The New York Times continues to show an interest in the comics biz with an article on one of the most globally popular creative teams, the all-female manga collective CLAMP. The group – responsible for such diverse hits as Tsubasa (Del Rey have a new Tsubasa character guide about to be published), Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits and XXXHolics – discuss their manga, the anime based on many of their series and how well their work seems to have gone down with the English-language audience.
They also touch on a subject which has been cropping up increasingly in the online comics sites, that of women in comics (and indeed animation). One of the team, Ms Ohkawa, remarked:
“While it’s true that the number of female directors in the animation industry has increased over the years, it’s more common for women artists to present their work in manga. It’s a way for them to express themselves freely. Strong female characters have become very common in manga — Sailor Moon is probably the most famous example — but I don’t know that women in Japan have become stronger. We’re in a unique position: Clamp makes a presentation to the publishers about what we want to do, receive an approval and go to work.”
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