From the Mainichi Daily News, an article that is almost as good as its headline: Snotty schools see measly manga in a new light.
According to an article in Cyzo magazine, universities are offering manga courses as a way to attract students. Last month, Kyoto Seika University set up a manga department, the first in the country, but others are hiring manga artists to teach individual courses. Best name for a new professor: Monkey Punch, creator of the series “Lupin the Third.”
The article then wanders off into interesting territory, noting that manga sales have dropped sharply since 1996, which means prospective manga-ka have to think seriously about the market. An unnamed member of the Kyoto Seika faculty comments
“Manga like ‘Spirits’ and “Morning,’ which target white-collar workers of the present and future, are the ones to look at. Salarymen are now facing a situation of radically changing values that are unlike any other time in the postwar era. Gone are the ideas of promotion by age and lifetime employment and in their place are wage levels decided by performance and ability.
White-collar workers are caught up right in the middle of this maelstrom of changing values. These two magazines have been unable to create characters with an outlook that meets the changing value system of the times and consequently their sales figures have dropped out of the bottom of the market.”
