I have spent the weekend exploring manga and graphic novels and it has been an adventure I have shared with many of you. But I did want to share what I found to be the dark side of this culture- and it is an entire culture that will take you places you have not been.

Still, I have never had my computer attacked immediately upon opening a YouTube file.

Sunday I was perusing the selection of videos offered under the category manga 2009 most recent selections. I clicked on one of them and zap! My Norton anti-virus went nuts and I had to spend a good deal of time ridding my computer of a virus that had attached to four location. Those red flashing lights on yellow background was like an emergency road sign warning "Danger! Danger! Danger!"

Of course I did not download any more YouTube files from similar sites. I set up a new rule for myself. I will not download something that is brand new and I will not download something without a significant track record or that is from a familiar source I know I can trust. I didn't get into manga or any other exploration to mess up my life.

This reminds me of that old climbing rule, always have three stable attachments and one moving part. IN other words, haha, make sure three of your appendages are solidly connected to whatever you are climbing before you release the fourth and move it in an upward or downward or sideways direction. In other other words, keep safe. It's generally a long fall.

Manga has all sorts of audiences. There is manga for elementary girls and elementary boys. There is manga for teen-aged girls and teen-aged boys. There is manga for young horny males and females and manga for alternative lifestyles like Boy Love. There is manga for women and manga for men. There is a lot of pornographic manga.

You don't want to get something that will offend you or pervert your child. It's not all good.

I would tend to trust titles in a local library.

As an aside, I went to my local library yesterday with the intention of checking out manga and classic graphic novels. I stood before row after row of manga and a tight fist seemed to twist my stomach. I had no idea what to do. I couldn't find the graphic novels and book after book of manga listed titles of which I was clueless.

Fortunately in the thick of my dismay, an old friend of my kids came up and knew all about everything manga. He is in his early twenties and he guided me through the shelves. Of course manga books read right to left but the shelves go left to right so that is a bit confusing.

Just so you know, the graphic classics tend to be taller books and much less interesting looking than the manga from Japan, haha. If you want to have an interesting afternoon, go peruse the manga shelves. And strike up a conversation with the kids that stand beside you. You will be amazed.