1) Blogging is not meaningless. Though there are millions of blogs on earth, the Long tail theory still provides room for any bloggers interested in a particular niche.
2) Believe it or not: niche blogging can be a bussiness! You may not blog for money, but remember you can profit from it.
3) Blogging is not just about sharing informations and ideas. Before that, you have to watch and think.
4) It is not just your niche attracting people. The keyword is content. Try to make your post unique before thinking of attracting readers.
5) This one is especially for Geert Lovink(or his quote): many bloggers do expect a public debate, at least I do. What they want to avoid is “online fighting”.
6) For Lovink again : since I welcome any comments (as long as it is polite and logical) , please do not say that leaving an negative comment is unwise.
7) If you hope to have polite and logical comments, be a polite and logical reader first. Netiquette will be your good friend.
8) Although there is no actual law online, moral restraints exist. Remember your blog can be viewed by any web user(ha, he maybe a 7-year-old ), just try not to be too nasty.
9) CC license is a very interesting topic. You think it is simple? No, it is complicated!
10) One simple piece of image can involve different level of copyright of different individuals. Copyright? CC license? I tell you they are not easy!
11) I am not happy with my blog design, seriously. So a little tip to the future bloggers: if you’re serious in blogging, remember to purchase the CSS edition page…
12) WordPress should open the CSS pages, at least for a few themes.
13) Images and videos are your good friends when blogging. Readers love graphics more than words. Becasue I am a reader too.(Sorry, I keep brushing out words in this post)
14) It is torturing to update your blog every single day(forgive me by saying this, but I’m not a blog person). So it’s time to make a salue to all professtional bloggers!
15) Google and youtube are your good friends when blogging.
16) Branstorming is your good friends too, expecially when your mind appears to be blank. OK, you get many good friends when you start to blog…
17) To be very honest, I’ve never heard of wordpress before 2010.
18) When you become a blogger, select a username and password that you won’t easily forget. Don’t rely on cookies. Because now I cannot remember clearly what my password is…
19) Be honest again, wordpress usually make me depressed. Your picture uploading function get insane sometimes.
20) Although this post says almost nothing about manga, please, please do not forget that my niche is Japanese manga…
I have came across a criticism against Japanese manga on a Chinese newspaper. It is titled “Be alert to Japanese manga for not to misleading our next generations”.
In response to 2006 the diplomatic policy to enhance her international image by promoting Japanese Manga, Anime and other pop-cultures, the author is seriously worried of the negative influences of manga across Asia continent. He claims that in the late 2005, 2 manga became a fad in Japan, namely‘Kenkanryu’(“The anti-Korean wave”) and “The Introduction of China”. The author adds, “The anti-Korean wave, as its name implies, devalues Korean culture and counts Korean success wholly as Japanese contribution.
Bookcover of "The anti-Korean wave"
A page from "The anti-Korean wave"
“The Introduction of China”tries to cover the Japanese crime towards China in WWII, while devaluing Chinese culture at the same time. The Chinese reporter strongly accrues of these insulting content, feeling the need to suppress Japanese manga within China. The rising popularity of Japanese manga among Chinese teenagers is worrying, he adds, and this can have negative impact on the youth generations. He urges to encourage local manga industry, therefore Japanese manga will lose its battle in China.
After reading it, I reconsider the social responsibility of manga. Though I myself is a manga fans, I cannot agree with those mangas intending to insult other countries. We enjoy freedom of speech, print and creativity in modern society, but it does not mean that freedom can be misused. Manga is popular among teens, therefore it carries more social responsibility. Considering that most teens are mentally and physically immature, too negative values should be avoided in mangas, such as promoting suicide, drugs and insulting others with illogical grounds. Mangas, as a leading media in teen groups, are indeed another kind of education tool. Of course it’s not that each manga has to contain an educational purpose, but at least it should not harm the mental development of a teen by giving wrong and immoral messages.
It is, however, too harsh to blame and suppress ALL Japanese mangas for those extraordinary examples. It is crucial to realize who make those mangas and why. “The anti-Korean wave” and “The Introduction of China” is the political product under the left wing’s ultra instruction. We should always remember that a black sheep does exist.
And I cannot agree with the journalists’ view of “ in order to drive away Japanese manga from China, we should encourage local comic industry”. This antagonistic attitude does no good to Chinese manga development. We must admit that Japanese manga is successful. You cannot deny everything just because of one or two annoying cases. To encourage local comic development, one has to learn from successful examples, but not rejecting others. How can one be a good creater when he refuse to exchange ideas with others?
To me: culture is communication and commutation is learning!
CC is a non-profit organization to expand the understanding of copyright, making creative works more available for others to reproduce legally. Creative Commons Licenses, which are copyright licenses, are freely released to public by CC.
Applying a CC license can make your creative works and ideas available to the public. CC is established on the theory of sharing “creative wealth”, allowing authors of creative works and ideas to “refine the rules of copyright laws”.
Therefore people around the globe can engage with your works and establish their ideas and comments it. Especially since the rise of 21st century web culture, this content sharing process generates an online community who exchange thoughts and opinions, blooming their creativity. The CC license allows a free flow of ideas, opinions and information online, contributing to the on-going cycle of creative works- a shared culture of mankind.
So the idea is simple: this free Creative commons licenses allow your works be commonly viewed, shared and used by other users all over the world.
Weaknesses?
One criticism is that CC license may erode the copyright system.
Some argues that copyright system already cover all CC’s objectives and the CC’s slogan “some rights reserved” goes against the Copyright’s “all rights reserved”, creating a false dichotomy.
Other critics even claims that CC licenses do no good with creators, but leading them toward a “remix culture” that fails to inspire the self-inspired creativity. And some even worries that the CC licenses will cause some artists refusing to share their work.
Another critic what content do CC licenses really cover. Some creative works can be based on other’s ideas which protected by copyright, and if CC licenses are given to these work, to what extent the content can be counted as “commons”?
My Blog— a creative commons?
I’ve applied a CC license for my blog.
I, however, do have a question: do I really own this right? Of course the thoughts and ideas are mine, though inspired some other information; but when I came across those manga images, I hesitated.
The right of who own these images is very complicated. Online manga resources are always a controversial topic. The original graphic sources are of course from the authors or the publishers, and they DO own the right. In this sense, all online resources without permission are indeed illegal.
But things are never that simple.
The right of the manga images which you and I came across can get a “second author” because they are fans-translated works. What does all this happen? Japanese publishers sometimes refuse to sell the copyrights of certain manga series to foreign colleagues. Therefore some anxious foreign fans(for example, a Chinese), who do not know Japanese, start to beg around online for latest chapters. In response to this, those who have bought the original language versions or know both Japanese and Chinese start to work together, translating the manga, and finally share these second creative works online. Thanks to this demand and supply relationship, many online manga sites/forms are found.
So, who owns the rights?
The original author owns the graphic right of course. But who owns the “language” right? The original author ? The translator? Or none of them?
<— This is a manga fan site that provides online manga resources. Try to click into one of the links and look at one chapter of a manga. All the English dialogues are translated by the fans themselves. Though the site proclaims that it does not use any of these images for credit and refuse anyone else to do so (one evident is that I cannot save the picture by a right click), do they own the right to share these images despite of their translation work?
There are many similar resources online and some even allows you to download them. What if I download them, inserting one image into my blog post (protected by a CC license)? Does it mean that anyone can share this image to wherever as long as they claims me the “provider”?
Yeah, it is now commonly shared, but SHOULD it indeed be included in the creative commons? What if the Japanese authors find it, wishing to trace who int erupt his/her right? But everyone can apply for a CC license– we do not have to provide any individual information but simply copy and paste.
This is really a too complicated question to answer.
OK, you’re staring at me, thinking what a freak I am. But you see, I don’t like other wordpress themes neither. Or in other words: I dislike them ALL.
It’s not that they are ugly. Some of them looks pretty good, such as(one of my preferred style! “Simple is the best” is nonsense to me):
OK, I hear you shouting at me, “you freak, use it then!” But you do not get the point. The point is that they don’t FIT my niche. If I am writing a dairy blog, I cannot happy more to use them. I, however, am doing a manga blog.
Manga! What’s manga? A graphical Japanese novel! One of the peaks of Japanese creative art! Manga is different from USA comic. Manga is unique. Yeah. Unique. This is the keyword. What blog design do I want? The idea indeed is very simple.
Point 1
“Oh, it’s about manga!”
If someone clicking into my blog realizes this at the very first sight, it is a successful blog design. WordPress themes, however, do not conclude anything like this. Or I should say: none of the theme can REPRESENT “manga”.
OK, now you may ask: what represent manga then? Well, this is a good question. There are hundreds of thousands of manga on earth, and what characteristic does they commonly share? The answer is: manga style character(s). Looking at all the manga posters and images, 99.9% you will find (a) character(s) inside. Don’t believe it? A little experiment may help.
I’m going to open this link(on-line manga resources):
Bingo. I’m right( at least, I’m 99.9% right)! This explains why I have to customize my header. I photoshopped it by adding 2 manga characters inside(they are from OH-OKU, byYoshinaga fumi). And the reason I chose Oh-oku image as the header is simple: its looks very Japanese
My header
The original image from Oh-Khu
It is my very hope that this header can represent my niche: manga.
Point 2
Well, another concern is my little persistence in aesthetics. Manga is a form of artwork; a manga-blog design is another form of artwork, too. Why do I choose the Neo-Sapien theme with black and red as the background colors? The reason behind is very very very simple: it looks good with my header.
I have looked at many other themes, neither they do not provide the header customized function, nor their mono-background color(s) does not match the header.(I do not look at all 95…it’s too much)
Therefore I have to pick out the best out of my disliked themes and it is what you see right now. (I know I’m picky:()
Yet, the modules’ area is a bit too small and make reading difficult. And there is too much black area. Anyway, it is better than having unmatchable back ground colors.
Now you may ask: OK, what blog design do you EXACTLY want?
Well, the best way is to design it by myself or to edit the CSS. Sadly, I cannot do neither of them(because, be honest again, I don’t want to pay for the CSS editing cost, I have to bare this unsatisfied design) .
————–
Other than aesthetic concern, there are other parts we can look at.
1) I try to insert more images into my posts in order to make it more “reader-friendly”. Readers usually love images more than words. Why? Because I’m a reader too!
2) I add several manga links in the side bar. One is linking to on-line manga resources and the other, on-line manga shop. My target audiences are manga fans, especially the westerners. I’ve learnt from some western manga forum that westerners find it more difficult that South East Asian fans to access manga resources. Therefore I hope these links may help.
3) I keep the calendar part in the side bar. Dates are relatively important to manga fans because it suggests when the latest manga chapter(s) will be released.
4) I have added a creative Commons License on the left side bar. It is to remind people what to do if they wish to reproduce my work.
5) I do not add many widgets and icons. Why? Just because I do not see the need. Manga, as I’ve mentioned, is Japanese graphic novel. What we should focus on is the image, creativity and the content—so does my blog.
2)What make internet one of the world’s largest social platform?
3)What make blogging an important catalogue of modern participatory culture?
Let’s answer the questions one by one. By simple words, by simple mind— you see, truth sometimes is nothing complicated.
OK, question 1: culture. What is a culture? To me, it’s never something belonging to a particular person or what. Culture is an on-going progress. Culture is created and passed down by generations. We are influenced by culture and create culture. We live in culture. We participate in culture.
Question 2: internet-one of the world’s largest social platform? You see, thanks to the 21st century advanced technology, many of us gain easy access to the net. We google(search), visit sites, comment, blog, facebook(:P I consider it’s a verb here just like “google”), upload and download, etc. And all these are simple: we click on our mouse and submit or receive information. Internet is where we share information and opinions. Internet is the place of active individual participation. I cannot think any other media so convenient that by one simple click, my thoughts then become accessible to the whole world.
Question 3: Blogging-an important catalogue of modern participatory culture. Blogs are where people usually express their ideas, and, therefore, where people receive a bunch of comments. It is where a blogger communicate with other web users directly. And where culture originates is communication—-or I may say, through interaction between social figures.
And this leads back to question no.1: participatory culture. Culture is participation. And participation creates an on-going progress named culture—common culture. A culture commonly shared by us and, more importantly, created by us. Online culture has taken this kind of individual participation into a new climax. You may say something on-line that you won’t dare to express in the real life. Our on-line identity, in usual case, won’t affect your real life reputation(well, as long as you don’t expose your own information too much online). Because even your on-line reputation is sadly ruined, you can simply start over again by creating a new net identity. On-line participation is like acting undercover. We can be sly online.
————————
Not long ago, I have come across an interesting manga discussion. It pretty implies some elements of our 21st century common culture on-line. It is created by Japon, introducing a controversial manga named Mein Kampf. You can access it here.
Some background information: "Mein Kampf" means "My Struggle" in German. It is the autography of Adolf Hitler, firstly published in 1924. But what you see above is the Japanese remake version: a manga style of Mein Kampf.
The manga version of MeinKampf has sold 45,000 copies and contributes to a controversial public debate. This 2008 comic remake is included in a collection of historical comic books called "Manga de Dokuha" ("Learn with mangas") published by East Press(from Japon's blog).
Hilter is always a controvesial historical figure, not mentioning this manga based on his autography which promotes his Nazi idea. Bavaria has banned this manga in 2009.
Japon’s post support the publishing of manga Mein Kampf, since he considers “mangas are just a prop that supports all sorts of themes”. “The original Mein Kampf doesn’t carry a special “This book contains dangerous content” mention,” he argues, “ why should the manga need one?” And he criticizes on the Japanese attitude towards its crime in WWII too. His blog receives some comments.
TIt is happy to see few really nasty replies under his posts. There are some anonymouses, acting a bit rude(for example, one of them said, “DAMN YOU’RE SO EDGY BRO”), but that’s all.(I wonder if this is because the on-line “undercover” environment allows people to peak their mind without any reticence. This may be the reason these gentlemen or lady do not leave down their names too.) Based on this manga version, people responding to this post held their own political-historical views. Some of them are contrasting(some agrees Hitler is evil but having “great view”, whereas some denies this idea strongly that no one should ever admire Hitler), I must say, but the discussion is accepted.(Well, at least it does not develop to a horrible fighting and most of the replies remains rational with logical grounds.)
But Geert Lovink has said, “[b]logs create communities of like-minded people. Debates happen within homogeneous webclouds … Most bloggers would admit that it is not their aim to foster public debate. If you disagree with a fellow blogger, it is even unwise to write a comment. Instead, it is much safer to post the remark on your own blog. “I blogged you”. The chance that someone will respond to it is almost zero. Herein is the limit of blogging”.
I wonder if this is the case. Blogs provide a place for public debate and therefore is relatively the extension of public sphere. I cannot see what can be called “unwise” even though you draw an objective comment on a blog’s post. Negative comments can exist as long as they are politely and logically expressed. I also cannot see why , as Lovink claims, many bloggers does not wanna open any public debate(At least, I cannot tell from Japon’s blog). Though there is no actual law controlling people on-line misbehaviors, netiquette does exist as a moral restraint. I don’t think people supporting the blog’s stance will all attack you like monsters just because you hold a different opinions( Japon’post is one of the many examples: yea, there are people arguing with each other; but I don’t think they are rude enough to be called “attackers”). What does a debate exist for when there are only one-side comments? I am a web user too and seldom see what Lovink suggests. People do hold different comments under a post while they blog some others at the same time (and they do sometime get replies). I cannot see why Lovink considers this as the limit of blogging( his view is too generalized).
How can a common culture be commonly shared and created if everyone hides somewhere else, refusing to comment publicly? And we know that it’s not the case!
Well, there are 2 simple conclusions:
1) Sorry, Lovink, I cannot agree with you (at least, not with that quote).
2) If I can get to your blog, I will leave this as a comment; but sadly, I can’t.
I have to find a topic which leads to a certain level of DEBATE. The focus is the COMMENTS on the topic, but not merely the topic itself.
Surely there are many controversial posts about manga…maybe the best is to gonna a manga forum.
Here are some links that may come in handy(just a quick search in Google):
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/news/
Controversy over Manga of Hitler’s Mein Kampf
http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=112894
-umm, this one sounds really interesting. It’s about a manga of Hitler which is banned in many European countries. There are different comments on what manga can deal with this controversial historical figure…since manga is kinda popular media among the teens, how responsible it is from a social ethic perspective? Hitler and his unforgivable crime in WWII… do authors enjoy unrestricted freedom of creation or they DO share social responsibility?
-a open discussion on controversial. The comments briefly covers the theme of violence, sex, or any other topics commonly considered “immoral” in manga. A general look on the social responsibility of manga. Umm, maybe I can blog on these 2 posts- this one as a general introduction and the Hiter one as a small case study.
- A simple introduction on manga. It implies why manga is such a popular media esp for the teenage group…and becoz of its popularity, here comes its moral responsiblty?
The license of my blog…well, “you can allow people to use any content of your blog, but they get to give their links back”.
So, that’s what license can mean. Cool.
———-
The links that I add in my blog…those on-line manga ones, I mean.
They’re having a CC license, I suppose? Indeed, I’m not sure if they’re legal or not? But this kind of site is VERY popular, esp for east Asians…umm, I need to check it.
(P/S: there are many self-translations on Japanese manga online(Japanese–>Chinese for example)… how about their licenses?)
Ok, I’m blogging about manga. The reason is simple: I LOVE Manga!
But I’m confused of what I should blog in order to fit the subject’s requirements…anyway, here is my rough plan:
1) Of course, introducing my niches- manga.
-what is manga?
-some background information of manga: history?(with some examples)
-manga popularity: a pop culture, Japan–> East Asia –> the world?
(example? maybe Dragon Ball: manga-animte-Hollywood movie)
2) Well. An UNIQUE Post. Umm, what does it mean for UNIQUE? ok, I don’t have any idea right now…
maybe a manga review? (unique?)
An intorduction of CG(Computer Graphic?)- some CG softwares?(unique??)
examine how a manga pic/poster us drawn?(but then it will become a “drawing” post? full of pics but few words…)
…God knows.
3) OK, about my web design.
Why do I chose this theme, show these widgets, design such a header, organize my post in such way, bababa…(of course one of my aims is to make my blog graphic…comical? mangaical?)
Seems that I can discuss some other webs’ designs.
4) Comment on others’ comments??
So, gonna find a manga debate and step in…I wonder what’s better: a debate about the overall manga or specificially a “manga”?(ok, my own problem.)
5) CC Project…my blog license. God knows what I’m going to do. My blog is free of course, so…
Anyway, you don’t have to pay to see my blog.
6) Conclusion! Reflection!
So, I can just summarize all my posts here? Umm, I can add comments on the manga’s development too…anyway, just conclude.
Do you blog? Almost everyone is blogging nowadays— your grandma may be blogging if she gets a computer! Of course you may ask: “for what? There are millions of blogs on earth. No one will read my blog!”
Oh yeah, it’s a good question. Why. Why blogging?
Have you ever heard of niche blogging? Or have you ever heard of the “Long Tail”? If not, I’m happy to tell you that blogging can be a business. Yeah, a business! Blogging is not just for fun. Believe it or not: many bloggers make their full time livings simply by blogging each and every day. Imagine it: you can sit down before you disk, blogging for 30 minutes, and then go away to do whatever you want. Yeah, believe it or not: there is blogging— there is niche blogging!
OK, question time again: impossible! Why can I make money by a blog that no one may read?
No, no, no. This is not the case. The theory of “ Long tail” tells you another fantastic story: thanks to the wonderful development of our 21st century technology, your costs of blogging can be reduced because there is NO time or physical restraints to distribute and promote your blog. You can attract readers who have the same interests with you. You can make your blog a business— of course you’d better made it a niche blog first.
OK, question no.2: what is a niche blog?
The idea is simple: a blog with a specific topic. For example, a blog about Hollywood movie. Or you can google what is popular these day and make it a niche blog. Make it a unique niche that is distinctive from anyone else and everybody can easily access to it by simply typing keywords like “Hollywood” in Google, Yahoo, MSN.com or any other search engines. Of course, what I mean by “unique” is not merely about the topic chosen; it is more about how you blog and what you write.
Question no. 3: How exactly can I make money by niche blogging?
Well, all of the first is that the blog company will pay you. And if your blog is relatively easy to be searched and has a certain amount of readers, advertisers will be willing to pay you, too. You see what a niche blog can do, indeed, is to attract regular readers, especially those interested in your niche. All these give advertisers good reasons to advertise on your niche blog. To learn more about niche blogging and the long tail theory, search engines like google book search will be your good helper.
********************
My niche: Manga
Hello to you all, welcome to my blog of Japanese Manga!
Ha, of course my blog name (Manga: a Japanese Legend) has already implied my niche: Yeah, it’s about manga. Why? The reason is extraordinarily simple: I LOVE manga!
To those who are new in this: what are manga? The term “Manga” in English generally refers to Japanese comics. You can see manga as a specific category of comic art but, I must emphasize, they are NOT Japanese animation (well, at least this blog doesn’t see them in this way).
Manga are Japanese graphic novels, printed cartoons, dealing with every theme imaginable, not just sci-fi and fantasy(a little tip: you can click on the links on the right hand side to see what exactly manga is. Their styles are quite different from what we know of western, USA comics ). The history of manga can be dated back to the mid-20 century and when coming to the 1970 onwards, it has gradually become a popular media especially for the teens. Originating in Japan, it expands its influence across the South East Asia, and, finally, to a global level. (Some of my experience: I am a Hong Konger and have visited several countries like Japan, Thailand, Singapore, England, France and Australia(where I’m staying right now). It’s awesome to find that some people there holding manga books. Of course I see manga shops in some of these places. Some of my friends from USA are Manga fans too. And many of the South Asian countries, like China, Taiwan and Korean has started to develop their own Japanese -style-oriented manga industry.)
<–Hope to learn more about Manga and its history? Click this picture!
Japanese manga has influenced the South Asian Art culture. Many Asian comicers starts to create artworks in manga style. The picture above is from a Korean manga named “Palace”.(Assuming that royalty still extis in Korea, it is Korean version of Princess Dianna.)
Taiwan Manga
Another exmaple of Japanese manga. This is a poster from a Taiwan manga called “The One” by Nicky Lee.(It’s a story of a model.)
And when it comes to the 21st century, manga marches into one of the world largest social platforms: internet. It’s interesting to notice the rise of manga fan sites. They are mostly operated by teens(i.e. the generations from 1970s onwards), shared by teens and served for teens. These on-line manga sites provides latest news of various manga series, and even non-official translation( that means some fans will translate the original Japanese manga to their mother language and share with their friends on-line. This, however, does rise legal issues which result in controversial debates. But there is a common consent that any of these on-line resources cannot be used as commercial purposes). These are some of the examples:
Overall, you can see manga a component of a cross-over media network(from manga to anime, to movie, to novel, so forth and so on), a form of expressing idea and creativity. Most of the Japanese “Anime” series are based on manga. And some are even remade to movies. One of the many examples is the famous “Dragon Ball”. ( It has been made into an anime and, also, film! The 2009 Hollywood movie “Dragon Ball: Envolution” is also based on the manga version.)
I hope this blog can provide some interesting information of manga to anyone interested, especially when you are a westerner. In contrasts with the South Asian countries(which are much closer to Japan), the west seems to have a relatively narrower sources towards manga.(I have talked to some western friends and seems that not all of them know what exactly manga is. Some even thought that Spider-man counts but it indeed USA comic, which is quite different from the Japanese one).
DargonBall-manga-Vol.1
A page from the DB manga: manga is a graphic novel.
(The Dragon Ball Animated-based on the manga story)
The Hollywood Remake of DB
Well, considering most manga fans are teens(but if you’re not, it’s fine too:P), I prefer a rather casual style for this blog. Ha, I cannot see any need to speak like an old school teacher—manga is a place to rest your mind, and this is what I always believe. Each post will not be too long, around 400-600 words(you see, I’m not writing a manga textbook though this introductive post looks a bit long ). I will share some views and feelings on manga and, please, don’t been offended if any of my words or stance go against yours(just don’t take things too serious ). I am not a manga professor of course—so, no professional post can be expected. So, hope you can relax yourself here as I do.
And for the blog design, umm, my idea is simple: make it colorful and graphical! Because we are talking of manga! You can expect a large amount of pictures here. ( For those who are interested in the header: it is photoshopped image of course, using the poster from OH-OKU drawn byYoshinaga fumi.)
Wish to learn more about OH-OKU? Click the picture:P
Oh yeah, and for those who hates seeing advertising popping up around, there will be not advisement here! (ha, one enormous fact is that no advertisers is willing to advertise on here. But if I’m a professional blogger, probably you will see some little advisement on the right hand side of the blog, promoting my works or the others.)
OK, that’s all, otherwise it will be too long. Hope you will enjoy yourself here!
). The history of manga can be dated back to the mid-20 century and when coming to the 1970 onwards, it has gradually become a popular media especially for the teens. Originating in Japan, it expands its influence across the South East Asia, and, finally, to a global level. (Some of my experience: I am a Hong Konger and have visited several countries like Japan, Thailand, Singapore, England, France and Australia(where I’m staying right now). It’s awesome to find that some people there holding manga books. Of course I see manga shops in some of these places. Some of my friends from USA are Manga fans too. And many of the South Asian countries, like China, Taiwan and Korean has started to develop their own Japanese -style-oriented manga industry.)
