Most people may think that when they hear the word comics then it is all the same no matter where its origin is all comics are the same. This is not the case as although both American Manga and Japanese Manga are the same in the sense that they are both telling a story on paperback form mangakakalot, the actual designs are completely different. One of the key differences in both of these manga is how everything is over exaggerated in the Japanese version for example in some manga the eyes are drawn very big and exhibit an almost gem stone effect to them whereas in American manga everything is more realistic.
Another key difference is that most Japanese manga is printed in black and white form and have several hundred pages per book whereas the American manga is in colour and has about 32 pages per book. There is also the size of the books that present the two types of manga that differ in size. A manga from Japan will be a lot smaller than the American manga book. For these reason Japan’s manga are also cheaper than American manga as they use black and white inking and smaller pages meaning that they can sell for a lower cost and still make a profit. The American manga also has unique selling points against the Japanese manga as well such as being in colour and being in a bigger book. The main benefit of this is that the American version does not have dozens of pages so therefore it is detailed and does not dwell too much on one scene whereas the japanese manga has hundreds of pages and so it has a lot of scenes very similar which results in the japanese manga being reading fast and there is not much to take in on some pages whereas the American goes at a much slower pace with a lot of detail on each page requiring the reader to take their time whilst reading through.
In my opinion the main key difference in the two manga is not so much what they include but in fact it is how they are viewed and stereotyped by society. The American manga has for a long time been stereotyped as a childish thing for children and teens to dwell upon and use up their time with, whereas for Japanese manga there is a genre and type for everyone and so it is seen as Japanese manga is for everyone and not just for a specific age group. Japanese pop culture includes Japanese animation, movies, and also things that inspire a good number of Japanese animation and movies. This inspiration is the legendary Japanese pop culture phenomenon known as Manga, and it is becoming more and more of a global hit.
While Manga may look like graphic novels, they are actually made for a much wider audience than such media traditionally is in the West. If you think comic books are just for kids, you have not seen much Japanese Manga perhaps. In Japan, it is normal to see a businessman dressed in a nice suit and tie, solemnly reading a Manga book in the train to or from the office. Perhaps it is because of the speed of digestion of illustrated material in a nation known for efficiency that Manga is such a normal part of everyday media.
The storyline is, of course, more adult-oriented than illustrated books of a similar kind in many areas of the world. Many tourists may initially be quite surprised to look over at what someone sitting next to them on a train may be skimming through on their way home. This adult storyline certainly is not just for the male gender, and women may have their own genre of adult Manga to choose from.
Manga, which translates as whimsical pictures, is documented as having its modern origins in the era of Japanese occupation by allied forces, after WWII, during the years 1945-1952. While the cultural influences from the West during those times were obviously a major factor in inspiring modern Manga, there were also many amazing classical Japanese artists who inspired this art form. Classical art known as Ukiyo-e, in particular, is likely responsible for much of the Manga style. It is even possible that the art form helped to shape western comic artists like Vincent Van Gogh. This kind of cross pollination is an amazing discovery that comes from the study of modern art.
When reading or flipping through your first Manga, it may be initially somewhat perplexing as to what order a story should be read in. Japanese books actually open to the left and the pages are to be read from top to bottom and right to left. One of the nice things about Manga, especially for those studying the japanese language, is that many will include small characters, known as Furigana, next to the more complex characters. Furigana are written in the simpler Japanese scripts containing less than 100 characters and are a great way to learn to read the 2000 basic Kanji characters that are generally accepted as the most common ones for the purpose of literacy.
