{"id":563,"date":"2008-05-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-13T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/muslimahmediawatch.wordpress.com\/2008\/05\/13\/manga-mania-muslim-mangas-reach-2\/"},"modified":"2011-12-08T23:35:01","modified_gmt":"2011-12-09T03:35:01","slug":"manga-mania-muslim-mangas-reach-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mmw\/2008\/05\/manga-mania-muslim-mangas-reach-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Manga Mania: Muslim Manga’s Reach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Muslimah Media Watch <\/i>thanks Safiya <\/a>for the tip. <\/p>\n

Asia Alfasi<\/a> is a talented manga <\/a>artist in the U.K. The BBC covered <\/a>a talent competition she\u2019d won (barikallah!), but managed to irritate me through mislabeling Ms. Alfasi\u2019s drawings and misuse of the word \u201cArabian.\u201d\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Ms. Alfasi won a competition given by the International Manga and Anime Festival for her character \u201cMonir,\u201d who, according to the BBC, is a \u201cfeisty young Arabian from the Muslim Abyssinian times who draws strength from his faith to fight injustice and battle for his family\u2019s survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>Does the BBC follow AP guidelines? Even if they don\u2019t, I\u2019d assume they\u2019d know that an Arabian is a horse, not a person. Hmph!<\/p>\n

Ms. Alfasi\u2019s characters are beautifully drawn, but I\u2019m tired of the \u201cexotic\u201d angle. She says, \u201cI wanted to introduce some Arabian mysticism to the market.\u201d A Muslim character from the Abyssinian times would be interesting enough, considering the fact that there is no such thing in Islamic history as the \u201cAbyssinian Era\u201d (unless they\u2019re talking about when the Prophet and his followers went to Abyssinia\u2026? Confusing!) Perhaps they meant Abbasid? <\/p>\n

Anyway, a Muslim character from the Abbasid era would be interesting enough without exoticizing him. You could learn history and ancient culture\u2026the nerd in me screams for more! What\u2019s so mystical about him? What\u2019s with the Aladdin outfit? Too close to Disney for comfort, personally. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But I digress. Ms. Alfasi has drawn two characters that wear hejab, which are included in the story; one in a colored frame with Monir and one on her own. Yet neither of these characters has a name: the caption under the color comic says simply, \u201cMonir\u201d (as if he\u2019s the only one in the frame), while the one underneath the hejabed character says, \u201cMuslim character created by Asia.\u201d I\u2019m unsure whether this is the BBC\u2019s fault or Ms. Alfasi\u2019s. In newspapers, Muslim women are often depicted as swathed in fabric and nameless; must we be nameless in manga, too? <\/p>\n

<\/span>I\u2019m inclined to believe this fault lies with the BBC after seeing the last black-and-white drawing of a young lady with that caption, \u201cMonir.\u201d I have a feeling that this young lady, with long hair, bangles, and earrings, is not a cross-dressing version of Monir. But perhaps it\u2019s Monir\u2019s alter ego, Monira? That\u2019s <\/i>a comic I\u2019d love to see. <\/p>\n

Ms. Alfasi has also created hijabstrip<\/i>, <\/a>which I found through the Muslim Manga<\/a> website. This looks promising, but I can\u2019t find any more on it. She\u2019s also the author of JinNarration, <\/i>and a book Native Narratives,<\/i> that will be released in September about the adventures of a Muslim girl in both Libya and Scotland.\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Through Muslim Girl <\/i>magazine<\/a>, I also found out about Ninjabi<\/i>, <\/a>a very cute manga-esque blog. It features several characters, the main of which is Noor, who is shown with and without hejab.<\/p>\n

Finally! Realistic portrayals\u2014through Ninjabi <\/i>and hijabstrip<\/i>\u2014of Muslim women. I like Ninjabi<\/i>\u2019s drawings better because of the cleaner lines and the fact that they are more like comics, intending a joke rather than like manga that tells a story. <\/p>\n

Ninjabi <\/i>is refreshing. Noor is neurotic like teenage girls often are (cringing at memories of my teen years), her best friend is non-Muslim, and there is a Muslim character, Anny, who does not wear hejab. The best part of this: none of this is a big deal! Everybody just lives their cartoon lives. You can see more of Ninjabi <\/span>here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>

Because of manga\u2019s prevalence and acceptance into mainstream American culture (I can\u2019t really speak for other western cultures), I think Muslim comics\u2019 entry into this medium is a great step. It\u2019s silly to have to remind everyone that, \u201cHey, we\u2019re just like you, we like manga, too,\u201d but these comic strips, graphic novels, and websites do half that work for us. May these sisters (and others who aspire to similar work) find success, enshallah.<\/p>\n

\n<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Muslimah Media Watch thanks Safiya for the tip. Asia Alfasi is a talented manga artist in the U.K. The BBC covered a talent competition she\u2019d won (barikallah!), but managed to irritate me through mislabeling Ms. Alfasi\u2019s drawings and misuse of the word \u201cArabian.\u201d Ms. Alfasi won a competition given by the International Manga and Anime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":411,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comicscartoons"],"yoast_head":"\nManga Mania: Muslim Manga's Reach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Muslimah Media Watch thanks Safiya for the tip. 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