American Manga

The word manga is the Japanese word for comics/cartoons. Manga started off in Japan in 1905 and then came to America as early as 1980. Manga as compared to normal American comics such as DC and Marvel to name a few are the same in the sense that they tell a story through panels in a book. However the book is flipped. You would read an American comic from left to right, top to bottom. In Japanese manga and American manga you read from right to left, top to bottom from what we would call the back of the book. However in 2002 American manga started being produced the same way as comic books where you read it from left to right top to bottom. Japanese manga consists up to hundreds of pages in one book whereas American manga usually consists up to 32 pages. In Japanese manga art, everything is over exaggerated, such as their eyes drawn very big. In American manga everything is drawn more realistic. Japanese manga is printed in white and black form whereas American manga is printed in color. A manga book from Japan is usually smaller than a manga book from America. For these reasons American manga tends to be more costly than Japanese manga, because of the larger pages and color inking used. However, because the book is larger and has coloring, it is more detailed and is slower paced allowing the reader to take their time. Whereas the Japanese manga being smaller and has more pages is more fast pace and tends to dwell on the same scene through many pages. The American manga and Japanese manga panels are pretty similar to each other as well as to American comics, where they are divided up by noticeable lines separating for each action or scene taking place. They both tell a story through the characters words and actions. Today even though normally Japanese manga was done in black and white, color has been slowly introduced into the comics. American manga was sold through mainstream book stores such as Borders or Barnes and Nobles, which began increasing its popularity.