manga images surround us. the style has become so ubiquitous that we rarely stop to consider the origins and meaning of the characters; often unaware that there is a rich narrative language lurking behind every manga graphic, as fragrant in symbolism as a Renaissance masterpiece.
So what is manga?
You are reading: How to read manga books
manga is a form of storytelling that relies heavily on visuals and follows a broad style developed from serialized cartoon strips that first appeared in Japanese newspapers in the late 19th century.
manga stories are similar to comics and graphic novels; are read by all ages; and cover a wide range of genres, including adventure stories, romance, science fiction, and political commentary.
read manga
Traditionally, manga stories are read from right to left and top to bottom, in the same way as Japanese writing.
the narrative is contained within frames called koma. so to read a manga page, you start with the koma in the upper right corner and end with the koma in the lower left corner.
elements used to build a manga story include manpu, fukidashi, and gitaigo.
manpu
manpu refers to manga symbols. they are frequently used to express movement or emotion, with stock symbols used to convey feelings such as sadness or anger; embarrassment or tiredness.
See Also: Which are the Best Books for Learning Latin? | Latinitium
When these standard renderings become instantly recognizable to regular manga readers, it means that excessively wordy text becomes superfluous!
fukidashi
fukidashi are the speech bubbles that give voice to the manga characters.
The shape of the fukidashi reflects the mood of the message being conveyed. solid, rounded fukidashi represent normal speech, while cloud-shaped fukidashi express happiness and pointed fukidashi express surprise or tension.
gitaigo
gitaigo, giongo, and giseigo are the manga’s ways of illustrating sound effects and feelings in a story.
The Japanese language has more than three times the number of onomatopoeic words compared to the English language, giving manga stories ample scope for expressive sound words.
in fact, there are so many gitaigo, there are enough to make anyone ぐるぐる (dizzy)!
a multifaceted reading experience
manga is often referred to as multi-model. in other words, there is a lot going on. reading manga requires the ability to interpret symbols, decipher overlapping text and images, understand cultural references, and appreciate differences in storytelling between countries.
See Also: Theodore Boone – Book Series In Order
but above all, the manga is meant to be entertaining.
citi manga exhibition
the british museum will host the citi manga exhibition until august 26, 2019. it is the largest manga exhibition ever held outside of japan.
By combining traditional exhibits with interactive experiences, the exhibition explores the history of manga; the development of the manga; its spread and global appeal; the various genres of manga; and features numerous examples from manga and anime.
citi manga exhibition offers illustrations from many different genres of manga. these include shōnen manga; shōjo manga; jose manga; and gekiga manga. the different genres of manga tend to appeal to different age groups and genders, and deal with a variety of topics, from adventure to comedy; romance to sports.
great japan
cool japan: manga, anime, sushi is a module that can be studied in the ba chinese (modern and classical) programmes; ba Chinese studies; japanese ba; ba Japanese studies; ba korean: and ba korean studies at soas university in london.
The module aims to analyze how the various aspects of our “japan imagination” come together, to find out how some of the stereotypes are formed, and to enable students to understand how the concept of “japan” came about.
more information
- visit the citi manga exhibition at the british museum
- study cool japan: manga, anime, sushi at soas
share this post
See Also: 21 Kindergarten Books That Will Wow and Inspire Your Little Readers!