Manga Madness

What does woodblock printing, Japanese history, caricatures and manga have to do with each other? Read along to find out! Enjoy these entertaining glimpes into the evolution of Manga as we know it today. Be surprised, enlightened, and amused as you meander through these tidbits of Manga history.

Conflicting viewpoints surround when and by whom the term 'manga' initially came into play. Is it a rough-hewn caricature left by Japanese workers of the 7th century or the woodblock printing of Scrolls of Flolicking Animals (1100's to 1200's Japan)? Perhaps both of these illustrative works lend themselves to Manga history. In late 18th century Japan, in an accounting of Santo Kyoden's Four Seasons, the term 'manga' was used to describe the illustrative work. Katsushika Hokusai, an early 19th century Japanese artist, was the first to use the term 'manga' in a book title, Hokusai Manga. Or was he?

Chōjū-giga, frollicking animals, Japanese manga, manga

The Chinese kanji for 'manga' is broken apart into two key characters, 'man' and 'ga'. In traditional Japanese language, 'man' is defined as whimsical and 'ga' as picture. Originally, mangas were parodies of cultural norms, people, and the natural world. For the most part, these whimisical drawings were steeped in traditional Japanese folklore.

Manga-ka denotes a person who is both the illustrator and author of manga. These individuals may be female or male and write manga across all genres. A manga-ka may also create a manga which crosses gender (male writes shojo, female writes shonen). The characters and background setting frequently determines who the auidence is rather than the manga artist.

Influential Manga-ka:

Katsushika Hokusai - viewed as the 'Father of Manga'; late 18th to mid 19th century Japanese artist; illustrated several volumes with a comedic twist of everyday life in Japan including scenes of the natural world, these are known as Hokusai Manga. An example of his humorous bent is seen below.

Hokusai manga, Japanese manga, manga, woodblock printing

Osamu Tezuka - 20th century manga artist; known as the 'God of Manga'; manga-ka for 'Astro Boy'; invented distictive large eyes used in Manga and Anima; viewed as the 'Godfather of Anima'.

Year 24 Group AKA Showa Year 24 - first women to become manga-ka in 1969; esteemed group of female manga-ka (Moto Hagio, Riyoko Ikeda, Yumiko Oshima, Keiko Takemiya, Ryoko Yamagish) who are known as the 'Founding mothers' of modern shojo; transformation of established shojo manga into the contemporary version seen today; 'The Rose of Versailles (Ikedo) and Takemiya's 'In the Sunroom' are two manga titles produced by the Year 24 Group, earliest representation of male to male romantic relationship.

Prior to this group of female manga-ka, all manga regardless of genre was illustrated and written by male manga artists.

Manga genres are divided first by gender of the intended reader then by age as well as gender identity. The main genres are as follows: Kodomo - readers for children; Shojo - girls and Shonen - boys, both written with tweens and teens in mind; Josei - adult women; Seinen - adult men. Except for Kodomo, a manga series may revolve around a LGBTQ+ relationship.

Contemporary manga is written in a book format, with illustrations in black ink on white stock. In general, color ink appears on the front cover though some color may also be found within the book itself. In contrast, Anime is the animated form of a manga series with lots of color and activity in the background. In many cases, Manga books are turned into Anime cartoons and movies especially popular titles such as AstroBoy and Akira.

Adult Non Fiction

A Brief History of Manga

Manga: sixty years of Japanese comics

The book of yōkai: mysterious creatures of Japanese folklore

eSources (use 'manga' in the search box)

Gale in Context - Middle School

MasterFILEPremier

NoveList K-8 Plus

Overdrive for teens (will need your library card to access)

World Book (use student/advanced/Spanish icons)

WorldCat (several languages available - left sidebar under refine your search)

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