Japanese Manga - City Hunter, Dragonball, Jet, Ryoko, Zetsu Ai

Manga are akin to comic books. They are published by manga companies just like the United States' comics are published by giants such as Marvel and DC, but with a few differences. For one, the number of Japanese publishers far outweigh the number of American ones. For another, the content of manga ranges over a much wider variety of interests than American comics -- anything from cooking, sports, etiquette to the usual super hero stuff. Manga also caters to the tastes of small children to that of full grown adults, while American comics tend to be thought of as something only for kids and teenagers. Manga in Japan is part of all stages of life.

Another difference between manga and comics in the States are how they are released to the public. Unlike most American comics, which come out under their own titles on a monthly to bimonthly schedule, most Japanese comics first come out as part of a weekly, or monthly, periodical, which will include a number of other titles in the same issue. These are sold in a large magazine format, for a cheap price, made specifically to be picked up, read, and trashed. If you become attached to one of the titles in the weekly compilations, later, as soon as enough sections have been written, the publisher will bind them together in a smaller format, with better ink and paper, under the series' own title. These are the ones that get bought to keep.

Another rather large difference between American comics and manga is the fact that while American comics sell the title, which can be written on and drawn by a changing group of people over the years, manga is retained by its creator to continue or discontinue as they will (though of course publisher pressure will also have something to do with this). Often times, a title will be both drawn and created by the same person. And while a lot of these titles do come and go, many have actually persevered for years.

The word shojo translates from the Japanese as young woman or girl. It's used in manga as a reference to comics directed at a young female audience. Stories done in this style normally revolve around a young heroine somewhere around 15 years of age. (15 is believed by the Japanese to be the time when your life reaches a crossroads -- one which will determine the road you will follow for the rest of your life.) Another telling characteristic of shojo manga is the art style usually employed by the artist who cater to this style.

The shojo style tends to be very flowery, delicate, a romanticized style. A main sign of this style are the characters' large soulful eyes. Don't let the way it looks fool you, however! Though many of the stories do tend to have some romantic goal in them for the heroine, the stories themselves can be very exciting and imaginative, actually leaving the romance as a secondary theme.

Horror, which one wouldn't normally think of as a girlish thing, is most often done in this style! The variety is endless!

The word shonen translates from the Japanese as boy or lad. As you might guess, it is used in reference of comics directed at young male audiences. The stories, for the most part, revolve around young men close to 15 years of age. Most of the artists that work in this style tend to a more realistically proportional style than shojo. On occasion, however, some of the artists' styles tend to go into even greater body/facial disproportion than the shojo style does.

Shonen manga have as wide a variety of stories as shojo, but they tend to have a more slapstick style of humor.

Due to the extreme variety of manga and the wide audiences of the web, I thought it might be helpful to have a rating system by which to figure out which manga might be more suitable to your tastes. I have based all ratings on the same standards advertised for American films. This rating system is merely intended as a guide for the reader. Please think of it as such... :-)

Another avenue available for fans out there is what are called Amateur Press Associations or APA's. These APA's represent people who have gotten together on a common interest and now share their work with other be it songs, stories, thoughts, or even translations of their favorite manga and anime.

APA's are a great way to get to know others with the same interests and provides an open format to keep involved.

APA's are normally a collection of sections, called tribs, sent in by the 15 to 25 contributors. The OE collects these tribs and collates them and then is responsible for sending them out to the members. Members in turn send in money to the OE for their mailing accounts to cover the postage of mailing the APA to them. Once the APA is received the members will read through it and provide comments and input, which they will use to form up part of their next trib. APA's are normally collated for distribution on either quarterly or three times a year, depending on the charter of the particular APA.

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Gloria Oliver.

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