Manga 101
What are manga?
Manga is a style of comic book art that is associated with Japanese comics, although there are American manga as well, including manga versions of old favorites like Sabrina, the teenage witch. Most Japanese manga are printed in black and white and bound in paperback format. Many are made into anime, or animated cartoons, for television or the movies. Sometimes the process is reversed, and anime become manga. Manga are usually broken up into short episodes, seven or eight to a book, with storylines that run throughout the whole book and often through multiple books. Many books have cliffhanger endings, which is one of the things that makes them so irresistible to kids. One nice touch: The artists often include notes to the readers, with comments on characters, plots, and drawing techniques.
Is this book defective? And why do the boys look like girls?
If you pick up a manga and glance through it, you will notice a few stylistic peculiarities. First of all, the book may appear to be printed backwards, with the front cover on what appears to be the back of the book. This is how Japanese books are printed, and many manga publishers prefer to keep the original format, rather than making mirror images of the pages for the English-speaking market. The panels in a manga page should be read right to left and top to bottom. There are two types of manga: shojo, for girls, and shonen, for boys. There is some crossover. My 12-year-old daughter loves Ruruoni Kenshin, which is a shonen title. The boys in shojo manga, even the macho ones, often look like girls. This is another manga convention; the name for such boys is bishi. When characters experience strong emotions, such as embarrassment or anger, they are transformed momentarily into chibbi, or childlike,, rounded versions of their usual selves.
Are manga pornographic?
Adult manga are an aspect of Japanese culture that Westerners often find disturbing, as these comics often contain graphic violence and sexual imagery. This is not a reason to shun all manga, any more than the existence of X-rated films is a reason not to let your kids see a Disney movie. The major U.S. publishers, such as Tokyopop and Viz, include an age rating on the book cover. This site is here to give you more specifics. If you're not sure, try to get a copy of the book and look it over yourself before letting your kids have it.
What are these things about, anyway?
Preteen angst. Having a crush on a guy. Superheroes. Wishing you were a rock star. A classmate who is really a space alien. In other words, the same things you probably read about as a kid. Some manga draw on Japanese history and traditions, but the majority of manga aimed at the 8-14 age group are set in schools. Most manga authors embrace a moral code that parents will find reassuring, with good characters protecting the weak, saving the earth, and being nice to the nerdy kids, while the mean characters get their comeuppance.
Where can I get manga?
As manga become more popular, they are getting easier to find. Large bookstores often carry them, either with teen books or in the graphic novels section, and you can buy them on the web as well. Stores specializing in Japanese toys, books, and movies often carry manga, but it’s wise to walk in ahead of your kids to make sure the adult titles, which can include very disturbing images, are located well away from the kids’ manga. Most manga cost about ten bucks; a few are cheaper, a few are more. I used to think this was a lot of money for a book that my girls can read in an hour, but I have to admit, they read them over and over and trade with each other. And in the long run, I’d rather have them clamoring for books than just about anything else.
