Text and Dialogue
- Narration separate from dialogue is more evident in American Born Chinese, as Naruto is narrated primarily through character dialogue.
- In American Born Chinese, dialogue balloons and thought balloons are distinguished from one another. In Naruto, dialogue is in balloons, while thoughts are presented in a stylized text without a baloon. Sakura's thoughts are posed next to her dialogue through the depiction of her with a different expression with the label "inner Sakura".
- In both of these graphic novels, sound effects are conveyed through captions, which are stylized texts the side of the action.
- In Naruto, emanata is used in the form of exclamation points in the case of a character being alert or surprised. This is also used in American Born Chinese, but in addition, some images are used. For example, clouds are drawn around a confused character's head.
- An example of a label in American Born Chinese is when a frame is labeled "Fresh off the boat" to describe the term "F.O.B.", while in Naruto, sections of the comic are given headline labels and are accompanied with a summary image.
- The lettering for dialogues and captions differ from one another in both of these comics. However, in Naruto, the font point sizes differ and the pitch of the letters is often crammed to fit text into a balloon.
- Sound effects are portrayed in different fonts than the dialogue, such as "clap", "haha" or "smack" in American Born Chinese. In Naruto, sound effects are less traditional, such as "boff", "tak tak", and "ungh".
Visual Features
- Characters are black and white in Naruto, and shading and physical features are much more detailed. In American Born Chinese, the characters are colorful but are much more simply drawn. Each character's race is differentiated through the use of skin tone.
- Objects, scenery, and icons are all simply drawn in American Born Chinese. I like this much better than the detailed drawings of Naruto, as it produces less page clutter.
- Quick action is depicted by several lines of motion in both of these comics. In American Born Chinese, slower actions are depicted over the span of several frames.
General Layout and Design
- Both comics use clean, straight borders. In Naruto, some of the pane;s run to the end of the page and only use two internal borders.
- In American Born Chinese, the gutters are all the same size. This makes the comic cleanly presented and establishes a form of uniformity. In Naruto, the gutters that are closer together are used for consequent pane;s, while larger gutters separate the breaks in a sequence of panels.
- The panels are generally used the same way in both comics. Most panels are smaller, but the larger panels are used for significant actions or wide-angle views. Open panels are used for the more spacious images or to portray a character who is in a setting not conformed by a setting, almost like a dream sequence. This is evident in Naruto when Naruto is admiring Sakura and in American Born Chinese when the Great Sage stood at the five pillars.
- There is a splash page at the beginning page and the ending page of American Born Chinese, while there are several splash pages, mostly at the beginning of a new chapter, in Naruto. However, the comic also includes a two-page spread to provide a large panoramic view of a rooftop scene.
- Bleed is used throughout Naruto, while the pages of American Born Chinese are all cleanly conformed by an even page gutter.
- Close ups are used throughout both of the comics when one specific character or object is the sole subject of a panel.
- Head shots are used to create dramatic character reactions in both comics.
- Head-shoulder shots are common in both comics, but they are the most common shots used in American Born Chinese.
- Full-figure shots are used in both comics, but they are the most common shots in Naruto.
- Longshots are used in American Born Chinese to depict characters walking away or arriving from the horizon of the scene. In Naruto, longshots are used to show characters' proximity with one another. Extreme longshots are used to show characters' surroundings and their extreme lenght of distance from the common population of a scene.
- Reverse shots are used in both comics to show a scene from the point of view of a specific character. In American Born Chinese, reverse shots are also used to set a mood of shame.
Rhetorical techniques applied in text, visuals, and design
- Exaggeration is used to portray characters' emotions in both comics. Additionally, asian culture is exaggerated in both comics to present stereotypes, such as the extreme ninja techniques portrayed by both comics.
- Empathy is applied to the Asian characters in American Born Chinese, as they are portrayed as forlorn individuals in response to the injustices they face. In Naruto, Naruto's teacher shows him empathy by believing in him and fighting to protect him because they both grew up as orphans.
- The primary mood of both of these comics depicts the anxiety felt by the main characters to be something they are not.
- In Naruto, the images are very complex and detailed to help narrate the story. In American Born Chinese, the images are simple to compliment the dialogue and narrations without directing attention away from the text.
- Satire is evident in both of these comics to exploit the stereotypes of ninja culture associated with Chinese culture.
- Realism is used in both of these comics to expose the subordination of minority groups. As the Asian characters in American Born Chinese and Naruto in Naruto are attributed different physical characteristics than the other characters in the comics, their appearances are juxtaposed with the unjust treatment to which they are subjected in order to present social prejudices.
- The character Chin-Kee is used to present disorder in the comic American Born Chinese. His irrational behavior is used to present a stereotypical view of a Chinese individual's deviation from American cultural norms. In Naruto, battling and disorder are presented as orderly cultural norms. This serves as a stereotypical view of Chinese culture surrounding ninja battles.
- In American Born Chinese, White American culture is juxtaposed with Asian characters' inability to fit in to present the theme that the Asian characters desire to be someone else in order to escape prejudice. In Naruto, Shinobi characters are juxtaposed with students to show the theme that the students are striving to be more than who they already are.
- In both of these comics, power is attributed to the majority population, and this creates a conflict between them and the characters who serve as visible minorities.
- In both of these comics, the point of view is that of an outsider looking in on the action of the story.
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