DUBAI // The UAE's first Japanese-style manga was in the spotlight yesterday at a book signing in Dubai.
Gold Ring, a story about an Emirati teen who trains falcons, has been out for four years and has since developed a cult following among both Arabic and English-speaking teenagers in the UAE.
It was written by Emirati Qais Sedki and drawn by Akira Himekawa - the collective pen name of two Japanese artists A Honda and S Nagano - who were behind the acclaimed Zelda manga series.
All three appeared in Dubai Mall's Kinokuniya book store yesterday to meet fans and sign copies of the books.
"I've had a few kids come up to me and say that they want to have a falcon," said Mr Sedki. "That's exactly what I was looking for. It's very heartwarming."
The purpose of publishing the book was to encourage local children to read classical Arabic, he added.
"A lot of bilinguinal young adults who have the ability to read in English or Arabic, often choose to read in English," he said. "I'm trying to reverse that a little bit by giving them an overnight incentive to use their ability to read in Arabic."
"The reason I set out to do this is to get children reading at a younger age, and to get them to associate something traditional with something cool, like manga."
He said there was a disturbing trend of young Emirati adults shying away from reading.
"They're borderline allergic to it. But they do make an exception for manga. You don't lose any cool points by reading manga."
One of the artists Ms Honda said that there were initially challenges in presenting a culturally appropriate manga.
"This is the first time we did something set in Arab culture, so we had to be really careful about the details," she said. "We couldn't draw a man and a woman in the same scene. It had to be either the husband or children separating them. There was some cultural differences there."
Akira Himekawa and Mr Sedki will also be at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition later this week, where they will present a Japanese twist on the traditional sport of falconry.
Faisal al Remeithi, 29, from Abu Dhabi, said many Emiratis were interested in Japanese culture through anime and manga.
"For 30 years we've been watching Japanese animation on our TVs, but dubbed into Arabic," he said. "Most of us have been watching it since we were children, so this is interesting for us now.
"It's good to have our own manga, and it's important that people read it in Arabic, because that's this country's main language."
Manga fan Johnathan Brewer, 23, originally from the US, said he was impressed by Gold Ring. "I've read a few pages and it seems pretty cool," he said. "As a kid I loved falcons so that's a draw for me.
"It does seem like a good mix of cultures. Manga is a great way about learning of other people and places."
mcroucher@thenational.ae
