Naruto A Priori

I stopped by Barnes & Noble tonight to pick up the debut issue of Otaku USA (whose website finally went live — well, the main page and the all-important "Subscribe!" page, at least; other sections are still "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" at the moment). I haven't had a chance to read it yet, although flipping through it, it does look nice (and I was surprised to see not only an ad for Gon in the magazine but an actual preview pages as well — wow, DC is finally starting to advertise their manga line?), but I did want to share this anecdote:

I took my two-year old daughter with me, and she was quiet as we browsed through the magazine section. I'd finally just spotted Otaku USA (way in the back behind a bunch of other anime and manga magazines) when my daughter got really excited. She was pointing at the latest issue of Shonen Jump, whose cover featured a big close-up of Naruto, and saying: "This! I want this!" Now, she's never seen an episode of Naruto (we don't have cable), and I've never seen any other kids around her wearing any Naruto apparel, so I was surprised by the strength of her request. Her reaction seemed instinctual, almost primal. Which led me to wonder: What the heck is Naruto's secret and how can I as a parent tap into it? Also: Is Viz's "Naruto Nation" campaign some sort of covert operation to take over the world through unstoppably appealing manga?

Labels: Manga, Viz's Plans for World Domination

10:39 PM | |