He continued to add, “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?’“

"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 said.