Danielle and Nicole Pelham know which cartoon changed their lives.
In sixth grade, about 15 years ago, Pelham turned on the TV at 6 a.m. and was greeted by “Sailor Moon,” a Japanese import. She was astounded.
She woke up her little sister, Danielle, and together, they became hooked.
“There was blood and death and fighting,” Nicole Pelham remembers. “It was such a different look from anything we’d seen.”
Now, from their Everett home, the 20-somethings write and draw manga under the banner of NDP Comics. Their independent imprint is just one more sign of the boom in popularity manga and anime have enjoyed in the past five years.
Manga literally means comic in Japanese. Along with anime — a style of animation featuring doe-eyed characters in manic story lines — the form has become a touchstone in popular culture.
“I feel like there’s a generation of kids that instead of growing up on Snoopy, they grew up on Pokemon,” Kuo-Yu Liang, Seattle-based vice president of sales for Diamond Book Distributors, said. “For them, the transition to watching anime and reading manga was very subtle. I don’t think they feel like this is foreign.”
While manga started in the United States as a cult phenomenon, signs of its popularity now are abundant.
A live-action “Speed Racer,” based on the Japanese series, zooms into theaters this May, directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski. It’s the brothers’ first movie behind the camera since the “Matrix” trilogy ended in 2003.
Trendy stores like Hot Topic carry T-shirts promoting manga series.
And Diamond Book Distributors, responsible for shipping comics throughout the world, has seen manga sales double annually for about five years.
“Things are just happening very fast,” Liang said. “We’re in some ways reacting to it.”
One often-cited estimate placed manga sales in 2006 at more than $175 million, double its 2002 gross.
“Everybody watches anime, everybody reads some kind of manga,” Danielle Pelham said. “It’s getting to the point where it’s popular with everyone.”
That may be overstating things, but Pelham’s excitement is understandable given her business.
New Destiny Productions, also known as NDP Comics, was founded eight years ago. The independent line publishes a small run of manga series, usually with print runs topping out at 1,000 issues.
The Pelham sisters split responsibilities: Danielle, 23, is the artist while Nicole, 28, writes the stories and manages the office.
“She’s older so every now and then she gets bossy,” Danielle Pelham said, “but I’m younger, so every now and then I’m kind of jerky. So it all balances out.”
The Pelham sisters also teach classes on manga at area libraries, including a course at Granite Falls Library in March.
At that class the sisters spoke to a group of about 30 teenagers and adults about manga storytelling techniques.
“I think the tweens and teens like to read, and they may also really appreciate the comic book format and the characters that go into the genre,” said Linnea Epstein, the children’s liaison at the Granite Falls Library.
While the manga drawing style has an appeal, the odd story lines help cement the attraction for fans.
Manga and anime feature a wide range of subject matter. Along with fantasies for children, adult series can have sexual overtones and bloody fight scenes. Many manga come with a rating system, helping parents decide if a title is age appropriate.
The Pelham sisters write some series directed at a teen audience, like “Dojo Destroyers,” but their most popular line is meant for everyone. Called “As Told By,” the series adds a manga flair to classic fairy tales: Little Red Riding Hood is a boy, for instance, or “Jack and the Bean Stalk” stars a kleptomaniac.
The manga flair, as described by the Pelhams, involves amping up the story, making it quirkier and more emotional.
“If you need someone to be upset or angry, their mouth will drop off, their face will turn red,” Nicole Pelham said. “They don’t have to keep it realistic. They’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you understand what this character is feeling.”
With its blend of overemotional characters, kinetic drawings and pure escapism, it’s easy to see why the genre appeals to some teens.
“I think it’s the same reason that superhero movies are so popular right now,” said Megan Brown, 22, a Granite Falls resident who took the Pelhams’ course.
The Pelham sisters intend to stay in the field. In 2006, Diamond started distributing their series. The sisters also recently founded an offshoot of NDP Comics called Manga Kissaten. They won’t divulge details about it but claim it could excite manga fans throughout the Northwest.
And to think: None of it would have happened had it not been for a Saturday morning cartoon.
“It was a life-changing thing for me,” Nicole Pelham said.
Reporter Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455 or e-mail arathbun@heraldnet.com
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