♪ capital of vietnam

attendees at this event dress as character trs popular japanese monoga. these young people raised in a period of rapid economic development are known local ly s the 9x generation. most were born in the 1990s at government economic reforms began to bare fruit. . popular culture floded in from overseas. one form that had a particular impact was japanese mon ga. . here is one website that's been a big hit with the 9x generation. work is uploaded for free and rated by readers. the site then crowd sources funding to publish print edit n editions of the most popular

stories. set up two years ago, the service is run by production firm comicola. to date it has published 20 experimental aimed at young people. at the heart of the activities are two young creators who have worked together since high school. but here in vietnam, strict publishing regulations still hinder this fledgling culture. >> just two weeks after it was released, it's just a pun many young people use. >> reporter: can culture take root in vietnam? we focus on the southeast asian

nation's home grown comic scene. >> in central hanio with numerous bookstores, this has been known for a literary district. on weekends many parents bring their children here. they rush to the manga corn er. comics are well established in vietnam as leisure reading for kids. factoring in pirated editions, some 18 million comics are produced here each year. 90% of those are translations of foreign titles with japanese manga. a particular favorite. but recently these trends have begun to shift.

bookstores now carry graphic novels by local artists. and most buyers are from the 9x generation. >> one of the best local manga draws on historical themes. few home grown comics tend to make it into print, so readers like me are always on the lookout for new titles. >> holy dra u gone imper tor, a series set in vietnam is popular with readers in it their teens and 20s. this historical epic is based on vietnam's triumph against the mongolian invasion. but it's not all about war. readers also learn about the everyday life of the common people. their work has one attention for

its strong vietnamese identity with little influence from foreign manga. it's currently on its third volume. the artist behind holy dra gone imper tor is this 30-year-old. he often walks the streets with a camera. his aim is to capture echoes of the ancient culture and customs ordinary people. >> i like to snap people who look vietnamese and then sketch the pictures. i found something very vietnamese above this fellow stopping off for a beer on his way home from work.

>> raised in an artistic household, he's always drawn. he finishes the sketch in just 15 minutes. the office of manga producer is tucked away on this side street. the company ceo wrote the script on which imagery u is based. they are currently working together on the fourth volume. >> i'm wondering about the cover art. i want it to look striking. it has to look cruel, but it seems a little stiff and beorin

to me right now. what do you think? >> if that's how you feel, we can always try something different. how about putting him on horse back and full armor. >> they first met as classmates in high school. bonding over a shared love of comics, they teemed up to together at the age of 18. >> he has a great aesthetic sensibility because he's from an artistic family. >> and he's really full of these great ideas. you see his scripts really allow me to focus on my own art. >> reporter: both were born in 1986, the year that the vietnamese government introduced its reforms. by the time they reached school

age, pirate translations of japanese manga began to appear. they were a hit with children. while at elementary school, he was bitten by the manga bug. he saved up his pocket money to buy comics he still treasures today. >> manga helped us gain a natural understanding of foreign cultures. look at the streamer on this page here. where else can can we have learned about these things back in 1992. japanese comics opened up new horizons to vietnamese children. they were our introduction to the wider world. i dream of doing the same. i want to communicate with

vietnam's traditional culture and i want to use the most natural medium possible, which to me is manga. >> in college, they initially created holy dragon as a serial for a newly launched magazine. unfortunately, the publication folded after only eight months. >> manga magazines would go bust almost as soon as they were launched. vietnamese manga didn't have the depth or the quality that readers really wanted. >> back in those days, domestic publishers had no real idea what manga was. there was just no way to make a a living by creating these comics. >> after university the pair

went in different directions. he became freelance the other took a ononline. but both retained their passion for creating the comics they loved so much. in 2013 they hit upon a new way to get their work published. they put up previews of their work online making these tasters available for free helped to raise their profile and attract a following. they used crowd funding to cover the publication costs from individual fans. they focused their efforts on reviving the epic they have written as college students. for the new edition, he redrew

all the artwork from scratch. he visited museums and studied the clothes and customs of the period. his goal was to accurately portray the atmosphere of 13th century vietnam, where the story was set. one particularly useful resource when look iing back to the midd ages was traditional folk art prints. many portray historic events and folk stories while others offer a glimpse at everyday life. for centuries, households have displayed these images to bring good luck. >> this chicken and the ducks, they were inspired by historical print. they are not an exact copy, but they do have the same sort of feel to them. >> the manga also shows how in days gone by vietnamese stained

their teeth black. more than just a comic, research was good for history. crowd funding began in april 2014. and thanks to donations from 462 people, they reached their $13,000 target in only two months. 24-year-old who lives in southern vietnam contributed $8. >> we waited a long time for something like this. there were plenty of kids comics, but nothing you wanted to read. to me it wasn't about investing in a publication. it was a way to participate in a community that was making manga.

i wanted to be a part of that. even on a small scale. >> the first volume of holy dragon imper ter had a huge impact. it was the first his ttorical manga for adults. the buzz even spread overseas bringing them international awards. then in december 2014, he set-up manga production company. the idea was to use crowd funding to publish the work of young manga artists and the underlying aim was to help establish a new manga culture in vietnam. >> translator: manga is still not widely understood in vietnam and writing comics is noteally

sesneptable profession, but 9xenat kids undg and get passionately behind it. we just wanted to create a place where we could help saspiring young manga creators to realize their work. >> in its first two years, comicola has helped artists get their work into prt. one is this 23-year-old. she joined straight out of art school and has already published two titles. her emotionally expressive work has found particular popularity with young women. she is currently preparing for her third release "let me be closer to you." it's adapted from a popular

novel by a 28-year-old female author. it's 19-year-old heroine battles cancer and a breakup from her boyfriend. the female perspective on romance is combined with a portrayal of contemporary vietnamese medicine. >> translator: romantic comics tend to be more matter of fact. but women have a different ideal. they want something more dream-like. a break from reality. as a woman myself, i u want to put that feminine perspective across. >> after growing up in a middle class home, it was well at art school that she decided to draw manga. but at first, her parents were strongly against the idea. >> translator: we had sent her to college to study interior degn. we just didn't think vietnam's

manga industry would ever take off. and having to draw all that detail on every page, it's back breaking work. >> but she continued to create manga in secret. in 2015 sher woher work was accy publication by comicola. eventually her father began to soften his stance. he decided to read her work for himself. >> translator: is this a girl? >> translator: it's a guy. oh my, god, dad. >> translator: what a handsome fellow. >> her parents were especially

interested by the extra short strip at the end of the book. it shows her drawing manga as she talks with an imaginary character. >> hey, the phone's ringing. >> you're closer, you get it. >> no, i need to make dinner. >> well, i'm tired after doing the laundry. >> in the end, the caller hangs up. >> translator: this is exactly u the sort of thing that happens in our house. but she's captured it so naturally. it's really funny and so cute. >> translator: i don't really understand manga, but i see my daughter's passion for it which she stays up every night working. >> translator: when we were young, we couldn't be open about our feelings.

if you liked someone, you tended to keep it to yourself. young people today can express those feelings openly, which is the way i think it should be. >> these days her parents are eager to support their daughter in her dreams. printing has begun on the upcoming release "let e me be closer to you." the ceo takes her along to check on progress. >> is that too blue? >> maybe a little. look at this. >> she seems unsure about the colors on the cover. the book has to meet the

expectations of the crowd funding contributors. in the end, she asks for the cover to be reprinted. in the evenings, the office becomes a manga classroom. established young artists teach basic drawing techniques. there are two classes of six. mostly college students, these day siisciples dream of turning. today's special guest lecturer, he reads the students' work and gives them individual advice. this 22-year-old architecture

major has been wri for seven years. he shows one work based on an old folk tale. >> things happen a bit too fast on this page. you have to try to show what he's doing a little more clearly. in this scene he's fixing things. so we should draw some tools scat cannered around like this. then we draw here. it gives you a clear length to the next scene. you see what i mean? as you draw, you have to imagine where the reader will begin. and how their eye will move across the page.

with advice to one of vietnam's leading comic artists, you learn so much. he's given me lots of tips to improve my drawing. >> he's working on the artwork for the fourth volume of holy dragon impertor. with the invasion intensifying, he has a lot of battle scenes to draw. but as he works, he has one major worry. if the combat scenes are too realistic, there's a chance that official permission for publication might be denied.

>> i put this out through a firm five years ago. but just two weeks after it was released, they recalled every e edition. >> the killer with a head full of festering sores is a collection of humorous images. each is based on a pun sending up a traditional saying. such word play is very popular with young vietnamese. >> translator: i u don't know why the book was recalled. i was just told it violated publication codes. but i never found out exactly which pages or which aspects were problematic. i never got a clear explanation. >> after rounding up all the copies, the publisher removed certain pages and redistributed the work. >> when the book reappeared,

pages referring to the army or the police had gone. like this page here. here in vietnam, any sort of reference to the army or the police is a very delicate matter. this page was deleted too. if you're mad at the world, prison is just as good as priesthood. it's just a pun many young people use. but perhaps it could have been scene as a criticism of buddhism. this kind of language is no problem in daily conversation or online. but in the publishing world it's

different. >> all firms require permission from the government. they are presented to publishing house for pribting and mark marketing. >> we both want the change the outlook of the publishers, don't we? so moving forward we need to come up with a good way to achieve that. >> it may be hard, but i have an idea that just might work in principle. >> we could form our own

publisher. why don't we file an application. >> it's a good idea, but it's not realistic. our portfolio for now we should focus on manga creators. >> these partners may not always agree, but they are united in their desire to take manga to the mainstream. the printed copies of the latest work arrive at the office. the first run of 100 books is for distribution to the media. she wasn't happy with the colors on the initial cover. what does she think u this time?

>> the cover seems to be fixed, but his face is folded in two. >> the design has been shifted moving one character's face partially out of the frame. >> translator: i'm not happy with this. >> you know the drill by now. don't just tell me about it. get on to the printers yourself. >> every detail is the responsibility of the artists herself. with the advice, she decides to make another adjustment before the final print. >> translator: there's still a few small things left to fix, but i'm happy to see my book in

print at last. >> for now she gets down to autofwrafing each of the 100 copies. >> translator: within the next ten years, our generation, the generation that understands the value of manga will be playing a key role in vietnamese society. i want to make sure that when that time comes, comicola and manga is going to change. >> the use of vietnam are driving a new cultural movement. and down this quiet side street, these young manga creators intend to keep on pushing to take their art form to the mainstream.

a very warm welcome to nhk "newsline" broadcasting to viewers around the globe. it is 10:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. our top story this hour. the defense secretary of the united states is set to reassure south korea and japan of his country's alliances with them. he started with a tour to their capitals on thursday. observers say james mattis wants to remove concerns about president trump's campaign remarks. trump says he may review the nature of the alliances. in south korea, matt