Today I’d like to step away from strictly Japanese material and take at look at Megatokyo, an OEL (Original English Language, i.e. written by a westerner in English) Manga and webcomic by Fred Gallagher.
Nebbishy Piro (an anime and manga fanatic) and wisecracking Largo (an obsessive video gamer) are two Americans stranded in Tokyo without resources to get home. Being fluent in Japanese, Piro is able to convince his Japanese friend Tsubasa into letting the two of them stay at his place; unfortunately, Tsubasa’s patience soon wears thin, and he abandons the two Americans in order to find his long-lost first love. Piro is able to use his language skills and knowledge to find employment at an anime and manga store, and Largo is somehow able to bluster his way into a job as an English teacher at a local high school. An interaction at a train station puts Piro into contact with Kimiko, an aspiring voice actress - and roommate of Erika, Piro’s cynical coworker. Piro struggles to establish a romantic relationship with Kimiko, while Largo’s decidedly non-English language instruction at the high school (he spends most of his time giving video game tips and teaching his students to construct computers) puts him in the path of ninjas, zombies, the Tokyo Police Department, and a teenage girl who just might be the Queen of the Undead.
Gallagher has been able to take what was originally a one-joke strip and parlay it into a rich and complex - both emotionally and plot-wise – story, with a richly constructed world involving dozens of characters and a highly elaborate plot; in particular, he succeeds in making Kimiko and Erika into very real and complex characters that act as foils for Piro and Largo, rather than simple “girl next door” and tsundere (respectively) stereotypes one finds too often in anime and manga.
Likewise, this strip is a goldmine of anime, manga, and video game references for a western otaku – witness Largo’s self-applied title of “Great Teacher Largo” (a reference to the 90’s anime/manga Great Teacher Onizuka), the numerous instances of Mechs, several giant-lizard attacks, elements of harem comedy, and the inclusion of a loligoth (the enigmatic Miyo), robot girl (Ping, a human-like PS2 accessory) and magical girl (the awkward Yuki, one of Largo’s students). Gallagher is able to take these Japanese-specific references and mix them with American elements (ala zombies, video game slang, gunplay, and self-deprecation) to create a unique East-West blend of culture and humor; his depiction of Tokyo is a clever combination of real Tokyo and Tokyo as imagined by an American fanboy, a dense and sprawling Blade Runner-like metropolis full of huge billboard advertisements, robots, schoolgirls, otaku, and Power-Ranger-like superheroes keeping the peace.
Although I was originally exposed to Megatokyo through one of its print compilations, this webcomic can actually be viewed for free at megatokyo.com. Because it’s high quality and amazing ease of access (do be aware that the print version has a number of extra strips and sketches that the web version does not), I definitely recommend clicking on the link above to start reading. As I mentioned, the plot is pretty complex – so newbies probably want to start at the first strip; the FAQ and Story links are presently down.
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