Let me talk about the final subject of “poverty”—real poverty.
There is actually no such thing as “fake poverty.”
People in countries with a GDP per capita in the $30,000 range still struggle in their own way, even if clean running water is readily available.
In countries with a GDP per capita of around $60,000, such as the United States, the middle class also struggles, even if their cars are extremely large.
The standards are simply different.
There are many definitions of hardship.
In some cases, even eating cup ramen noodles can feel like a sign of wealth, while in others, life can feel extremely difficult despite outward stability.
However, there are also people who are truly poor by any global standard.
I know a wonderful Japanese person who volunteered in parts of Africa where there is no electricity or running water.
She lived there for several years and taught children in those communities.
Those children do not have smartphones, of course, which means they have almost no way to access manga at all.
(Of course, this is a simplified description. Reality is always more complex, and I hope to talk about it in more detail another time.)
I have no problem if those children were to read my manga for free.
If I could, I would even want to teach them manga myself.
But in reality, they do not need manga education in the first place—they simply have no access to it.
There are no manga readers, and no aspiring manga artists there yet.
Yeah... this is an important point when we talk about poverty and manga.
I believe that a country can begin developing a manga industry once it reaches around $2,000 in GDP per capita.
It can already become an important market, and eventually a major comics-producing nation.
Around $10,000 per capita, which was roughly South Korea’s economic level when I made my debut, a strong manhwa industry is already possible—and indeed, South Korea had already become a major manhwa-producing country by then.
Manga also has the power to help transform a developing nation into a cultural powerhouse over time.
That is one of its true strengths.
I have mentioned two key ideas about manga before:
First is diversity is one of manga’s greatest strengths.
Second is manga gives opportunity to children in poorer countries, and through them, the culture and soft power itself grows and becomes stronger.
The baseline here is roughly $2,000 GDP per capita and access to basic infrastructure such as running water.
When a country cannot even build basic infrastructure, manga cannot easily become part of daily life—because there is no access to it in the first place.
No smartphones, no internet connection, sometimes not even basic tools for reading or writing.
But I do not give up on this idea.
In fact, I have long been thinking about how manga could still reach those people as a form of hope.
Individually, manga only requires very simple tools—paper, a calendar, a pen or pencil.
But what is truly needed is a system.
Yes, a system.
There is no more affordable art form than manga when it comes to learning and education.
But it requires infrastructure.
And ideally, that system should allow children to access it for free.
This is where “poverty” and “free access” must meet in a positive way.
In the end, real poverty is exactly this kind of situation: a world without phones, without social media, without running water, and therefore without access to manga at all.
For those people, manga must move forward—not as a paid product, but as something supported by systems, education, and infrastructure.
And later, when value is created, global long-term investors and industries can recover that value in sustainable ways.
Of course—not through piracy.
To be continued...
Capcom President Haruhiro Tsujimoto says their success can be attributed to the move away from individual led development:
“In the game industry, when a title becomes a series, it often ends up depending heavily on a particular developer, becoming what you’d call an
Tomorrow Brasil is playing a world cup game in New York and likely winning. The Knicks are also likely to win the finals. All in a weekend. NYC is not surviving to see Monday.
Every JP direct is like "heres the coolest anime game ever" and then the EN directs skip those to show you the worst imaginable "wholesome game" ever made
55 Followers 231 FollowingHot bait files🥵,mega Links and VIP group/channel for lifetime access..I'm also taking bait requests. Hit me up @. https://t.co/1bkajfQ4zl
91 Followers 3K FollowingSoft brown dreams & glossy eyes ✧
cozy vibes • calm energy • gentle chaos ☁️
Creating a warm little space
where every stream feels like home 🤍
✨ aesthetic
2K Followers 4K FollowingTransformando la visión del
Trading con IA & Scanners 🤖
Liderando comunidades
FREE & VIP de alto nivel 💎
+500 Estudiantes Ganando 💸
Click acá 👇🏼
60 Followers 589 Following🎤 Bringing dreams to life in the virtual realm ✨
🌸 Spreading joy through pixels and melodies 🎶
🌈 Embracing the digital stage 📱
252 Followers 2K FollowingProduced by Rick Beato, HS is an American rock band that incorporates samples and synthetics to give depth and vigor to their edgy rock sound.
2.3M Followers 2K FollowingOpen Source Intelligence Monitor focused on Europe and Conflicts across the World. RT ≠ Endorsement. Want to Support my Work? https://t.co/PcUbewvWPr
119K Followers 503 Followingi draw!! professional beetlejuice understander. yes i'm the teen simpsons couch gag guy. and the hey arnold/patakis guy. and the dreamworks trolls guy. he/him
582K Followers 892 FollowingSince 1984, we’ve dedicated ourselves to gathering and publishing the greatest films from around the world. For our streaming service follow @criterionchannl.
15K Followers 112 FollowingOnline gaming store for all your retro gaming needs.
Creators of the MemCard PRO series of pro-grade memory cards.
Join us on Discord! https://t.co/qq3rdHi12n
95K Followers 10K Following"Key Context" Substack covering Nvidia/AI. Reached #1 new bestseller in first 24 hrs
Subscribe https://t.co/3N2fHOXQfL
"Be so good they can't ignore you"
128K Followers 310 FollowingHello, I'm Boichi, a mangaka! The creator of 『Sun-Ken Rock』, 『ORIGIN』,『The Marshal King』and 『SUNDAY'S MOMONGA』 and the artist of 『Dr.STONE』.
168K Followers 3K FollowingCardboard enthusiast. I play Magic the Gathering @commandcast. Ted from @VGHS. Cook @FeastOfFiction. Din in Wish Dragon (Same director as Kpop Demon Hunters!)
3.6M Followers 40 FollowingThe official home for games published by Bethesda: Starfield, DOOM, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Wolfenstein & more!
1.1M Followers 299 FollowingOfficial account of Bandai Namco Entertainment America! Promoting console & PC video games. Our Support Team is here to help: https://t.co/ccIMBDh9QX
1.8M Followers 23K FollowingDeveloper of #WolverinePS5, #SpiderMan2PS5, #RatchetPS5 and more. Part of PlayStation Studios.
Join our community: https://t.co/ADgLz5zaOH
8.7M Followers 11 FollowingSteam, The Ultimate Online Game Platform. Follow us here for news on the latest releases and special promotions!
For support: https://t.co/ecoSK7uTBx
935K Followers 133 FollowingOfficial Capcom USA account. Visit https://t.co/K368oyXJzo for the latest news. ESRB ratings vary from E to M. Join our Discord: https://t.co/TJPevYR5Xz
155K Followers 245 FollowingOfficial (semi-retired) source of Action Tweets from Double Fine Productions, creators of Psychonauts and Brütal Legend. Find us on Bluesky and Instagram!
449K Followers 2K FollowingSenior Correspondent @verge ║ Sign up to Notepad, my newsletter on Microsoft's big bets at https://t.co/KqkAib2CKP ║ Tips? Msg on Signal app: tomwarren.01
250K Followers 15 FollowingThe Home of Gaming News
Other Brands: @InsiderGamingE, @InsiderGamingT, @InsiderGamingG
Video: https://t.co/00XhH4OeCl
See You On The Inside