It is not uncommon to sift through online comment sections and spot a myriad of anime/manga profile pictures.
These point to the sudden popularity and acceptance that anime, and Japanese works have received. So you to may be curious as to what exactly anime is. Or in this case, what is manga? And what does it have to do with anime?
‘Manga’ is a style of Japanese works that covers comic books, and graphic novels but with a wide target audience range consisting of children, and adults. However, manga distinguishes itself from western comic books in a number of ways, namely through its production process, its release format, its art style, its genres and how it is to be read.
These differences come from the fact that manga is a Japanese product, created for Japanese people using Japanese methods. However, that does not mean non-Japanese can’t enjoy it too.
That is an extremely vague description, so let’s attempt to go into details. We will explain just what we mean with this article, starting with…
What Is Manga?
Manga are comic books, and graphic novels that are made in Japan.
This rather simplistic definition of manga describes pretty much everything you need to know to understand manga.
Manga are comic books and graphic novels. This means that there are a lot of fair similarities draw between the two, such as the fact that they both use a combination of text and visual mediums to tell stories.
Also, they both use frames (or koga in Japanese), to mark their motions in the pages. Finally, they also use things like speech bubbles to show a speaker.
But manga is Japanese.
This means that manga has traditionally Japanese writing styles.
Also, Japanese manga uses its visual medium to tell a story in a far more detailed manner than a lot of western works. This can be hard to understand now, but it will be explained soon enough.
For now, what you need to understand is that manga is a bit more than comic books are. Understanding this will allow you to have an easier slide into learning how to read manga. For a more detailed description of the difference between manga, and comics, it is better to just click here.
How Does Manga Tell A Story?
Manga tells stories through the use of different types of genres, and the use of a unique chapter/volume format born from how manga are released.
If you mean how is manga read, you can click here and learn to read manga in under 5 minutes.
The first thing that we need to discuss is that manga has a wide audience range. In Japan, foreigners are often surprised to find that not only is manga everywhere, in terms of advertising, and merchandise, but also there are lots of people who read manga. From children at the park, to adults on the train, people in Japan are constantly reading manga, and it is not weird for them at all.
The question of course becomes how can adults run around happily reading children’s cartoons. The answer to that question is just as simply; they aren’t.
There are multiple different genres of manga which appeal to people of different age ranges. These include:
- Kodomomuke: This manga is often targeted towards young children.
- Shonen Manga: This is manga initially targeted towards tween and teen boys. However, the popularity of these genres is what makes people associate it with manga as a whole, especially foreigners. Any random manga that you can name of thE top of your head is probably a Shonen manga. One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen etc.
- Shojo: This manga is targeted towards tween and teen girls.
- Seinen: This one is targeted towards adult men.
- Josie: This manga is targeted towards adult women
How Do Manga Chapters Work?
Manga are categorized in chapters, arcs, and sagas, which are released by a magazine company. If a manga becomes popular enough, it’s chapters are put together into a single book, and released solo.
There are two main things to understand about manga for you to grasp how their chapter. The first is the internal categorization of manga stories, and the second is the external categorization.
Internal Categorization (Manga Arcs, and Sagas)
For the internal categorization, we are dealing with the content.
Meaning we are dealing with the story being told in the specific manga series. In most comics, we tend to see single issues. These are comics where a villain is introduced, then defeated within the same chapter.
However, this never happens in manga.
With manga, a villain is introduced, and they are defeated only after a long series of events. If not villain, then there is a specific problem that is only handled after a long time. This spans numerous chapters, and it is called an arc.
Sometimes, there is a villain introduced who is so big, that the heroes must defeat a number of mini bosses before they reach the main villain. This means that we get to see a collection of arcs.
This is called a saga.
In One Piece, we read hundreds of chapters before we finished the Dressrosa arc and defeated the villain, Doflamingo. Yet, this was only one arc out of many arcs leading to the fight against Kaido, the saga boss.
External categorization (Manga Volumes)
The second thing is external categorization.
This refers to how the stories are placed together. Basically, if a series in the magazine is popular enough, it will have it’s chapters compiled into its own mini book.
This is called a tankobon volume.
These tankobon are then sold, and people who do not want to sludge through other manga before they read their preferred manga can just buy the tankobon, and read all the chapters they want.
When Is Manga Released And Why?
Manga is released on a weekly, and a monthly basis. This is because that is the schedule that is set up by the publishing magazine company, and there are only ever a few deviations from it.
There are 4 things that can affect a manga’s release schedule, but there is one main one; the publishing magazine’s schedule.
Manga Publishing Companies
Now, all manga are released with their publishing magazine company. The company publishes a single magazine issue which is full of multiple manga within the story.
As a consequence, the manga only receives space for a single chapter in a magazine full of multiple different series. Also, there is high competition for the manga to get space in the issue.
If fans do not like a manga, it will be removed to make space for another popular manga. This is means that mangaka must produce their manga at the exact time the magazine set, or else they will lose their spot.
The timing for the release of the manga is dependent on the specific magazine publisher. Others release on a monthly basis, while others release on a weekly basis.
Production Costs
The second thing that can affect a manga’s release schedule would be its production costs.
This does not refer to financial costs but rather health costs on the mangaka. It takes a lot of work to make a manga. From planning the story, storyboarding, penciling, and all the way to drawing, and scanning into a computer.
It is tedious, and a lot of authors can be stressed out.
This is worse when the author must do this on a sort of schedule. Many authors end up sleeping only 3 hours, a night. For years. Inevitable, an author is going to be hospitalized.
It’s only in these situations that the release schedule of a manga can be affected.
Breaks
A third situation in which a manga’s production schedule could be affected is when the author decides to not die, so they take a break.
These can be as small as a week, but in some instances, it can be years. Some authors are notorious for taking shockingly long hiatus’, while others are notorious for never wanting to stop for a break, even though their fans beg them too.
Volumes (tankobon)
Finally, the last thing that can affect a manga’s release is when the manga is made into a volume.
When a manga becomes popular enough, people eventually start buying the magazine just to get to read that one manga they like. However this means they must read other mangas they do not want.
To avoid this, a magazine publishing company will take the manga series that are popular and bundle it’s previous 10 or so chapters into a single magazine of its own, called a Tankobon volume.
When that is done, the magazine is then released into the world, and the fans can enjoy as much of their serious as they want at their leisure. It is a great arrangement in my opinion.
How Do You Read Manga
To read manga you must first learn to distinguish the subject of a panel, and the symbols that annotate emotions, feeling, and onomatopea. Then, it would help for you to find a credible source where you can read your own manga, and online sources are the best since they are cheaper.
There are two main ways to answer this. Firstly, we could be talking about how one reads a manga. Secondly, we could be talking about how one can get manga to read. Of which, both are valid questions, and as such, they shall both be answeredeth.
How To Read Manga
The first is how can one read manga.
Manga is complicated to read for those who used to comic. Firstly, it is black and white, making it harder to see the subject image of a panel, the background, the special symbols laid about for effect, and the panels.
Additionally, manga uses the image of the story as more than just place holders. It instead uses the images to tell the story, which can add to the confusion. For example, manga has a tendency of making their speech bubbles move in a way that denotates emotions and feelings.
The first step to reading manga is to understand these things. That there are symbols in manga. The second step is to try and find the subject image. There is a more detailed explanation on how to do just that right here.
Where To Find Manga To Read
The second question asks how can you get your hands on manga to read.
The first thing to not is that manga is quite expensive. It can take a lot to read manga. However, it is still possibly to read it.
The best way is to get a profile in a manga reading website, or a manga reading app.
When you have this, it will be a lot easier for you to read whatever manga you wish. However if you still want to read it for free, you can do it legally here.
How Does Manga Work With Anime?
Manga is the main story written by the mangaka, while anime works as more of an advertisement for the manga and the merchandise.
Most people learn of manga through having watched the anime.
This can give the false impression that the manga is the comic version of the anime, and that the anime came first. In truth, the manga is made by the mangaka.
If it becomes popular enough, an anime studio independent from the author approaches them to make an adaptation of their work. Think Disney adaptations of someone’s novel. However, the author does usually make money from the anime.
Why would they agree then?
Because this is the best way to advertise their manga, and get people to buy more volumes, so that they are never kicked out of Shonen jump or their publisher.
Additionally, people could buy their merchandise, their games, etc. This allows the author to be successful.
So, the anime follows the path set by the manga, and the story of the manga. However, sometimes the anime catches up to the manga. Think of how Game of Thrones caught up to ASOIAF, so D and D had to come up with their own story.
The anime producers also come up with their own stories called fillers, which give the author enough time to create more manga to be adapted.
When that is complete, they can then catch up and continue the work. This is important to understand because then you will be able to better understand the good and bad story decisions made. This brings you that much closer to mastering mastery.