"Rurouni Kenshin''  Japanese pop culture has been infiltrating
American pop culture for decades. You've heard of Godzilla, and
you've heard of Pokemon. But what about the 19th-century
vagabond warrior ''Rurouni Kenshin''? What about ''Fruits
Basket''? Or ''Chobits''? Some of these appear in the U.S. as
hyper-stylized anime cartoons, but the place where these titles
are really taking off lately is, of all places, bookstores.
Paperback collections of translated Japanese manga -- mostly
black-and-white comics full of wide-eyed characters -- have
become one of the few bright spots as overall book sales are
sinking. According to ICv2, which tracks manga and anime sales,
the manga market in the United States and Canada added up to
something between $90 million and $110 million last year, an
increase of nearly 50 percent over 2002, and this year looks
even better.  In Japan, there are many manga titles aimed at
every demographic, and the form has been wildly popular for
years. (What isn't wildly popular in Japan?) '