn’t do it for me then manga probably wouldn’t be any different. There was the occasional alluring cover I paused and admired at bookstores but other than that, manga and I didn’t interact. But all that changed when I met my comic book artist friend. He convinced me to give manga a try and I caved in to his excitement about the genre. I told him I’d only be interested in reading a story that had to do with cyborgs or something along those lines. He suggested Chobits and let me borrow book one in the series.

Chobits is the story of a poor college student who fantasizes about how his life would be better if he had fancy stuff when one day he finds a Persocom (a walking, talking computer wrapped in a beautiful girl shell) outside a dumpster. From then on, his life gets interesting.

I was surprised at how much I actually liked the story. It kind of reminded me of the dynamics between Bruce Willis’ and Mila Jovovich’s characters in The Fifth Element. And it only took me a few pages to get used to the manga style, reading from the right to left. However, Chobits is definitely a secular grown-up story because there are some parts that are not for kids. Like some of the best movies, there are scenes I wish they edited out. But that’s always been the thing with secular entertainment in any form. And that’s why the world needs our art.

Which brings me to what’s happening in the realm of Christian manga…

This Serenity has nothing to do with Joss Whedon and everything to do with a comical teenage girl named Serenity.

Realbuzz Studios is the force behind this endeavor. Their website says they “created the Christian/Inspirational manga category in 2005 with their best-selling teen series, SERENITY, a break-out hit in the manga community outselling two-thirds of the titles on the mainstream manga and graphic novel best-seller lists.”

Pretty impressive, huh?

And this is what Stan Lee said about the series: “[It’s] a clean, inspiring teen-aged Christian comic done in a hip, contemporary way.” How many Christian novels can claim that?

Their website goes on explain that the company will begin gearing manga for boys, young adults and women over 35 while producing further titles for their primary tween girl market.

I have yet to read the Serenity series but I have every intention of going to the bookstore this weekend and picking up a copy to see exactly just how good it is. At this point, I’m really excited about what Realbuzz is doing.

Where does the future of Christian manga point to?

Manga is a great avenue for Christian artists and authors to further explore because all kind of weird stuff happens in manga. The genre is chalked full of speculative fiction from everything to supernatural and paranormal to vampires and aliens.

And lastly here are some websites I found useful in my search: www.christiananime.net, www.christianmanga.com, www.tokyopop.com and http://psychoann.deviantart.com.

So what are your thoughts on manga? Who are some of your favorites? And how would you like to see Christian artists impact this genre?