La nouvelle manga
Encyclopedia
Nouvelle Manga is an artistic movement which gathers Franco-Belgian and Japanese comic creators together. The expression was first used by Kiyoshi Kusumi, editor of the Japanese manga magazine Comickers, in referring to the work of French
expatriate Frédéric Boilet
, who lived in Japan for much of his career but has since returned to France in December 2008. Boilet adopted the term for himself and encouraged other artists to participate.
The Movement was born of several observations. Whereas European cinema often bases its theme on everyday life, French/Belgian bande dessinée has, for a long time, been restricted to stereotyped genres such as science fiction or westerns. Japanese authors on the other hand exploit daily life extensively – but these are often the least likely to be widely translated.
For the participants of Nouvelle Manga there are bridges to build between the comics of all nationalities, not least between the comics d'auteur in each country.
People often restrict Nouvelle Manga to the world of alternative comics, yet there are many examples of Nouvelle Manga authors publishing in all kinds of arenas. For instance, Boilet himself has been published in mainstream Seinen
magazines like Big Comics in Japan as well as in alternative editorial structures such as Spore in Japan, Ego Comme X
in France and, more recently, Fanfare / Ponent Mon in the US.
Boilet wishes to refer to Nouvelle Manga as being in the French feminine form (la) as opposed to the French masculine form (le) which is used for the very mainstream action-oriented manga
that is more usually published in France
.
Examples of artists who are associated in varying degrees with the outputs and debates surrounding Nouvelle Manga are:
Moyoko Anno
, Aurélia Aurita
, David B., Matthieu Blanchin, Frédéric Boilet
, Nicolas de Crécy, Étienne Davodeau, Yoji Fukuyama, Emmanuel Guibert, Kazuichi Hanawa, Daisuke Igarashi
, Little Fish, Taiyō Matsumoto
, Fabrice Neaud
, Loïc Néhou, Benoît Peeters
, Frédéric Poincelet, David Prudhomme, François Schuiten
, Joann Sfar
, Kiriko Nananan
, Hideji Oda
, Kan Takahama, Jiro Taniguchi
, Yoshiharu Tsuge
, Vanyda
and Naito Yamada.
A great exhibition and a cycle of debates were held in Tokyo
in September and October 2001, notably at the Tokyo Museum of Fine Arts and at the French-Japanese Institute.
Nouvelle Manga has extended to other media with Nouvelle Manga Digitale, a creation of the multimedia author Fred Boot.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
expatriate Frédéric Boilet
Frédéric Boilet
Frédéric Boilet is a French cartoonist and a manga artist.-Biography:Frédéric Boilet's debut in comic art was in 1983 with La Nuit des Archées....
, who lived in Japan for much of his career but has since returned to France in December 2008. Boilet adopted the term for himself and encouraged other artists to participate.
The Movement was born of several observations. Whereas European cinema often bases its theme on everyday life, French/Belgian bande dessinée has, for a long time, been restricted to stereotyped genres such as science fiction or westerns. Japanese authors on the other hand exploit daily life extensively – but these are often the least likely to be widely translated.
For the participants of Nouvelle Manga there are bridges to build between the comics of all nationalities, not least between the comics d'auteur in each country.
People often restrict Nouvelle Manga to the world of alternative comics, yet there are many examples of Nouvelle Manga authors publishing in all kinds of arenas. For instance, Boilet himself has been published in mainstream Seinen
Seinen
is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at a 20–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be older with some manga aimed at businessmen well into their 40s. In Japanese, the word Seinen means "young man" or "young men" and is not suggestive of sexual matters...
magazines like Big Comics in Japan as well as in alternative editorial structures such as Spore in Japan, Ego Comme X
Ego comme X
Ego comme x is the name of a French comics publishing house created in Angoulême in 1994.- Company history :Ego comme x started by publishing a magazine in 1993 created by a few authors and after a few years started to publish other works....
in France and, more recently, Fanfare / Ponent Mon in the US.
Boilet wishes to refer to Nouvelle Manga as being in the French feminine form (la) as opposed to the French masculine form (le) which is used for the very mainstream action-oriented manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
that is more usually published in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Examples of artists who are associated in varying degrees with the outputs and debates surrounding Nouvelle Manga are:
Moyoko Anno
Moyoco Anno
is a Japanese manga artist and a fashion writer, with numerous books published in both categories. Her manga and books have attained considerable popularity among young women in Japan. Though she primarily writes manga of the josei demographic, her most popular series, Sugar Sugar Rune, is...
, Aurélia Aurita
Aurelia aurita
Aurelia aurita is one of a group of more than ten morphologically nearly identical jellyfish species in the genus Aurelia...
, David B., Matthieu Blanchin, Frédéric Boilet
Frédéric Boilet
Frédéric Boilet is a French cartoonist and a manga artist.-Biography:Frédéric Boilet's debut in comic art was in 1983 with La Nuit des Archées....
, Nicolas de Crécy, Étienne Davodeau, Yoji Fukuyama, Emmanuel Guibert, Kazuichi Hanawa, Daisuke Igarashi
Daisuke Igarashi
is a critically acclaimed manga artist born in Saitama , Japan. He began his professional career in 1993. Igarashi is known among manga fans for his bold, detailed art style and innovative storytelling...
, Little Fish, Taiyō Matsumoto
Taiyo Matsumoto
is an influential manga artist. He made his debut in Afternoon, Kodansha's monthly seinen manga magazine, but is probably best known for his works with Kodansha's rival publisher Shogakukan, including Tekkonkinkreet, Ping Pong and Number Five. He has received critical praise for his unconventional...
, Fabrice Neaud
Fabrice Neaud
Fabrice Neaud is a French comics artist. He got his baccalaureate in literature in 1986. He studied philosophy during two years. Then he entered an art school and studied there four years. In 1991 he quit the school...
, Loïc Néhou, Benoît Peeters
Benoît Peeters
Benoît Peeters is a comics writer, novelist, and critic. He has lived in Belgium since 1978.His best-known work is Les Cités Obscures, an imaginary world which mingles a Borgesian metaphysical surrealism with the detailed architectural vistas of the series' artist, François Schuiten...
, Frédéric Poincelet, David Prudhomme, François Schuiten
François Schuiten
Baron François Schuiten is a Belgian comic book artist. He is best known for drawing the series Les Cités Obscures.-Biography:François Schuiten was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1956....
, Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar is a French comics artist, comic book creator and film director.-Life and career:Sfar was born in Nice. He is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by...
, Kiriko Nananan
Kiriko Nananan
is a female Japanese manga artist. She is famous for her realistic josei work featuring understated artwork with a sense of detachment. In addition she has affiliated herself with the "La nouvelle manga" movement. Her first work was published in Garo in 1993. Two of her works have been made into...
, Hideji Oda
Hideji Oda
is a Japanese manga artist associated with the Nouvelle manga movement. His book A Patch of Dreams has been translated into English by Fanfare/Ponent Mon...
, Kan Takahama, Jiro Taniguchi
Jiro Taniguchi
is a Japanese manga artist.- Biography:He began to work as assistant of the late manga artist Kyota Ishikawa. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kareta Heya , published in the magazine Young Comic....
, Yoshiharu Tsuge
Yoshiharu Tsuge
is a Japanese manga artist and essayist. He was active in comics between 1954 and 1987. The content of his works range from tales of ordinary life to dream-like surrealism, and often show his interest in traveling about Japan...
, Vanyda
Vanyda
Vanyda is a comic creator from Lille. She's part of the French comics new wave or La nouvelle manga. Vanyda was a nominee in 2005 at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in the Prize for First Comic Book category for her first album The building opposite which was ranked Manga of the year...
and Naito Yamada.
A great exhibition and a cycle of debates were held in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in September and October 2001, notably at the Tokyo Museum of Fine Arts and at the French-Japanese Institute.
Nouvelle Manga has extended to other media with Nouvelle Manga Digitale, a creation of the multimedia author Fred Boot.
Nouvelle Manga books in English
- Yukiko's Spinach - Frédéric BoiletFrédéric BoiletFrédéric Boilet is a French cartoonist and a manga artist.-Biography:Frédéric Boilet's debut in comic art was in 1983 with La Nuit des Archées....
(Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2003) - Monokuro Kinderbook - Kan Takahama (Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2003)
- Mariko Parade - Frédéric Boilet & Kan Takahama (Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2004)
- Doing Time - Kazuichi Hanawa (Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2004)
- The Walking Man - Jiro TaniguchiJiro Taniguchiis a Japanese manga artist.- Biography:He began to work as assistant of the late manga artist Kyota Ishikawa. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kareta Heya , published in the magazine Young Comic....
(Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2004) - Blue - Kiriko NanananKiriko Nanananis a female Japanese manga artist. She is famous for her realistic josei work featuring understated artwork with a sense of detachment. In addition she has affiliated herself with the "La nouvelle manga" movement. Her first work was published in Garo in 1993. Two of her works have been made into...
(Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2005) - The Times of Botchan vol. 1 - Jiro Taniguchi & Natsuo Sekikawa (Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2005)
- The Times of Botchan vol. 2 - Jiro Taniguchi & Natsuo Sekikawa (Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2005)
- Japan as viewed by 17 creators - Various Authors (Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2006)
- A Patch of Dreams - Hideji OdaHideji Odais a Japanese manga artist associated with the Nouvelle manga movement. His book A Patch of Dreams has been translated into English by Fanfare/Ponent Mon...
(Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2006) - Sweet Cream and Red Strawberries - Kiriko Nananan (Central Park Media, 2006)
- The Building Opposite - VanydaVanydaVanyda is a comic creator from Lille. She's part of the French comics new wave or La nouvelle manga. Vanyda was a nominee in 2005 at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in the Prize for First Comic Book category for her first album The building opposite which was ranked Manga of the year...
(Fanfare/Ponent Mon, 2006)
See also
- Manga-influenced comics
- Anime-influenced animationAnime-influenced animationAnime-influenced animation refers to non-Japanese works of animation that emulate certain aspects of the visual style of anime. Due to Western culture, the term anime has been coined to explicitly refer to Japanese animation...
- Manfra, a general term for describing French Japanese-influenced comics