It seems like every expat I have ever interacted with in Japan came here to be in closer contact with some beloved manga they read back home. They wanted to get closer to the source. To read it in Japanese. To spend hours in manga cafes just like the locals.

Well, I don’t read manga. Never have, never will. You know why?

Because I am an adult!

I have never seen the appeal of these small, black and white illustrated picture books. Maybe I am missing something. But my philosophy is: If everyone seems to be into something – don’t do it. Do the opposite. I read novels and nonfiction. I appreciate real art. Not mass produced, serialized fluff for the masses.

Yes, I have tried to read manga. I suppose it could be a decent learning tool for colloquial Japanese. But this obsession the foreign community seems to have with these juvenile paperbacks seems a bit ridiculous. I’ll keep reading long-form, unillustrated tomes – and leave the comics for the kiddies.