Well after some wrestling, I managed to install the upgrades for this site. While checking things out, I noticed a referal link from a Google search on "popularity of manga", so I did some digging and found that one of my blog entries was high on the list of Google results. w00t!
I then checked some other search engines and stumbled across A samurai sword might help, an article about the trials of an Aussie learning Japanese. The rants are almost over the top, but I feel his pain. Of more interest was the notion that the popularity of manga amongst Japanese youth is retarding their knowledge of kanji. I found it interesting because the manga I read generally have helped me learn new kanji because usually the hiragana for the kanji is written in small script next to it. This is how kanji in titles are often handled in anime as well. Of course it is very likely that this is not the case in the majority of manga and anime. For example, the Shonen Jump manga translations that my kids read and a lot simpler than what I read which implies that the original Japanese version is simpler too. I guess I’ve just been reading the good stuff! 😉