Manga Terms: What Is She Talking About?

Manga are Japanese comics and print cartoons, conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 20th century. In their modern form, manga date from shortly after WWII but have a long, complex history in earlier Japanese art.

In Japan, manga are widely read by people of all ages, and include a broad range of subjects: action-adventure, romance, sports and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, mystery, horror, sexuality, and business and commerce, among others. Since the 1950s, manga have steadily become a major part of the Japanese publishing industry, representing a 481 billion yen market in Japan in 2006 (approximately 4.4 billion dollars). Manga have also become increasingly popular worldwide. In 2006, the United States manga market was $175–200 million. Manga are typically printed in black and white on thick paper, although some full-color manga exist. In Japan, manga are usually serialized in telephone book-size manga magazines, often containing many stories each presented in a single episode to be continued in the next issue (like their American comic book counterparts). If the series is successful, collected chapters may be republished in paperback books called tankobon. A manga artist (mangaka) typically works with a few assistants in a small studio and is associated with a creative editor from a commercial publishing comoany. If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated (into an anime, hense the name) after or even during its run, although sometimes manga are drawn centering on previously existing media, like the Star Wars films.

Manga as a term outside of Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan. However, manga and manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in other parts of the world, particularly in Taiwan ("manhua"), South Korea ("manhwa"), and the People's Republic of China, notably Hong Kong ("manhua"). In France, "la nouvelle manga" is drawn in styles influenced by Japanese manga. In the U.S., manga-like comics are called Amerimanga, world manga, or OEL manga. Manga made in Japan that arrives in the U.S. however is still just called manga.

Types of Manga:

Shōjo, shojo, or shoujo manga refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10 and 18. Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, often with a strong focus on human and romantic relationships and emotions. Strictly speaking, shōjo manga is not a style or a genre per se, but rather an indicator of a targeted demographic.

Shōnen manga is manga with a target demographic of young boys generally between the ages of about 10 and 17. Shōnen manga is typically characterized by high-action, often humorous plots featuring male protagonists. The camaraderie between boys or men on sports teams, fighting groups and the like is often emphasized. Attractive female characters with exaggerated features are also common, but are not a requirement. The art style of shōnen is generally less flowery than that of shojo, although this varies greatly from artist to artist, and some artists draw both shōnen and shōjo manga.

Seinen is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at an 18–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be much older with some comics aimed at men well into their 40s. It has a wide variety of art styles and more variation in subject matter, ranging even into the pornographic. In Japanese, the word Seinen means "young man" or "young men", and it is not indicative of sexual matter.

Josei manga or "ladies' comics," is a term that refers to the target demographic created mostly by women or late teens and adult female audiences. In Japanese, the word josei means simply "female" and has no manga-related connotations at all. Manga branded as "Ladies' Comics" has acquired a reputation for being low-brow and the term josei was created to move away from that image. The stories tend to be about everyday experiences of women living in Japan. Though there are some that cover high school, most cover the lives of adult women. The style also tends to be a more restrained, realistic version of shojo, keeping some of the wispy features and getting rid of the very large sparkly eyes. There are exceptions in the style described above, but what defines josei is some degree of stylistic continuity of comics within this particular demographic (the same is true with different demographics that have different stylistic tendencies). Josei also tends to be both more explicit and contain more mature storytelling.


Kodomo manga is manga or anime directed specifically towards small children and follows predictable guidelines that you can probably imagine based on the descriptions above.


Why is any of that important?
When we look at manga, we're looking at raw pop-culture. And pop-culture is a great way to look at modern attitudes compared to old ones. If we looks at shojo manga now, as opposed to shojo manga 30 years ago, we see radical changes in the attitude expressed towards and by women. Manga sales are on the rise in the U.S., so these ideas are flowing in faster than you could imagine. By looking at manga we look at women in Japan (and America) now, and make predictions about what the young women who grew up on it will be like years from now. We went from princesses being saved to girls being princes saving other princesses. Men who turn into women. The non-puritanical East is pouring into the young minds of the conservative West, reforming opinions, destroying basis, and forming attitudes towards Gender, Sex, and what is and is not appropriate for young women.