THE BOOKWORM
In November 2019, “My Hero Academia” hit the number 3 spot of the “New York Times”. It was the first time a manga series cracked the top three. In the years since, manga has continued to be represented on the New York Times Best Sellers Graphic Books and Manga list and has only grown in popularity. So, what is manga? Manga, simply stated, is the Japanese word for comic books. The word is composed of two parts: “man” (pronounced “mon”) meaning whimsical, impromptu, rambling or aimless and “ga” (pronounced “guh”) meaning pictures.
The earliest form of manga can be found in the 12th century on scrolls created by Japanese Buddhist monks depicting animals behaving like humans. In the late 19th century, the term manga was popularized by Rakuten Kitazawa, an early cartoonist, and one of the founding fathers of manga comics. His humorous newspaper, “Jiji Manga”, or “Topical Manga”, was a Sunday supplement to the Japanese publication “News of Current Affairs”, and modeled after the Sunday comics section of US newspapers. After World War 2, Tezjka Osaku further popularized the manga style with titles such as “New Treasure Island”, “Astroboy”, and “Black Jack” earning him distinction as the “Father of Manga” and the “Walt Disney of Japan”. Today, the popular genre has grown to include comics and graphic novels originating outside of Japan but influenced by the Japanese style of comics. Unlike western comics, manga is typically printed in black-and-white, read from right-to-left, and what western audiences would perceive as from back-to-front. Manga is released regularly as monthly orweeklychapters. Ifatitleis popular, the publisher may collect and publish a series of those chapters into volumes called tankōbon.
There are four main genres of manga based on targeted demographics: Shōjo, Shōnen, Josei, and Seinen. Shōjo (“young woman” in Japanese) targets female readers under 18 and typically features romantic, magical, and/or comedic stories featuring young female protagonists. Josei target women over 18 and feature more mature themes and storylines with older female protagonists in college or in their 30s. Shōnen (“young man” in Japanese) target males and typically feature action, adventure and fantasy stories with a male protagonist. Seinen titles target men over 18. Like Shōnen, Seinen feature action, adventure and fantasy stories, but with more mature themes and storylines.
When evaluating age appropriateness for manga it is important to remember that many of these publications originate outside of the US and therefore adhere to different cultural norms. What Japanese audiences deem appropriate for under 18 may differ widely from what is generally kid or teen friendly in the US. To help readers and parents identify appropriate titles, U.S. publishers provide a content rating system that can usually be found on the cover or title page of the manga. “E-Everyone/A All Ages” are suitable for readers 6 and up. “Y-Youth, Age 10+” may contain mild violence and cursing. “T-Teens, Age 13+” may include sexual innuendo and/or violent action scenes. “OT-Older Teens, Age 16+” contain more sexually explicit situations and some violent imagery, including blood and gore. “M-Mature, Age 18+” is strictly for adults and will likely include sexually explicit situations, strong language and/or bloody battles and violence.
If you are interested in trying out manga at the library, the HUB has a wide assortment of titles to choose from. For teens, I recommend the following titles: “Naruto”, “My Hero Academia”, and “Bleach”. “Naruto” is the story of a young mischievous ninja with a dream to become the world’s greatest ninja. In “My Hero Academia”, Izuku Midoriya is born without superpowers in a world where 80% of the world manifests some sort of ability. Despite this setback, Midoriya is granted the chance of a lifetime to inherit the power of the world’s greatest superhero and attend The Hero Academy, “Bleach” is the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a teenager who can see ghosts and uses martial arts to protect the innocent while helping tortured souls find peace.
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