This YouTube video by YellowFlash 2 reports on the record sales Japanese manga made in 2020. Much of it is due to online distribution, but an even bigger reason is Western audiences are starving for quality storytelling. They don’t get it from modern American comics made by big corporate publishers.
American comic books used to be beloved by fans around the world, but since 2015 (give or take a year,) mainstream Western entertainment has been corrupted by fringe politics. Only a tiny percentage of audiences agree with that propaganda. Beloved characters have been either replaced or subverted, art quality has cratered, and the industry’s best creators have left big companies and become independent.
Meanwhile, Japanese comics and anime creators continue to improve their craft. Manga publishers conduct surveys and listen to audience feedback. The heroes in these stories go through development and growth, facing challenges and becoming stronger over time. Even if these characters have superhuman or magical abilities, they don’t start out invincible; they must train and hone their skills. This is relatable to fans anywhere in the world. Western entertainment used tell that kind of story, but it has lost sight of it.
