Reading manga is like peering through a window into the heart and soul of Japan. These illustrated stories not only entertain but also educate comic fans about the country's history, values, and art. One of the unique features that sets manga apart is its right-to-left reading format, a stark contrast to the traditional left-to-right format in English literature. This distinct characteristic enhances the immersive experience of reading manga, marking it a product of Japanese artistic tradition. Let's delve into the symbolism of manga and how a beginner reader can master this unique art form.
Manga is a drive of modern Japanese culture
Manga is an exclusive linguistic term for comic books or graphic novels produced in Japan or a Japanese style. It is an art form embodying Haruki Murakami's genre of magical realism, attracting readers from all walks of life with stories of romance, fantasy, sci-fi, action, drama, history, horror, sports, and adventure.
Manga is published in various forms, including individual books (tankobon), magazines, and the web. As an integral part of Japanese pop culture, manga's popularity extends far beyond Japan. In his book 'Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World, praised by All Japanophiles', Matt Alt refers to manga as one of those unique products that helped the country to get up on its feet after a massive reputational downfall that Japan has experienced after the World War II when it was a part of the Axis Powers:
"After Japan's inglorious defeat in 1945, the nation's makers did their best to obscure the origins of the products they sold to the world. A decade later, notoriously gruff Secretary of State John Foster Dulles blithely informed Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida that Japan should never expect to find a big market for its products in America because 'Japanese don't produce the things that we want.' He was even more condescending in private, telling a confidant that 'suicide is not an illogical step for anyone concerned about Japan's economic future'".
The author also implies that COVID-19 has reshaped "an attention economy" into "worldwide hikikomori" (avoidant behaviors), enforcing shut-ins:
"COVID-19 epidemic offers a case in point. As orders to shelter in place and socially distance turned people around the world into involuntary hikikomori shut-ins".
People stayed at home streaming Amazon Prime or reading comic books for hours. At the time, manga's popularity spiked enormously, becoming another tool to assuage anxiety because of what was going on. Manga comics invite readers to escape, relate, and have fun. Its characters forge a personal connection that can be a powerful stress reliever. This unique aspect of manga, its ability to provide comfort, remains a significant part of its appeal.
Origins of manga
The world of manga intricately intertwined historical and contemporary cultural elements to provide a rich context for Japan's modern popular culture. Having started as scrolls that later evolved into comic magazines and books, its origins can be traced back to the 19th century with the groundbreaking 'Hokusai Manga', the first manga by Katsushika Hokusai in 1814.
This pioneering work showcased stunning visuals and offered insightful perspectives on everyday life and significant historical events through its thought-provoking characters. As time passed, the concept of manga kept diversifying, evolving into its modern-day comic book format, gaining initial worldwide acclaim in the 1920s and 1930s pre-war era.
I want to read manga: Decoding the basic "hows"
The influence of Western and American culture on Japanese traditions has resulted in the production of books and comics that are read from left to right. Nevertheless, manga publications continue to uphold the traditional reading format as a testament to their Japanese origins.
Regular readers can easily adapt to manga's unconventional format by mastering the key tools of "manpu", "fukidashi", and "gitaigo", working together to build a storyline.
"Manpu" refers to manga symbols that express movement, emotions, or feelings such as sadness or embarrassment. Since they have repetitive shapes, regular readers recognize them in no time.
"Fukidashi" are the speech bubbles that give manga characters their voices and reflect the mood of the message.
Finally, "gitaigo," "giongo," and "giseigo" illustrate sound effects and feelings that sometimes make readers dizzy.
How to approach the right-to-left reading order
Following the Japanese alphabet flow, manga comics read from right to left and top to bottom, with the starting point placed in the upper-right corner. The narrative is contained within frames called "koma". So, to read a page of manga, you start with the "koma" in the top right-hand corner, and you end with the "koma" in the bottom left-hand corner. Such a format may create an illusion that a book must be read backward. To correct readers in case they make such a mistake, comics like 'Spy x Family' and 'The King's Beast' add a "last page" disclaimer, specifying that "You're reading the wrong way!"
How to read panels, thoughts, and speech bubbles
Most manga comics contain a tutorial on how to read them.
A "panel" is an individual frame or single drawing in the multiple-panel sequence of a comic strip or a sequence of cartoons. It is arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. The panels are separated by a gutter (a small space).
"Panel flow" is how a writer and designer arrange panels on a page to guide the reader in a specific direction. Visual cues act as a map to direct the reader's eyes across the page until they finish reading.
Typically, strips consist of four panels or "yonkoma", like in 'For Better or For Worse'. Yonkoma has a "ki-shō-ten-ketsu" structure based on Japanese "kanji" (descriptive) characters:
1st panel: Ki (起) sets the scene and flow of the story.
2nd panel: Shō (承): develops the story's foundation.
3rd panel: Ten (転) reaches the climax and experiences unforeseen events.
4th panel: Ketsu (結) concludes the story, reflecting on the third-panel aftereffects.
Still, authors often opt for varying sizes and numbers of panels in their daily strips, sometimes using three panels like in 'Garfield' or even a single panel like in 'Non-Sequitur'.
Communication within comic strips commonly occurs through speech bubbles.
When reading a comic, it's important to start with the highest speech bubble and then proceed to read the dialog as it unfolds from top to bottom within each bubble.
How to understand visual symbols: Speed lines and sound effects
In Japanese manga, sound effects are represented through "onomatopoeia", which means creating words that mimic the sounds they describe. In English, a word like "boom" is considered onomatopoeic. Simply reading these words can evoke the associated sounds, such as the crashing of waves.
Japanese is known for having a wide array of onomatopoeic words, as it is a common part of daily communication. The words "crying" or "laughing" are applicable to everyday scenarios as they convey uncontrolled, frank emotions.
Also, manga often uses dynamic or speed lines to convey movement, such as when a character is running. These lines are tapered (ending in a point) and positioned in the background in a horizontal parallel arrangement. The closer the lines are together, the faster the movement appears to be.
Japanese comics' basic storytelling methods and techniques
The two most common methods of storytelling are dialog and narrative.
Dialog in comics advances the plot by conveying vital information about the story's milestones, key characters, dynamics, and settings. It contributes to suspense and complements the action. In turn, narrative speech plays a crucial role in helping readers gain a finer interpretation of manga characters and their storylines.
The list of basic techniques in Japanese comic storytelling includes a graphic novel, a manga, and a doodle. In the case of the graphic novel technique, readers may see a variety of panel layouts and compositions, as well as grid structures, including full-page spreads, to add drama to the storyline. This method preserves a balance of text and visuals to moderate the flow and impact on the reader, including their reading pace and awareness of the story's progress.
In turn, manga draws from visual elements and a broad style developed from serialized cartoon strips originally published in Japanese newspapers. This technique allows for an array of genres, including adventure, romance, sci-fi, and political commentary, offering diverse and engaging content for readers. In the manga, the placement and order create a sense of motion and rhythm. It tends to stretch the narrative across multiple volumes, adding an immersive tone and complexity to the storyline styles.
Key art styles of manga: Audience-tailored approach
The variety of art styles in manga means to magnify the reader's emotions. Each style has an original appeal that boosts readers' interest in the story. The style also triggers reactions using visual cues like teardrop-shaped eyes, adding to the readers' observant skills.
The basic manga art styles are as follows:
"Chibi", or "cute and small": appeals to younger readers or elders young at heart with its exaggerated features. One of the best examples is 'Sailor Moon', a Japanese manga series from the 1990s by Naoko Takeuchi. It is frequently associated with "kawaii" and "kodomo" styles.
"Kodomo": oriented on children and families. It features adult heroes while maintaining child-friendly storylines akin to 'Pokémon Adventures' by Hidenori Kusaka.
"Kawaii": characters have large, expressive eyes and endearing features. Backgrounds and settings are less detailed. An adult-only storyline like 'Chi's Sweet Home' tends to add a layer of complexity.
"Moe": a style frequently used in kawaii manga and anime. "Moe" implies the use of art and characterization to elicit an emotional response, often evoking feelings of affection or deep empathy, similar to 'Alice in the Country of Hearts'.
"Realistic" or "hyper-realistic": captivating due to its intense focus on details, darker color scheme, and cynic story tone. 'JoJo's Bizarre Adventures' pictures some psycho-spiritual manifestations. 'Fist of The North Star' was extremely popular throughout the 1980s as an homage to Bruce Lee.
"Big Eyes" or "The Tezuka effect": introduced the concept of exaggeratedly large eyes, an innocent aesthetic that sharply contrasts with more aggressive character design. Remains one of the most influential manga styles, with Osamu Tezuka's 'Mighty Atom' and 'Astro Boy' listed among the greatest examples.
"The horror" and "the paranormal" are standout genres for portraying disorientation and anxiety that push people to commit unimaginable evil. Junji Ito's 'Uzumaki' is an iconic series that explores the theme of urban community paranoia.
"Shōjo": features a "sad longing" aesthetic characterized by heart-shaped faces, big sparkly eyes, and pointy chins. It rose to popularity in 1970 thanks to the mangaka (comic artist) legend Moto Hagio. Headway particularly recommends his gothic vampire manga, 'The Poe Clan', and 'The Heart of Thomas'.
"Dragon ball shaped heads": unique for the head shapes, stretched facial features, and overly muscular bodies. This style, created by Akira Toriyama, is familiar to seasoned manga and anime fandom. Check out 'Dr. Slump' and 'Jaco the Galactic Patrolman' (set before Toriyama's 'Dragon Ball' story).
Anime as a boost to your understanding of manga
To put it simply, manga refers to comics and graphic novels made in Japan, whereas anime refers to Japanese animation.
One of the most popular editorial categories of manga that make it into anime is Shōnen manga, meaning "boys' comics".
Shōnen usually features adolescent male protagonists who embark on action-packed adventures in fantastical or sci-fi settings, navigating friendship and coming-of-age challenges. The list of the most iconic Shōnen series includes 'My Hero Academia', 'Naruto', 'Attack on Titan', 'One Piece', and 'Dragon Ball'.
In the 1980s, 'Mobile Suit Gundam' (known as 'Kidō Senshi Gandamu' in Japanese) revolutionized the world of anime by introducing a trend-setting manga-based series that sparked widespread popularity. This story is credited with giving life to the realistic robot sub genre or "mecha" anime, a unique approach that aimed for design realism by incorporating elements such as weaponry, the potential for energy depletion, ammunition shortages, and malfunctions.
Manga level-adjusted readings to keep your progress up
When you read manga, you are engaging in decoding symbols, understanding the interplay between text and images, interpreting cultural references, and recognizing unique storytelling techniques.
For a non-Japanese reader, a manga like 'Yotsuba' by Kiyohiko Azuma might look easy, but it's better that you don't take it at face value. There are some distorted formulations that you might not find in the dictionary.
Start with more accessible reads like 'Cute Girls Doing Cute Things' or "shōjo" and "josei" romances. 'Boku Dake ga Inai Machi' or 'Erased' is also a good choice for a novel manga reader.
Authors of more complicated, adventurous manga like 'Ajin: Demi-Human' usually use a lot of text explaining a "keikaku" (plan or strategy outlining goals), so we recommend steering away from those at the start.
Manga apps to help upgrade your reading skills
There are legal services offering manga readings that might be of interest to readers of all levels.
The "J-Novel Club" streaming service offers finalized e-books that English speakers might find beginner-friendly. The service imitates the "installments" publishing style traditionally used in Japan. A few years ago, at AnimeNYC 2019, the service introduced the "J-Novel Heart" imprint to produce and popularize light-hearted romances like 'My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!' and 'Bibliophile Princess'. Manga fans also enjoy weekly sneak peeks of pre-release comics.
As you progress with manga reading and deciphering skills, check out the Comico App. Comico is a money-friendly app offering light, original novels for free. However, this time be ready to use knowledge of key Japanese phonetic symbols and ideograms.
INKR Comics, a top-rated manga subscription app, offers personalized recommendations of comics, manga, and webtoons. The genres are endlessly diverse to cater to all levels and tastes of Japanese culture admirers: comedy, horror, "isekai" (a fantasy sub-genre featuring stories in which ordinary people are transported to a magical world), slice-of-life, sci-fi, drama, action, and others.
Japanese manga is also extremely popular in South Korea. One of the top choices at the moment (August 2024) is a typical K-drama story with fantasy webtoon features, 'Can't Pretend to Be Blind Anymore'.
Continue an exciting adventure of cultural discovery of Japan with Headway
To take another step when learning the art and culture of The Land of the Rising Sun, the Headway Team suggests the '2 Best Japanese Culture Books' and '2 Best Books on Japanese History' reading lists.
The most enlightening way to gain a deeper understanding of manga symbolism is to read Matt Alt's 'Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World'. This author presents Japan from a fresh perspective on its cultural landscape, highlighting its impressive technological advancements.
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