MANGA

WHAT IS MANGA?

Manga is the Japanese word for comics. It is used in the English-speaking world as a

generic term for all comic books and graphic novels that were originally published in

Japan. Manga is often considered an artistic and storytelling style that can also

encompass non-Japanese works, however. The term "AmeriManga" is sometimes used

to refer to comics created by American artists in a manga style. Manwha is the Korean

equivalent of that idea.

In Japan, manga is either read in serialized form in monthly magazines or comic

books, or in graphic novels, which are book-length comics. All formats exist in

translation, but graphic novels are much more common and can fill a number of

shelves at the local comic shop or bookstore.

The word itself was popularized by the famous woodblock print artist Hokusai, but,

contrary to a popular myth, it was not invented by him. The word is composed of two

Chinese characters—the first meaning "in spite of oneself" or "lax" and the second

meaning "picture"—and has been used to describe various comical images for at least

two centuries.

NARRATIVE, STYLE AND ART OF MANGA

Supposed Eastern 'iconophilia' surfaces in the reception of western comics. The Japanese public and manga artists often

describe European and American comics as too 'wordy' or 'literary'. Sometimes, Western comic strip authors themselves

criticize some of these 'iconoclastic tendencies'. French artist Baudoin for instance, who made some work for the Japanese

publishing house Kodansha states that he has "never worked with a Japanese scriptwriter, because in Japan, they do use a lot of

images without text. European scriptwriters act as if a page is valuable, as if it has to contain as much as possible. Publishers

too think it's abnormal when you draw three pages of clouds alone, while that may actually be necessary sometimes" (Meesters

1997, my translation).

The amount of wordless passages in any volume of manga may be striking to the Western eye. To 'read' manga is to read

images - the rhythm is determined by the sequence of images. Of course, western comics also have a genre known as 'sourds' -

wordless comics.

A scene that would 'normally' (at least, from a western point of view) be captured in a single pane - with the necessary (or if

you will redundant) descriptive information - is now cut up over different frames. The isolated frames, with alternating 'camera-

angles', are put together in a visual continuum. Especially fighting scenes provide excellent illustrative material to this

technique. For instance, the narrative in Crying Freeman (Koike & Ikegami 1994) proceeds through a rapid succession of

images in the visual chain.

Sometimes only subtle details such as hair color or clothing mark the difference between characters, making it necessary for the reader

to be acquainted with the manga reading code in order to keep up with the story. 'Realistic' artists such as Otomo or Shirato are

exceptional and their approach fits more closely within the western paradigm of individual style.

EASTERN AND WESTERN CHARACTERS

Manga characters tend to look more unrealistic.

They have very large eyes and are very cartoon like

rather than actually looking like a real person.

Western characters tend to look more realistic, like

a real person. Their faces tend to be able more

detailed so they look convincing. None of their

features tend to be exaggerated.

NARRATIVE

Manga, unlike a lot of western comics, covers a really wide range of

audiences. western comics tend to be stereotypically superhero-ey.

Mangas have a more dynamic narrative, every panel is filled with action lines

and stuff like that, they are also very technical, they put a mind blowing

attention to perspective and every other detail.

Graphic novels tend to be more slow passed and have more text, and these

days they tend to be very "artsy“.

ANALYSISJapanese manga comics want to introduce cinematics into their manga;. Te

whole series of the above manga, the girl was looking up in the sky, feeling

lovelorn. She was just rejected by the male lead character, and on the next

page the top panel shows only the stars (she was looking at the sky), while

could only softly whisper the name of her lover in her eyes.

That’s the beauty of manga comics; it tries to make the reader imagine

the cinematics behind the whole panel of pictures. It’s almost like

watching a romantic movie and the lovelorn person was just staring into

space, wishing to be with the person he or she loves.

And if you notice every manga comic, rather it be Bleach, Naruto, or One

Piece, there are occasions where you just see one character taking up a whole

page, looking cool, and other occasions where very small panels are made to

reveal small & deliberate movements.

The manga comic artist tries to bring out the perspective of the panel,

making it look dynamic and engaging, just like a movie.