Aging Up the Ladder

It’s no secret that manga has an almost endless supply of stories designed to appeal to every corner of the market. That said, quite a few of them don’t make the jump across the pond, as it’s also no secret that the big buying power emanates from the under 20 demographic. OEL creators are constrained by this same limitation, and have accordingly adapted their creative offerings to appeal to a big, young chunk of the market. Which brings us to the big, omnipresent thing that OEL titles simply don’t have at this point, and one of the domains that manga must concede to US creations: the ability to tell a distinctly American story in a manga format and have it be written by an American author.
This isn’t to say it can never be done; what it will take, however, is both time and long term commitment on the part of American readers and a greater willingness to embrace OEL. Watchmen, perhaps one of the biggest American comics titles of all, did not simply materialize from a juvenile market- it stood atop decades of American comics output and readership. In order for the book to sell, there had to be an appropriately aged population, one that could look back over its themes rooted in the post-Vietnam and late Cold War years and nod along accordingly. Two rules, really: they had to be old enough to appreciate the book, and with enough of an interest in comics (or the comic format) to shell out for it.
Flash forward to today’s manga market. The biggest consumers are teens, and they generally go for teen oriented titles. Thematically heavy or violent titles inhabit the seinen fringe, generally relegated to smaller sales numbers. OEL titles crib the same elements- coming of age tales, young romance, vampires, or other teeny bopper fare- and generally rehash the same stories, just with more computerized tone and fewer Japanese names. The cultural catharsis on paper still seems a few decades away- if it ever arrives. Manga, as a medium, is not the obstacle here. Indeed, the Japanese manga market, now inching into a maturity similar to that of the US market, has taken to similar bouts of self reflection- particularly on the rocky topic of Japan and the bomb. (Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, Barefoot Gen, among others.) Perhaps even more directly, works like Me and the Devil Blues has proved that it’s possible to serve up a mighty good slice of Americana in true manga style.
The issue isn’t that it can’t be done, but rather, that our current market won’t allow it to be. Even if a visionary, thoughtful creator emerged and produced a visionary, groundbreaking piece of work, who would publish it? OEL is on shaky legs as it is. Ask a company to take a risk on an adult oriented, culturally serious title? Take a hike, kiddo. For now, it remains to be seen if Japanese seinen and josei titles can merit American shelf space. Only once the market has come to grips with how-and if- they want to tackle older consumers and aging first gen readership can it focus on pushing its OEL output to the next level. Until then, you’ll just have to hit up the American comics section.