Best Article Ever- From ANN

[KiraraKim]

http://www.comipress.com/?p=437

…And the old Japanese adage “reading manga all the time makes you stupid” is proven true yet again.

From the Morning Edition of the Chunichi Newspaper for July 4th, 2006:

According to the July 3rd edition of the French newspaper Libération, 2 16-year old girls from the Paris suburbs, who were both manga fanatics, left home without notifying their families because they “wanted to visit the land of manga.”

They tried to traverse Russia by rail, however they were apprehended in Poland on the 2nd and their dreams never came to fruition. The pair were obsessed with Japanese manga and rock music, and told their families that they were visiting a friend before leaving home on the 22nd of June.
The pair assumed that “visa wouldn’t be necessary if you went by rail or sea” and intended to cross over to the Korean peninsula from Russia, and then enter Japan by ship. Japanese manga and anime are immensely popular among younger French people, but they are also causing some concerns such as distracting them from studyin


I especially love how Japan is refered to as the "land of manga". :_lol:

Mods: I wasn't exactly sure what forum this should go in but since it deals slightly with manga I thought this was appropriate, if not please move it.

[Two-twenty]

"Land of manga" is one of the most retarded things I've ever heard and if they're reading it instead of doing their homework that's the kids/parents fault, not manga. It's that bloody simple.

But hey, look out games! Manga is the next scapegoat for covering-up f*cktard children and parents who can't parent!

[Javer]

Well, you know those French people.

[KiraraKim]

"Land of manga" is one of the most retarded things I've ever heard and if they're reading it instead of doing their homework that's the kids/parents fault, not manga. It's that bloody simple.

I wonder if the article just referred to Japan as the "Land of Manga" for emphasis on the story or if the girls actually called it that. I wonder what they picture Japan to be like, some magical world filled with manga and no strife. It's so sad it's funny.

[Rove]

Clearly the French girls were influenced by Garnier's view on manga: http://www2.garnierbeautybar.co.uk/manga/index.asp (click on 'Manga Story' to experience the horror).

What makes me wonder is why the girls were caught in Poland, instead of when the left France/entered Germany in the first place. Are 16-year-olds in France allowed to leave the country without some sort of authorization from their parents or something? And how the heck they crossed all of Germany to get to Poland? The police must have loosen their grip in the frontiers with the World Cup or something.

[Yodatsubato]

But hey, look out games! Manga is the next scapegoat for covering-up f*cktard children and parents who can't parent!
I don't think anyone is painting manga that way. The article by no means cites this occurance as common-place; it just paints the girls as idiots. Hey, if I were the ony writing the article, I'd be so much meaner. :)

Clearly the French girls were influenced by Garnier's view on manga: http://www2.garnierbeautybar.co.uk/manga/index.asp (click on 'Manga Story' to experience the horror).
That reminded me ever so slightly of Real Ultimate Power for some reason... *shivers*

Anyway, I wonder why manga is popular in France in specific? Was it Noir? :3huh:

[Dreamescape]

^^ I disagree. The article is trying to make manga the bad guy in this situation. It says so in the first sentence saying:

…And the old Japanese adage “reading manga all the time makes you stupid” is proven true yet again.

And so yet again we get another scapegoat instead of putting the responsibility on either the children themselves or the parents. Just ask Eminem about that.

[isolatedotaku]

^I agree with Dreamescape.

After traveling to the "land of Manga" I will definitely say these girls are idiots. It isn't especially hard finding English manga in Japan, but I never once came across anything in French.

I am going to dub this a case of extreme childish stupidity. And yet another case that makes the rest of us look bad... well, maybe the French Anime/Manga fans...

[Mana]

Anyway, I wonder why manga is popular in France in specific? Was it Noir? :3huh:
What about Rose of Versailles? The French love that, too. There's actually a lot of manga translated to French, and I know people who live in Europe who will buy manga in French instead of ordering online to get English.

[Kuzu Ryu Sen]

Clearly the French girls were influenced by Garnier's view on manga: http://www2.garnierbeautybar.co.uk/manga/index.asp (click on 'Manga Story' to experience the horror).

What makes me wonder is why the girls were caught in Poland, instead of when the left France/entered Germany in the first place. Are 16-year-olds in France allowed to leave the country without some sort of authorization from their parents or something? And how the heck they crossed all of Germany to get to Poland? The police must have loosen their grip in the frontiers with the World Cup or something.

I don't think there are any border controls within most of the EU, especially if you go by train. Likely they only got caught in Poland (as opposed to the Belarus border) because their families reported them missing.

[jetfire]

Yes, it sounds like manga is another source of entertaiment being used as a scapegoat. It's really the moronic teens fault for the most part, and the parents fault, secondly. For one, by the time you are 16 years old, I think you should have a pretty good grasp on what is smart and idiotic. I think by that age, it's pretty easy to figure out that even if you make it to Japan, you won't have enough money to get home, buy any manga or anime, or even find a place to stay at. Also by 16, it's pretty easy to figure out that if you want to go to Japan that badly, that maybe you could plan it as a vacation with time, effort, and consent to go there. Secondly, it may be the parents fault for raising their kids to be so stupid. Manga wouldnt be responsible for this at all, as it is just a form of entertainment that people can choose to accept (just like TV, videogames, sports, camping, whatever). If I'm really into soccer, I'm not going to sneak out of my house at night and take a plane to the UK. Why? Because it wouldnt be soccer's fault for making me go there, but my own moronic actions, if I chose to go.

And they want to buy manga there? They probably wouldnt be able to translate it!

[Yodatsubato]

^^ I disagree. The article is trying to make manga the bad guy in this situation. It says so in the first sentence...
Ahh, I didn't read it that way. I read it just as a catchy, sarcastic sentence made to draw your eye. Like, a "by manga fans, for manga fans" kind of sentence. I guess if you read the sentence to have a completely serious intent, the article takes on a completely different tone.

I'm trying to figure out the intent of the article by reading the website it was originally on, but it's all in Japanese and Babelfish isn't helping me any. However, I *did* learn, while browsing the Babelfished Japanese site, that apparently the British Union Jack has a right-side-up orientation and an upside-down one... Who would've known?