3. Origins
• In Japan, the word manga means comics of
any kind. In the West, we have adopted the
word manga to just mean Japanese comics, or
to an art style from late 19th century Japan.
• Manga have a long history in Japanese art and
culture, but the manga that is known today
has only been popular since just after World
War II.
4. The manga art style is distinctive and widely recognised.
While every artist is not the same, common features include:
• Large eyes
• Exaggerated facial expressions
• Elaborate costumes and hairstyles
Manga are nearly all printed in black and white, so manga artists use
halftones to shade and texture their pages. It is not uncommon for
whole panels to be without shade or tone, but this is possible
because of the way the images are outlined. Thick and thin lines are
used where halftones are not.
5. Magazines
• Manga are mostly published
through magazine anthologies that
are released weekly and
monthly, depending on the
magazine itself.
• The first manga magazine, Eshinbun
Nipponchi, was made in 1874 and
only ran for three issues. It had a
very simple style and was not
popular. It influenced some
successors, titled Kisho Shinbun and
Marumaru Chinbun. The first manga
magazine for boys, CREATED
1895, was titled Shonen Sekai. In
1905, Shojo Sekai, the girls’
counterpart, was created.
6. Volumes
• Manga volumes or series are released in
chapters and these chapters are what are
serialised – when there are three or four (or
more) chapters for one series, these chapters
are made into volumes and republished alone.
7. East vs West
• Compared to Western Comics, that usually feature
superheroes saving the world, Manga are much less sci-fi
and are instead often heavily based on magic or fighting
(usually both).
• Another difference is that Manga heroes nearly always
have their own missions to fulfil, rather than the save the
world archetype that America has given comics.
• Single stories can go on for years and many volumes before
they are finished. Again, this is different to comics in that
comics may have backstory but no story goes on for quite
as long. Because comics don’t have a definite end (a result
of the lack of having a single mission to fulfil), they may go
on for decades. Manga, though long, are finite.
8. • The order of reading a
manga is different to the
order we would naturally
read, because Japanese is
traditionally written
horizontally from right to
left.
• Until recently, when manga
were translated the pages
would be flipped so that
Western readers didn’t have
to adjust. This lead to some
inconsistencies, with rights
becoming left, but worked
overall.
• Manga are now left in their
original format, and
translated versions have a
“STOP!” page where
Westerners would start
reading in case they are new
to the format.
9. Anime
• Comics are made into cartoons; manga are made into anime.
Anime, as a word, is again used in Japan to mean all cartoons but
used in the west to mean cartoons made in Japan.
• Though every popular manga has a companion anime, the cartoon
version often strays from the manga storyline, and this can result in
different things.
• Usually everyone carries on and accept the gaping differences –
common practice among fans is to treat the two versions
differently. Most faith in what is official and what isn’t lies with the
manga.
• In the case of Fullmetal Alchemist, another version of the anime is
being made that does follow the manga. In the case of Tsubasa
Chronicles, the anime was pulled by the manga’s creators and is
entirely discredited by fans.
Clip from Tsubasa Chronicles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvv-2XhIpQ0
Corresponding manga chapter:
http://www.citymanga.com/tsubasa_reservoir_chronicles/chapter-109/07/
