culture
twelve o’clock, October 23, 2021 – 3:38 pm
New dedicated areas in the stores of the city and in those of the province: Many young people have discovered the passion for these books forced at home during the lockdown
from Giuliano Delli Paoli
From Tokyo to Naples. Manga has also definitely exploded in Campania, where in recent weeks the bookstores have even recorded increases of over 200%. A record turnover that fits into a broader picture and has very distant roots. Starting from the 80s and the television invasion of anime from the Rising Sun, such as the unforgettable Candy Candy, Georgie, Lady Oscar, Lam, Kiss Me Licia, Ken the Warrior, Holly and Benji, Dragon Ball. Stories and characters successfully transported from comics to the big screen that marked an era, feeding the dreams of entire generations. A change of state that has recently reversed its course, thus bringing thousands of very young people back to the comic store. In fact, the editions that jumped to the top of the rankings are countless. Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, Death Note, Hanako-Kun, The Promised Neverland. These are just some of the manga most loved by children, and which have in One Piece by Eichiiro Oda the most successful example to strive for, having reached the first position in the ranking of best-selling books in Italy at the beginning of September. 2021 with over 15 thousand copies sold.
Increase in sales
From the moment we reopened – says Stefano, manga expert and sales clerk of the Mondadori Bookstore in Vomero – there has been a 200% increase in sales of comics. An unstoppable growth that every day records impressive numbers, also due to the fact that young people today approach this world much more easily than in the past. There are manga that deal with topics of all kinds and consequently readers of all ages. Gianluca, owner of the Star Comics store in via Merliani – one of the most famous Italian comic book publishers specializing in manga -, identifies the pandemic as a crucial historical moment for the approach of adolescents to the universe of manga: Sales have increased by at least a third – he explains – and in correspondence with the lockdown. Many kids have discovered a passion for manga because they are forced to stay at home. And they joined historical fans accordingly. There are manga that have existed for twenty years such as One Piece, which acquires new readers every day. At the moment, however, the most popular in the city among the very young is certainly Attack of the Giants, a manga not excellent in terms of drawings but with fantastic dialogues. The mood does not change moving to the city center, where we find historic comic shops such as Star Shop in vico San Giuseppe and Cristofaro: We have been on the market for twenty years – explains the owner Antonella Liberti – and the growth started ten years ago, reaching a remarkable peak by 45% in recent months. A boom that has even sent publishers haywire, to the point that they have not printed comics for three months, consequently creating a gap between supply and demand. The recovery of the missing numbers which took place only a short time ago, and the confirmation that this is by no means a passing phenomenon. Here the best sellers are Demos Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen and Tokyo Revengers.
The megastores of the province
Not only Naples. Even in bookstores and megastores outside the Campania capital, manga are at the center of a dizzying sales boom. In some outlets, such as in the Mondadori store inside the Campania shopping center in Marcianise, external companies such as Funside, the Games Academy brand dedicated to comic shops, have even rented a considerable space inside the bookstore, thus creating a synergy between two markets, that of comics and that of literature tout court, only apparently parallel: We have been here – says Marco, sales clerk – for four years, but the market has had a considerable surge after the pandemic, with increases of 40%. At the moment, however, there is a gradual adjustment due to the opening of schools. Teenagers read fewer comics to focus more on books. In others, such as Mondadori at the Maximall shopping center in Pontecagnano, the demand from the public is so high that the publishing houses in the sector are struggling to keep up: The demand – reveals Serena, sales clerk – a lot and sometimes it happens that printers fail to fulfill orders. In addition, many issues are in reprint. It’s incredible. Not just manga. The last four years have also seen a crazy increase in comics in general. So, graphic novels and classic Marvel and DC. Comics.
Readings in a pandemic
If the sellers sum up and show the proceeds happy, the manga experts, the so-called nerds, bloggers and influencers scattered along the network, including live on Twitch and Youtube channels with millions of followers, identify the phenomenon in a wide range. As evidenced by the thirty-seven-year-old Neapolitan stationed in London Angelo Cavallaro – writer, essayist, manga historian and One Piece expert – in supreme art and a channel on Youtube with over 11 million views, reference point for very young fans: The main factors – he states – there are essentially two. On the one hand, there is the ease with which the youngest are able to recover anime, consequently also approaching manga, through streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Crunchyroll. And on the other hand, there are many adults who for several years had moved away from this world but who somehow rediscovered it during the pandemic, thus returning to reading comics. All without forgetting the social networks which, however chaotic, form a sort of positive glue. Insiders like Daniel De Filippis, communication expert in comics and manga, with a past in giants such as BD Editions and J-POP Manga think so, who underlines the importance of Comicon and the contribution to the world of manga. and comics in general in Campania: Like all social phenomena – he reveals – even the success of manga does not arise from a single point and there is a considerable synergy of events. The numbers were already big before the pandemic, and today we also see the fruits of improved communication on all aspects, ranging from stands in the bookstore to direct social media. Everything has made manga less geeky and cooler.
The Comicon
Italy is also one of the countries with the most trade fairs dedicated to this world. Just think of Lucca Comics & Games, the largest exhibition in Europe, or the Comicon in Naples. In fact, Campania has always been a nest of authors such as Fran, whom I had the pleasure of publishing for Edizioni BD with the acclaimed White Widow, the talented Andrea Sorrentino, who in 2019 won the Eisner Award, and above all Mirka Andolfo, who in my opinion the best Italian cartoonist around, able to conquer the US market with her characters and her style. It is no coincidence, therefore, that one of the major international comics shows is Neapolitan. And he continues: The Comicon, moreover, one of the partners in Manga Heroes, an important exhibition recently inaugurated that will be held in Milan until January 22, 2022. In short, Campania is a region in pole position in this field. The manga critic Simone Tribuzio instead offers a further point of view and looks to the future: See One Piece or The Attack of the Giants – he says – in the ranking next to the novels of the various De Giovanni and Saviano in its indicative way. I would not approach classical literature for manga. The comic is a world as, with a narrative, certainly vast in its themes, but very different from the generalist one. Moreover, the public is increasingly demanding and publishers are also adapting on the technical side, with more alluring and well-finished packaging.
The designers
Meanwhile, the very young designers in the city are also increasing with a passion for the typical features of manga. Proof of this is the exhibition staged until 31 October at the Mondadori in via Luca Giordano, La terra di mezzo, curated by Xeron, stage name of the fifteen-year-old Neapolitan Angelica Sansone, also owner of the ambitious Kerul project, the land in which the Sun and Moon coexist, made up of various characters who wink at Japanese comic aesthetics: I am thrilled – she explains via Facebook – to present my drawings to the public for the first time. Each character is the personification of the fundamentals of my person and are at the basis of the creation of a new morality, which can be order, union or even “simple” love. Everything comes from my head, passes through the pencil and finally ends up on the tablet, definitively taking shape thanks also to the help of the Medibang application. Yet another testimony of an ever-expanding universe.
23 October 2021 | 15:38
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