ReportsMINT Lecture Part II: The State of Manga in North America and Comic Events
2025/3/7
MINT Lecture Part II: The State of Manga in North America and Comic Events
The MINT program is currently supporting 11 manga creators—including artists and editors—to take on the challenge of going overseas to gain their own global perspective. The second MINT lecture was held at Shuppan Club on March 6 with manga experts from Japan and abroad presenting to help provide the creators with the knowledge they need before going overseas.
The speakers at the second lecture were MINT advisors Debora Aoki and Christopher Woodrow-Butcher. Other MINT advisors Odagiri Hiroshi, Shige “CJ” Suzuki, Ed Chavez, and Shiina Yukari from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs also participated as observers.
The theme of the first part of the lecture was “The Manga Market in North America: Growth, Obstacles and Opportunities” by Debora Aoki. She spoke about the overseas development of readership, including the development of the manga boom in North America, specific cases of how successful manga artists such as Ito Junji and Tatsumi Yoshihiro gained readers in the North American market, and media strategies that utilize social media. In addition, she mentioned that children’s manga for children under 12 years old is a genre with room for growth in the North American manga market. Although there have been many requests from libraries that carry manga, there are certain issues that need to be considered, including ratings that indicate the degree of violence and/or sexual expression in order for children to be able to read them without anxiety.
For the second part, Christopher Woodrow-Butcher spoke about “MINT in North America: What to Expect from Comic Cons, Media, & Fans,” touching upon what media and fans want from creators and the importance of self marketing. He also discussed how to deal with handling very specific and/or personal questions from overseas media in addition to the importance of understanding and clearly communicating the genre, intended audience, and intended receiption of one’s own work. The importance of using social media to put out information was also covered. In the latter half of his presentation, Chris went over the scale, atmosphere, and characteristics of each comics-related event that MINT creators will attend starting with Anime Expo.
A Q&A session was held at the end of the lecture with questions about Japanese manga artists who have been successful in North America and how book ratings work.
The MINT lecture series is planned for 3 lectures featuring a diverse range of speakers. The last lecture is planned for April.
MINT Lecture Part II Outline:
Themes: “The Manga Market in North America: Growth, Obstacles and Opportunities,” “MINT in North America: What to Expect from Comic Cons, Media, & Fans”
Lecturers:
Debora Aoki: Manga Critic & Editor
Christopher Woodrow-Butcher: Manga Editor & Critic (Comic and Library Education Specialist)
Participating advisors:
Odagiri Hiroshi: Freelance Writer & Manga Researcher
Shigeru “CJ” Suzuki: Manga Researcher & Associate Professor at Baruch College, City University of New York
Ed Chavez: Manga editor, critic and co-founder of American manga pulishing house DENPA, LLC.
Shiina Yukari: Senior Specialist for the Arts and Culture Division, Agency for Cultural Affairs