HYDERABAD: Japanese Manga comics have been silently popular in the city, now more than ever. While most millennials recall anime through TV series such as Dragon Ball Z and Beyblade — both adaptations of Manga — some have moved beyond these and got hooked to reading the original comics. For true-blue fans, it’s an addiction, but have always found it difficult to get their hands on the paperback versions. So, they end up reading these online at a premium.
But the recently concluded Hyderabad Book Fair and Lock The Box sale impressed Manga fans in the city with their collections. “If it’s not a set, I don’t want it. You can’t just pick up any random volume and go about reading it. You miss the storyline and also the true essence of the characters.
The development of the characters is the most intriguing part about Manga comics,” says A Natrajan, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer from the city. “I had visited the Hyderabad Book Fair recently and found a treasure trove of original Manga volumes. These were hard copies in mint condition. Each comic costs about `300. I ended up buying 41 after bargaining and paid Rs 8,000. This collection — although some of the comics I have read online -- will be my most prized possession.”
Another Manga fan, Sankeerth Kumar, a student at BITS Pilani, says, “Boruto, Black Clover, Solo Leveling, Demon Slayer, Tokyo Revengers and Jujutsu Kaisen are the ones that stole my heart. I want to explore more comics. I don’t read these online anymore. I have been looking for paperbacks and my hunt to for the perfectly bundled volumes at an affordable price is never-ending. There was a time when I had spent Rs 5,000 on one collection.”
Bookstores also went the extra mile to import comics during the Hyderabad Book Fair. “We had bought an imported collection in an auction. The comics were imported from Japan and showcased at the Hyderabad Book Fair,” says Akshat Singh, manager at Bookmark book stores, Gachibolwi. Vidyut Sharma, co-founder of Bookchor.com which held the Lock The Box sale, says, “Our collection includes all kinds of books. There is a lot that a reader can choose from, even in Manga comics. But, they would have to really hunt for their favourite ones in the collection.”