Manga - 漫画 (Japanese Comics)

Hello everyone.. Here is the last post for my Japanese Culture related with Bunka Taiken's Final Exams~~
Now, I will talk about Manga! Yeaay~~~ (≧∇≦)/

I believe everyone ever read Manga or even a Manga lovers?? Well, I'm one of a manga collectors.. Not the original Japanese Language version, but the translated version.. Now, I'm trying to buy and read the original language one.. and, I'm struggling so much, because I must look up to dictionary.. Because every text that I read, the Kanji... really... hard..... and so many Kanji that's not on the dictionary... hahaha.. what kind of dictionary is this that I have... I wonder...... (￣ェ￣;)
Okay, enough storytelling about me... now, enjoy the post..!! (〜￣▽￣)〜




Manga / 漫画 or Comics are a Japanese language comics created in Japan. It was developed in Japan in the late19th century. The first Manga was created by a Buddhist priest. It described about the irregularity of world. Manga that was described at that time was a combination of different types of creatures such as Frog, Dogs, etc; became a living beings which is not get along with one another.

 

 Choju Jinbutsu Giga (鳥獣人物戯画 "Animal-person Caricatures")
created by the Buddhist priest: 鳥羽僧正覚猷 (Tobajoukakuyuu)

In the second half of the 1600s, novels illustrated with woodblock prints became popular. About a century later, a number of writes started illustrating their own novels, in a format that reminds us somewhat of today's manga. But those old picture scrolls and illustrated novels did not use the series of frames typical of true manga. True manga, with their  scene shifts and highly unusual characters conversing in speech balloons, appeared around the end of the 1800s.

 Multiple frames and balloons－manga as we know them today began around this time (1923).
Sho-chan no Boken ("Adventures of Sho-chan") by Kabashima Katsuichi

In the old days, the text often in the form of long sentences was placed on the side of the illustrations. Gradually, though, the text came to be placed in speech balloons within the frames. The "Sho-chan no Boken" was serialized cartoon in newspapers in the mid-1920s. It created a trend, and soon almost every newspaper had cartoon scripts.
Many manga books and magazines with long manga stories printed in  1930s. During the same period, children's comics introduced enthralling storyline and showed much potential. But then came war, and censorship, and the manga sub-culture languished.

"Astro Boy" by Tesuka Osamu

After World War II, one Mangaka (Japanese comics creator), Tezuka Osamu's ("Astro Boy" manga creator) work spurred others to take up the genre. 

There are many genres of manga such as action, adventure, heroes, romance, sports, games, everyday life, humorous/gag, mystery, fantasy, suspense, science fiction, detective, horror, sexuality, economy/business plot manga.

Mangaka (漫画家) is a cartoonist in Japanese language. They usually work in a studio together with some assistants and an associated creative editor from a commercial publishing company. Usually, when the mangaka is being chased with 'deadline', their editor will work hard to support the mangaka so they might be able to finish their work on time. For mangaka's first debut, their manga will be published in the manga magazines (Nakayoshi, LaLa, Shonen Jump, etc~) but mangaka can be said "successful" if they can make a tankoubon/print book manga. 

黒執事(Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler) by Yana Toboso

One of a popular Manga that have already been made as Anime, Drama Musical, and will be made as Live Action Drama too.

The way to read manga is from right to left. Some countries, translated Manga into their language and change the way to read it following their own country way to read books, from left to right.

There is a range for manga to be read by the readers. And there is a name for it:

• Shoujo Manga: For girls/young women. Usually the stories about the lives, feelings, and inner thoughts of girls involved with the complications of romance. 
• Shonen Manga: For boys/young man. The manga readers between boys from 18 years old. Usually structured something like a novel, with realistic illustrations.
• Shoujo-Ai: Actually Shoujoai wasn’t ever really used in Japan – although they understood what was meant if western fans used it. If they did use the word, they meant it in the sense of adults who had a fetish for young girls. Shoujoai was originally used by American fans to refer to stories that contained romantic love between girls. The emphasis was originally on the romantic over the sexual, but this age and content distinction was convention that was made up by Americans and had no meaning at all in Japan.
• Shonen-Ai: It denotes male homosexuality, and, unlike its correspondent 'yaoi', shonen-ai is used in regards to depictions of the romantic side of a relationship between two males.
• Yuri: stories that contain romantic or sexual relationships between girls or women or, sometimes more generally, stories with a lesbian character.
• Yaoi:  is a Japanese popular term for gay and also female-oriented fictional media that focus on homoerotic or homoromantic male androphilic sexual relationships, usually created by female authors.Although the genre is called Boys' Love(commonly abbreviated as "BL"), the males featured are pubescent or older.
• Seinen: Male manga but have two types which are for young men from 18 to 30 years old, which usually, the storyline is about male heroines, slapstick humor and explicit sexuality, almost same like hentai. Kanji for seinen also divided for young men readers / 青年 and for adult majority readers is 成年. 
• Hentai: A manga which most of the storyline contains an explicit sexuality.
• Doujinshi: It's a manga that made by amateur or fan manga, produced by a small publishers outside of the mainstream commercial market. Most often contain original stories, many are parodies of or include characters from popular manga and anime series. Some doujinshi continue with a series' story or write an entirely new one using its characters, much like fan fiction and published in a variety of genres and types.
• Josei/Lady's (レディス）, Redi Komi (レディ コミ), Lady's Comic (レディースコミック): It is a ladies comics which most of the readers are woman/adult woman. Usually, the storyline is about adult women issues as wives and office workers.
• Gekiga: An adult manga that explores about a serious topic.
• Meccha: Its a mechanical comic that usually tells about robots, machine. Series that revolve around the use of piloted robotic armors in battle.
• Kodomomuke (子供向け漫画): It is a Japanese terms which literally mean "manga directed towards children". These works are noted for stories that are often very moralistic, teaching children how to behave as good and considerate people and helping them to stay on the right path in life. The episodes are generally stand alone and non-episodic in order to appeal to a child.

Today, Japan is a dynamic force in the world of comics, and many manga are now read overseas. Many Japanese Comics are famous and being translated to other language in some countries. Japanese animated films also continue to make waves overseas. The anime sub-culture took off in Japan in the mid-1960s, drawing energy from the growing popularity of manga stories. Many manga stories being serialized as anime and also Live action. This actually led manga gaining a wider audience outside Japan.

That's the information about manga. Well, actually I also learn how to make manga at Bunka Taiken class. But, because I can't draw and my drawing absolutely... ugly.. so that, I won't post my drawing. Lol~
I really love to read manga!! And I try to buy 2 original Japanese language manga at Kinokuniya Book Store to learn and to test my Japanese language (lol). The manga title is:

コンフリクト．ラバー(Lovers in Conflict) by 高宮智 (Takamiya Satoru)

クレマチカ靴屋 (Clematica Shoe Store) by 酒井まゆ(Sakai Mayu)

Both of it are one of my favorite mangaka's manga. I'm still not yet finish reading both of it. I know, actually, it is already being translated into English language, but I don't want to read from there, because I want to learn to read the original Japanese manga/books that I've bought and it is for studying also..
Well, I hope this post can be useful to learn more about Japanese culture, Manga. Don't forget to credit me if you want to share it to other social page as keirininoo or link to this page.  ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Source: 
にっぽん - Discovering Japan No.04, 2010 catalog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga
http://www.yuricon.com/what-is-yuricon/#whatisyuri
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Dojinshi

ありがとうございます

Thank You

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