The stories told in Japanese manga and anime are “incredibly powerful” as compared to Western comics, DC Comics president Jim Lee recently has said, adding that American comics lack the same flavour.

During a conversation with specialised Japanese digital media platform Nikkei XTrend, Lee said, “The stories told in Japanese manga and anime are incredibly powerful. I often find myself wondering, ‘What is missing in Western comics, and why aren’t they able to achieve the same flavour?’ Also, I think manga has an ‘advantage’ over American comics, which are mostly about superheroes, and that’s where the majority of sales and readers are concentrated.”

He added, “In Japan, it’s closer to ‘literature’, and anyone can read it, and it’s not just hero stories. There’s a much wider range of genres, like stories about cooking and soccer. You can draw stories from that. So I’m very happy that the manga has been so successful, because it gives me a ‘goal’ to aim for. The manga market is bigger than our industry, so the question becomes, ‘What can we learn from this?’”

Lee mentioned that the sensibility of Japanese stories makes it a completely different experience rather than the art style.

“Another thing to add is that in the West, comics and animation have been considered ‘children’s media’. As people grow up, they move on to live-action. But in Japan, that’s not the case. Not only is there a wide range of genres, but adults also read manga and watch anime. As a culture, it’s an ‘art’ that isn’t limited to a specific age group,” Lee explained.