manga.

Hello Roman! January 03, 2003 (it was 10:02 pm then) Roman Petrov in his letter to Vlad Sotnikov wrote: VS>> In If #01 for 2003 there is a very interesting article VS>> dedicated to the subject. RP> If, as always, they only talk about Pokemon and Sailor Moon, then RP> she's not interesting. Because they are tired of sucking on quite avid and RP> besides, old TV series. It would be better about something new RP> we told you about the classics. Although, what's the point? :) RP> Can you throw this article into the echo? If, No. 1, 2003, p. 89-95. "Bamboo curtain" Over the past few years, a large number of number of Japanese names. Of course, a new round of interest in the culture of the Country the rising sun is pleasing, but a sad fact is also striking: among Many names have not revealed a single work of fiction. When that in this translation stream almost all genres are represented and directions: from the subtle and stylish jazz-postmodernist exercises of Haryka Murakami to the classic world detective Edogawa Rampo. But acquaintance with representatives of the Japanese science fiction workshop for the majority Russian readers who do not know the language are still limited to onlya modest set of classical masterpieces translated in 1960-1980 and comprising the contents of five anthologies. Even an informative article by Evgeniy Kharitonov about Japanese science fiction ("If" No. 2, 1998) does not make up for information gap, since it is mainly focused on the same classic names. Meanwhile, in terms of circulation of science fiction, Japan has long overtaken "the most widely read country in the world" and the pace does not seem to be slowing down. Moreover, the Japanese NF turned out to be subject to the same waves and currents as the global one, although, of course, with its own national flavor, which the Japanese are generally inclined to bring it to everything they do. One more important feature should be noted: in Japan there are traditionally quite the share of familiar, textual literature is low. The vast majority of what is there published and read, this is manga. In other words, comics. "Picture Book" in general, much more organic for Japanese culture, where, due to the extremely With the complicated writing system, learning to read and write is very labor-intensive. Therefore, since the early Middle Ages, mass publications have been namely comics. Among them there are often processing of ordinary, exclusively text books, which in themselves remain the domain of what We call it "intellectual literature". In addition, many talentedwriters who feel in themselves, in addition to literary abilities, also artistic abilities, initially are engaged in the creation of manga, and others are part of manga groups in as screenwriters and authors of the concept. Speaking about modern Japanese SF manga, one cannot ignore the famous Osamy (Shigepy) Tezuka, nicknamed in his homeland “the god of manga.” The impact of this writer for the entire subsequent history of Japanese fiction without exaggeration comprehensively. Tezuka back in 1947, being then an ordinary medical student, published "New Treasure Island" - the first manga in modern understanding of this word, bringing pure cinematic techniques. This manga wasn't fantastic, but it was it laid the foundation for the industry that subsequently emerged, a large part of which I was captivated by fantasy. Tezuka himself published one of the first fantastic manga series - "The Mighty Atom". Already in this work the science fiction writer laid all the foundations and characteristic features manga: seriality (manga is usually published in chapters once a month in special magazines), gender and age division, black and white drawing and theatrical expressiveness of movements, and the magazine publication scheme itself has become established precisely with the light hand of the master. Almost all of Tezuka's works were then filmed, and by himself, thanks to which this author is known todaymore like an animator. Of course, from today's perspective, Tezuka's works are mostly children's and demonstrating the strong influence of American "pulp magazines" of the 50s, They look archaic, and their graphic style is old-fashioned. So, to give it its due classics, let's move on to modern authors. Today one of the central figures of Japanese SF is Hayamo Miyazaki, also better known as an animator. Sharply interested in questions state of the environment, Miyazaki writes “ecological fiction”. For example, the manga "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" is dedicated to the life of humanity, survivor of a terrifying biological war. Devout Socialist, Miyazaki continuously pursues the theme of collectivism and social justice. But from his pen there are also children's fairy tales like "My Neighbor Totoro" or "Witch's Delivery Service", which are very freestyle an adaptation of Eiko Kodono's book about the young witch Kiki. Still in fantastic order is another classic - Rymiko Takahashi. Her works are mostly sluggish, unpretentious everyday comedies and melodramas with a small fantastic element, like a terrible Chinese curse, the victim of which was one of the heroes, who fell into a forbidden source and turning into a girl every time cold water is applied to him. But Takahashi has long and deservedly occupied an honorable place among humorous authors,which is confirmed by the amazing circulation of her works and huge fees. A mangaka, that is, a manga author, in Japan is not as free as an ordinary writer, but is bound by a strict contract with the magazine that publishes it, like a football player with his club Only a few masters, like the same Takahashi, are of their kind “free agents” and can independently choose who to work for. Cyberpunk, although it is a rather closed movement, nevertheless brought so much energy to the world cultural scene that his influence can be felt to this day, especially in Japan. Closer than others to manifestos and postulates Cyberpunks came up, perhaps, mangaka Masamyne Shiro. His 12-volume (which is for an ordinary book, similar to a medium-thick novel) series "Operational Group "Armor", better known thanks to the 1996 film adaptation and now released in Japanese TV television version, in the spirit of the works of Gibson, Stirling, Cyanwick and raises the same problems of marginalization, high technology, power and self-identification. However, the Japanese, even when borrowing other people’s ideas, also bring something yours. Shiro flavored the gray cyberpunk with a fair amount of irony. The singer’s series “Weapon Dreams” is in approximately the same vein post-apocalyptic world Yukito Kishiro. But this manga is darker and dramatic. If Shiro is more concerned with abstract ideas, then Kishiro emphasizes attention to the images of the main characters.Apocalyptic aesthetics, no longer implicated in SF, but in mysticism and horror also inspires another author - writer Hideyuki Kikychi. Those who visited at last year's MIFF, we had the opportunity to watch Yoshiaki's animated film Kawajiri's "Vampire Hunter Di: Bloodlust", which is an adaptation of one from Kikychi's books. Baroque sophistication of the plot based on classical vampire myths, graphic illustrations performed by the famous Japanese science fiction artist Yoshitaka Amano (who, by the way, was also director of the film), are remembered immediately. Kikychi - very bright figure in the world of modern Japanese horror, and a very prolific one: from the beginning Since the 1980s, he has already written 17 novels and stories about Di (at least more are planned seven). Vampire themes are generally popular in Japan. Moreover, the curious Japanese are interested in a wide variety of vampires: from the locals, on the legends about which I was in the popular series "Vampire Miyu" was founded in its time, before the classic European, born of the imagination of Byron and Bram Stoker. The series by the young mangaka Cats is mainly based on Bram Stoker's novel Hirano "Hellsing". Actually, this is a very free continuation of "Dracyla", where in In modern London there is an organization created by Abraham van Hellsing for destroying all kinds of undead. The organization is headed by the great-granddaughter of the founderIntegra Wingate van Hellsing, and she is helped by... Count Vlad Dracula, who, It turns out that he was not killed by her great-grandfather, but chose to give him a vassal oath. The valiant team is opposed by Nazi vampires from the organization "Millennium", which took refuge after the Second World War in Brazil. This the swashbuckling black comedy turned out to be so popular that in the spring of 2002 year was filmed. In the magazine "Young King Ours" (quite expensive and not aimed at teenagers, and for young intellectuals) an interesting example of the genre emerges space western. Yasuhiro Naito's manga "Traigan", although it begins as comedy, after some time it becomes much more serious and raises deep questions: about life, about responsibility, about the right to kill. This brings it closer to “Dreams of a Weapon” by Kishiro and is an example of what in In the frivolous format of a graphic novel, you can write social fiction. It so happens that most of the humorous fiction in Japan takes place according to the fantasy category. Including incredibly popular cycles of writers Hanjime Kanzaki and Yoshinoby Akita about black magicians: published in the mid-90s Japanese role-playing magazine "Dragon Magazine" a series of stories by Kanzaki about a young and the unscrupulous sorceress Lina Invers "Rybaki" and the bestseller of the year before - Akita series "Warrior-mage Orphen".It has already been said above about the prolificacy of Japanese authors, but even among them there are few who can compare with Yoshiki Tanaka. This science fiction writer, who works in a very popular in Japan genre of "space opera", in just over twenty years he published twenty-two novels from the series "Legends of the Heroes of the Galaxy" (military space epic) and eight volumes of the cycle "Chronicle of the Wars of Arislan" (pseudo-historical epic in the Arabic spirit). Does not lag behind Tanaka and others in popularity the composer of the "space opera" Hiroyuki Morioka", the author of the epic "Coat of Arms/Banner of the Stars". The creativity of the manga group CLAMP is hardly possible to describe in short review. What have not the four “done” during their existence? respectable ladies! Free improvisations on the themes of Indian myths ("RG-Veda"), teenage series ("Chobits", "Angel Level"), science fiction for children ("Sakura - the card collector"), urban fantasy ("Tokyo-Babylon", "X")... And in conclusion, I would like to note once again: virtually all of the mentioned the works were filmed. See a film adaptation of a work - sometimes the only way to get at least some information about him (and given the manner Japanese studios film everything verbatim, making, in essence, a video illustration for the book, then very accurate and reliable) information. * Also sent to MUSIC.ZX * Also sent to ZXNET.BOOKS Vega/ex-Style Group. FIDO: 2:5030/1006.19 ZXNET: 500:812/19 E-mail: vega56@mail.ru