Like a just-hatched wet chick

So Thursday, on my way to the Lower East Side, I'm down in the subway (which gets freaking hot and stuffy in the summer). She's standing on the platform next to me. This girl/young woman (difficult to discern age, dramatically shorter than me but quite filled out, though maybe just chubby) in a black t-shirt with the following quote on the back:

I watched for something
like a just-hatched wet chick.
Yet my heart beats;
I am alive.
-- Banana Yoshimoto

Yes, that's Yoshimoto Banana of Fruits Basket fame.
A whirlwind of mixed emotions. I'm shocked and appalled, impressed, disappointed.
Impressed because it isn't just the manga, the cartoon, the artwork, the image. This girl, and her peers/friends I assume, knows who Yoshimoto Banana is, has been touched enough by the work to take an interest in the creator. That is great. That makes manga more than a faceless phenomenon, and it is a statement about the creator's abilities.
But... why Yoshimoto? Her work is fun, yes, but it's just a little vapid (like so much Shoujo manga out there). Oh sure, if I were to study it, I'm sure I could come up with all sorts of cultural connections and repercussions, but... if I remember my readings correctly, she doesn't even consider herself an artist. She's a celebrity, a money-maker, a Shania Twain of the manga business. But her name and her words are on this girl's shirt...
in New York, one of the cultural centers of the world.

The other day Ryan was complaining about InuYasha. I haven't actually seen it, but from what he tells me, it's not so special. It's like all the other bad anime being well-received in this country. And I'm frustrated. I want anime, manga, comic books to be held to the same artistic standards as other media. I realize there is bound to be crap out there, but why should the imported stuff be crap too? Has it gotten to the point where it's cool because it's Japanese? Why can't it be cool because it's good, clever, meaningful? Ironic, isn't it? That globalization brings different cultures together, seemingly breaking down boundaries, but then causes consumers to become more aware of those boundaries.
*shudders*

Things to ponder in Tokyo.