The French government gave young people €300 to spend on anything cultural—and they bought comic books. In May, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the rollout of Culture Pass, a program that would give 18-year-olds across the country access to an app with €300 to be spent on cultural activities. But instead of buying theater tickets and classic novels, the majority of young French consumers spent their cash on manga—75% of all purchases made through the app were for books, and around two-thirds of those books were manga. From anime filters on Snapchat to the resurgence in popularity of Avatar: The Last Airbender, manga and anime have grown wildly popular among Gen Z worldwide. Japanese anime has even turned into one of Netflix’s most “bankable” genres. The genre is especially popular in France where booksellers are getting a boost thanks to Culture Pass. (NYT)
