Title: Omoshiroku!!

Creator(s): Laura Post (writer) Minerva Inciong (artist)

Publisher: Keenspace

Format: Webcomic

Price: Free

Pitch: Not Another Teen Movie, but replace teen movie with Manga Comic.

Omoshiroku!! is a Webcomic that doesn't take either itself or the Japanese manga genre to which it belongs very seriously. In fact, the title translates to “boring” - but at least it offers enthusiastic boredom, as indicated by the double exclamation points.

Omoshiroku!! is probably best described as “low art”. It is not a great literary or artistic achievement, though some of artist Minerva Inciong's pin-ups get close. The strip is clever and has charm, which makes it fun to read.

One factor that makes it difficult for this series to consistently rank as “high art” is the creators' schedules: the strip comes out three days a week. Sometimes it's just line work, while other times it's fully painted. A second limitation is rooted in the subject matter. Omoshiroku!! is a genre-aware strip, the kind of piece that examines a genre by examining and imitating its formula. Many genre-aware examples in film are spoofs like “Not Another Teen Movie”. The Boondock, Saints and Unbreakable are examples on the comic pages. Omoshiroku!! is a spoof, but doesn't rely on raunchy humor.

Had I known in advance that the Webcomic was Manga style before reading it, I would have never bothered to read it. I hate 90 percent of manga and Japanese anime, manga's animated cousin. But the presentation of Japanese pop-culture references and gags is so clear that even the most anime ignorant can get an idea of what they are poking fun at. Plots are centered on staple anime storylines. “I Choose You”, one of the most recognizable, parodies Pokemon and its clones.

The main characters, each of which represent an anime archetype, add to this satirical style. Their interactions often become interesting/amusing, placed within a storyline that isn't their typical niche.

When I said earlier that Omoshiroku!! mocks anime/manga, one must bear in mind that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and this writer artist team definitely love their subject matter:

TCP: Writer and artist collaboration is more traditional to Western/American comics [than to Japanese]…How did this collaboration start?

MI: We've been friends for a long time, since high school, and she was always more the writer-type person, I just do the drawing thing.
LP: When I began to write Omoshiroku!!, it wasn't meant to be a Webcomic, it was meant to be a radio play. I'd been writing it but I wasn't producing it (I hadn't cast it yet). Minerva told me “I want to do a Webcomic but I can't think of anything,” so I told her she could do Omoshiroku!! it should translate [to manga] pretty well.

TCP: You're both obviously into anime. How did you get into it? Was it just the Anime or was it also Manga?

MI: I was into both.
LP: I'd seen some random things like Voltron and Escaflone on Fox Kids. Pokemon… But then I got a cable modem-
MI: I can't believe you just admitted that!
LP: What?! I bought it on DVD! I own the DVDs now. But then I had plenty of people to recommend anime to me like [Minerva]

TCP: It seems to me that there are a lot of people who'll love anything drawn in an anime style, no matter what…do you find that there are a lot of those people out there?

MI: Yeah…I used to be one of those.
LP: I know people who are like that are Cartoon Network junkies. If it was on Cartoon Network, it was wonderful and amazing.

TCP: You two have been on hiatus (During the time of this interview, Minerva was in her final semester at NIU). What do you have planned next?

LP: I actually have something…to put up during this hiatus, [the idea is] going to be the beginning of “Omoshiroku!! The Movie.” My boyfriend is supposed to do the art…He got one comic done, a pin up…
MI: I was wondering what that was.
LP: She didn't know about this. This [story] is like the anime movies: There's always some new character, and you can't figure out where in the series it takes place. I'm about halfway through writing it, but only two comics are done, we'll probably finish only a small piece of it. Then [Minerva will come back] and we'll go back to the series and that will be the last of Omoshiroku!!: The Movie.