I hate America - the manga!

22.12.2008 by Patrick W. Galbraith

Tis the season to be jolly, and this one made me chuckle. The title is "America nante daikirai" (アメリカなんて大きらい), simply "I hate America." The English subtitle is "Do you like America?" I take it the artist Takanashi Midori does not. Her work was serialized in popular manga magazine "Morning" and released as two manga volumes in 2004.

A young Japanese girl comes to New York and her boyfriend get's killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She takes up a camera and embarks on a journey to find the America he loved, and herself.

The story might have been a serious and moving one, but instead it deals in so many cultural cliches that I couldn't help by laugh. Let's do a run down:

Violent, indulgent Americans with guns? Check!

John Wayne as a role model? You bet.

Killin' Osama bin Laden? Can I get a hell yeah?

Do American's like maids? No - it's Hooter's baby!

And just for kicks, how about throw in some Amish. (There are Native Americans and blacks, also, but I think someone would shoot me if I post those images here.)

Maybe it's a little weird for an American to say this, but I enjoyed this despite all. It's wild to see what this author, and ostensibly her Japanese audience, see in America. The worst parts of the country as they are percieved are right there in vivid drawings, black and white as big as you please. It reminded me of "Moe USA," another manga dealing with Japanese perception of foreigners. Only "Moe USA" deals with non-Japanese visiting Akihabara and love Japanese otaku culture, where as "I hate America" shows how one young Japanese girl cannot bear the United States.

I wonder if anyone else has checked this out? Any thoughts?

8 CommentsComment Page 1 of 1

yeah wrote on 29.11.2009:

@ Kyle

you hit the nail on the head.

Patrick wrote on 01.8.2009:

I somehow doubt this one will make it into English!

Anon wrote on 01.8.2009:

ogawdlol. Though I only visited it, America ain't like that at all...
Got an English translation?

Ninjin-kun wrote on 07.7.2009:

I got it from this guy http://www.twitter.com/Yokattaweb

Patrick wrote on 05.7.2009:

I found it at Kinokuniya, a major bookstore with locations all around Japan. It is a bit old, though, so your best bet might be Amazon.jp

Abashi wrote on 05.7.2009:

where can i buy this?

Richard wrote on 08.6.2009:

They forgot the inexcusably loud douchebag, you know, like the ones from Familyguy?

Just got back from America, it was a sadly predictable country, sorry to say it but the cliches hit the spot!

Kyle wrote on 05.1.2009:

I can't wait for "Nihon nante daikirai," in which a young American comes to Japan. After her salaryman boyfriend dies from karoshi, she goes searching for the Japan he loved. She eats whale, meets up with some burakumin, hangs out with depressed, suicidal kids at a cram school, and pays her respects at Yasukuni ... and so on. Only fair, neh?

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