Read It, Right to Left
The practice of using Western binding, as Ms. Sari recounted, began to change when Elex Media published Samurai X (Rurouni Kenshin). The manga’s author had requested that the main character’s X-shaped scar on his left cheek be maintained that way. Since it was impractical to modify the position of the scar in the whole manga if the manga was flipped as usual, it was decided to publish the manga using the original Japanese binding. Despite some initial scepticism, the manga still became a best-seller, proving that readers can accept the use of Japanese binding. Currently, most of the manga published by Elex Media are published with Japanese binding. There are some exceptions, like Detective Conan and Q.E.D. That is because those titles have been published continuously by Elex Media since before the switch to Japanese binding.
As time goes on, references to Japanese culture are also maintained in Elex Media’s manga releases. “Readers now are already aware that the comics are from Japan anyway. With the Internet, it’s easier for readers now to know and learn about Japan,” Ms. Sari said. “In a way, it makes the job of translating easier, since we don’t need to modify Japanese references or names. Readers are also more active and critical; they may complain about changes.”
Since 2005, Elex Media has launched a label for adult comics, Level Comics. In addition to that, Elex also began to adopt age rating for the comics they release. In the beginning, all comics rated “dewasa (adult)” are published by Level Comics label. Other comics published by Elex Media are rated “semua umur (all ages)” or “remaja (teen).” Recently, Elex Media has changed its age rating system with numerical categories. The reason for that, Ms. Sari revealed, is because the use of numerical age rating is required by the National Library of Indonesia, which is the national ISBN registration agency for Indonesia. The rating system now used by Elex Media is as follows:
SU (semua umur): suitable for all ages
12+: late elementary school to middle school range
15+: high school and college student range
18+ (Level Comics only): adult
In deciding the rating, Elex Media does not follow the Japanese categorization of “shounen,” “seinen,” “Shoujo“, or “Josei“. Rather, Elex Media tries to consider the suitability to Indonesian standards.
Ms. Sari use Attack on Titan as an example. In Japan, Attack on Titan is serialized in the Bessatsu Shounen Magazine. But In Indonesia, the manga is published under the Level Comics label with an “Adult” rating due to the depictions of violence in the series. In addition to violence, other factors that may determine the adult rating include sexually suggestive contents or the difficulty of the story to be understood by younger readers. Elex Media does not publish outright pornography.
