Manga is the Japanese word for printed comics and cartoons. (Anime, on the other hand, is an animated cartoon for television or film.) Although manga is essentially a cartoon, manga ranks higher in Japanese culture than comics do in American society. Manga is highly respected as an art and as a form of popular literature. In fact, much of the adult population in Japan reads manga, and several of the major manga magazines in Japan sell several million copies each week.
This should tell you that manga is not just for kids.
What kind of story would you be interested in?
A hardened detective hired to locate a missing girl?
A world dominated by animal-human hybrids after an apocalyptic war in 2054?
A boy-meets-girl-meets-robot-giant adventure?
A historical play revolving around the obscure generals of the Genpei war?
A successful journalist who takes in a handsome homeless man as a pet when her fiancé leaves her?
There are hundreds of stories to choose from in manga books and there is something for everyone. Also, many manga titles combine clever images and frames with nuanced stories for a highly entertaining and addictive read.
Manga is generally categorized into different genres. The most popular include:
– shonen manga for children and adolescent boys
– shojo manga for girls and teens
– kodomo for children
– redisu for adult women
– seinen for adult men
– jidaimono is historical drama
– suiri is crime and murder
– ecchi is erotic food
So how do you get started with Manga? Easy.
1. Enter the store. Most large bookstores have a section dedicated to manga, but if you really want to get a variety of titles, try a comic book store. Either way, manga books usually have color covers and maybe the first few pages as well, but the rest of the story is usually in black and white.
2. Leaf through the books, read them a bit. Stop when you find something you like and take it home.
3. If you feel comfortable surfing the Internet, read manga online first. Do a search of one of the many online manga site directories and scan those sites for titles that are interesting. Many of the sites will display the manga book (drawing and text) from their website.
Remember that when you read manga, you read the frames from right to left. Often when you open a manga, just like you would a normal book, there will often be a page telling you how to read it.
Try out a few manga titles to get an idea of what you like. Once you find a title you like, you can search for more of the same or similar titles with that editor. Look for the English publisher’s website on the book cover, then refer to that site; It will probably contain descriptions of all his books and maybe even a small sample online.