This glossary lists important terms relating to manga and the manga industry. Its content has been shaped by matters frequently discussed on the net, and is intended as a reference for those discussions. up
Each entry provides background information and, where appropriate, pointers to further information. (Some WWW links may not be current.) JIS code has also been supplied for most Japanese words. Like any glossary, it can be read from beginning to end, as a self-contained survey of the manga world, or searched for specific terms.
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Some amecomi are known to the Japanese public, mainly classic titles such as Superman, Spiderman and Peanuts - Japanese editions of the latter exceed 100 volumes. Parts of X-Men and Ghost Rider have been translated into Japanese by Shougakukan Productions and Take Shobou, and manga using X-Men characters has been published. Original English editions of some lesser-known amecomi, such as Marshal Law, also enjoy a very small cult following.
However, despite the limited awareness of some titles, it should be understood that amecomi are regarded as a minor cultural curiosity, at most. The world of manga and American comics has been totally dysjunct for several decades. Japanese audiences seem to regard amecomi as ugly, cliched and difficult to follow (with manga, readers are expected to linger on a page for no more than about 20 seconds). The proportion of manga personalities who are familiar with amecomi is negligible.
One of a handful of exceptions is Ono Kosei, a well-known Japanese critic and amecomi authority. As a child, Ono read American comics left behind by the post-WWII US Occupation forces. (Most amecomi fans in Japan were also exposed to amecomi in this way, and few have appeared since this era.) He has contributed English-language articles to digests such as Raw and translated many amecomi titles, including Fritz the Cat, The Fantastic Four, Mighty Thor, Incredible Hulk, Spider-man, Doonesbury, and Maus (where Yiddish-accented English was cited as a translation challenge). Such translations have found only miniscule readerships in Japan; Ono believes this is because Japanese readers, who are used to the fluid storytelling of manga, regard amecomi as unreadable.
Contrary to the belief of some Western fans, most anime is intended for children or teenagers, where the marketing dollar lies. The anime industry has always been more or less a merchandising subsidiary of the manga industry. A few animes have been been targeted at college-age fans, but by and large, manga's large adult readership is unconcerned with anime. Anime seems to have reached the height of its economic viability in the late 80s; the popularity of manga and anime are now losing ground to video games.
See also:
In the manga industry, potential assistants are frequently asked to submit their own manga first. Once selected, skills are passed onto the assistant over a number of years, in a situation not unlike the master-apprentice relationship of traditional Japanese art. After learning the ropes from a pro, many assistants go on to create their own manga, and their styles often resemble that of their mentor. A group of assistants with a coherent visual style may present themselves as a "studio", which suggests a consultancy rather than an apprenticeship.
Japanese readers have had some limited exposure to the wuxia manga style
via the work of Taiwanese artist Chen Wen (Toushuu Eiyuuden) $@El<~1QM:EA(B
and Korean artist Lee Jae Hak $BM{:\U\(B (Ryuugin Houmei $BN66cK1LD(B),
who now both draw specifically for Kodansha. At one time, there was also
a possibility that the work of famous Hongkong artist Mah Wing-Shing (Tien
Ha $BE72<(B) would be translated into Japanese. But in general,
Chinese martial arts mangas are usually a totally different world to their
Japanese counterparts, despite the influence and popularity of Japanese
manga-kas such as Hara Tetsuo, Ikegami Ryouichi, Motomiya Hiroshi, and
Houjou Tsukasa.
Acronym for "Computer Graphics". In the manga context, it refers to computer-assisted
illustration or animation of any kind. In recent years, computer-generated
halftone patterns and computer painting software have become almost standard
tools for manga-kas. The former technique was popularised by manga-kas
such as Tetsuya Saruwatari and Inoue Noriyoshi, while pioneers of the latter
include Kia Asamiya, Terasawa Buichi and Tsudzuki Kazuhiko $BETC[OBI'(B.
The Apple Mac seems to be the computer of choice among manga-kas.See also:
A group of doujinshi artists or writers. Many circles have been established
for years, and have a large number of loyal readers. A small proportion
of circles do business by mail order, and will send their catalog on request.(For those enquiring from outside Japan, the following should be enclosed to maximise the chances of a reply:
Most doujinshis are devoted to whatever manga and anime is popular at the time, but a vast range of tastes are catered for, with doujinshis devoted to video games, pop music, animals, machines, novels, movies, RPGs, and much more. A comprehensive catalogue of attendees goes on sale some months before each event.
Japan has many other comic markets, which are generally tolerated by publishers because they are thought to increase sales of manga and anime, not decrease them. But this tolerance is not without limits - in one major incident, Japan's second biggest comic market, Comic City, was cancelled in August 1994 after official warnings that Chiba police would check doujinshis for breaches of censorship laws.
See also: Tokyo Cool Manga Messe http://www.inter-g7.or.jp/g2/manga/home.html
There is a large fan culture associated with the contemporary doujinshi
scene. Manga doujinshis are advertised and reviewed in some magazines,
and sold en masse at "comic markets". Most manga doujinshis are at the
level of Western fanzines, though a significant proportion are of remarkably
high quality. These sell thousands of copies, and some people can make
a living drawing doujinshi alone. Popular doujinshi artists often go on
to become professional manga-kas (eg. Sonoda Kenichi, Ozaki Minami). On
the other hand, some professional manga-kas have been known to publish
doujinshis, often under assumed names, parodying their own work (eg. Hagiwara
Kazushi, Ueshiba Reach).
See also: List of Internet Manga Creators (in Japanese) http://yindy1.aist-nara.ac.jp/muneto-t/ncaa/ListOfIMC.html
Other popular types of nibs are kabura pens and maru (crowquill) pens.
According to one estimate, pornographic mangas account for a staggering one-quarter of the manga industry's output. They are as available to the consumer as any other type of manga, though they are technically age-restricted and are often wrapped in plastic. (In Japan, it is easy to find stores which sell nothing but H-manga, adult videos and magazines.) H-manga boasts a large fandom; there are several sub-genres of H-manga, and the degree of artistry varies widely. Exceptional H-manga artists sometimes, but not always, move to mainstream publishers. Many minor publishers specialise in H-manga and are closely associated with pornographic game software, CDROMs and the doujinshi scene.
| A | nervous, introverted, honest, loyal |
| B | outgoing, optimistic, adventurous |
| AB | proud, diplomatic, discriminating |
| O | workaholic, insecure, emotional |
See also: Mah-jong-based games for the Mac and PC.
The "man" character $BL!(B in "manga" is composed of the radicals for "water" and "expansive" $BRX(B. It previously meant "flooding", and later, "inexorably" or "indiscriminately". By association, it came to mean "involuntary" and "random". There is a persistent myth which states that "manga" has the meaning of "irresponsible pictures" (possibly originating in McCarthy, 1993); this is totally false.
Some recently established Western businesses have incorporated the word "manga" into their names, and have occasionally even initiated legal proceedings against those who use the word "manga" in a Western context. (Quite without foundation, since the word has been used in English-language contexts, such as magazines and newsgroup names, for years before such businesses existed).
History
A 12th-century drawing, the choujuu giga $BD;=C5:2h(B ("birds & beasts
frolicking pictures"), is conventionally regarded as the first work in
the Japanese manga tradition. It was drawn by the Shingon Buddhist monk
Toba, and light-heartedly depicts animals behaving like humans and bodhisattvas.
Contemporary manga has been informed by the Japanese graphic tradition,
which includes "zenga"
$BA52h(B, caricatures of Zen monks used as aids to enlightenment; "Toba-e"
(c.1702); "Ootsu-e" $BBgDE3((B, popular comical drawings, named after
the place of their origin; "kyouga" $B682h(B ("crazy pictures"), single-panel
scenes of strange events; and explicit, erotic woodblock prints, called
"shunga" $B=U2h(B ("spring pictures").
The 19th century saw the re-emergence of ukiyo-e
and the appearance of satirical drawings such as "tanuki-e" and "namazu-e"
$BrP3((B ("catfish pictures", the catfish being associated with earthquakes
and social upheaval). The magazine Punch was particularly influential,
with a Japanese version appearing in 1862. The word "ponchi-e" subsequently
came to describe European-style caricatures. 
A local publication in the style of Punch was the Marumaru Chinbun $BT%T%DAJ9(B,
released in 1877. It used speech balloons and some Western drawing techniques.
The first 4-panel strip, featuring typeset speech, was published in 1902.
The next major influence came from the American comics explosion of the
1920s, which affected many Japanese cartoonists and had some impact at
the popular level, although most titles had to be re-drawn for Japanese
audiences.
Manga did not enjoy its current degree of popularity until after
WWII, when Tezuka Osamu began drawing for cartoon magazines in the early
fifties. Tezuka experimented with artistic traditions from Japan and elsewhere,
searching for the most effective techniques. 
He was particularly interested in cinema, and all his manga have a highly
developed cinematic quality. Tezuka's interest in animation added depth
to his style; he eventually studied at Disney studios in the late 60s.
(Disney's 1994 movie, The Lion King, is widely believed to have copied
Tezuka's 1960s manga Jungle Emperor.) But rather than slavishly copying
Disney's aesthetic, Tezuka strived to understand the relationship between
character drawing and economical storytelling. His success led to a new,
distinctly Japanese form of graphic narrative, and paved the way for the
rapid growth of the manga industry. Many prominent artists in the 60s and
70s were former assistants of Tezuka.
Outside Japan
Japanese manga has an established presence throughout Asia. In Taiwan,
its popularity was in part made possible by the proliferation of bootleg
translated mangas, which were very cheap, widely available and closely
resembled the originals. Their crude translations and correction-fluid
censorship did nothing to dampen buyers' enthusiasm. The 1992 crackdown
on manga piracy in Taiwan (and other Asian countries, where the situation
was similar) catalysed the pirates into quickly buying translation rights
and "legitimising" themselves. Today, manga in Taiwan is booming, with
many dedicated bookstores and libraries. Shoujo manga, doujinshi and Japanese
cult artists (such as CLAMP) have considerable followings. (Seinen-manga
is reportedly less popular because of compulsory military service.) 
The local manga scene has produced some accomplished manga-kas, such as
Tsai Chih Chung and Chen Wen, who have both had their work translated into
Japanese; some
Taiwanese manga-kas now draw exclusively for Japanese magazines.
The weekly Hong Kong magazine Family Comics, which for years carried informed manga news, reviews, and translations of several cult titles, ceased publication in 1993; a mad scramble for Japanese manga rights ensued. Today, the price and quality of manga translations has increased markedly, and manga translation has become big, legitimate business. Shounen mangas such as Dragonball and Slam Dunk, which are well-known throughout Asia, are especially popular in Hong Kong.
Japanese manga and magazines are becoming increasingly widespread in South
Korea. Korean manga pirates have also disappeared recently, with royalties
being paid for all translations of Japanese manga. The Korean market currently
has about twice as many shoujo-manga magazines than shounen-manga magazines.
Martial arts mangas are also popular.
In Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, many 60s-era mangas have been translated for local audiences. Original Japanese and Chinese-translated manga can be found in all major Malaysian cities. Several children's manga (e.g. Doraemon) have been translated into Malay. However, in general, one cannot easily obtain manga containing 'gratuitious sex and graphic violence' in Malaysia. The situation in Singapore is similar, where pages are sometimes torn out of imported Japanese magazines, in accordance with local censorship laws.
Manga has been slowly gaining a readership in many Western countries. In most cases, Westerners have been introduced to manga via anime, which is now fairly accessible via mainstream outlets. At the moment, mangas are particularly popular in Spain, Italy and France, where a wide range of titles have sold well. In the United States, translated manga has been trickling into comic shops for the best part of a decade, with some minimal impact, particularly on underground and dance-floor culture. Titles are usually released in 30-page comic-book format, which most Japanese call "honyaku komikkusu" $BK]Lu%3%_%C%/%9(B (translated comics) or "eigo-ban" $B1Q8lHG(B (English version), not "manga". Comic artists such as Adam Warren and Ben Dunn have used anime as the main inspiration for their work, the former releasing licensed adaptations of the Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis anime. Some American fans have drawn anime doujinshis and sold them at Comikets, and a few superficial aspects of manga art are now being appropriated by "mainstream" American comics.
See also:
In Japan, many manga-kas have celebrity status comparable to popular novelists or film directors in the West. They are often household names, and can command handsome salaries, especially if their work is animated or otherwise merchandised. (For example, Akira Toriyama's Takeuchi Naoko's Sailor Moon, which more than doubled the circulation of Nakayoshi magazine within a few months of its debut. But until recently, even the most successful manga-kas usually had fairly informal, trust-based relationships with their publishers. (In 1993, Shougakukan paid Takahashi Rumiko a 7 million yen "loyalty" fee.)
The most prolific manga-kas of recent years, in terms of numbers of tankoubons published (including reprints), are: Fujiko Fujio, Mizushima Shinji, Tezuka Osamu, Ishinomori Shoutarou, Tachihara Ayumi, Yokoyama Mitsuteru, Chiba Tetsuya, and Yagisawa Kimio.
There are few manga libraries in Japan, where the price and availability of manga makes them mostly unnecessary. However, manga rental libraries proliferate in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. A handful have also appeared in some Western countries. These libraries usually stock thousands of tankoubons and the latest issues of best-selling magazines, along with the occasional CD or video collection. Most of these can be borrowed overnight or read on-site for as little as a few cents, charged by the hour or by the tankoubon.
See also:
"Fanatic". Slang word for hard-core fans of anything, roughly equating
to "geek", "nerd", "fanboy", or "freak". Thus, a manga otaku is someone
whose life revolves around manga to an extreme degree. The word usually
has neutral connotations within fan culture, but in other contexts, it
can sound highly negative. In Japanese, the word "mania" means much the
same as "otaku". Literally, "o-taku" $@$*$?$/(J is formal speech for "your house",
which is also a polite, somewhat distant, second-person way of saying "you".
The word came to be applied to those fans or hobbyists who rarely got out
and mingled with the rest of society.
(It is interesting to note that the English "fanatic" derives from the Latin "fanum", or temple/house - "fanaticus" being a devoted worshipper.)
It has been speculated that the slang usage of "otaku" was coined by Shinda Mane $@?7ED??;R(B, a manga artist active in the early '80s. The term was popularised by freelance writer Nakamori Akio in an article for the June 1983 issue of Manga Burikko. The otaku entered public consciousness in 1989 with the arrest of serial killer Miyazaki Tsutomu, a dedicated anime/manga otaku.
See also:
See also: otaku
See also: Hitoshi Doi's ranking of OAV and anime movies
See also: Welcome to the world of Telephone Cards http://www.funet.fi/pub/doc/telecom/phonecard/
from Super Manga Technique
Most recent how-to-draw-manga books cover the basics of screentone use. Since the late 80s, many shoujo and shounen mangas are increasingly dependent on screentone as an artistic device. Pioneers in the field of screentone technique include Asamiya Kia, Hagiwara Kazushi, Katsura Masakazu, Kitagawa Shou and many others. An even newer trend is the use of computer-generated tone, which can be customized for individual panels.
Screentone is sometimes called "letratone", "ziptone", "zip-a-tone", "IC tone", etc., which are names of individual brands of screentone.
Compared to shounen-manga, which is aimed at a younger, broader audience, seinen-manga features even more graphic sex and violence, but tends to be less comic or outlandish in its depiction. Shounen-manga stories of exams, sport, and school life give way to stories about the world of salarymen, university students and drop-outs. Dramas and stories with political or corporate themes are especially popular, though there are a few SF/occult/fantasy seinen-mangas.
Shuueisha offers Young Jump, the biggest selling seinen-manga magazine; Super Jump, for artists (and ostensibly, readers) who have "graduated" from Shounen Jump; and Business Jump, whose sex-sex-violence-sex formula is aimed at salarymen. Shougakukan's seinen-manga stable includes Big Comic Spirits and Big Comic Original; Futabasha's magazine Action has hosted many important seinen-manga titles. Kodansha sells Young Magazine, known for its edgy stories about delinquents, plus Morning and Afternoon, aimed at salarymen and otakus respectively, the latter notable for its innovative character.
Accomplished seinen-manga artists of recent times include Kawaguchi Kaiji, Hirokane Kenshi, Egawa Tatsuya and Urasawa Naoki, many of whom were disciples of the previous generation of seinen-manga artists.
In 1992, the biggest-selling seinen mangas were:
| Rank | Title | Volumes | Number of copies sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Golgo 13 | 1 - 86 | 59,000,000 |
| 2 | Oishinbo | 1 - 38 | 57,000,000 |
| 3 | YAWARA! | 1 - 26 | 32,000,000 |
| 3 | Be Bop High School | 1 - 21 | 32,000,000 |
| 5 | The Silent Service | 1 - 17 | 15,000,000 |
| 6 | Kachou Shima Kousaku | 1 - 17 | 13,000,000 |
| 6 | 3 x 3 Eyes | 1 - 13 | 13,000,000 |
| 8 | Crayon Shinchan | 1 - 5 | 9,000,000 |
| 8 | Shonen Ashibe | 1 - 6 | 5.000,000 |
| 10 | AKIRA | 1 - 6 | 3,900,000 |
"Girls' manga". Shoujo-manga is the genre targeted at young female manga
readers between 6 and 18 years of age. The classification is not primarily
based on storytelling style, artistic style, or even content - if a publisher
designates a manga as intended for a young female audience, then it is
shoujo-manga. (Of course, girls do not limit their reading to shoujo-manga;
many are readers of popular boys' weeklies such as Shounen Jump.)A pioneering shoujo-manga was Tezuka's Ribon no Kishi $B%j%\%s$N53;N(B. Published in a girls' magazine in the mid '50s, it inspired other artists to draw for female readers. Many of these were women who thought they knew their audience better than male manga-kas, and fostered the rapid growth of the shoujo-manga market. Some of the most famous names from this era are Ikeda Ryouko $@CSEDM}Be;R(B, Hagio Moto $@GkHxK>ET(B, and Ohshima Yumiko $@BgEg5];R(B. Today, there are many successful female manga-kas, and most shoujo-manga artists are women. There are also famous male shoujo-manga artists (eg. Wada Shinji), just as there are female shounen-manga artists (eg. Takahashi Rumiko).
Shoujo-manga is at least as diverse as any other type of manga, encompassing a huge variety of styles and genres. (It commands a sizeable market share; the exact proportion is hard to determine, with official estimates varying between 15 and 35 percent.) Because of this diversity, it is difficult to talk about general defining characteristics of shoujo-manga. There are always many exceptions to the rule. Still, it could be said that the typical shoujo manga:
Another misconception is that certain shoujo-manga for pre-teens, such as Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Akazukin Chacha and Wedding Peach are typical or mainstream shoujo-manga titles. In fact, they are exceptional titles which are popular among male otakus for their cuteness.
A small male contingent can be found in the readers of shoujo-manga. They
are often addicts who tired of shounen-manga formula, or who were introduced
to stories by female friends and relatives. While male interest in shoujo-manga
may have been slightly stigmatic in the past, it is unremarkable these
days, with the the rise of "unisex" manga magazines such as Wings and South,
and artists such as CLAMP and Kouga Yun, who often write for an audience
of males and females. A few important shoujo-manga magazines are: Nakayoshi
and Ribbon (for under-6th graders), Lala and Hana to Yume (for teenagers),
Susperia (horror), Wings ("unisex"), and Margaret.
There are many shoujo-manga fans on the net, mostly posting to a mailing list devoted to shoujo manga and anime:
See also:
Some significant shounen mangas and their specialties are Shounen Jump
(aimed at everyone), Shounen Sunday (inner-city dwellers), Shounen Magazine
(sports-oriented, also the longest running manga magazine currently in
print), Shounen Champion (catering to macho types), and Shounen Captain
(for otakus). Of these, Shounen Jump is the biggest seller. It is a weekly
of about 450 pages' length, read by nearly 7 million people each week,
making it the most popular manga magazine in Japan. Up-to-date Japanese
issues of Shounen Jump can be even be found in Chinatowns all over the
world. Shounen Jump's success is due to a winning formula of combining
action, drama, and sensationalism in addictive, drawn-out sagas. All its
mangas contain three essential elements: "doryoku, yuujou, shouri" $BEXNO(B,$BM'>p(B,$B>!Mx(B
(effort, friendship, triumph). While competitors have tried to emulate
the formula (with limited success), it has also been abused and taken to
extremes. Shonen Jump mangas are infamous for dragging on well past their
use-by date, and draining the hardiest manga-kas of their creativity and
artistic freedom. While Shounen Jump has retained its leading position
for some years, its market share has recently shown signs of decline.
Some common versions ("-ban"):
The English word "comics" ("komikkusu") is used interchangeably with "tankoubon", although "komikkusu" is not usually used to describe Western comics.
See also: Yomuzou's Weekly Manga Bestseller Lists http://susanooh.anime.net/manga.html#weekly
Moronobu Hishikawa created the first ukiyo-e in the 1670s after discovering how to make monochrome woodblock prints. (Moronobu is also known for producing at least 150 illustrated books.) With with further improvements in publishing technology, such prints became very popular in the mid-18th century. The standard declined as the market became saturated, but in the 19th century, Katsushika Hokusai and Ando Hiroshige reinvigorated ukiyo-e with their vibrant, dynamic approach. In the Meiji period, ukiyo-e sometimes appeared in packing material for goods sent to Europe, and caught the attention of impressionists such as Degas, Manet and Van Gogh.
Today, ukiyo-e seems to be more appreciated in the West than in Japan. However, some manga artists, such as Maruo Suehiro, feature a strong ukiyo-e sensibility in their work. Characteristics of ukiyo-e can also be found in many mainstream mangas, though this is due more to cultural diffusion than direct influence.
See also: Hitoshi Doi's UFO Catcher Doll Image Gallery http://www.tcp.com/doi/doi/ufo/ufo.html
In the late 70s, Ishii Hisaichi gained attention for his alternative approach to 4-koma manga, which soon became the norm. Other important 4-koma manga artists include: Aihara Kouji, Akizuki Risu, Asakura Sekaiichi, Hori Nobuyuki. Igarashi Mikio, Kikuni Masahiko, Nankin, Saibara Rieko, Togashi Yasutaka, Yaku Mitsuru, and Yoshida Sensha. There are 4-koma monthlies (eg. Manga Club) and on occasion, popular 4-coma mangas have been animated (eg. Shonen Ashibe).
Yaoi more or less began in the early '80s, associated with the magazine
June. (Strictly speaking, June is a "tanbi-kei" $BC?H~;e(B magazine.)
Today, there are several yaoi manga magazines, but doujinshis still account
for the greatest proportion of yaoi in print. It is believed that doujinshis
of the shounen soccer manga Captain Tsubasa were largely responsible for
the growth of yaoi. As a result, Comiket is currently dominated by yaoi
doujinshis, although yaoi doujinshis are thought to have already reached
saturation point, according to a chairman of Comiket. Mainstream publishers
are increasingly turning to yaoi anthologies to compensate for the declining
sales of gekiga-based lady's comics.
Nakajima Azusa (aka Masuyama Norie) is an important novelist and essayist specialising in the yaoi/shounenai genre.
See also:
Many thanks to the following contributors, who added information for various entries:
Some other general net references for those interested in manga terminology:
Kobayashi, Tadashi. Ukiyo-e: Great Japanese Art. Kodansha, 1983.
Schodt, Frederik. Manga! Manga! The world of Japanese comics. Kodansha, 1982.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 1985.
