Manga influences and local narratives: ambiguous identification in comics production
•	January 2019
Authors:
Iman Junid
Eriko Yamato

Manga influences and local narratives: ambiguous
identification in comics production
Iman Junid and Eriko Yamato
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the production of cultural commodities cre-
ated in the era of transnationalisation. It focuses on discussing
the aspects of manga (Japanese comics) influences and local nar-
ratives that are reflected in comics production based on empirical
data generated from a qualitative study. In-depth interviews were
conducted with ten Malaysian Malay artists, who were fans of
Japanese popular culture, regarding their comics production and
latest works. Through thematic analysis of the transcribed data,
comics production was found to be a challenging endeavour in
the presence of nations, locals, and ‘others’. There was discrep-
ancy in the constructing of meaning represented in drawings and
stories. Such meaning-making processes in the artists’comics pro-
duction apparently involve the identification of the self and
‘others’. Furthermore, their negotiation with the view of ‘others’
contributes to unbinding their fixed sense of nationality in their
products. This study implies that local production of cultural com-
modities such as comics could serve as a platform for analysis in
order to expand and deepen insights into the root causes of con-
testing identification occurring among people who are assumed
to be in the same cultural frame.
Transnationalisation and glocalisa

Introduction
Transnationalisation and glocalisation of cultural commodities have been discussed
not only as simple overturning concept of cultural imperialism, but also as intricate
phenomena from both global and local perspectives. Robertson (1995) pointed out
that Hollywood films were outcomes of mixing various multinational localities in order
to attract a global audience. Even cultural commodities that were initially created with
the aim of enticing a particular group of people assumed to live within the same cul-
tural frame have found broad acceptance by different groups of people. Japanese
popular culture such as television programs, films, games, and comics have been
referred to as examples of transnational cultural commodities (Iwabuchi 1998,2002;
Robertson 1995). However, the transnational flow of Japanese cultural commodities
was initiated from outside of Japan (Hu 2005; Leonard 2005; Nakano 2002), despite
the fact that Japan, as a nation, tends to promote their own national uniqueness in response to globalisation (see M
ori 2011; Robertson 1995). In the case of manga,
Japan’s neighbouring countries, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, brought manga into
their countries and illegally translated them for their entertainment use, which in fact
made an impact on their local comics production (Lent 2015).
Malaysia is not exceptional in the effects of the phenomenon of transnational flow
of cultural commodities, although it is a multi-ethnic country, which consists of several
ethnicities (e.g. Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc.). Malay, which comprises 50.8% of the total
population of Malaysia (Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia [Department of Statistics] 2015),
is the major ethnicity with political power governing the country. The Malaysian con-
stitution ruled that every Malay citizen was to adhere to the religion of Islam and
declared the country itself as an Islamic country, while other ethnicities are allowed to
practice other religions. Nevertheless, the citizens had expectations that non-Muslims
would be tolerant of Islamic practices when conducting themselves in the public
domain. Business practices are not exceptional in this matter. For instance, the media
industry has been closely monitored by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Internal
Security of Malaysia on contents that are not in compliance with Islamic values, such
as those containing elements of indecency, obscenity, and violence across printed and
broadcast media (Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia 2004).
According to Lent (2015), the Malaysian comics industry has not yet been devel-
oped until overseas comics from the United States, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong
flowed into the country. In the 1970s onwards, the industry has developed as an
established local entertainment business. Manga (Japanese comics) has been brought
into Malaysia through Taiwan and Hong Kong in the form of pirated copies that were
translated into Mandarin (Lent 2015). By the late 1990s, the Malay-translated version
of manga had become available for those who could not read the Mandarin-translated
version (Yamato 2011). Around that time, the hobby magazine, Gempak, which
includes local comics with strong manga influence (Lent 2015; Mustaqim and
Mahamood 2015) was launched. Although a few humour magazines with influences
from American comics gained popularity in the early 1990s (Lent 2015), one of them
was forced to be dissolved after 22 years of publication (Abdullah 2015), while
Gempak still maintains its popularity, among others in the Malaysian comics market.
Gan (2011) conducted a study on one leading Gempak comics artist, Kaoru, to examine
how manga’s presence in Malaysia has been influential to her comics production. The
study highlighted that in her comics, iconic representations of Japan such as cityscape
and clothing had been blended with local narratives to expand readership of her com-
ics to Malay readers. This blending made her comics ‘imaginative and ambiguous’
(Gan 2011, 168). Furthermore, it was pointed out that the publishing guidelines by
Malaysian authorities had limited the artists’incorporation of manga stylisation, such
as the design of the characters’outfits.
As highlighted by Lent (2015) and Gan (2011), in Malaysian comics scenes, manga
influences are noticeable, but whether each comics artist follows suit with the success-
ful Gempak artists is unknown. Since Malays supposedly adhere to Islamic values, the
incorporation of manga stylisation could pose constraints on their comics production
while conforming to Malaysian publication guidelines. Therefore, in examining this
issue from the perspective of Malaysian Malay artists, this paper discusses how manga
influences and local narratives are reflected to their comics production.
National presence in cultural commodities
According to Anderson (1991), the image or sense of nationality is constructed based
on the comparisons made with other nations’‘imagined communities’. Since nation
states around the world are the main structures that bind people together through
regulatory and imaginary means, cultural commodities are often used as symbols of
certain nations. By referring to Japanese transnational cultural commodities such as
anime (Japanese animation), manga, and video games, Iwabuchi (1998) identified the
characteristics of those cultural commodities as ‘culturally odourless’. They were
described as something ‘lacking any nationality, but also implies the erasure of racial
or ethnic characteristics and any context that would embed the characters in a par-
ticular culture or country’(Iwabuchi 1998, 167). For instance, a character design in
anime resembling Caucasian looks was defined as ‘culturally odourless’as it does not
represent definite Japanese nationality (see also Denison 2011). Nevertheless, it was
also observed that the symbolic representations of a particular nation in transnational
cultural commodities was not interpreted by people exactly in the same way because
of different circumstances (Du Gay, Hall, Janes, Mackay, and Negus 1997). In the case
of Korean popular culture, while Korean scholars (Joo 2011; Ryoo 2009; Shim 2006)
have identified pervasive American influence in its cultural commodities, Korean local-
ities, and Asian-ness, which were perceived as close in cultural proximity and affinity
as well as vision of non-western modernity among Asian audiences.
Similarly, contradicting elements were identified in Japanese popular cultural prod-
ucts. According to Bryce, Barber, Kelly, Kunwar, and Plumb (2010), Japanese comics
artists were exposed to Western (i.e. North America) comics art starting in the early
20th century. The fusion between the Japanese and Western style has generated a dis-
tinct style in manga, including flexibility in outlining frames and speech bubbles, and
constructing character development with more complex plots. Such distinctions were
interpreted as unique elements which represent Japanese-ness. At the same time, ele-
ments of familiarity were also identified the in terms of human emotions and experi-
ences reflected by the characters, which the audience were able to relate to with their
own lives. This binary ambiguity in anime and manga reception among American fans
has been reported in other studies (Allison 2008; Napier 2007), while Yamato (2014)
underlined ‘individual proximity’rather than broader ‘cultural proximity’in interpreting
Japanese popular cultural texts, including manga and anime among Malaysian youth.
In a critical essay employing the theory of social representations by Serge
Moscovici, a French social psychologist, Hinton (2014) argued that the cultural context
and expectations of the audience cause differences in their interpretations of media
representations. He described on how the British media’s regard for the Japanese as a
cultural ‘other’has led them to construct stereotypes of the Japanese. In one example,
the British media stereotyped the Japanese to have transgressive sexuality from their
interpretations of certain Japanese anime. Images of underage female characters were
perceived as sexually transgressive although the characters were intended to represent
counter-expectations toward traditional Japanese females at that time. The develop-
ment of stereotypes based on different interpretations has caused the whole Japanese
popular culture to be viewed as problematic. This judgment, hence, often emphasises
differences implying a superiority of ‘us’, in this case of the British. As Hall (1997)
68 I. JUNID AND E. YAMATO
argued, indexical signs are harder to be interpreted similarly, especially when people
do not share the same linguistic backgrounds. The conceptual map of people could
also be different, where it would lead to different meanings in their interpretations.
Hinton’s examinations of the British media further indicate negatively inclined con-
struction of meanings in transnational cultural commodities due to intended meanings
concerning social context in Japan being unnoticed.
Compared to such abstract representations in anime, iconic signs are easier to be
interpreted in a similar way among people due to their resemblance to the real thing
in the real world (Hall 1997). However, Brooks (2005) argued that realistic representa-
tions, at the same time, could upset the readers because the intended meanings go
beyond the limits of supposedly acceptable social representations. According to him,
realist creators perceive reproducing phenomena as visually realistic in their works to
be crucial because realistic representations give the readers the first impressions of
their relation with real-life occurrences. Giving examples of an English publisher being
penalised for publishing French realist novels containing realistic representations,
Brooks highlighted that promoting realistic representations can be unsafe. This is due
to such representations being considered as the transgressive act of challenging the
taken-for-granted morality within ‘imagined communities’such as those associated
with a nation.
Gan found such acts in Malaysian comics production by Malaysian Chinese artist
Kaoru as the ‘infringement of traditional morality’(2011, 172). Taking advantage of
consistently adapting manga stylisation and fashion trends from Japan made her com-
ics appeal more to younger readers in Malaysia. However, following Japanese fashion
trends too closely in designing her characters challenged the moralities of some
Malaysian readers. This was due to its sexiness, which did not correspond to Islamic
values to which more than half of the country’s population adhere. Abiding with the
publication guidelines in corresponding to local readers’values could avoid negative
reactions by the local readers and publishing authorities, but it would cost the artists’
freedom of expression. In Japan, the doujin (self-publishing) market was established
and has evolved by prioritizing the concept of ‘participation’without any hierarchical
states such as publishers, creators, and readers (Tamagawa 2012). According to
Tamagawa, the self-publishing culture has not only contributed to the outstanding
manga creations in Japan, but also to the creation of new media in popular culture
genres. However, manga developed from the doujin market has been characterised by
their problematic portrayals. Advocating totality in ‘freedom of expression’this magna
could be criticized as having excessive portrayals of sexual or violence by local author-
ities, while the restriction is also believed to be interference in artistic development,
especially among the artists themselves. While Gan’s study demonstrated fusions of
manga stylisation with the local narratives in Kaoru’s comics, manga influences in
comics production is unexplored in various aspects such as in the self-publish-
ing culture.
In Malaysia, self-publishing culture was observed at Comic Fiesta, the largest annual
fan convention inspired by Japanese popular culture, which debuted in the year 2002.
Their focus on the creative art market extended to hundreds of art booths catering to
artists, alongside other smaller-scale fan events that later emerged and followed suit with the concept. Lent (2015) noted more welcoming participation from younger
artists, who adopted manga stylisation in these fan conventions seeking opportunities
for the advancement of their comics production. Selling comics at the fan conventions
is relatively free from the restriction imposed by authorities, even though each fan
convention has its own guidelines concerning public view. In order to study the cul-
tural production that is affected by transnationalisation, the above-mentioned fan con-
vention sites were selected to gain entry into the research context and to narrow
down the focus of the study.
Method
This qualitative study was designed to explore comics production by Malay artists. In
order to obtain rich descriptions from a specific group of people within the focus of
the study, the following selection criteria were identified for the selection of inter-
views, partly based on past studies ( Gan 2011; Yamato 2016): (1) Malay artists who
are self-claimed fans of Japanese popular culture and (2) artists who had actively par-
ticipated in Malaysian fan conventions to promote and sell their original comics. In
addition, it was deemed important that artists were willing to share their experiences
in producing comics via face-to-face interviews. Among the two artists who were inter-
viewed for the preliminary study conducted from January to March 2015, one was
excluded from the main data analysis because of lack of descriptions regarding the
study topics. From the analysis and reflection on this preliminary study procedure, we
decided to add the criteria that their original comics were produced in 2014 onwards.
This is because artistic expression was supposedly evolving in comics production.
The in-depth interviews were conducted by the first author who had experiences in
creating fan artworks, had proficiency in English and Malay, which were supposed to
be the main medium of the interviews, as well as having the same ethnic and reli-
gious background, in general, with targeted study participants. These interviewer’s
backgrounds were parts of the interview technique to ensure a comfortable and relax-
ing atmosphere, and to have a low degree of division and hierarchy between the
researcher and the participants (Hesse-Biber and Leavy 2011). The interview questions
regarding their comics production and latest works were generated from the past lit-
erature and authors’pre-understanding of comics production.
T
The first author, as an interviewer, had at least short interactions with all potential
interview participants at the fan conventions, where they had their own artist booth
to gain access to the participants. The selected comics were purchased and looked
through before contacting potential participants. In between June 2015 and October
2015, nine Malay artists were interviewed. The duration of interviews with all ten
artists lasted for approximately 70–160 minutes. All participants requested to give
credit to them by using their original artist names. Table 1 shows the profile of the
interview participants according to their respective artist names.
To employ thematic analysis on the interviews as the main data, audio recordings
of interviews that consisted of different languages (i.e. mainly English and Malay, and
Japanese for some terms) were transcribed verbatim and managed by the qualitative
data management software NVivo 10. The initial analysis procedure, transcribing, read-
ing and taking memos, and coding data in NVivo was done by the first author by
referring to thematic analysis techniques (Gibson and Brown 2009). By initial coding,
parts of the data (words or phrases in the interview transcriptions) were identified
according to meaningful categories that emerged from the reading. The initial codes
were then further reduced by combining them into broader categories.
Towards the final process of inductive thematic analysis, Van Manen’s(1990) sug-
gestions were applied: ‘Writing mediates reflection and action’,‘to write is to measure
our thoughtfulness’, and ‘to write is to show something’. During the write-up process,
the main categories and sub-categories were refined and regrouped to formulate
potential themes. The second author was closely involved in the analysis process,
where English was used in the write-up. At this stage, some interview extracts in
Malay language were translated into English. The themes emerged in this final pro-
cess. Since most interview participants mixed different languages and some spoke
Malaysian English or used uncompleted English sentences, some parts of interview
quotations were altered in order to enhance the readability of this paper. Extracts
from their comic books are presented in the following section, with the partic-
ipants’consent.
Findings and discussion
This study found that the interview participants’comics production contributed to
their realisation of an ambiguous position regarding national identification
1
, while rep-
resenting locality in their works. This finding is discussed according to three emerging
themes: ‘stereotypical representations’,‘mediating traditional morality’, and
‘individuality over nationality’.
Stereotypical representations
Despite producing comics with manga stylisation, the participants did not portray sto-
ries with Japanese backgrounds similar to manga. Instead, they were trying to portray
their real-life experiences of their own surroundings through both the visual aspects
and story contents. Rabbit-miza said, ‘[B]asically, everything that I drew down, is what
I experienced in my life and what I observe, from what happened to people.’Some 
participants (Rabbit-miza, Charkoil, Shun Shao, Fingernailz, VieN, and Effendy) emphas-
ised the importance of realistic portrayals in terms of the visuals in their comics. For
instance, in designing the location and background scenery in his comics, Effendy put
great detail into the design of his background scenery by studying references from
real pictures. He explained:
Every place has [its] own building styles. New York has different building style. San
Francisco has different building …Even Malaysia has their own building styles …[T]his is
how you differentiate things. People don’t see that. They said buildings are just buildings.
No. They’re different.
Figure 1 shows the scenes from one of his comic books. The locations portrayed in
the scenes were from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (left) and New York, U.S. (right). Kuala
Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) is iconic to the city of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia,
while a building design originating from New York was incorporated to portray
that location.
Effendy born and grew up in Malaysia, and had the experience of travelling to New
York while he was studying in the U.S. For him, it is important to precisely portray the
localities in order to effectively convey information to the readers about the location
and how it relates to the objects within the scene (e.g. characters, vehicles).
Incorporating an iconic building such as KLCC enables Malaysian readers to easily
identify the location in that particular scene to be in Malaysia. When incorporating the
detailed design of the building from New York, it enables the readers to instantly real-
ise the change of location to be outside of Malaysia. For Malaysian readers, buildings
in New York represent ‘others’, and if his design was not drawn in detail, that repre-
sentation of ‘others’would not be clear as it would be muddled with the architecture
of any modern buildings.
Fingernailz and VieN, on the other hand, intended to portray the real life of
Muslims in Malaysia, as opposed to the stereotypical portrayals of other comics.
Fingernailz pointed out that many Islamic comics often portray Muslims stereotypic-
ally. He gave two examples of Muslim portrayal: ‘One is the anti-Muslim from the
Western. Whenever they have Muslim characters, [they would be portrayed as]
terrorists’, and the other one is similar to the Muslim Show, French comics written by
the Muslim artist, being pious with continuous practice of rites and covering their
body (e.g. wearing headscarf) all the time regardless of time and place. Referring to
the Muslim Show, Fingernailz said:
That is actually kind of good …But, for me, I don’t want [my comics to be read] just by
the Muslims. For that kind of comics, if Muslims like me read it, they will be happy. Uh,
Alhamdulillah [Islamic rite: praising God, Allah], and everything. But if …non-Muslim
read, for sure, they will feel like, really? …[We don’t see you] for every five seconds,
reciting Astaghfirullah [Islamic rite: seeking forgiveness from Allah] and all that. So, I want
to show that not all [Muslims] are like that.
In fact, some of his Malaysian non-Muslim friends posed questions to him. He
recalled: ‘… they could not find [anyone that they can relate with]. And …my
Chinese friends looked at me [and said], “Really? You don’t seem to be like that”.’
Such stereotypical portrayals in Muslim Show have also led to misunderstandings by
the non-Muslims. He further explained:
When they have seen that kind [of comics] that wears headscarf even in own bedroom
and all, they will think that Islam is oppressing women. Oppress [with emphasised tone].
…Maybe, [they will think that] when they convert into Islam it will be overly strict. It’s
like, burdening their lives, right? So I want to show, we are just normal.
In one of his comics, he portrayed a Malaysian female Muslim character named
Syasya (Figure 2). In the image on the left of Figure 2, Syasya wears a headscarf out-
side of her home, while on the right, she does not wear one when she is with her
parents inside the house. Fingernailz portrays Syasya in such ways to convey messages
to his readers that female Muslims are only obligated to cover parts of their body
when males other than immediate family members (i.e. parents, grandparents, siblings,
uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews) are in their presence. He intended to show
that wearing a headscarf is not necessary all the time and not an act of oppression
of women.
However, for Malaysian authorised publishers, it is considered a taboo to portray
female Muslims who are known to normally wear the headscarf in a state where they
do not wear one. Such taboo applies even for fictional characters in comics targeting
mature readers. The portrayal to reflect the factual practices as Fingernailz did in his
comics is rare even in other mediums such as Malaysian dramas, movies, or animation.
VieN, in her case, has always addressed issues of Malaysian people in real life
through her satirical comic strips. Regarding her intentions behind incorporating a par-
ticular social issue in real life, she explained, ‘They [readers] criticised [my comics] say-
ing that it’s insulting Islam. But for me, I want to show it realistically, in reality. Not all
that wears headscarf have that angelic attitude or anything.’Figure 3 shows the comic
strip where she portrayed three Malay female Muslim characters and their change in
terms of appearance and attitude after a period of 10 years. In the top panel, among
the three characters, one wears a headscarf (middle character), while the other two do
not. In this scene, all of them portray the negative act of gossiping about an acquaint-
ance, which is prohibited in Islam. The following is the translated dialogue of the top
panel of Figure 3:
Figure 3. Comic strip by VieN.
Source: Vulpineninja (www.facebook.com/vulpineninja). Reproduced with permission.
74 I. JUNID AND E. YAMATO
When these 3 characters have a reunion 10 years later, the character in the left
changed in appearance, where she wears a headscarf, while the character on the right
still does not. However, in terms of behaviour, the character on the left still does the
negative act of gossiping together with the middle character. In contrast, the character
on the right advises them to abstain from gossiping by saying, ‘Hey, guys …It’s not
good to gossip, you know …’ instead of engaging in gossiping.
Through this comic strip, VieN intended to convey a message that female Muslims
who comply with covering parts of their bodies as obligated by Islam are not neces-
sarily pious Muslims, even though VieN herself is a female Muslim who follows such
obligations. Equally, she also conveyed a message regarding how female Muslims who
do not fully comply with this Islamic obligation might actually possess a better per-
sonality in terms of their attitude and behaviour, which is also an obligation in Islam.
This portrayal is the opposite to the stereotypical representation of Muslims in comics
published by Malaysian authorised publishers, where Muslim characters are often per-
ceived to be Muslims carrying positive attitudes and behaviour while appearing with
so called ‘religious attire’.
While these participants were trying to portray their real-life experiences, pres-
ence of stereotypical representations were identified to have played a role in their
comics production. Stereotypical representations of Malaysia using iconic build-
ings were used by Effendy with the solid reason of aiming to enhance his artistic
expression preliminary for Malaysian readers to better comprehend the local narra-
tives. At the same time, stereotypical representations were denied, such as
Muslims wearing religious attire often portrayed as pious Muslims. As Hall (1997)
has pointed out about the ways of interpreting signs, using stereotypical represen-
tations in their comics enable the readers to interpret them as the intended mean-
ing of the artists. This is due to the stereotypical representations being expected
to be interpreted in a similar way among people who are exposed to the same
surroundings. However, when portraying real-life experiences, this could be in
opposition to the expected meaning by the readers. Similar to an issue high-
lighted by Brooks (2005) in his discussion of realistic representations by realist
authors in history, the challenge to portray what the comics artists perceive as
real could lead to criticism by the locals

Symbolic representations
All participants expressed their dubious feelings upon receiving criticism from local
readers or publishing authorities on their comics. For instance, VieN, Fingernailz, and
Zharif received critical remarks regarding characters’portrayals in their comics which
resemble particular ethnicities. In the case of Zharif, he was being cautious in repre-
senting antagonistic characters in order to avoid resemblances with any ethnicity in
Malaysia (e.g. Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc.). He explained the challenges he faced in
designing the antagonistic character: ‘[The character in top panel of Figure 4] repre-
sents the Vesdun Province. Vesdun does not exist at all. And it totally does not sound
like Malay or Chinese …I purposely invented this name only to ensure that no one
would be offended.’In the top panel, the character of the Vesdun province is attempt-
ing to manipulate the leaders of a group of provinces during a debate to start a mili-
tary war against a particular empire, which could lead to their own devastation.
Zharif deliberately portrayed this character including his facial features, clothes, and
the name of his home province as an obvious antagonist. They were contrasted to
other characters that had symbolic representations of certain nations such as Turkey,
Malaysia (Muslim countries), and China, as shown in the bottom panels of Figure 4.
Fingernailz, in his case, had resolved a conflict with his readers by redrawing a
scene. In the scene in his comic book (Figure 5, left), he portrayed two Muslims doing
a toast together with several other characters to celebrate an occasion. A toast is usu-
ally done with alcoholic drinks in celebration or in honour of something, and
Malaysian Muslims associate the action of toasting with the behaviour of non-Muslims.
Therefore, the scene was considered as the portrayal of Muslims conducting a sinful
act, even though no alcoholic drinks are involved. He gave the reason why he por-
trayed the scene as follows:
I am used [to be friends] with the Chinese and all. So, sometimes we would do the
cheers. So, for me, it was like nothing [offensive]. But then I was condemned by a lot of
people, saying that, at least between the two Muslims, they could just handshake. If only
with the Chinese, maybe it would be okay.
Fingernailz did not expect such a scene would spark controversy since it was a com-
mon practice for himself. For the revised version of his comic book, he decided to make
alterations to the scene as shown in Figure 5, right side. By referring to this case, how-
ever, he expressed his frustration by saying, ‘Even with such [simple] matter, we [artists]
have to think a lot.’In fact, the act of handshaking in such a situation in the middle of
their meeting is an uncommon practice among Muslims, even though it was the idea
suggested by Malaysian readers. The act of handshaking between Muslims is commonly
done for greetings upon the beginning of their meeting and at the end when bidding
goodbye. Since this celebration is among people with different ethnic backgrounds,
highlighting a different act by the two Malay Muslims and emphasizing their differences
was to reduce the representation of harmony among different ethnic groups in
Malaysia. This is in fact contrary to what the Malaysian government intends to highlight
in many promotions of national integrity and patriotism in media.
For Topek, Rabbit-miza, Effendy, and Abam Apam, they expressed feeling frustrated
when they were rebuked for including obscenity in their comics. In the case of Abam
Apam, in the publication process of his comic strips with an authorised publisher, a

few scenes were identified as inappropriate to be published as they were. Abam
Apam was given a condition by the publisher that the scenes were to be pixelated in
order to be published. This was due to the presence of obscene images (e.g. a charac-
ter showing an obscene middle finger gesture) and texts (e.g. motherfucker), as shown
in Figure 6 (top). The bottom image, on the other hand, demonstrates how his original
comic strip scenes were pixelated by the publisher. However, even having the images
or texts pixelated would still allow his readers to assume what was there in the
first place.
Despite agreeing to the condition, Abam Apam was feeling discontented since his
actual intentions of including those obscene images and texts were to deliver emo-
tions of the characters effectively. He said:
One of [Malaysian publisher’s] policy is sopan [Malay word: polite]. So they censor it. And
then, there’s a word back there, motherfucker [pointing the page]. Censored [with
disappointing tone]. I don’t blame them. I mean, they want to print my book. They put
some regulations, you know.
He compromised his artistic expression by accepting the censoring decision in
order to have the opportunity to expand his career in the local comics industry.
However, he raised the concern that, with such censoring practices, the development
of the local comics industry would be repressed. As a result, he continued to self-pub-
lish his comic strips on his Facebook page and at Malaysian fan conventions.
Effendy also had similar thoughts with Abam Apam on the matter. He shared one
of his experiences as follows:
[The publisher] said, your artwork is what we have been looking for. But we cannot
publish it. If we do, we are going to face problems. They will run through all the thing
that the Home Ministry forbids. Smoking, cannot. Sexy, cannot. You know. All those
things, everything, cannot.
Figure 7 is an example of a scene in Effendy’s comic book containing the action of
cigarette smoking and an taboo word, ‘bitch’.
Despite a few publishers finding favour with his comic book, he turned down the
publication opportunities to retain his original ideas for conveying his stories to the
readers. Nevertheless, Effendy was feeling discontented with the regulations by the
Home Ministry and saw it as a restraint to artistic expression. In response to the condi-
tions, he said:
Just do it. What are you afraid of? …I don’t care what they [authority] think. If I stop and
care, I think, I should stop drawing. Because there are a lot of things you cannot do. So,
what’s the point? I want to move forward with my story.
Standing up for his artistic expressions, he preferred to self-publish his own comics
instead of tolerating the existing censorship. Among the study participants, Effendy
was one of the older and more experienced freelance comics artists compared to
those who were producing their comics on a part-time basis and as students. Being
aware of the restrictive condition of Malaysia’s authorised publications, he opted to
enter the local comics market through fan conventions with less restrictive regulations.
At the same time, he did not limit his target to the local market, but also made use of
his drawing skills, which were recognised by an internationally renowned publisher, to
be active in the overseas market.
A study by Gan (2011) has shown that a Malaysian Chinese artist, who uses manga
references in producing her comics under a publisher, fully complied with the regula-
tions regarding prohibition of taboo elements (e.g. sexy clothing, cursing, sexually
stimulating scenes) imposed by the Malaysian authority. For the participants of the
present study, however, having their comics published by authorised publishers
appeared not to be the only way for them to enter the local comics market. Self-pub-
lishing, either offline or online, provides alternative ways for them to produce their
comics with more freedom, where it is needless for them to compromise certain
aspects of their artistic expression. Choosing not to comply would, however, reduce
their chances for authorised publication in the local comics market. Nevertheless,
either way, the sensitivity of the local readers about ‘traditional morality’will always
be an issue they would have to confront.
Moreover, this study found that the participants’intended meanings were misinter-
preted by the local readers and publishing authorities. The obscene texts, for instance,
were an expression of emotions of the characters; an action of toasting was intended
to represent a joyous celebration. However, the local readers and the publishing
authorities did not even recognise the authors’intended meaning and interpreted
them as offensive to ‘traditional morality’. This is comparable to the phenomenon
highlighted by Hinton (2014). He discussed how Westerners (i.e. the British and
Americans) had misinterpreted certain scenes or dialogue in manga and anime as
inappropriate, which then led to censorship. As Hinton has shown, outsider views on
‘others’leads to negative interpretations of symbolic representations that carry differ-
ent meanings among people in different countries. This study found that misinterpre-
tations have also occurred within a country itself, as well as among people who are
assumed to have the same ethnic or religious background. As far as we know, in the
Malaysian general public, the issue of ‘freedom of expression’, which is experienced by
some artists in other countries (e.g. U.S., Japan), would be suppressed for the import-
ance of protecting ‘traditional morality
Individuality over nationality
With the fact that the transnational flows of American comics and manga have been
the major contributions to the development of the Malaysian comics industry, differ-
ent exposures to the respective trends have resulted in the study participants being
mindful of the generation gaps among Malaysian comics artists. Zharif, Fingernailz,
Charkoil, and Xanseviera shared their thoughts on how Malaysian senior comics artists
(henceforth senior artists) tend to criticise the newer generation of comics artists
based on their style. Being among the comics artists affected by the manga trend in
Malaysia as both an amateur and professional, Xanseviera highlighted the current situ-
ation of the Malaysian comics industry. She explained:
[The] Malaysian comics industry nowadays, we’ve kind of separated between two
different parts. So, there are people who oppose manga style, and there are people who
love manga style. The one who oppose manga style is the one that draws mostly looks
like Western [comics] …They are kind of looking down [on] the manga style.
Particularly, the senior artists have worked under older humor magazines such as
GILA-GILA, which gained popularity in the 1980’s. Charkoil pointed out the fact of the
origin of GILA-GILA as follows:
GILA-GILA is basically a rip off of Mad [American humour magazine]. I really hate the fact
that nobody wants to admit it. And then they [GILA-GILA comics artists] are like, oh, you
guys drawing manga. There’s no Malaysian style in it. Oh, come on! You guys don’t even
start your own style. You copied someone’s style in the first place.
She gave an example of a particular senior artist, where the artist ‘drew about
mamak [restaurants that usually run 24 hours a day and serve Indian food, owned by
Malaysian Indian Muslims], which is very unique to Malaysia.’Despite the fact that the
senior artists drew stereotypical representations of Malaysia, which were what they
thought of as important attributes of Malaysian style, she disagreed with such claims
and therefore disapproved of their Malaysian originality.
Fingernailz also believed that the senior artists’art style originated from elsewhere.
He said, ‘[Their style] is also not a Malaysian style. Not even Malay style.’Charkoil dis-
approved of the idea of national identification in comics, saying, ‘You shouldn’t really
pin down a country to a style.’Opposing such national identification, the participants
preferred individual identification, instead.
Shun Shao, Topek, Rabbit-miza, Abam Apam, and Fingernailz clearly expressed that
they were striving to achieve originality. For instance, Fingernailz said:
[I] prefer to think of individuality instead of locality. Rather than saying this is Malaysian
style, why not say this is Pokcik Fingernailz’s [style], right? So for every artists, it does not
matter [they are] from which country, each have their own style.
Although he acknowledged heavily incorporating references from manga while por-
traying Malaysian settings in his comics, he had never identified his comics with either
of the nationalities. Nevertheless, his originality had been recognised by his readers.
He elaborated:
[I]f I ask other people, they said I already have my own style. Because when they see my
artworks anywhere, they could immediately identify that it is my artwork. But when I ask
them, why? Which part that you say you could identify? They said, I don’t know …But I
know it is yours.
Thus, the defining characteristics of his originality were ambiguous to his readers
and himself. Abam Apam also shared how he achieved recognition of his originality.
In the case of Abam Apam, his readers were able to recognise his distinctive style of
line art, where he uses thicker lines compared to comics by different artists. He said,
‘People can see from far. They say, oh, that’s Abam’s [comics]. And the thick line must
be his [work].’He claimed his originality by saying, ‘[I]f people try to imitate my style,
they usually forgot [about the thick line]. They used thin lines. And that just put us
apart.’Due to the particular style of his line art, it could clearly be distinguished from
his original comics with imitations of other artists.
Effendy, on the other hand, claimed that referring to different elements from his
favourite artists, mainly from Japan and the U.S., resulted in achieving his originality.
He explained
the accumulation of things that I like, that’s what they call style, you know. If you
take things that you like, right? And you blend [them] together, that’s what they call the
personal style. So, it’s my personal style.
However, he also described his experience that other people judged his style differ-
ently during portfolio review sessions he joined while attending an American comic
book convention. Portfolio reviews are sessions for companies (usually in the art or
creative industry) to review artists’portfolios containing their artworks. He was told by
an American company representative that his works used manga style, while a
Japanese company representative said that his works were Western style, instead.
From this incident, he realised that he ‘can make [both styles].’At the same time, he
also claimed, ‘I’m neither this, I’m neither that. I am my own.’For him, such ambiguity
is the definition of his originality. It makes him belong to neither of the sources that
he adapted, and he had instead created a new and original style which belongs only
to him. In fact, all participants rejected the national identification of their comics by
any nation’s name, neither Malaysia nor Japan. The participants instead identified their
styles as their original, and pursued for recognition of individuality. This shows that
comics production could unbind a fixed sense of nationality, which in turn could
guide them in progressing towards transnationality.
Senior artists took American comics as their sources of reference to produce their
own comics before the manga trend in Malaysia began in the late 1980s (Lent 2015).
The study participants, on the other hand, were exposed to the manga trend during
their early adolescence and had access to both manga and American comics at the
same time. This resulted in their experience in comics production being pursued
through a different path than those of the senior artists. Though Japanese cultural
commodities, including manga, have been described as ‘culturally odourless’(Iwabuchi
1998), the study participants who had incorporated manga as sources of reference
always viewed them as the national commodity of Japan. In fact, being aware of the
national origin of the comics is essential for enabling them to unbind the fixed sense
of nationality of their own comics.
As Bryce et al. (2010) have highlighted on manga having a distinctive style com-
pared to American comics, the participants’comics could be distinctively recognised
by Malaysian readers because of the manga stylisation. However, their comics were
recognised as having their own particularly unique characteristics by the local readers.
Furthermore, the participant’s comics, as in Effendy’s case, could also be recognised as
having either the manga style or others by non-local readers. Their negotiations with
the views of ‘others’who were subliminally attached to a fixed sense of nationality
were a crucial process to release them from the ways of identification that have usu-
ally been bound with the national origins of comics
onclusion
As self-claimed fans of Japanese popular culture, all study participants followed the
manga style in their comics production to some extent, while portraying their own
version of locality based on their real-life experiences. This comics production was
found to be a challenging endeavour in the presence of nations, locals, and ‘others’
due to discrepancies between the meanings intended by artists and the meanings
expected by readers. Thus, this conundrum has contributed to the manifestation of
ambiguous positions in their products. Raising questions and rationalizing options
individually, artists incorporate their judgement on how they deal with stereotypical or
symbolic representations in their production. Comics production involves identification
of the self and ‘others’while constructing stories, designing characters, visualizing
scenes, and writing up dialogues and monologues.
This study provides insight into cultural production by artists who grew up during
the era of transnationalisation of cultural commodities. The process of self-expression
in comics production evolves artistically and socially. Likewise, the process of identify-
ing the end products, comics, as well as various people and things, continuously
evolves. These identifications are situated in social contexts with the presence of
‘others’. The ‘others’are not only nationally, ethnically, and religiously frameable, but
also frameable according to individual views about others. This study did not aim to
compare generation and background gaps such as ethnicity and religiosity among
Malaysian artists. However, it provides evidence that those artists who have exposure
to transnational cultural commodities appear to gain opportunities towards the realisa-
tion of ambiguity in various identifications that occur in our everyday lives. The self
and ‘others’are tended to be identified within a certain static frame, but the frame of
identity is a fluid entity. In this sense, comics production can be a platform for the
realisation of ambiguous identification as a process. In this process, the artists’con-
sumption of cultural commodities that transnationally flow with taken-for-granted
national frames also plays a crucial part in deconstructing the imagined frame.
Furthermore, this study’s findings imply the need to increase awareness that form-
ing essential nationalistic frames or symbolizing any imagined group in an essentialis-
tic manner could cause tensions, even among people who are assumed to be in the
same cultural frame. Conducting more studies on cultural production such as comics
production, regardless of the artists’statuses as amateur or professional, would con-
tribute to expanding and deepening insights into tension, confusion, and instability
regarding variation in identification occurring daily in a localised and global-
ised society

References
Abdullah, M. 2015. “MOY Publication tutup operasi, majalah Ujang berkubur”[MOY Publication
closed down operation, Ujang magazine ceased publication]. Astro Awani, August 7. http://
www.astroawani.com/berita-hiburan/moy-publication-tutup-operasi-majalah-ujang-berkubur-
68725
Allison, A. 2008. “The Attractions of the J-wave for American Youth.”In Soft Power Superpower:
Cultural and National Assets of Japan and the United States, edited by Watanabe Yasushi and
McConnell David L, 99–110. New York: M. E. Sharpe.
Anderson, B. 1991. Imagined Communities: Revised. London: Verso Books
Brooks, P. 2005. Realist Vision. New Haven: Yale University Press. http://letrasorientais.fflch.usp.br/
sites/letrasorientais.fflch.usp.br/files/BROOKS,%20Peter%20-%20Realist%20Vison_0.pdf
Bryce, M., C. Barber, J. Kelly, S. Kunwar, and A. Plumb. 2010. “Manga and Anime: Fluidity and
Hybridity in Global Imagery.”Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies 10 (1): 22.
http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/articles/2010/Bryce.html
Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia. 2004. The Malaysian
Communications and Multimedia Content Code [Public Document]. http://www.cmcf.my/down-
load/cmcf-content-code-english.pdf
Denison, R. 2011. “Transcultural Creativity in Anime: Hybrid Identities in the Production,
Distribution, Texts and Fandom of Japanese Anime.”Creative Industries Journal 3 (3): 221–235.
Dervin, F. 2013. Researching Identity and Interculturality: Moving away from Methodological
Nationalism for Good. In Intersecting Identities and Interculturality: Discourse and Practice,
edited by Regis Machart, Choon Bee Lim, Sep Neo Lim, and Eriko Yamato, 8–21. Newcastle:
Cambridge Scholars.
Du Gay, P., S. Hall, L. Janes, H. Mackay, and K. Negus. 1997. Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of
the Sony Walkman. London: Sage.
Gan, S. H. 2011. “Manga in Malaysia: An Approach to Its Current Hybridity through the Career of
the Shojo Mangaka Kaoru.”International Journal of Comic Art 13 (2): 164–178.
Gibson, W. J., and A. Brown. 2009. Working with Qualitative Data. Los Angeles: Sage.
Hall, S. 1997. The Work of Representation. In Representation: Cultural Representations and
Signifying Practices, edited by Stuart Hall, 13–74. London: Sage.
Hesse-Biber, S. N., and P. Leavy. 2011. The Practice of Qualitative Research. Los Angeles: Sage.
Hinton, P. 2014. “Representation or Misrepresentation? British Media and Japanese Popular
Culture.”NECSUS. European Journal of Media Studies 3 (1): 89–108. doi:10.5117/
NECSUS2014.1.HINT
Hu, K. 2005. “The Power of Circulation: Digital Technologies and the Online Chinese Fans of
Japanese TV Drama.”Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 6 (2): 171–186. doi: 10.1080/
14649370500065896.
Iwabuchi, K. 1998. “Marketing ‘Japan’: Japanese Cultural Presence under a Global Gaze.”
Japanese Studies 18 (2): 165–180. doi: 10.1080/10371399808727650.
Iwabuchi, K. 2002. Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism.
North Carolina: Duke University Press.
Jabatan Perangkaan Malaysia [Department of Statistics]. 2015. Unjuran Populasi Penduduk 2015
[Projected Population of 2015]. http://pmr.penerangan.gov.my/index.php/info-terkini/19463-
unjuran-populasi-penduduk-2015.html
Joo, J. 2011. “Transnationalization of Korean Popular Culture and the Rise of ‘Pop Nationalism’in
Korea.”The Journal of Popular Culture 44 (3): 489–504. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00845.x.
Lent, J. A. 2015. Asian Comics [Kindle Edition]. Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.
Leonard, S. 2005. “Progress against the Law: Anime and Fandom, with the Key to the
Globalization of Culture.”International Journal of Cultural Studies 8 (3): 281–305. doi: 10.1177/
1367877905055679.
Manen, M. V. 1990. Researching Lived Experience. New York: State University of New York Press.
M
ori, Y. 2011. “The Pitfall Facing the Cool Japan Project: The Transnational Development of the
Anime Industry under the Condition of Post-Fordism.”International Journal of Japanese
Sociology 20 (1): 30–42. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6781.2011.01146.x.
Mustaqim, K., and M. Mahamood. 2015. “Construction of Design: A Formal Proposition of
Graphics Analysis of Comics.”In International Colloquium of Art and Design Education Research
(i-CADER 2014), edited by Oskar Hasdinor Hassan, Shahriman Zainal Abidin, Rafeah Legino,
Rusmadiah Anwar, and Muhamad Fairus Kamaruzaman, 173–193. Singapore: Springer. https://
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-287-332-3_19
Nakano, Y. 2002. “Who Initiates a Global Flow? Japanese Popular Culture in Asia.”Visual
Communication 1 (2): 229–253. doi: 10.1177/147035720200100207.
Napier, S. J. 2007. From Impressionism to Anime: Japanese as Fantasy and Fan Cult in the Mind of
the West. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
84 I. JUNID AND E. YAMATO