It is believed that cartoons are created mainly for children. However, in the country rising sun animation, namely anime, based on manga, are popular not only among children, but also among adults.
Manga - as part of Japanese culture
Japanese comics, manga are part of the national Japanese culture. They are not limited to any genres and graphics (“large eyes”), but characteristic bright animated works are created on their basis.
most developed culture Animation in the world is considered Japanese animation, which includes anime and, of course, manga.
What is manga and what is the difference between it and anime? Few people ask this question, but it is essential and lies in the very nature of these two concepts. They are an integral part of Japanese culture. Manga is the origin of anime. In fact, without it, there would be anime, because only the most popular Japanese comics are further multiplied and come to life. Therefore, it is correct to say that manga is Japanese comics, and anime is already animation.
A brief digression into the origins of "Stories in Pictures"
The manga previously wore modest and clear name"Stories in pictures". Archaeologists found the first mention of cartoon stories in the first centuries of Japan's existence. Researchers have found drawings structurally reminiscent of modern comics in the tombs of ancient rulers, also called kofun mounds.
The spread of comics was hampered by the ambiguity and complexity of Japanese writing. Therefore, the manga Japanese read from right to left, not left to right, illustrated with many black and white drawings, graphic special effects and a minimum of text.
Choujuugiga ("Funny Animal Pictures") is considered the first Japanese comic book. They date back to the 12th century and are written by the Buddhist priest and artist Toba (another name for Kakuyu). Choujuugiga is made in the form of 4 paper scrolls. However, during the time of Kakuya, the work he created did not have a modern name.
Strange and funny pictures, characterized by grotesque images, gave a single name - manga.
What is manga and doujinshi?
Oddly enough, seemingly self-contained Japanese animation drew a lot from European cartoons and American comics. This merger took place in the second half of the 19th century. And already at the beginning of the 20th century, Japanese comics found their own niche in Japanese culture. The manga was financed and encouraged by the government. However, comics that ran counter to the interests of the state were banned. It was then that the first fantasy hero manga - a giant robot that opposed the hated USA (1943).
The real revolution took place in the post-war years thanks to Tezuka Osamu. Manga was formed as the main direction of Japan and acquired features that are characteristic of it today: black and white illustrations on the pages, color cover, rare pictures on the pages, standard expression of emotions with signs, strokes.
Those who draw and create manga are called "mangakas". However, in the Japanese market, there are not only professional manga, but also amateur ones. It was with "doujinshi" that many modern mangaka started.
What is manga? This is a synthesis of cartoon effects, comics, exciting stories. These are the unrealized dreams of cinematographers about cheap, but beautiful and high-quality special effects that attract attention and make viewers follow every step and action of the characters. This is the depth and variety of stories.
The interesting, exciting events that unfold in the pages of manga soon became a haven for many completely unrealized in science fiction, mysticism and others.
Manga has access to cinematic techniques for less money: drawing action with different angles, large, medium plans, detailing, demonstration of movement in stages, visuality.
It should also be noted the transmission of emotions characteristic of manga characters. It is large-scale, grotesque, but never superfluous. The Japanese themselves in life do not use the mimic transmission of feelings, they simply say: "I'm sad, fun." But manga and anime characters are the exact opposite of their creators. The transfer of emotions is concentrated and realized through poses, costumes, dances, words, through everything that surrounds the character.
Looking through Japanese comics, you can find sparks escaping from your eyes, a whirlwind over your head. European readers sometimes do not fully understand this designation, but readers from the Land of the Rising Sun know this “language” very well. After all, the main templates for the emotions of the characters were developed by O. Tezuka.
It is believed that the more the hero experiences, the more schematic his image becomes, the more his character changes. appearance from realistic to grotesque. It is this transformation that attracts European fans: it gives dynamism, lightness and expressiveness to manga.
What is unusual in the symbolic language of Japanese comics? Very often, specific designations, known even to a small Japanese, will be new to an unprepared reader, and therefore will be incomprehensible.
For example, the traditional manifestation of anger on the pages of manga is the cross, and the flow of blood from the nose of the hero is a sign of lust and lust, fainting is neither fear nor a sign of poor health, but a sign of surprise.
Based on this, before you start studying manga strips, you should first study its “conditional language”, and, by the way, it is no easier than Japanese characters.
Currently, Japanese art trends are gaining more and more popularity. A person who wants to learn something new about the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun may have a question about the meaning of the word "manga".
What is manga, every resident of Japan knows, young and old, but in Russia this direction is only gaining momentum. In Japan, this word means special kind comics. Only the essence of the information and its presentation in them are not the same as in the American ones we are used to. newspaper cartoons, funny pictures, grotesques are all manga.
History of appearance
In Japan, comics, which have been known as manga since 1814, appeared a very long time ago. the first progenitors modern style are sketches of Japanese monks dating back to the twelfth century. These pictures were of caricature and satirical content, and they depicted violators of the charter of the monastery. There are still images from the life of animals in this style, made by the Buddhist Toba, also dating from the 12th century. The term "manga" was coined by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in the early nineteenth century. With this word, he denoted his caricature sketches, and translated into Russian, "manga" means "sloppy (man) picture (ga)".
Manga acquires the form that is known in our time after the Second World War. Tezuka Osamu made a great contribution to the development of Japanese comics, who, with the help of his students, brought this art form into popular culture. The creators of comics (mangakas) most often work without partners and not only draw manga, but also write text for it. Although in some cases up to 4 people work on the creation of the next work. They know better than anyone how to read manga.
Currently, there are Japanese, Chinese (manhua) and Korean (manhwa) manga. The sound of the term in these languages is somewhat different, but the hieroglyph is the same. Also, not only professional manga is spreading, but also its amateur version - doujinshi. Very often, well-known comic book creators started out as amateurs.
Distribution in Japan
In Japan, comics of this format are so loved that every year more than a billion copies of collections of the most various topics and format. They are so popular that more than twenty-five collections are published per family, and about ten issues per person per year. But even these figures cannot convey the scale of this hobby. It often happens that the latest issue of a magazine is left on a seat in a subway car or on a cafe table after reading it. It immediately finds a new owner.
Most often, manga is released in the form of books, which can even compete with reference books in terms of the number of pages. Usually in these books up to twenty stories are printed, and their plot continues for several numbers. There are Japanese comics in the form of colorful magazines. The stories that are most in demand are usually repeated in a special edition in the form of thick books containing different series of the same story. The most popular of them become the basis serial anime(Japanese cartoons).
The culture of Japanese comics in the Land of the Rising Sun is high, they are read by the entire population of the country, regardless of age, status and gender. The assortment on the shelves of shops or specialized kiosks reaches hundreds of items. Passion for this direction has reached the round-the-clock sale of magazines in vending machines.
Who is reading the manga?
Manga... What comics are, probably, it is not necessary to explain. But Japanese cartoon stories are not just a collection of stories with caricature images. The former prime minister of the country called such periodicals one of the ways to bring the country out of the economic crisis and improve its image on the world stage. What is so interesting about her fans? One of the features this genre is the direction of style to a specific target audience. For example, there are manga comics for boys or girls. Adults - men and women, of various social strata, can also satisfy their interests. And, of course, publishers pay special attention to children. Designed for a children's audience most of comics. But even in this category there are gradations: manga is divided into comics for boys and comics for girls.
In addition, manga is divided into genres. Specialized editions meet the needs of the reader in science fiction, adventure, gambling and pornography, stories about the life and exploits of superheroes, etc. It is very difficult to compile a complete list of specialized genres, and the classification by age categories is also rather arbitrary. It's common to see an adult flipping through children's manga. But it also happens the other way around: Science Magazine in this style can be in the hands of a schoolboy.
Manga, in which adventures take the reader into a fantasy world, allows you to revel in freedom. The education system in Japan excludes freethinking and prepares everyone according to the same model. As a result, it is only in manga that young people give vent to their aspirations and individuality.
The adult generation, on the other hand, rests while flipping through the next magazine, the subject of which often touches on all urgent issues and allows you to philosophize on unexpected topics. Therefore, manga for adults is not just an interesting pastime, but a world of hidden desires that you want to plunge into again and again. Like a drug.
Distinctive features
A distinctive feature of manga magazines is their volume (up to a thousand pages). But this circumstance does not affect the speed of reading the material - the reader usually spends about half an hour on a magazine of medium thickness (about three hundred and fifty pages). The average Japanese knows how to read manga correctly and masters the material of one page in about 4 seconds. The comics are prepared in such a way that the information from them is assimilated literally at a glance. And this is their main difference from their European or American counterparts, which are overloaded with the text component.
The style of Japanese minimalism familiar from childhood is also inherent in these stories. Therefore, most Japanese people know how to create a manga. Storyboarding, editing, and symbolism are fully utilized in the comics. Instead of a voluminous explanation, the manga contains hints and mystery. A raised eyebrow, a hand gesture, a directed gaze will tell the Japanese more than the most detailed explanations through the text. The time and place of action are indicated by one or two hints in the background - a tree branch, the sun at its zenith, and the emotions of the moment are conveyed by a smile, a tear on the cheek or an angry look. These ways of expressing actions and emotions allow you not to carefully read the text for each picture, but to perceive the image as a whole, barely looking at it.
Drawing in the genre of Japanese comics
Images in Japanese comics are notable for their monochrome. Basically, only the cover of a book or magazine is designed using color, while the comic itself is presented in black and white. Occasionally to highlight important points, mangaka color separate illustrations.
Before drawing manga, a fan of this genre will need to know distinctive features this image style. The drawings are read from right to left, clearly storyboarded, and speech is written in the same way as in American comics- "in the clouds".
The heroes of Japanese comics are surprisingly accurate in conveying their emotional condition. To do this, the creators of the manga use a proprietary method - a special drawing of various parts of the face. A criss-cross wrinkle drawn on the character's forehead accurately conveys anger, a raised eyebrow is surprise, and a square mouth is a clear expression of rage.
The peculiar "masks" of the characters convey to the reader hostility and admiration, envy, surprise and joy. For any human emotion, the artists of these comics have a precise way to convey it. And precisely because of this, the main thing when creating a manga is the amazing drawing of the facial features of the characters.
Manga Influence: Research Findings
The transmission of important information by a drawing is already genetically embedded in the Japanese nation. Even writing in this country is closest to fine arts. With the development of television in Japan, the understanding of the superiority of the visual method of transmitting information over text is only strengthening.
Researchers of the influence of manga, as well as teachers and psychologists, note that children who grew up on these comics understand the essence of the problem more easily and find ways to solve it. This is the result of applying informal logic when reading this kind of periodicals. Another achievement of young people in Japan is attributed to the passion for comics - scientists believe that it is thanks to this that young people easily master programming and other work with computer technology on professional level. A natural question arises: "Manga - what is it: funny unpretentious pictures or a form of education of the future?"
Manga Science
Japanese comics, their popularity and effectiveness of assimilation visual information attracted the attention of scholars to such an extent that Lately is gaining momentum issuance of a serious scientific literature and textbooks in this style.
Thanks to a number of experiments, it was possible to prove that after reading the course economic theory written in manga style, memorizing and mastering complex economic concepts happens on an unconscious level. Disclosure economic topics in adventure stories requires a minimum amount of time to read them (2-3 hours), but the result is amazing. As a result, students calmly operate with terms and know the principles of operation of market mechanisms.
Row large companies adopts this style and uses it when creating instructions, working documents, catalogs. For example, the Taisei Company prepared a manual for workers in the form of a comic book. It explains in detail the new technologies used in the construction of high-rise buildings.
Manga by genre
Since in Japan manga is equated with a genre visual arts and literature at the same time, then the variety of such works is amazing. Come out at the most different options romance and horror, science fiction and erotica, business and sports. History, adventure, romance - all directions and genres cannot be listed!
Manga by genre, as in any other art form, is divided into more popular and those that are in demand only for a specific target audience. The most read stories include stories that touch on gender relations, martial arts, everyday life and romance.
Kodomo is a genre created especially for kids. This is a children's manga. What is kodomo? What are its distinguishing features? First of all, these comics are distinguished by the simplicity of the plot (sometimes the idea and its development are completely absent). The drawing of the characters is greatly simplified and resembles American style execution. There are no scenes of cruelty, and the manga itself is more often entertaining. Mangakas only teach children to perceive their creations.
Shounen is for boys between the ages of twelve and eighteen. How to draw manga for this audience, every mangaka knows. Dynamism, speed of plot development, more adventures and, of course, romance. The themes of rivalry in sports, life and love are very common in this genre, and girls are drawn as exaggeratedly beautiful. This is all that may interest a teenage boy.
But the most popular in Japan is manga in shojo genre. It is designed for the most reading target audience - young girls ranging from 12 to 18 years old. The peculiarity of this genre is that central character the plot is a girl or girl. The questions of her self-determination in the surrounding world, the process of the formation of the heroine as a person are touched upon. And, of course, not without romantic adventures.
Here, the conventionality of the image characteristic of the manga is fully manifested, and the characters are very energetic, beautiful and full of enthusiasm in relations with the world around them. Thanks to this, manga for girls is firmly winning the hearts of the younger generation.
Adult Special Comics
Separate target audience for the creators of comics becomes the adult population of Japan. All revelations are found in these works modern life- not only romance, but also cruelty, violence.
Also manga for adults differs in content, in which there are scenes not only of an erotic, but also of a more frank nature. There are also such specific genres, like yuri, shounen-ai, and yaoi, which are all about same-sex relationships.
But there is also a separate style for female audience- Josei. It is characterized by the development of the plot from school bench and ending with old age. That is all life individual person collected in the manga. Stories created for middle-aged women are very realistic and ordinary, and therefore they are in good demand.
Manga in Russia
In Russia, manga comics are a fairly new phenomenon. Interest in this type of art from the Land of the Rising Sun is just waking up. Almost all stories in the style of Japanese comics that can be found and read on the territory of our state are translations of fans and amateurs. spending own time and means, they adapt popular magazines in Japan and distribute them via the Internet. As a result, anyone who wants to touch the world modern Japan can do it for free.
Only two publishers are officially engaged in the release of manga magazines in Russia. These are the Comic Book Factory and Sakura Press. You can also find periodicals in this style from several illegal publishers. Therefore, just going to a bookstore and buying a fresh issue of manga, the adventures of which you want to read, is unlikely to work out. One of the first publications published in the Russian Federation was the work of Rumiko Takahashi "Ranma ½".
03DecWhat is Manga
Manga is a form of visual art that is expressed as a comic strip drawn in Japanese style. In simple words It is common to say that manga is Japanese comics.
Manga is a cultural phenomenon.
Recently, manga has become popular far beyond Japan. The youth environment in America and European countries quite quickly and warmly accepted this direction in creativity. This is mainly due to the fact that manga is something different from the usual comics, with its oriental philosophy and style unlike the rest.
In Japan itself, manga is not perceived as some kind of purely youth entertainment. In the Land of the Rising Sun, absolutely everyone reads manga, whether they are children or the elderly. This type of creativity is considered an important part of Japanese culture. Manga artists and writers are considered very respected people and their profession is well paid.
For reference. Manga, although it became widespread after the Second World War, actually has a very ancient history. Naturally, in a more primitive form, but similar graphic novels existed in Japan hundreds of years ago.
Why do people of different ages read manga? Why is she popular?
The answer to this question is that manga is not limited to any one genre that can only be of interest to a limited group of people. Manga can be adventure, fantasy, detective, thriller, horror or even erotica or porn (hentai). From this we can conclude that each person can find among the genres of manga exactly what he likes.
It is worth noting that although at first glance it may seem that the manga is just an entertaining read with pictures, in fact it is not. Many representatives of this genre have very deep meaning, put their readers before deep philosophical questions and problems of modern society.
How is manga different from regular comics?
As we already know this species creativity came to us from Japan, and, therefore, it has its own, special, Asian style, so to speak.
- Manga characters almost always have an unnatural big eyes, small mouths and abnormal hair color.
- Emotions in these comics are usually shown exaggerated. For example, if a character cries, then a whole bucket of tears will pour from his eyes. When laughing, the eyes become small slits, and the mouth, in turn, becomes huge, depicting deafening laughter.
Manga and anime. How are they related?
Well, I think that the connection between these two genres Japanese art, is obvious to disgrace. They flow from each other, so to speak. Naturally, manga is the progenitor of such a direction as anime. By by and large, anime is animated manga, transferred to TV screens.
Nowadays, it is quite common to observe how anime is created based on manga plots, and vice versa. Sometimes this leads to funny situations when at first an anime is filmed based on a manga that has not yet been completed, the cartoon series quickly catch up with their text counterpart, after that the plot of the works is divided, and we get two different endings.
