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Asia in Comics 2004 -
The World of Comics by Asian Women

NOTE: The translations were typed as they appeared in the program, though the English is awkward at times.

Asia In Comics 2004 - Comics by Asian Women

February 21, 2004 (Sat.) 14:00-17:00
February 22, 2004 (Sun.) 14:00-17:00

The Japan Foundation Forum
Organized by The Japan Foundation Asia Center

[page 14] (Japanese-language version of presentation)

[page 15]

Session 1/Presentation No. 5

Intrigued by Korean Girls' Comics

by Sajima Akiko

Born in 1963. Left mid-way of doctorate course in Literature Research, Kyushu University. Specialized in modern Japanese history. Love for girls' comics led to fascination with Korean comics and studies Korean by herself. Publishes private magazines, Star of the North Sea (fan book), Seoul Enjoyment, which introduced Korean girls' comics, and others, selling them at "comikets" (comic markets). Currently teaching at university Korean girls' comic theory, Korean language through k-pop, history of cultural exchanges, and other subjects.

1. Korean Girls' Comics
What makes Korean girls' comics intriguing is that their sense is similar to Japanese ones. They display "grammar" similar to Japanese comics in terms of illustrating the sense of cuteness and prettiness, wit, manner of building emotion, etc. Then arises the question: "Are Korean comics are [sic] an imitation of Japanese ones?" which is answered: "They have been influenced but are not merely a variant." Just as Japan's comics developed because of precedent achievements, Korean comics also can be considered as having developed on the achievements of both nations.

Ever since the classic Candy Candy, Korea's girls' comics enthusiasts have enjoyed major Japanese girls' comics including Flower Boys x Fighting Girls and NANA, and one may say that comics enthusiasts of both nations have a common culture. What makes the Korean comics world interesting is that in addition to Korean comics, readers can easily enjoy Japanese, Taiwanese and other comics from overseas. Although Japan is an advanced nation in terms of comics, it may have limited opportunities for becoming acquainted with foreign comics.

2. Korean Girls' Comics as Classroom Material

There is a plethora of general materials published on understanding other cultures, but the vast majority are analyses by adults of adult culture. Foreign girls' comics are an ideal tool for girls and women in their teens or 20s inquisitive about what their counterparts in other nations are feeling, thinking, as well as what kinds of dreams and values they have.

Currently I hold a workshop with students reading Korean comics in original form and holding classes for appreciating them in translations I make, while putting them into perspective of the history of Korean girls' comics.

Whereas Japan has a generation of comic artists called the "(Showa) '24 generation (people born around 1949)," Korea has the "'62 generation (people born around 1962)." In other words, comic artists who were born around 1962 made their debut one after another following Candy Candy breaking onto the scene, causing the 1980s renaissance in girls' comics. Korean society was then in a period of the rising demand for democratization, and due to the fact that review (censorship) hampered free creative activities, many works appeared that expressed strength of human spirit and human consciousness to live earnestly and honestly in spite of injustices. On the other hand, the works of the generation of artists that debuted after democratization may not differ that much from the Japanese style of straightforward depiction of people as they are. Popular these days are works that, while touching upon anxieties and growth experienced during puberty, unfold as lighthearted, fashionable school romance or fantasy. Among the stories in the popular serializations in the Korean girls' comic magazine Wink, there are ones espoused by Japanese students for their laughable gags, characters dressed cute, and stories that fascinate by taking unexpected turns.

3. Other Cultures and Universality

Differences in culture and customs definitely exist between Japan and Korea. In family relations, for example, it is known in Japan that the family bond in Korea is very strong, and this even is perceived as a facet of Korean culture alluring to Japanese. On the other hand, the weakness of family relations of characters and the intense self-determination of children depicted in Japanese comics are apparently cathartic for Korean readers (according to O Kyung Eun, Wink magazine editing staff).

Although there are historical issues between Japan and Korea as well as other Asian nations, by reading the comics of other countries, as in the case of Kim Hye Rin's historical comic Open Country dealing with the family torn asunder, Japanese readers can vicariously experience "colonial domination." Kim Jin's Name of the Forest, a modern mystery work based on Kajii Motojiro's Under the Cherry Tree, has the colonial period and Korean War looming in the background as well. Both these artists do not simplistically distinguish the 2 nations as one the aggressor and the other the victim but illustrate individuals all having a dark side and weakness yet passionately making the best of their lives.

Even readers of varying historical and cultural backgrounds can be drawn into a work by the power of an artist superb in dramatic presentation and composition and empathize with it, and as a consequence feel emotion, become fascinated, as well as recgonize the message imparted by the artist and share critical issues that the readers of the original country bear.

Foreign comics cloaked in different cultures stimulate a sense of incongruity as well as admiration. By recognizing each other's positions and differences in customs, we can feel universality that all people feel the same. The tangible feeling "across the sea there is a person who feels the same as me" is perhaps the greatest factor that makes reading works from overseas intriguing.

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