1. MANGA

2. WHAT IS MANGA?
 Manga is the Japanese word for comics. It is used in the English-speaking world as a generic term for all
comic books and graphic novels that were originally published in Japan. Manga is often considered an artistic and
storytelling style that can also encompass non-Japanese works, however. The term "AmeriManga" is sometimes
used to refer to comics created by American artists in a manga style. Manwha is the Korean equivalent of that idea.
 In Japan, manga is either read in serialized form in monthly magazines or comic books, or in graphic novels,
which are book-length comics. All formats exist in translation, but graphic novels are much more common and
can fill a number of shelves at the local comic shop or bookstore.
 The word itself was popularized by the famous woodblock print artist Hokusai, but, contrary to a popular
myth, it was not invented by him. The word is composed of two Chinese characters—the first meaning "in spite
of oneself" or "lax" and the second meaning "picture"—and has been used to describe various comical images for
at least two centuries.

3. N A R R AT I V E , S T Y L E A N D A RT
OF MANGA
 Supposed Eastern 'iconophilia' surfaces in the reception of western comics. The Japanese public and manga artists often describe
European and American comics as too 'wordy' or 'literary'. Sometimes, Western comic strip authors themselves criticize some of these
'iconoclastic tendencies'. French artist Baudoin for instance, who made some work for the Japanese publishing house Kodansha states that
he has "never worked with a Japanese scriptwriter, because in Japan, they do use a lot of images without text. European scriptwriters act as if
a page is valuable, as if it has to contain as much as possible. Publishers too think it's abnormal when you draw three pages of clouds alone,
while that may actually be necessary sometimes" (Meesters 1997, my translation).
 The amount of wordless passages in any volume of manga may be striking to the Western eye. To 'read' manga is to read images - the
rhythm is determined by the sequence of images. Of course, western comics also have a genre known as 'sourds' - wordless comics.
 A scene that would 'normally' (at least, from a western point of view) be captured in a single pane - with the necessary (or if you will
redundant) descriptive information - is now cut up over different frames. The isolated frames, with alternating 'camera-angles', are put
together in a visual continuum. Especially fighting scenes provide excellent illustrative material to this technique. For instance, the narrative
in Crying Freeman (Koike & Ikegami 1994) proceeds through a rapid succession of images in the visual chain.
 Sometimes only subtle details such as hair color or clothing mark the difference between characters, making it necessary for the reader
to be acquainted with the manga reading code in order to keep up with the story. 'Realistic' artists such as Otomo or Shirato are exceptional
and their approach fits more closely within the western paradigm of individual style.

4. EASTERN AND WESTERN
CHARACTERS
 Manga characters tend to look more unrealistic. They have very
large eyes and are very cartoon like rather than actually looking like a
real person.
 Western characters tend to look more realistic, like a real person.
Their faces tend to be able more detailed so they look convincing.
None of their features tend to be exaggerated.

5. NARRATIVE
 Manga, unlike a lot of western comics, covers a really wide range of audiences. western comics tend
to be stereotypically superhero-ey.
 Mangas have a more dynamic narrative, every panel is filled with action lines and stuff like that, they
are also very technical, they put a mind blowing attention to perspective and every other detail.
 Graphic novels tend to be more slow passed and have more text, and these days they tend to be very
"artsy“.

6. ANALYSIS
 Japanese manga comics want to introduce cinematics into their manga;. Te whole
series of the above manga, the girl was looking up in the sky, feeling lovelorn. She was just
rejected by the male lead character, and on the next page the top panel shows only the stars
(she was looking at the sky), while could only softly whisper the name of her lover in her
eyes.
 That’s the beauty of manga comics; it tries to make the reader imagine the
cinematics behind the whole panel of pictures. It’s almost like watching a romantic
movie and the lovelorn person was just staring into space, wishing to be with the person he
or she loves.
 And if you notice every manga comic, rather it be Bleach, Naruto, or One Piece, there
are occasions where you just see one character taking up a whole page, looking cool, and
other occasions where very small panels are made to reveal small & deliberate movements.
 The manga comic artist tries to bring out the perspective of the panel, making it look
dynamic and engaging, just like a movie.