Sisters Peaceable and The Bride have posted their mangatars, and now here's mine.
Mangatar is a made-up word formed from manga + avatar, where manga is a specific style of Japanese graphic art used in comic books (the Japanese word for "comic book" is manga). Avatar is a representation or icon of a person, to be used in virtual reality graphics or in cyberspace (it comes from the Hindu word meaning the earthly embodiment or manifestation of a god).
I found this interesting etymology when I was looking up the history of manga:
MANGA.. In 1814 the famous Japanese artist Hokusai created a book of black & white sketches that he called manga (involuntary sketches). In recent Japanese history the word has come to describe those small illustrated books of black & white ink drawings that tell a series of stories.Graphic novel would be the closest translation for "manga" though they are not at all like novels in the Western sense, nor are they comparable to Western comic books. Manga cover a wide range of topics, from fantasy & adventure, to sports & cooking.(from The Black Moon: Art, Anime and Japanese culture) I think it is fascinating that the famous Hokusai is ultimately responsible for such a tidal wave of current pop art and culture (i.e., in a way, all modern graphic novels).
Meanwhile, back to the subject at hand:
You can see us all in one place here. Funny how we all chose blue backgrounds and fairly similar clothes, and Peaceable and I chose the exact same haircut (which we don't in real life, although our hairs are the same in curl and texture and natural parts, etc.). It also appears that all three of us chose the same eyebrows (out of about 15 options).
Frankly, I don't think The Bride's is very like her (except, clearly, her eyebrows) -- she might go back and correct it. (Although, to be fair, an avatar doesn't have to look anything like the real person behind it. After all, no one's going to see you. Why not be someone else?) Who would you manga-be?
4 comments:
You and I look like sisters! But I don't understand your hair color. You are the auburn-haired one!
I believe the Bride was still working on hers. I've had two iterations since the first one. The hair color, clothes and background have remained the same, the background, but I've played with everything else.
Speaking as one, you also have two brothers, neither of whom has a blog. Why don't you do a Mangatar for them as well. It would be interesting.
DaBris
Good idea, DaBris. I'll work on it.
As to my hair color -- the auburn hair option didn't look quite right at the time. But I'll try again, as long as I'm there for the bros.
DaBris--Bride and I both created our own mangatars. Vivi only created her own; she didn't make one for us. You should follow the links and make your own Mangatar. It is surprisingly amusing to do.
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