I’m of the opinion that any book I get my tween to read is a good enough book for me, and for the most part that spirit has served me well. It’s also taken me to some interesting places, most recently to the long, tall, and puzzling wall of manga at our local library.
Manga isn’t something I’ve dabbled in apart from a vague awareness, decades ago, of sailor moon and dragon ball z. but today, in my daughter’s fifth grade class, manga is one thing. and now it’s something I’ve had to solve.
You are reading: What is manga books
This is what I’ve learned so far.
what is it. manga refers to a wide variety of Japanese graphic novels. and they are definitely not all the same.
what it is not. manga and anime are two different things, although visually they are similar and some of the most popular manga series have been turned into anime (see: sailor moon and dragon ball z). Generally speaking, manga refers to graphic novels and anything in print, while anime refers to television or movies.
how do you put it. it’s not manga, like a feminine version of mango. it’s more like mahn-gah.
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it is backwards. a large part of the manga in the us. it still reads like the original Japanese, from right to left. it may take a bit of getting used to.
There are five main types of manga. shonen, shojo, seinen, josei, and kodomomuke, each of which is broadly based on gender and age.
and there are many subgenres. I assumed manga was like most comics I’ve come across: made up of superheroes, antiheroes, and lots of action, and aimed primarily at kids. while that is true for some of the most famous manga some titles are sweet some are silly some are romance based some titles are romance based some are between children some are between girls and, lo and behold, there’s a whole subgenre. cooking only, recipes included.
Shonen manga is aimed at pre-teen and teenage boys. Shonen manga is by far the most popular and predominant type, and is enjoyed by both boys and girls. it usually features child protagonists who either a) fight or b) are funny or c) both. Key titles include Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball, Tite Kubo’s Bleach, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s Death Note, and Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist.
Shoujo manga is aimed at pre-teen and teenage girls. Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon, with her schoolgirls turned superheroes, is probably the most famous shoujo series. while fantasy and heroes do exist, popular romance-centric stories lean heavily on stereotypical female tropes like prince charming, bad boy, and love triangles. Main titles include Natsuki Takaya’s Fruit Basket, Bisco Hatori’s Ouran High School Host Club, and Skip Beat! by yoshiki nakamura.
kodomuke manga is for younger children. these are sweet, simplistic tales. Fujiko’s Doraemon F. Fuji is a classic. and we like konami kanata’s latest chi’s sweet home, about a lost cat (especially since it’s published from left to right).
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manga isn’t just for kids. the last two types: seinen, aimed at young men, and josei, aimed at young women, are decidedly more mature (read: more violent and sexual, including some r-classified material). Famous seinen include Shirow Masamune’s Ghost in the Shell and Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, while famous Josei include Yun Kouga’s Loveless and Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss.
if in doubt, search on google. At first glance, it can be difficult to distinguish shonen from seinen and shoujo from josei, although the general style of the illustration can be an indicator. my daughter very specifically asked me for a manga series called citrus de saburouta, which I later learned was a bit more mature than I would normally allow my 10-year-old daughter. Unless you’re already well-versed in manga, it’s helpful to google the title to make sure it’s in the correct age demo.
It’s all about style. When I asked my daughter what she liked so much about manga, she came down to one thing: the style. those eyes. that hair those cute little animals. her (she’s less into shonen titles, but the style element is definitely there too). now, we review as many how to draw books as manga titles.
christopher hart has a great series of drawings for the new manga:
and more sophisticated shoujo tastes may like camilla d’errico’s pop manga series.
what manga titles should we read next?
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