Finding Home in Manga: from Crayon Goku to Crunchyroll
More and more people are writing about and talking about anime. I want people to realize how significant manga and anime are around the world.
Today, my guest is writer Briana Lawrence. Briana is the Senior Features Editor at Crunchyroll—an industry-leading, award-winning online platform that brings fans the latest news and features from across the anime world.
I was eager to explore the world of Japanese animation, or “anime,” which has experienced a remarkable surge in global popularity over the past decade. With the enthusiastic support of my daughter Lidia—an avid fan of all things Japanese—I invited Briana onto the podcast for a conversation about her book, The Essential Manga Guide: 50 Series Every Manga Fan Should Know, and the broader evolution of anime and manga culture.
This episode also marks a first for The Comfortable Spot, as Lidia joined me in co-hosting our conversation with Briana so I hope you are sitting comfortably and happy to stay with us.
We kicked off our conversation with me asking Briana about her career as a writer (01:00) and how she first got started, before moving on to a discussion about how we access pop culture today (03:55). From there, we delved into Japanese culture and how it has become such a fascination for pop culture fans around the world (05:55). This naturally led us to Briana’s book, The Essential Manga Guide: 50 Series Every Manga Fan Should Know, where Lidia asked her about the inspiration behind it (08:16). Lidia then followed up by asking who the book is aimed at (12:50), before we discussed Briana’s favorite entries (16:00). We also touched on the inclusion of lesser-known titles (20:46) and how manga has influenced global pop culture (25:14). We wrapped up the conversation by asking Briana whether there were any tough decisions about what to leave out of the book (39:45).
Show Notes
For more, hear my conversation with Malcolm Garrett, Claire Murray, and Nicola Pierce
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