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Comic Strip for Teen-Agers Gets A Sequel
2002-12-20
The huge success of "Music Up",a local cartoon strip,has prompted its creators to launch a sequel to it.

"Falling in love with"hit the stands over the weekend and is expected to be another roaring success.

"Music Up,"which focuses on teeny-bopper love and deals with adolescence behavior and related issues,has been a runaway hit,selling over 520,000copies since it hit the stands over six months ago.

The caricatures are the creative work of two local artists,Xie Yanyan,26,and Zeng Wei,27,who have successfully managed to dislodge Japanese cartoons from the shelves.

Much of Xie and Zeng's works revolve around youthful friendship and adolescent love.

"I like 'Music Up'because it's the first of its kind in China.The characters are so amiable.Everything they do,or talk,or even think is just what we do in real life,"Liu Aiwen,a eleventh grader Shanghai native,said.

Smelling a huge market,the Shanghai People's Publishing House jumped on the bandwagon and published "Music Up"-its own version of today's teen life and its tribulations.

The sequel,"Falling in love with",deals with issues of "pure love"involving college students and life on the campus.

"I think the only reason for the book's success is because it portrays the true side of a teen-ager's life,their interests and their anxiety,"said Xie.

Besides the content,the book is also designed in the style seen in Japanese and Hong Kong cartoon strips,which are "graceful and fantastic,"Xie said.

However,some parents and teachers are expressing concerns that such books divert students'attention from their studies.

"I don't see my daughter learning anything from the book.The only difference is that the publisher is a Chinese this time,"said Yang Zhongwei,a 44-year-old father.

"I think the content is a bit amateurish and immature.The problem is students like to imitate them,"said Zhang Jinlian,the director of Shanghai Children and Juvenile Psychological Guidance Center.

However,Cao Yang,one of the editors for "Music Up,"said the book's theme "is a true narration of a student's life -one with a positive attitude.That can hardly be called harmful."

(From Chinadaily.com)
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