Princess Ai Manga~

1. I think this manga is biographical in the sense that both Courtney Love and Princess Ai have to face similar hardships and dilemmas. However, I found the story in the comic to be more representative of how Love hoped her life would have turned out. Love had to face her parents' divorce at a young age and was treated like anything but a princess. In a way, she has been trying to find out who she really is, just like Princess Ai's search in the manga. Princess Ai seems like a strong and self-assertive young girl and that is synonymous with Love's personality. Ai knows what she wants and what she doesn't. She does not let other people walk over her and may respond with violent tactics, as seen in various parts of the two volumes. When she was scouted by Club Cupid, she specifically stated that she wanted to sing but would never strip. Likewise, Love was also in a similar situation; like Ai, she was in desperate need of money and even applied to be a stripped but was denied (source). Later on, she found a job as a stripper (source). Since she cannot go back to change her past, I felt that she made the character Princess Ai as her second chance; she wrote about how she would have done things differently the second time. Furthermore, Princess Ai’s love interest, Kent, has a lot of similarities with Love’s husband, Kurt Cobain. At the end of volume two, Kent and Princess Ai seems to have found each other as potential lovers and ready to fight through anything together. In real life, Kurt Cobain died of a suicide attempt and Courtney Love has had to deal with that tragedy by herself.

2. The main character, Princess Ai, seems to stick out like a sore thumb. She rarely follows orders from other people like the H.T.A. agency. She likes to do things her way and is not afraid to get physical. This is similar to the Little Red character we saw in Hoodwinked. Little Red keeps saying that she’s not a little girl anymore and even knows how to fight. Princess Ai also reminds me of the Grandmother from Hoodwinked. Both of these characters hid their true identity and talents from everyone else. At one point, Princess Ai was like Kumo in that she tried to sacrifice her love for Kent because she wanted to protect him, thinking that it would make him happy. Similarly, Kumo sacrificed her own wishes in order to keep her husband happy.
     Other women such as Mika, Jen, and the suicidal girl seemed to do what was necessary in order to get past the glass ceiling. Mika wanted to get recruited by H.T.A. Agency, Jen wanted to keep her job at Club Cupid, and the suicidal girl wanted fame as a singer. She stated that she listened to all of H.T.A.’s orders but was never able to sell platinum or gold CDs (V2, 108). This is similar to the pretentious ladies we read at the beginning of the semester. When Madelon and Cathos found out that there were rich suitors knocking on their door, they put on a new personality and tried to brown-nose their way into the men’s lives. Hemo also reminded me of Jen because both characters were very supportive of their friend, Kumo and Princess Ai, respectively.

3. Mangas generally have small petite girls wearing clothes that accentuate their figure. These characters are also very fashionable, just like the people in Japan’s culture. Japanese fashion is very particular and have been getting praises from their surrounding countries in Asia and even partially in America. When Princess Ai first landed on Earth, she was wearing torn clothes that caught a lot of attention from the Japanese pedestrians (V1, 16). She is a very fashionable girl and has her own style in clothing. When she was offered a beautiful dress from Shinji, she had to alter it to her own liking (V1, 138-139). As a performer, her costume changed to be more elegant while sporting a lot of accessories (V2, 131). Her costume looks a lot like many Japanese artists’ clothing. Each album has a concept and a matching costume. Lastly, the antagonist of the story, Tess, was dressed in a dark costume with messy hair. This greatly contrasts with the star performer Princess Ai.

lil red

I feel it isn’t odd that the grandmother does not mention wild animals lurking in the woods, but warns against a wine bottle breaking. Little Red is an innocent young girl and safety would be a top priority. As long as little red doesn’t know about the wild animals in the woods she would not fear it. Thus, if she listened to her grandmother and stayed on the path she would never be confronted by the wild animals. Also, if little red was warned against going into the woods, that would defeat the authors purpose in the telling the story and destroy the plot.

The Story of Little Red Ridding Hood contains various forms of sexual and gender symbolism portrayed through the characters and their behaviour in this story .To begin with the story revolves around women and they are depicted as being the weaker sex and always taken advantage of. The wolf in this story portrayed as the male gender is seen to be the wicked animal waiting to prey on the sweet and vulnerable young girl and her aged and sick grandmother. This is an illustration that the story is very gender biased. Yet another indication of gender distinction is also evident from the fact that the hunter comes to the rescue of the Little Red and her grandmother again demonstrating the women as being the weaker sex.

The colour red which is the main colour used in this story symbolises energy, passion, love. The colour red worn by Little Red in the story could also have attracted the attention of the wolf while she was walking through the forest.

Aesop’s fables tries to provide children today with a moral education and does so through allegories. The wolf has always been attributed with the traits of being sly and cunning. These fables therefore use these traits to indicate how the wolf as a bystander either tries to deceive or have an impact on innocent individuals. This can be observed through the story of ‘The Wolf and the Crane’ wherein on one hand it can be seen how it was the crane that volunteered to remove the bone from the wolf’s throat expecting a reward in return; the wolf however taught the crane a lesson through his unarguable justification that when volunteering to do good for others one should not always expect a reward. However on the other hand the sly nature of the wolf comes into play as he had agreed to give anything to the individual who removed the bone lodged in his throat and could be seen going back on his word once the job was done by the crane.

Princess Love

On reading Princess AI and the biography of Courtney love it is obvious that there are similarities in the characters. Courtney love experienced a troubled childhood. According to Entertainment weekly her father gave her LSD when she was just three. Similar to Courtney Love, Princess AI too experienced similar hardships. She never really knew who her biological parents were, and at the beginning of the comic she wakes up tattered in a dump. Kent was the first to help AI and give her shelter. There is a deep relation to Kent and Kurt Cobain who Courtney Love loved and married in reality. In Princess Ai the heart-shaped box is the one thing she can identify with. This same heart-shaped box links Courtney Love to Princess Ai. Heart-shaped box is a song that Nirvana performed and Courtney Love claims it was dedicated to her by Kurt.

The kinds of women we have read about this semester have been extremely vulnerable. They have always needed someone to take care of them or look after them. As we have witnessed in Little Red and The Pretentious Young Ladies. As compared to these women Princess Ai is strong and courageous. She is capable of standing on her own two feet and facing the world with everything it has to offer. Even though most of the women portrayed in Princess Ai seem extremely trashy it seems like no one understands them and why they are the way they are. Unlike The Pretentious Young Ladies who were trying to be something they were not just so that people accepted them.

Princess AI as seen in the comic is extremely fashionable. In page 3 we see women dressed in skimpy dresses much like the fashion in Toyko. The costumes seem to have a rock meets punk kind of look. Princess Ai is often seen cladded in extravagant accessories and laced garters and clothing. These Costumes describe the characters. Manga as we know it is all about pictures, thus it is by these pictures that the viewers interpret the meaning behind the comic. Manga being Japanese represents a large proportion of Japanese fashion. This not only incorporates a culture into the comic but describes the characters too. For example, a character dressed in fishnet stockings and a short skirt with a low v-neck symbolizes someone who wants to be different, a character that refuses to live by the norms and break free.

bleach an unending saga

Artistic literature

As compared to the normal prose we have read and analyzed all of this semester, manga stands out as the most artistic form of literature. Manga is filled with pictures in black and white luring the reader into a trance. The art is not just captivating but its leaves the interpretation and reasoning of the comic up to the reader. It is this subjective form of literature that has captivated so many manga fans.

Script

Manga has stuck to it Japanese roots. Manga like any Japanese script is read from the last page to the first, right to left and top to bottom. For the conventional prose enthusiast this is hard to accustom to, but once mastered it is a thrill to read.

Dialogue

The only form of literature in manga is the dialogue between characters and the occasional sounds of a punch or an agonizing cry. It almost feels like if one had to flip through the pages really quick it would play like a 1920’s Laurel and Hardy clip.

Fan base

Most normal literature is written to tickle the taste buds of just a select few readers. These people enjoy a similar format and plot written by similar authors. On the other hand manga is strewn over almost every age range. Its pictures captivate the young, while its plot reels in the rest.

Characters

Manga deals with a wide array of characters ranging from the supernatural to regular human beings. This gives it a creative edge, allowing readers to dwell into fantasies of ghost and spirits.

On page 12 we witness the first time Ichigo see Shinigami –God of Death- This page presents no dialogue just pictures of each character. But, each character represents a different expression. Shinigami thinks Ichigo cannot see her and she just walks on as if nothing happened. As for Ichigo, we see a quizzical look on his face. The art gives the reader the canvas and the paintbrush. Thus, allowing the reader to create a portrait of his/her fancy. This is unseen in regular novels and story books.

One experiences a vast symbolic relevance to evil and good or heaven and hell. These are by far the two most major attributes of Christianity. The Christian religion often expresses the evils that lurk in hell with bearing on the devil. Also there is a constant symbolism of spirits in manga, Christianity refers to spirits as angels or guardians. Ancient Japanese culture has often mystified people. The samurai swords and the ninjas have been at the epicenter of this fascination towards Japanese mysticism. Manga art utilizes a lot of ninja attributes including swords. It also gives them supernatural powers, as some people believe ninjas actually possessed such power.

The lesson behind manga is hard to uncover. The core reason being that they just introduced vol. 169 and books are still in production. But, from reading and analyzing manga it might be safe to say that manga tries to impress upon the reader that he/she is not alone; whether in life or in death. Also one gets the feeling that safety is a major issue in manga. It seems like there is always someone out there to feed on your life while you try to feed on others as seen on page 53.

Bleach

1. Formal v Informal

Manga is very informal, as opposed to any of the other literature we have read earlier this year. Manga is written in normal everyday language, while most of the formal prose we have read was written in perfect English.

2. Illustrated v Non-illustrated

Perhaps the first thing that stands out about Manga is its illustrative quality. 95% of Manga is pictures and illustrations, whereas the prose we have read has had no illustrations.

3. Visually graphic v mentally instigating

The pictures aid in the telling of the story. The illustrations give the story much more feeling and emotion, and enable the reader to be able to empathize more with the characters. In normal prose, absolutely everything must be imagined.

4. Left-to-right v Right-to-Left

For me, the most interesting challenge in reading Manga was reading right-to-left as opposed to the traditional English-reading left-to-right.

5. Broad audience v Narrow audience

We tend to think pictures are for children, but somehow Manga seems to reach a much broader audience than normal prose. In fact, we classify normal prose as children’s, 9^th grade, college level, etc., but Manga appeals can be read by everyone.

2) My choice for a page with pure illustrations is Page 50

In my opinion, Manga images and images in general tell much more than words do. My reasoning behind this is because words carry connotations that lock us into thinking one narrowly. On the other hand, pictures and illustrations have the ability to carry as many meanings as the reader or viewer desires the drawing to carry. The page that I have chosen has a drawing that in my opinion signifies and represents confidence, arrogance, and ability. For someone else, it is possible that these drawings could mean something totally different. Since Manga allows freedom of interpretation, it can be more readily enjoyed.

3) Bleach referred to Heaven and Hell a couple of times. These two “places” are important concepts of Christianity. Soul society also refers to a similar type of movement from earth or life with other mortals to a life after death or life with immortals. Christianity also includes a fight between two powers the power of God and the power of the Devil. Both of these powers are not human, and their wars cannot be fought in human form. In addition, God gave his spiritual and mental power to Jesus who was seen on earth. Similarly, Japanese religion and beliefs seem to have a lot to do with the differences between right and wrong, although in Japanese culture, much of it isn’t judged.

4) In my opinion, page 18 in Volume 2 of Bleach perfectly explains the main lesson or moral of the story. As humans, we must help each other out as people, not discriminate at all, and not take into account whether someone is family or not.

Princess Ai.

1According my research on Courtney Love I can say how “biographical “ is manga. Courtney Love wrote about herself that she “have always loved the Japanese culture and the people. Princess Ai is a great character because she feels like my alter ego, but in a fantasy setting”. This is the first affinity.
Also, we can compare their names. Ai in translation from Japanese means “ love”. Courtney Love created The Princess Ai manga. The names are similar.
Moreover, “ the blonde guitar player” Kent described from Courtney Love husband, Kurt Cobain.
Another important thing is “connection to the real-life Love is Princess Ai`s heart-shaped box”. Courtney gifted to her husband same type of box with a hit song ”Heart-Shaped Box” by Nirvana.
Courtney and Ai had the mixed heritages. Ai had a human father. Her mother was an angel. That is why “Ai sprouted wings on her back and had had the ability to control people emotions with her singing”.
Moreover, they loved music and being the rock stars experienced all the problems relevant to their profession.

2.They are nice ladies, like Kumo. Courtney Love friend said about her, “Courtney has proven herself as a flamboyant and talented individual, but has been personally hurt by the various attacks on her”. They defend their own opinion and don’t follow anybody. Even they dependent of their husbands they still have their own way of life.

3.Princess Ai was “a beguiling woman with an outrageous fashion sense, a voice like an angel, and a mind all her own”. We can talk about the characters in manga only by looking on the pictures in a book and by reading short sentences. That is why costume and body shape play an important role in manga. Page 33(vol.2). Beautiful body and unusual a Victorian style cloth make Princess Ai look gorgeous. “ You are going to be hottest diva to debut ever,” said to her a young girl. Big eyes, long hair, accurate body shape and a fashionable cloth make Princess Ai look very attractive and sexy. Page 84(vol.2). I see Princess Ai, her beautiful eyes and tall, slim figure. Her long black dress with long sleeves and deep opened breast help Ai to express herself. Page 43(vol.2). This picture shows Ai`s nice body shapes: naked sexy hands and small waist. The long wave skirt makes her look attractive to men and women. She likes to be different and create her unusual cloth style. It helps us better understand her strong character.

Bleach.

1.Manga means “whimsical picture”. According to the Wikipedia, Manga in the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons. The first issue was published in the late 18th century. The modern form Manga was issued after World War II and became very popular. Different topics represented in Manga: mystery, horror, sexuality, romance, and business.
Manga differs from the traditional literature:
1. According to content we can see more picture and less words. It is very popular for people of all ages.
2. We can read it from the right to the left.
3. The characters in Manga we can see. The characters clothe, hairstyle, emotions, and skills, almost everything.
4. Sometimes the characters express their emotions by saying just one word, sometimes even with unusual sound like “WAP”,”WHAM’, “GWOOO”.

2.When I read, “Bleach”, I understood the importance of the words and images varies from page to page. The images give us a real notion of actions and emotions that exist in the “Bleach”. Every page consists a lot of images that help us understand the story better. I think the page 44(Bleach1) consists the almost entirely of images. We can see Hollow who knows that Ichigo not just fighting against him, he is also fighting against other Soul Reapers.

3. The concept of Christianity presents in “Bleach”. ”Ichigo is about to discover that not every soul is bound for the Soul Society”. Concern about the soul is the concept of Christianity.
Chad was talking with parakeet “ imbued with the soul of a young boy named Yuichi”. There is the concept that subsists in Buddhism.

4. I think the main lesson of the story “Bleach” is that every soul has to be clean. Ichigo mission was to “protect the innocent from Hollow and help the spirits themselves find peace”. (Page24. Bleach1)

Princess Ai

1. The Princess Ai manga and Courtney Love's life are very connected. First of all, "Ai" in Japanese means "love". So Courtny made herself as a main heroine. Kent, who was helping Ai in a new for her world, is Kurt Cobain - Courtney's husband. There is one more connection - heart-shaped box of Ai. Courtney gave a box like that to her husband Kurt. There is even a song about this present - "Heart-shaped box". Both of these women are singers with not an easy career. The society doesn't always accept them the way they want. Both Ai and Courtny are so different from the world.
2.All the women we read about during the semester seem to be so different but at the same time I can find some similarities. Both Princess Ai and Red Cap are young girls who have their goals in life: Red Cap wants to save granny's recipes and Princees Ai needs to remember her past. The authors talk a lot about their appearance: Red Cap has this cute cap (grandmother's gift) she always wear and Princess Ai wear different outfits, models her own style. cutting the holes in them. Most of the women we read about have strong personalities: Princess Ai fights for her place in this strange for her world in Tokyo, Red Cap fights with bandits, even Kumo from Tagore's vision has to fight with her fate and herself.
3.Costumes and body shape are very important in Manga. I have never met a fat character in manga. Most of the heroes have fancy, useful to us cloths because these are modern books. Princess even has extensions done in her hair (p.144) what is very popular today. A lot of the girls all over the world dresses like Ai. Through costumes we can find out about the character more. Princess Ai's fashion choices represent her independence.When she stayed over night at Kent's place, he let her take some cloths and she made some changes in it: "Just a little fashion redesign" (p.69)

Gotta "Love" the Princess!

1. After doing some research on Courtney Love, it seems that there are many similarities between her and Princess Ai’s character.  There are first the general similarities and there are more specific ones.

a. General Similarities:

Both ladies were rock stars.  They both were controversial figures – problems with the media.  They both had an uncanny sense of style.  They were both very misunderstood.

b. Specific Similarities:

They were both “mixed breeds,” the Princess was half alien/half human and Courtney was half Irish/half Italian.  Both girls were practically on their own from a young age.  Both had affairs with their employers in the early stages of their careers.  Both assaulted reporters, both were from broken homes, and the both worked at stripclubs.

2.            Although the earth women spoke up at times, in this text, they seemed to be generally, more subservient. This follows closely, the traditional Japanese culture, where women are taught to be reserved and the husband was the head of the home.  The men were the decision makers.  Most of the women were strippers, massage therapists or singers, and when they were not “love-struck,” they were fighting with each other. 

            These women were similar to Kumo, in “Vision” by Rabindranath Tagore.  This is not a great surprise as many eastern countries share similar beliefs (regarding women).  Other women, such as Maya Angelou, Rosario Castellanos and Gwendolyn Brooks, were against this type of treatment for women.  These women are all very powerful writers and advocates for women’s rights.

3.            Costume and body shape is very important in Manga; they give personality to the characters, making some more appealing than others to the readers.  Most of the men and women are slim-built and with “perfect” bodies, and when this is not the case, it is done intentionally to show some type of contrast.  On page 63 of Princess Ai (Vol. 1) both Hayabusa and Takeshi are getting massages.  Takeshi, the young, handsome and intelligent employee, who is believed to have his boss “like a puppet,” has two sexy girls in swimsuits fanning and massaging him.  Hayabusa, his boss, who does not see through the facade, is being massaged by a tough looking, overweight woman in a robe.

Princess Ai

1. Princess Ai is a fiction comic book about the adventure of a female rock star. The story is written by Courtney Love and Ai Yazawa which the plot in this comic encounter some of biographical element in Courtney Love’s life. First similarities of Love’s and Ai’s are the mixed heritages. Princess Ai is half-human and half-angel. Her human father is a king in Ai-land and her mother is a female angel. Furthermore, Courtney Love also have mixed heritage, she was born to a Jewish and Irish descent. Second similarities are the guy that they fall in love to. As most people know, Courtney Love was married to a rock musician from Nirvana, Kurt Cobain in the early 90s. They have one daughter from their relationship. Similarly, Princess Ai fall in love with a fellow rocker named Kent. Both of these men, Kurt and Kent, were similar in appearance despite their similar starting letter of the name. Moreover, both of these women face the ups and downs of being a rock star. They experienced the struggles in the music business. Many people love and hate both of these women. In Princess Ai story, Hikaru is one of the characters that have a strong jealousy over the princess. In reality, Love’s controversial behavior and music were not accepted in many societies.


2. Courtney Love and Princess Ai have strong resemblance to one another, which leads to the similarities of the women portrayed in other reading throughout the semester. These women are very unique and have their own mind and way of thinking. Similar to the girls in the story “Moliere Pretentious Ladies”, they all have their own way to express their ideas and how to behave. Sometimes, people don’t understand them and think that they are crazy due to their distinctive way of thinking.

3.Colorful costumes have a significant role in Princess Ai comic book. The costumes here are very punk-rock looking, flashy, ripped stocking, and most noticeable: many laces in the outfits as well as plaids. The costumes integrate with cultural background, hence, it’s not surprising looking at these costumes in the comic book because in reality, Japanese culture also represent these costumes.

• Page 6: Princess Ai wondering around the streets with lot of people turning their heads watching her passes by. One of the bystanders even said, “Whoa! Check her out.” She wears ripped outfit which reveals half of her bosoms hanging. In Japan, most people are freely to express their sense of fashion.
• Page 70: I was very fascinated looking at the costumes of Princess Ai’s parents. Her mother wears a long puffy draped dress like a Victorian style. Also, her dad wears long half furry robe with mask that has pointy end. In Japan, people wear these kinds of clothes as everyday wear. The street of Harajuku is very popular for the funky and fresh styles of people.
• Page 138-139: Princess Ai likes to be different. Hence, when her friend Shinji lends her a dress, right away she cut the dress for her to be more comfortable wearing it. Princess Ai said, “I’m just particular about my fashion”. Most fashionable people in Japan like to make/ design their own clothing. They like to mix and match their own design with something that they bought from the store.
• Page 110: Princess Ai bares it all only wearing a black panty while getting complement by her friend, Jen, about her voice. Her figure is tall, thin, and slim. The body shape drawing is following the proportions of the real human body.

Source: http://www.style-arena.jp/harajuku/2008/05/e_w2.htm

For "Bleach" Sake

I.          Manga, a type of graphic novel that originated in Japan is quite different from the traditional literature we’ve read this semester.  These are a few reasons why: 1.) this is the only graphic novel we have read (it is very similar to a comic book).  It is generally printed in black and white and comes in a standard size.  2.) Manga is read the same way Japanese is read, it is read from back to front, right to left and top to bottom.  3.) Manga is all about art, drawings and pictures.  The stories are told through the artist’s eyes.  Words are mostly used for dialogue.  I get the impression that they are the closest things to “printed movies.”  They all have around the same number of pages (movies are all generally around the same length of time), they come in same range of subjects movie come in, action, drama, comedy etc.   And there is even an age rating on the back much like the type we see on DVD’s - teen, mature audience etc.  4.) The artist that put together the novel uses size for emphasis.  For example, when a character shouts or there is a loud noise the words are bigger.  5.) Manga incorporates the Japanese culture in its novels.  The stories all border on the line of fantasy.

 

II.        The words are important as they serve to express the character’s spoken thoughts.  Their actions, however, are depicted through the images.  On pages 61-53, there is a scene that takes place after Ichigo decided he has to allow Rukia to infuse him with her power as a “Soul Reaper” in order to defend his family and defeat a “Hollow.”  Using approximately twenty-one images the artist was able to slow down time to allow the reader to see the details of Ichigo becoming infused and then engaging in battle with the “Hollow” cutting off his (the Hollow) arm.  This also saves an author from writing out in great detail something that happened at an amazing speed (and is important to the story).  I also got a true sense of what happened without having to use my imagination.

 

III.       A.) In Christianity it is believed that, among other things, people are all sinners, but can be forgiven by God, offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.  After they pass on, the good go to heaven.  This is a plane of existence typically described as the holiest possible place (Wikipedia).  According to Christian beliefs God and his angels live in heaven.

            In Bleach, the Soul Society seems to be the equivalent of heaven and the Soul Reapers are similar to the angels in heaven.

            B.) Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions (Wikipedia).  According to these beliefs, beings can exist on different planes, for example the realm of Demigod, the realm of God and the realm of man (human).  In Bleach the souls also have different realms in which they could exist for example, the human world, the Soul society and Hueco Mundo.

 

IV.       It seems to me that the main lesson in this Manga was learned by Ichigo, and that lesson was to learn to accept responsibility.  In the first volume Ichigo was not too keen on helping anyone but his family, but later on he accepted the responsibility, fighting Hollow after Hollow to protect the helpless.  Between pp 74-83 Ichigo first really grasps the notion that saving souls is not done on a “if I am around” basis, but instead, it is the duty of the Soul Reaper.  By page 83 he has accepted this duty.

Manga (Bleach)

In Japan, anime and cartoons are very popular and read among people with different ages. According to Wikipedia.com, “Manga” is the Japanese word for comic and print cartoons. There are many topics and issues happening in manga such as, romance, comedy, horror, and more. With that reason, manga readers are not limited by their ages because they may read various subject matters. Furthermore, Japanese government supports the production and publication of manga, hence, influencing other countries like US and France to produce their own creation of manga. Altough the US already known for its literature, however the US versions of manga are very popular as well. Moreover, manga and US traditional literature are very different in many ways.

1. The readers: The readers for traditional literatures are very narrow compare to people who read manga. From kindergarten children to the elders, they enjoy reading manga because of the broad range of topics.
2. The structure: Lots of pictures make the readers easily comprehend about a story. That’s why reading manga is much more enjoyable rather than reading literature with multitude usage of words.
3. The way of reading: Reading manga can be very tricky for people who don’t know how to read it. Traditionally, reading manga is from top to bottom and from right side to left side. On the other hand, English literatures are written from left to right like universe customary reading.
4. The topics: Manga covers topics and issues nearly almost about everything. The stories include love theme, action theme, political theme, and more whereas literature focuses on more serious style of writing.
5. The point: Readers may agree to the fact that reading manga is more enjoyable than reading literature. Literature reading often requires critical thinking in order to get the point of the stories. In contrast, Manga is easy to read and understand because of its pictures and the less usage of words because the pictures itself already center the stories.

One of examples of manga is the comic “Bleach”. The story is about the adventure of a high-school boy who has the ability to see and interact with ghost. With his power, Ichigo (the high school boy) tried to save the people around him. Readers can easily follow the story because of the excessive use of pictures. Readers may feel different vibe each time they turn the page and each time the story developed. The advantage of images form is that the reader should not think or try to picture the setting on their head because it simply drawn already. Conversely, words create extra work for imagining setting and condition purpose. In page 32 until 34 of Bleach (Death and Strawberry), the pictures deeply emphasize the fighting between the hallow and the shinigami. There are mainly pictures in the page and the reader may feel the intense action-fighting through the pictures.

“Bleach” relates in religious and mythical concepts of Christianity and Japanese mysticism. In “Bleach”, Rukia (Female Death God) transferred some of her power to Ichigo with the intention to help her defeat the evil spirits. Instead, Ichigo soul’s took nearly all of her power and combine the power with his own. That is why it is easy for him to destroy the hollow and make him a “Death-God” like Rukia. Similarly to Christian believes, Jesus was once also a human then he becomes God who is eternal. Both “Bleach” and Christian believes share the knowledge of transformation from human to fully divine God. Furthermore, “Bleach” also relates with Japanese mysticism concept which principally derives from Shinto and Buddhism religion. The story stretches the notion of good and evil spirits. Ichigo fights the evil spirits (Hallow) and become a shinigami (good character) which helping soul spirit from hallow attack is the main job. Similarly to the manga, Japanese religion also practices the good deeds and very spiritual. It focuses on how humans are fundamentally good and the bad deeds caused by evil spirit.

In my opinion, one of “Bleach” main lesson is about the good deeds of helping others who need helps. In the second chapter, Ichigo were tested for his “helping others” ability by Rukia. Previously, he stated that he doesn’t want “to help strangers” but later he was helping a kid-spirit who was get attacked by the hallow with his own sword (page 12-20). In addition, as the story developed, Ichigo fought numerous hallows to protect others. However, the story also tells us about the viciousness that the world faced. Ichigo encounter the other fact of his duties of not only fighting hallows but also fighting other shinigamis in soul-society, who try to test his skill and ability of his new profession. With this, it says that human also face betrayal and disloyalty by the one who they think is their good friends or good spirits.

Prince A1

1.First, Ai means “Love” in Japanese, this name is a reference to both Courtney Love and Ai Yazawa. The Princess Ai in Manga is a loose adaptation of Courtney Love's life story, with Ai as Love's fantasy alter ego. It is also generally believed that Kent, the sensitive, blonde guitar player who becomes Ai's love interest, is based on Courtney Love's late husband, Kurt Cobain. Another connection to the real-life Love is Princess Ai's heart-shaped box, which figures prominently in the story. "Heart-Shaped Box" was a hit song by Nirvana, and was inspired by a heart-shaped box Courtney Love gave Cobain as a present.
Courtney Love is a rock music star, and Princess Ai makes her living as a rock star at Clue Cupid; many of Courtney Love’s friends are musicians, so as Princess Ai…
The history of Ai is resemblance to Love's life
2.Compare with the little red cap we have read this semester: Princess Ai is a doll-face and lovely appearance, I think the appearance of little red cap might not as beautiful as Princess Ai, and also the dressing of little red cap is not as fashion as Princess Ai. In a word, from the appearance and the dressing, may be in the modern view, we like Princess Ai much more than little red cap.
Second, compare the personalities of these two characters: princess Ai a voice like an angel but with petulant--mix of trash, flash, and punk; in my point of view, little red cap is naïve and cute and goodness and innocent. They are quite different.
And also Princess Ai suffers a lot, for example, she is amnesiac. Because of the battle of Ai-land, she is escape from her own land to a newly and strange place—Tokyo, she suffers from many troubles and has to find her real identity… and little red cap do not have such kind of complex sufferings…
Princess Ai is homeless on earth and little red cap has her family and people around her love her so much…
And also there are many women in the Manga of Princess Ai I did not mention. Each of them has the individual characteristics…
Here, I want to say the women was portrayed more complexity, modern, and more relate to the modern live than we have encountered this semester.
3.I agree that costume and body shape plays an important role in Manga. As I know, many people may firstly attracted by the costume and body plays when they meet a new Manga, then they would like to read this Manga. That is to say, a new Mange with good, fashion and personality costume and good body shape will be easily recognized.
The costume and body shape in each time are different. From the costume and body shape of Princess Ai, we could easily know it is happened in modern society, and the characters with the invariable but fashionable and free from vulgarity costume--boys are long haired, and looks so cool, and girls with sexy and fashion clothes, they have big eyes, looks so beautiful and they are so individuality…
And also with a good body shape that attractive by both man and women. We could know the place of this Manga happened for its obvious impression of the buildings…We could see when Princess Ai is mysteriously transported to Tokyo, Japan. The buildings, signboard of the shop are almost with Japanese character, it is undoubted that it must happen in Japan.
What I mean here is we could know when this Manga created and know the culture of this age just from the Mange itself just by the costume and body shapes and also the environment of this Manga.

Princess AI

1.

Well after reading both the Book and the Biography there are some similarities but its no exact copy. At the beginning of the book you see the main character wake up in the Garbage place, in my opinion, that’s how Courtney Love described her early childhood (Love's biological family broke apart rapidly while she was still very young). Then in the Manga we find out that the character has huge talent at singing and she peruses it by joining a night club at which she sings. Love is a singer too, so there is another biographical connection. Character is strong as well, with all the man out there trying to get her she strongly fights back and does not follow their rules and creates her own. Love is strong as well because surviving through her childhood and coming up as a singer, is an achievement only strong can do. There are other things that are similar so it’s partly biographical in my opinion.


2.

IN the book most of the women portrayed in the worst way possible. It can be easily understood as the events take place in the big City of Tokyo. Women seen as stripers, whores, hookers and this are main environmental adversary our main character has to face. But our main character even though looks weak and vulnerable in first couple of pages of the book, later on we can see that she is completely opposite and that she is a strong character indeed. IN other reading we did women are seen as strong beings that stand for themselves still retaining their feminine fashion.


3.

I think all Mangas are tied very much to Japanese culture. We can see that the costumes that characters as well as main and secondary always have specific style, that is either directed only to them or has similarities between each other. We can see that young characters or characters with specific professions will always have tight, wildly open and cleavage clothing or high mini skirts or exotic clothing for women and formal or bulky look for men (Pages 2,3,6). And in my opinion, such outfits are really popular in Japanese metropolises such as Tokyo because many young women wear clothing close to what we see in the comics or in cartoons created in Japan. As well as Clothing body of the character can say many things in Mangas body can say all the things. It can describe what the person is like or give us an idea what other characters in the book may think of the character with a good body, but in my opinion its for the reader because a reader rather look at a pretty girl then a 65 year old man as a main character. When you combine both the body and the costume you can figure out the side that the character is. At most of the time if the character is in bright or shredded in a certain way clothing he/she might be on a good side but if we see a character with dark evil looking clothing with spikes and demon wings on them you can easily see it will be a evil person.

Bleach

There are lots of pictures, manga are comics, they are read from back to front, and some of the series can go on for a very long time.
Shinigami are known for bringing peoples souls to the after life and to the place where they would be judged and determined whether or not they will go to heaven. The soul reapers in Bleach are a direct reference to this belief in Japanese mysticism.
When Ichigo looks into the kitchen and sees the kitchen trashed and finds his father injured. Then he rushes into the kitchen which is signified by the speed lines and then there is a look of realization which is when he sees the hollow that created all of the damage.
Evil is in everyone because before Ichigo realized that the hollows were true nature, he would just go ahead and kill them but when he found out the truth and that they were actually human, he really doesn't want to do it anymore

Manga

1. Manga is the Japanese word for printed comics and cartoons. When literally translated, manga means "whimsical pictures". (Wikipedia) While being compared to the traditional literature, manga differs in a number of ways.
     I. The format of manga is quite unique. It is normally printed like a black and white picture book, with pictures as its foundation, and texts serving to enhance the understanding of events. Manga is intented to be read from top to bottom, and right to left, as opposed to from reading from left to right, in traditional literature that we are used to reading. The style of displaying from right to left is not uncommon in traditional Asian cultures. Examples of such are the Chinese scripts that were originally recorded on wooden scrolls. They were all recorded from top to bottom, right to left.
     II. Like the name suggests, every Manga is built upon whimsical pictures. Manga artists express their ideas through a combination things, such as drawings and words. Whereas the traditional literature is based on words, with minimal pictures to help support the text. In manga, words are used to supplement the pictures, whereas in traditional literature, pictures supplement words. The shift of emphasis between the two made them inherently different.
     III. Because manga adopts the use of both pictures and words, its targeted audience also broadens. In America, it seems appropriate to read materials that suit the readers. A young child seems most suitable reading a picture book. Whereas an adult seems more suitable reading a book packed with words. In Japan, however, there seems to be less age boundaries limiting the reading of manga. It is not uncommon to spot middle aged adults reading manga who may happen to enjoy the storyline of such picture books.
     IV. The underlying theme behind the stories in manga are noticeably different from the literatures that we've covered this term. First and foremost, manga was originated in Japan. The types of theme depicted in manga have been popuarly resolving around the action adeventure of a super hero or heroine, science fiction, or that of supernatural settings. Because the nature of drawing is so flexible and that pictures can be grossly exaggerated, topics that seem are represented in manga may appear more abstract or unreal as compared to the traditional literature. As I read through the volumes of BLEACH, I found it effective for artists to overly dramatize characters' movements, facial expressions, and body parts to convey the message of the particular scene - abnormally huge yet beautiful eyes to represent innocence; giant sweat drops to convey frustration and humor, etc.
     V. A picture is worth a thousand words. By allowing the readers to see the pictures by themselves, it is as if they are perceiving the events happening live. The messages that manga artists intended are now open to intepretation of the perceivers. In traditional literature, words such as adjectives are used in the bias of the authors. "The hollow is unbelievably huge." What is huge to the author may not be huge to me. But in a book where pictures speak for themselves, the ratio and proportion of the monster compared to the average person becomes self-explanatory.

2. In BLEACH, words are used to supplement the drawings. As I went through the volumes, I found myself glancing over the pictures first before reading the words. So my reaction to the picture already gives me a good feeling about what's going on. Then, the words step in to clarify the pictures.
     I compared pages where a lot of words are spoken and pages where minimal text was used. The pages with more texts are normally used because they needed to be; in other words, the texts are inserted to clarify the conversations or to add humor into the sequences of events. In pages with little to no texts at all, the pictures are the best way to tell the story. For example, on page 102 of Volume 1, Ichigo and Rukia encountered a Hollow and are trying to defeat it. In a situation like this where every second counts, the artists prefer to use pictures to illustrate the situation. Every picture represents only a faction of a second in the story. Adding dialogues wouldn't fit in this scenario.
     In essence, images not only open up the story to the interpretation of the readers, they can also better capture the urgent circumstances of the situation. If someone were to read the description of the battle between Ichigo and a hollow, the reader would fail to capture the element of fear, urgency and surprise that the artists originally intended. By using images, readers quickly observe through the actions and also experience the first hand adrenaline rush that the main character probably experienced in the story.

3. In the BLEACH universe, there seems to exist a system which embodies the combination of Christianity and Japanese beliefs. Shintoism and Zen Buddhism are the two major religions in Japan. In Shintoism, everything is said to have a "kami" or a soul/spirit. Likewise, in BLEACH, the commoners all have a physical body, and a spirit/soul. However, the soul, as it leaves the body, will no longer be seen by human forms. Hence the story of the special high school boy Ichigo, who can detect souls/spirits with his naked eyes.
     Shinigami, the "Soul Society" of the BLEACH universe, is like the equivalent of Heaven, whereas the Hollows are portrayed as the counterparts of Satanic creatures in Christianity. The system in the manga book seems to go well with the traditional Christian system that many Americans believe in.
     In addition, it is general believed in both Christianity and Buddhism, that by committing acts of charity and other philanthropic deeds, the individuals will eventually be sent to a higher eternal spiritual haven after death.
     In chapter one of the manga, as Rukia suggests to transfer her Shinigami power to Ichigo, she must pierce through Ichigo's chest with her Zanpakutou, or a soul cutter. (pg 43, V.1) The way it is executed reminds me of Japanese's samurais and their way of suiciding in face of captivation. Maybe the reason they kill themselves is because they believe by thrusting a sword into their body, they are unleashing themselves a sense of spiritual force.

4. Like the answer to question 3 implies, the lessons of BLEACH will most likely coincide with the teachings of the religions that the manga bases on. The main lesson advocates us be good to others, and that good actions will be followed by rewards.
     To be more specific, the issue of equality is mentioned as Rukia tells Ichigo to treat all spirits equally, and that if he were going to help people, he shouldn't only help the ones that are around him. (pg 78, V.1) The lesson seems to suggest that people should treat others the same regardless personal reasons.
     The importance of family love comes to light when Acidwire, or the dead brother of Inoue's realizes that his remorse is not caused by Inoue, and sacrficies his desire by cutting his own head with a zanpakutou. (pg 159, V.1) The lesson here seems to suggest that love, particularly family love, is ultimately stronger of a force than evil.
     And later, Rukia explains to Ichigo that the cutting of his head with a zanpakutou is not really killing him, all it does is wash away his sins so he can be sent to Shinigami. (pg 160, V.1) The quality of forgiveness is emphasized here.

Bleach,vol.1,2

1.Manga are Japanese comic books. Though manga became very popular in the 20th century, it is the first time for me to read something like this. I had a lot of fun reading these "humorous pictures". Manga is usually written in traditional style of Japan - from the right to the left. Firs few pages it was a little confusing for me, because I had to read not only pages from right to left, but also the text. But then it became easier. Normally manga in a small format which is very convinient. This kind of book you can read everywhere. I did it in the train. Manga is an artwork. Every single page contains drawings. What I find very interesting that manga characters almost always have big eyes, small mouth, and abnormal hair color (Ichigo Kurosaki had orange hair). Manga is written in dialogue style what makes it lively. By heroes sayings we are able to see their character, thoughts, tastes. Manga has a lot of vulgar words, slang, what makes it closer to simple people who are not used to classical literature.

2.It is not a surprise to anybody that pictures say more than words. Pictures are used in the stores, traffic signs. It is just easier to get the meaning as we did in the childhood. This great idea is used in manga too. Sometimes I did not really have to read the whole page. The expression on characters' faces could say everything. I liked the idea of using pictures and words on pages 24-25 of Bleach, vol.1, when Soul Reaper explained to Ichigo two types of souls - "wholes", the normal spirits, and "hollows", "evil spirits". Good spirits are represented by the drawing bunny with hearts around it and bad spirit - with angry-looking bear. As we know that bunnies are nice sweet animals it is clear who the wholes are. People are afraid of bears, because they can attack and they are very hard to fight with. That is why hollows are so dangerous here. Also Ichigo's shirt shows an interesting thought on page 94 (Bleach, vol.1) - "speaking is not communication!".
3.Bleach is full of Christian ideas. First of all, this manga is about spirits and lost souls. People who did something wrong in their lives get to Hell or they can not find their place for a long time. Christians pray and we can see little Orihime prays for her dead brother Sora every day (p. 139, Bleach, vol.1). It is considered that prayers would "ease sufferings" what little girl was trying to do. There are also mystical elements here: Ichigo gets the power from the Soul Reaper and becomes able to fight hollows. We can find some Japanese fightings too: characters have swords. Ichigo (p. 90) was trying to fight according to some rules: "Hitting them from behind is unfair!"

4. The main lesson of Bleach is to be "good" while you live in order not to get lost in the Universe. But not everything goes the way people want in their lives. People make mistakes. And if it happened they have to realise it and feel sorry about it as Sora did. "Good" always wins "evil" !

Bleach

1. The main differences between Manga and traditional literature are that Manga uses few words in short sentences which are usually the characters speaking. Manga uses images to tell the story sometimes without any text. Manga is read in the opposite direction to reflect the original reading direction. Manga uses simple uncomplicated and many times slang language. Finally Manga is read by all ages and it continues to new stories.

2. A picture is worth a 1000 words and Manga proves it over and over. Pages 52-54 in Bleach one show a bloody fight between a “hollow” spirit and Ichigo Kurosaki. Over these three pages the only use of words is in the background to describe the sounds of the fight. The feelings a “reader” goes through from looking at this images is amazing because it feels as though one is watching a film but the imagination fills in the gaps between the images and the sounds so each viewer gets to see the story in his point of view.

3. The obvious connection to Christianity is the use of spirits of the dead, when a person dies he passes to the next world. These spirits are devided between good and evil representing heaven and hell. Another similarity is the soul reaper which is a sort of guardian angel sent from the next world to guide and protect those still living in the current world. The use of swords and samurais and giving them magical powers is an incorporation of Japanese culture and tradition.

4. I think there are several lessons in Bleach such as being a good person and forgiving others and yourself but the main lesson is that it is never too late to try to change and make up for the wrongs you did as is happening in the scene in pages 152-163 of bleach one, where Sora the hollow spirit realizes the wrongs he has done to his sister and wants to “pass on”.

Bleach

1. The main differences between Manga and traditional literature are that Manga uses few words in short sentences which are usually the characters speaking. Manga uses images to tell the story sometimes without any text. Manga is read in the opposite direction to reflect the original reading direction. Manga uses simple uncomplicated and many times slang language. Finally Manga is read by all ages and it continues to new stories.

2. A picture is worth a 1000 words and Manga proves it over and over. Pages 52-54 in Bleach one show a bloody fight between a “hollow” spirit and Ichigo Kurosaki. Over these three pages the only use of words is in the background to describe the sounds of the fight. The feelings a “reader” goes through from looking at this images is amazing because it feels as though one is watching a film but the imagination fills in the gaps between the images and the sounds so each viewer gets to see the story in his point of view.

3. The obvious connection to Christianity is the use of spirits of the dead, when a person dies he passes to the next world. These spirits are devided between good and evil representing heaven and hell. Another similarity is the soul reaper which is a sort of guardian angel sent from the next world to guide and protect those still living in the current world. The use of swords and samurais and giving them magical powers is an incorporation of Japanese culture and tradition.

4. I think there are several lessons in Bleach such as being a good person and forgiving others and yourself but the main lesson is that it is never too late to try to change and make up for the wrongs you did as is happening in the scene in pages 152-163 of bleach one, where Sora the hollow spirit realizes the wrongs he has done to his sister and wants to “pass on”.

Bleach !!

Mangas are known as Japanese comic books. There are many difference factors between mangas and traditional literatures. First of all, the difference between Manga and traditional literature is that the manga is graphic novel. So, even if people doesn't read the words, they can uderstand the manga with seeing graphics. And the manga is written form right to left while most tranditional literature is written from left to right. The charachters of traditional literature are most of people, but the characters of manga are very various such as animal, ghost, and other materials and so on.
The image is represented to the characters of manga such as emotions and behavior., In the bleach, Page 12-18, when Ichigo and Rukia are meeting at first time, the image shows that the express of their thinking about appearance. so, the images in manga is expressed the characters of manga.
Japanese mysticism believes that the life of death is exist from the Bleach. Therefore, they are believed in simigami, existence of the hollow which is like ghost, and soul society like haven. On the other hand, the Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus, so, they are only believed in god. Same as the Japanese mysticism, they think that the existance of heaven, angel, and evil.

Bleach Manga

1. There are a lot of differences between Manga and traditional literature. Some are very noticeable while others require more insight. These differences include:

-Format: One major difference between Manga and the traditional literature we have read is that Manga is generally read from right to left. Many ancient documents from Asia, such as China or Japan, are also written in this way. Manga has adapted this style into their creation and hence, it makes sense for it to be read in the same way.
-Audience: Manga ranges in many different genres and thus are widely read by people of all ages. Traditional books, however, tend to be read by the older generation. It uses more difficult words that would not be ideal for the younger audience.
-Style: Mangas are graphic novels while the traditional literature is made up of all words and rarely any pictures. Literature leaves more room for imagination and allows the reader to their own interpretation. Because Manga has a lot of pictures, it shows you exactly what happens as opposed to just interpretative descriptions. For example, it will show you exactly how a sword was swung, while the traditional version just describes the situation.
-Theme: Manga stories are generally Asian-themed (more specifically, Japanese-themed), while the traditional literature we have read are more westernized. It incorporates a lot of the Japanese culture and their way of life. Manga stories also tend to be more controversial in Western’s eyes. There are a lot of mature content and they rarely use censorship.
-Content: Manga is more dialogue than narrative. I think that this puts more of an emphasis on the words each person says. In traditional literature, the focus is on the setting. For example, it tends to describe the surrounding objects and situation in detail before introducing the characters or their words. This allows readers to absorb the conversation with better understanding. However, the descriptive narrative might distract a reader from the actual dialogue. In contrast, Manga uses excessive dialogue, which diminishes the problem of descriptive narratives.

2. The dialogue is used to explain the meaning of various pictures, such as the structure of society and the interaction of life between friends and family. However, during more intense fighting scenes, the dialogue is cut down dramatically in order to keep the focus on the fight itself. There will usually be a few lines of verbal threats for the reader to anticipate the fight while amplifying the battle. There could also be sound effects like “WAAH!!?” (100).
     This goes along the line of avoiding the empty threats people usually make by having all talk and no action. On page 102 of volume one, there are only two sentences: “Go for the head” and “I know.” The rest of the page is completely filled with images. Because of this, I was able to see that the hollow is very large in size, especially when compared to Ichigo. The small room further emphasizes the hollow’s large figure. With words, you can only give a general description and the rest is up to the reader’s imagination.

3. The literal translation of a Shinigami is a God of death. Their jobs are to destroy the evil hollows and guide good souls to Soul Society, the Shinigami world. Hollows were formerly human souls that have been corrupted by remorse. This can be compared to demons or the devil in Christianity. The Shinigami world is another plane of existence similar to Christianity’s heaven.
     A concept from Japanese mysticism that could be related to Bleach is the idea of reincarnation. The Japanese believe in reincarnation, which is when a soul is reborn into a new body with no previous memory of their past lives. However, I do not believe that the situation in Bleach can be considered reincarnation because they are not physically alive. Ichigo, a Shinigami, has to have his soul forced out of his real physical body in order to fight the hollows or have any effect on soul world.

4. I think one of his main lessons is that evil creatures can also be seen as victims. He finds out that the hollows kill their family in order to fill the void spot inside of them (V1; 116-117). He also learns to protect his friends and loved ones. When he found out that the Inoue was the target, he rushes to her side and says “If you want to kill Inoue… you better kill me first” (V1; 125). He also states that it is his job to protect her from her hollow brother. He cannot escape from his responsibilities.

Bleach

Manga is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons. Its modern form started after World War II but it has a long history that started in early Japanese art. Manga is read by all aged and its content is very broad and includes: sports, history, sexuality, comedy and more. It’s also written from right to left unlike literature. The content of Manga is mostly pictures and it very easy to understand the words unlike literature, where words can be complicated and ambivalent. In addition, there are very few words in Manga. Moreover, Magna is structured as comics, there aren’t many full sentences. Lastly, the characters in Manga are very unique; every character is very special in its fashion, behavior and skills (there aren’t boring characters). Furthermore, the characters are immortal, everything is allowed in Manga; the concepts of time and space don’t exist as is literature.
Images have the ability to express the character’s emotions. Looking at pictures helps the reader understand the story (scene) much better than in a literature piece. Therefore, the message of the story is understood much better by the reader. Images as well have the ability to express a message which understood more precisely by the readers. The writer/painter has the ability to present his art in two mediums rather than one medium.
The concept of Christianity is very strong in Bleach. “Hallows” that exist in Bleach are spirits that fed by others spirit. Also Christianity gives a lot of importance and recognizes spirits as part of the world. Also concepts from Buddhism exists, there is the concept of reincarnation that the soul roll from life cycle to the next.
I think that the main lesson of Bleach is pretty much like the Bleach we use to clean cloths and our house. The Bleach’s lesson is about cleaning the soul in the world and help the lost souls to find there home.

manga

1.Manga is Japanese word for comics; it is different from American-style comics. It is a mixture of UKIYO-E(the picture of the floating world) and the western styles of drawing, but its main features, such as simple lines and
stylized features, are distinctly Japanese. Anyway, I think the roots of Manga are in Japan, it is the center of Manga till now.
Manga has its own characteristics; it is different from the traditional literature.
First, the readers of Manga include all the ages of people, from the kid to the aged person; and the traditional literature can be considered as the works for adult, and reflect some meaning or reality of the society.
Second, the works of Manga include all kinds of aspect; exactly there are many genres of Manga, including sports Manga, romance Manga, literary Manga, historical and joke Manga etc. the traditional literature did not relate to so abroad aspects.
Third, the words or the sentences in Manga are easy to understand, the traditional literature, sometimes the sentences are hard to understand, we need to analysis it, the scholar should research, just as the Fall of the House of Usher, scholars analysis it in many ways, and argue about it…
fourth, the characters in Manga tend to have unique and aesthetic tastes in fashion, for example, the stereotype is of characters with huge hair and large eyes, but there are many, many variations, from L. Matsumoto's seemingly unevenly drawn squash-shaped "ugly" protagonists, to the soft-edged figures in Miyazaki's work. The traditional literature focus on the environment, it did not pay much attention to portray of a person.
Fifth, most of the traditional literature will not continue to carry on the story, for example, in the ending of the Fall of the House of Usher, Usher and his sister died, their house fell, what the author wanted to tell us have been fully expressed, so it is impossible for the writer to continue the story, but for the Manga, The characters remain consistent, and they are allowed to grow and develop. There are so many Manga to carry on the story in this way, Bleach is one of the examples of it, and it has more than 100 volume of it for carrying on the story.
2.Personally, I know Bleach is very famous and very popular from 2001. However, I know a few about it. Therefore, I will talk about how image affect my understanding. Manga, it need the author good in painting which required the author has the ability of creating both in painting and writing. The real caricaturist is no only the painter, but also the litterateur and critic as well. The main characteristic of Manga is use the image more than words, combine with the image and words, it will express the meaning quite well. If without the image, just use words, then we could say it is not Manga but the normal novel. Because of the image, it makes the Manga so attractive and interesting. Because of the image, it makes so many people crazy on it. Image makes us understand the meaning of the content well; image makes us follow the plot of the novel, follow the logic well, so it will make us immerge in the work easily.
3. Crosses the death to obtain the new re-birth, is Japanese Buddhism's basic religious doctrine. If we could not avoid the visitation of providence, just to face it to conquer it, through the human being’s crisis consciousness to improve their abilities of crisis, so that to weak the disaster, to weak the destroy. Brave to the road of the life, never back off. Just as what Ichigo did, to protect the world never back off.
The God of Christianity is kindness. The Christians believe God could protect them, when you pray to the God, God will comprehend you, forgive you and help you, make the world in peaceful. The sacrifice of the Jesus became the jumping-off point of Christianity the sacrifice of the God in order to protect the world, while protecting the world, the spirit of the God rebirth; with invincible power and the kindness the world because wonderful. In Bleach, the sacrifice of the Soul Reaper make the world in a peace, in some points, Soul Reaper just as the God to lead the lost souls into the souls society. God will do it as wel
4.It has special meaning for the “Bleach” here. As we know, the normal meaning of bleach is to cause to become white or pale, especially by means of chemicals or by the action of sunlight. And for this Manga, it used “Bleach” as its title, to purify the Ahriman, to release the souls from purgatory, to retrieval the world, to guide the lost souls to Soul society.
As per my understanding, there are four worlds in Bleach, the living humans of Bleach reside in a world, buried souls live in a kind of Heaven called Soul Society, and evil souls are sent to Hell. And there is world for those souls that between the soul society and Hell, then the story beginning…
The main characters in Bleach is Ichigo, he is high school junior student. Rukia Kuchiki, sarcastic Soul Reaper, she is severely wounded while she trying to protect Ichigo, she plans to transfer part of her powers to Ichigo, hoping to give him the opportunity to face the hollow on equal footing. Ichigo absorbs almost all her powers unintentionally, this makes Ichigo has the ability to fight with the Hollow. Then, Ichigo must take over her job as a Soul Reaper, battling hollows and guiding lost souls to Soul Society… then the story goes on with the battles between in four world, and so many stories reveal between the four world…
I think we can get the ideas of it even from the beginning of this Manga. The most of the stories in Bleach Soul Reaper fighting with the Hollow, that is Soul Society fighting with the Hueco Mundo and guiding the lost souls to Soul society.

Bleach

#1

1 You read them from right to Left
2 Pictures Represent 90% of the content of the book with words as a simple guide lines
3 Emotions and sounds that characters create are wildly described by things such as “wham” or “fwoom”
4 It uses vulgar expressions and in my opinion unsuitable words for a comic book.
5 Has no specific lesson or morale to it.

#2

On page 152 which is completely made out of pictures we see “Hallow” biting a girl, we can see the pain and monstrosity of what the creators wanted us to see which would be hard to describe with words even though people have really good imagination already produced image will have stronger impact on the mind then just words. As well as understanding what else is meant by this horrific but at same time sad picture as we see the girl hugging her potential killer which is moving in the way because the killer is the sole brother of the girl as in the following pages as the story changes.

#3

It is hard to say about connection to real life from a book that was created for enjoyment but I can view “Hallows” as Devils Spawns or slaves that bring him fresh souls he can torment which is sort of like Christianity connection there. And the characters clothes that are resemblance of Samurai and some of the weapons that do mirror ancient soldier’s equipment so there is some of Japanese culture there.


#4

From what I know the story doesn’t end on only the books as there are more volumes of and the more facts to the story and its “lesson” ,so, it is hard to say. Even if I would have read entire set of books its hard to see point “lesson” of this. It’s a comic book it suppose to entertain with or without the “Lessons”. But even with this only thing I can piece out of this is that even after death there is no sure way to Heaven as there are evils that will want to use you for their own good like these “Hallows” which feed on the soul of slain beings. And the last point it’s not just enough to look at black and white picture and random words to find the “lesson” or “Point” to these books. We cant be just be skimming the surface of the iceberg and the only concrete lesson I have found in this activity is to find a “lesson” even in something that has no remote trace of one.