I assume I’m supposed to read the panels right to left?
The order of the speech bubbles make more sense that way.
Seriously what the fuck. What is ice cream?
Yes, manga is read from right to left. When translating to English the panels and speech bubbles are not rearranged.
Unless it was translated in the '90s and before. A lot of early manga translations, they just digitally flipped the pages so they were a mirror image to the original manga, then added English text in the bubbles, which were now facing left-to-right.
I specifically remember Ghost in the Shell and Akira were flipped for American reading order. Maybe Battle Angel Alita too? I bought the English-translated books, but had to find fan translations online to read it in its original orientation.
Fun fact: Ghost in the Shell (the first volume) actually had a couple pages of an explicit lesbian threesome on a yacht, which were edited to a few girls hanging out in bathing suits on a yacht for the American release. Too spicy for '90s American sensibilities.
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