A stack of tankōbon on a bedroom shelf, spines aligned, first page always on the right. That small detail says everything: a manga is a Japanese comic book read from right to left, and it has become one of the most widely shared forms of Japanese popular art in the world.
Manga drawings are inspired by today's Japanese society, but also by Shinto myths, legends and folklore. The industry has grown steadily since the end of the Second World War. The most famous titles are now followed by millions of readers on every continent.
From life lessons to futuristic fiction to teenage love stories, how did manga reach every layer of Japanese society? These books also act as a door into Japanese culture abroad, especially in France, where the audience keeps growing.
Anime, kawaii cosplay, conventions and merchandise have all helped. Manga remains very popular among young French otaku and inside gaming communities. Collectors of items derived from the best-known Japanese works are more numerous every year.
Key points
- Manga is the general term for comics published in Japan, drawn by artists called mangaka.
- Manga is read from right to left and usually printed in black and white for cost reasons.
- Genres are defined by their target readership, not only by their story themes.
- The six main categories covered here are shonen, seinen, shojo, josei, yuri and yaoi.
- A shojo can be a horror story and a shonen can be a comedy: the label tells you who it is written for.
What is manga ?
Manga (漫画) can be translated as sketch or unfinished drawing. It is a broad term covering all comics and graphic novels published in Japan. These paper works often lead to an anime, that is an animated adaptation of the story.
Manga are written by mangaka, and the most famous of them are true stars in Japan. They publish chapters weekly in specialised magazines. The bound volumes come out once the current arc is over.
Generally only the first plates, one or two pages, are printed in colour. The rest stays black and white for economic reasons. Contrary to Western reading direction, manga is read from right to left, and follows very specific narrative codes.
The art of Japanese manga has evolved along with the archipelago itself. Japanese literary codes have been turned upside down over the decades.
That closeness between story and everyday life is why manga imagery works so well on clothing. A print taken from a page keeps its ink lines, its speed lines, its raw energy.
What are the different types of manga?
The styles or categories of manga are not so different from classic literary genres. Like Western novels or comics, the same building blocks appear in these works.
The narrative objectives are identical. A fantasy story will most certainly contain magic. A scientific story, or one set in a period of history, will rely on recognisable characters and environments.
Manga holds its difference in the target of these works. The different types or genres are defined according to the readership the mangaka wants to reach.
That is what makes manga art different from other art forms.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of the types of manga we will cover:
- Manga Shonen
- Manga Seinen
- Manga Shojo
- Manga Josei
- Manga Yuri
- Manga Yaoi
The most famous genre of manga is shonen. This type features a central character who grows over the course of the story as he tries to become stronger and reach the goal he has set. He and his comrades chain adventures to get there.
These works usually feature male characters, with friendship, camaraderie and family at the heart of the story. Action is frequent, and the main target is teenage boys from 12 to 25 years old.
Dragon Ball: when talking about shonen, Dragon Ball has to be mentioned, because it is one of the works that popularised the genre worldwide. With over 300 million copies sold, Dragon Ball is the shonen definition.
Written by Akira Toriyama and launched in 1980, the story follows a little boy collecting the seven crystal balls called Dragon Ball, which grant any wish once gathered.
Naruto: the story takes place in a half-modern, half-feudal world where ninjas are at the heart of the narrative. Naruto is an orphan rejected by the inhabitants of his village because of the demon sealed inside him. He tries to become Hokage, the best ninja of the village, so that everyone is forced to recognise his value.
Between secret techniques, perilous missions and fierce battles, the story follows this young ninja until he achieves his dream.
Hunter x Hunter: Gon, the main protagonist, is twelve years old and wants to become a Hunter. Hunters are allowed to do almost anything by presenting their hunter card. Gon's father, Ging, whom he does not know, is considered one of the best hunters of all time.
Gon enters the hunter world to find his father, and to fulfil his own dream of becoming a professional hunter.
Bleach: Ichigo is a 15-year-old high school student unlike any other. Since childhood he can see and touch the souls of the people around him. One day a hollow, an evil creature, comes to take the souls of his family. A shinigami, literally a god of death, intervenes to save them.
During the confrontation the shinigami is injured, and Ichigo takes her powers to become a shinigami himself and protect his family. After this event, Ichigo starts hunting hollows and protecting human souls.
Seinen : young adult manga
Seinen are manga for young adult men. The audience age range is roughly 20 to 35 years old. These works have a more serious, adult background and deal with deeper subjects. The plots are more mature and pragmatic than in shonen.
The themes often echo the history of the Japanese archipelago or the real world: wars, conflicts, geopolitical issues. This genre stands opposite the josei manga we will see shortly.
Btooom: Ryota Sakamoto is a young video game enthusiast, and more specifically a player of a game called Btooom. He is one of the ten best players in the world. From one day to the next, he is kidnapped and left on a deserted island.
Lost in the middle of nowhere, Ryota tries to survive, then understands that the rules of his favourite game now apply to him. Kill or be killed: the young man is caught in a battle royale with enormous risk.
Berserk: Berserk is a particularly raw manga. It deals with very dark themes that are unfortunately present in our societies. Paedophilia, rape, incest, infanticide and mass murder are part of the work.
Berserk is considered by observers and by many specialists of manga and Japanese literature as a masterpiece that any manga fan should read or watch. The manga and the series are set in a medieval world with a hint of fantasy.
Shingeki no Kyojin or Attack on Titan: like Berserk, this work connects with many ills present in modern societies. The mangaka, Hajime Isayama, talks about armed conflicts that spread and last over time. Japan is a country that has caused great harm in the past, for example the invasion of China, and suffered great misfortune, for example the atomic bomb.
At the beginning, the audience supports the very controversial Eren Yeager. The further the narrative goes, the harder it becomes to know who the villain is. Who started it? Who is responsible for the conflict? Should we forget the past or honour the memory of the dead? These are the themes of this celebrated manga.
Lone Wolf and Cub: this manga deals with violence in the samurai world. The story follows a father and son seeking revenge for an unfounded disgrace. Relatively violent and faithful to the reality of the time, it is known for its straightforward depiction of brutality. Fighting, assassination and murder under the guise of honour make it a true seinen reference.
That samurai imagery still travels well today, and it is the same visual world you find in our samurai clothing pieces.
Shojo : best manga for teenage girl
A shojo manga is literally a manga for girls. The genre stands opposite shonen, and the target is mainly teenage girls. These works explore the complexity of social relationships, so calling them romance manga would be reductive.
Shojo also deals with the emotions felt when interacting with others. Friendship, empathy or affection: shojo plays with feelings. Again, genres and types of manga are two different things.
You can find horror shojo or crime shojo. Just keep in mind that the readership targeted is mainly teenage girls.
Nana: Nana is the first name of the two main protagonists. Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu are two young women in their twenties who meet on the train to Tokyo.
They part ways on arrival, then meet again while both looking for an apartment in the capital. They share a flat, build a close friendship and support each other through their trials.
Shojo covers also shaped a whole visual style, from school uniforms to printed graphics that fans still wear daily.
Vampire Knight: this is the story of Yuki, a young woman attacked by a vampire on a winter night. She is rescued by another vampire named Kaname. Ten years later, Yuki has grown up and serves as a guardian of Cross Academy, a vampire academy.
She was taken in by the principal and is in love with her saviour, Kaname. However, humans and vampires do not get along, and the hard-won peace of the academy is about to break.
Maid Sama: the story takes place in a high school where most students are boys. Ayuzawa Misaki is the class representative and main protagonist. She imposes military discipline on the premises. Feared by the boys and loved by the girls, she has only one rival, Usui Takumi, the perennial class leader.
Despite her energy, beauty and kindness, Ayuzawa hides a secret. She is poor and lives in a run-down house. To cope, she works in a café alongside her classes, and tries to hide her double life until Usui catches her there.
Josei : manga for young women
Like shonen and seinen, josei is aimed at an adult female audience. The readership is older than that of shojo. Working women, sometimes married, fully part of Japanese society.
The themes are very varied, which makes the boundaries of this genre hard to define. The narrative is more mature, and josei portrays relationships closer to reality, less exaggerated.
Free: Haruka Nanase is a young man passionate about swimming. With friends he met in elementary school, he takes part in a swimming tournament and wins easily. At the end of the year, the four friends separate. Years later, Makoto, Nagisa and Haruka end up in the same high school.
But Rin, the fourth friend, who had gone to live on the other side of the planet, resurfaces and challenges Haruka to a race. His two friends then propose founding the Iwatobi swimming club, with the goal of seeing Rin again, now enrolled at the rival school.
Paradise Kiss: Yukari Hayasaka is a high school student constantly studying for college entrance exams. She never takes time to relax. After a breakdown, Yukari ends up in a workshop where several Yaz'Art students are creating a clothing collection.
To her surprise, the students ask her to represent their brand ParaKiss and model for a fashion show. Reluctant at first, Yukari accepts. Her attraction to George, the stylist of the group, does not leave her indifferent. He will later show her what it means to live with passion.
Kids on the Slope: in the 1960s, because of his father's job, high school student Kaoru Nishimi moves in with relatives on the island of Kyushu.
Kaoru has always been a loner, but arriving at his new high school he meets Sentarou Kawabuchi, a notorious troublemaker, and he changes. Behind the bully appearance, Sentarou is a jazz enthusiast who introduces Kaoru to that music.
Yuri : girls love manga
In Japan, the relationship to sexuality is not the same as in the West. These themes are more easily addressed in the literary genres of the archipelago. This is why yuri manga finds a wide audience in Japan.
Yuri manga deals with homosexuality between female protagonists. Yuri and yaoi should not be confused with manga known as hentai, which are clearly erotic or pornographic works. Yuri shows homoromantic relationships between female characters.
Citrus: yuri stories often take place in high school, and Citrus is no exception. The story begins after the remarriage of the mother of Yuzu, the main protagonist.
Yuzu likes to have fun and is sent to a mostly female high school. There, she struggles to fit into a traditional student body. Arguments are frequent, especially with her new half-sister, who happens to be the student council president.
The story becomes more complicated when Yuzu starts to have feelings for her half-sister.
Sweet Blue Flowers: like Citrus, this story also takes place in a high school. On her first day, Akira finds her childhood best friend, Fumi. Fumi is delighted to renew their friendship.
She is also very disappointed, because her childhood love has just got married. She faces several conflicting feelings at once. It is hard enough already, and she also struggles with the fact that her first love was a woman. As the title suggests, this is a very gentle and poignant manga.
Yaoi : boys love manga
In Japanese culture, yaoi is the counterpart of yuri. These works of fiction focus on romantic and sexual relationships between male characters.
As mentioned for yuri, this kind of work exists across Japanese literature as a whole, but also in films and television.
The target audience is young men, generally homosexual. This type of manga also finds a large readership among young women.
10 Count: this manga has had a major following in Japan among yaoi readers. The story begins with Shirotani, a young man suffering from mysophobia, the fear of contamination by any germ or disease.
The head of the company he works for has an accident. Shocked, Shirotani meets Kurose, a man who advises him to treat his condition. A few days later, Shirotani goes to the clinic and realises that Kurose is one of the psychiatrists working there.
From then on, the two young men build a relationship that goes well beyond the doctor and patient setting.
Junjo Romantica: Misaki is desperately trying to get into a major university and wants to improve his grades. He manages to convince an acquaintance of his older brother, the famous author Akihiko Usami, to tutor him.
This eccentric man, a genius adored by his peers, lives alone in a huge apartment. He quickly proves to be enterprising. Misaki then discovers the other side of his private teacher: a caring and romantic man.
FAQ
What is the difference between manga and anime?
Manga is the printed comic, drawn by a mangaka and usually published chapter by chapter in a magazine. Anime is the animated adaptation, produced by a studio. Many stories exist in both formats, with some differences in pacing and in the endings.
Which manga genre should I start with?
Start with the genre matching the kind of story you already enjoy. Shonen for adventure and action, seinen for darker adult plots, shojo and josei for relationships and emotions. The label tells you the intended readership, not the quality.
Do I really need to read from right to left?
Yes, for editions that keep the original Japanese layout. You open the book on what feels like the back cover, and read each panel from the top right. It takes about one volume to become automatic.
How do Japanese sizes work for manga-inspired clothing?
Japanese sizes run about one size smaller than US or EU sizes. If you usually wear a US M, take a Japanese L. Check the measurements listed on each product page before ordering, especially for shoulder width and sleeve length.
