Many people said that they don't know what is the manga and its comparison between western comics. Seem like they are questioning what is entertaining about manga that differs from the other illustration literature. If you are one of those people and interested in reading some manga's. You are at the right article! As this article is a compilation of information on how you start reading a manga.
What do you need to know before you read a manga?
Before we start let me discuss you what is Manga and it's origin.
Did You Know?: In japan, people all age read manga. But because of the society that being Manga (Comic) Otaku in Japan see's by many people in Japan that it is disgusting. So many Otaku are Closet Otaku.
The word manga came from the Japanese word Ā "ę¼«ē»", composed of the twokanjiĀ ę¼« (man) meaning "whimsical or impromptu" and ē» (ga) meaning "pictures". The same root word is the Korean, Manhwa and Chinese Manhua derived from.
(Note: If you want to understand the minimal difference between Manga, Manhua and Manhwa head here: https://read.cash/@kira18/mangamanhwamanhualight-novelanime-0d7cd41e)
In Japanese, "manga" refers to all kinds of cartooning, comics, and animation. Among English speakers, "manga" has the stricter meaning of "Japanese comics"
"The Form Of Japanese Manga
The form of manga is the way of the author/illustrator illustrate the story dialogues. This two types of illustration form of manga has its own way of reading so don't miss this information before you read a manga.
Normal Form Manga
The normal manga is read from right-to-left dialogues and panel from Upper Panel Down to Down-Left most panel. Manga books usually start at the last page of the books as it was inverted from a normal books.
Yonkoma(4-Koma) Form Manga
The Yonkoma Manga or 4-koma is a form of manga which is consist of 4 panels as the name stated. This type of manga Read from Upper panel to Lower panel and the dialogues read from right-to-left.
The panels of aĀ yonkomaĀ manga aren't always placed vertically. Sometimes they can even be in a square layout of 2 panels per 2 panels. It's just that the vertical 4-panel column layout is the normal way of doing it.
The Type or Genre of Japanese Manga(Same with Anime)
Source: Wikipedia.org
(Note: I might discuss this thoroughly with another article if I have a time and many readers are interested in it)
KodomoĀ (Aimed at children)
ShÅnenĀ (Young teen boys.)
ShÅjoĀ (Young teen girls.)
SeinenĀ (Young adult men.)
JoseiĀ (Young adult women.)
HaremĀ (Boy surrounded by girls.)
Reverse HaremĀ (Girl surrounded by boys.)
HentaiĀ (Anime or Manga withĀ eroticĀ andĀ pornographicĀ themes, this type of anime is generally aboutĀ sexĀ andĀ sexual arousal, and depicts scenes of explicitĀ sexual intercourseĀ andĀ nudity)
(Editor's Comment: Yes, Hentai is consider as one of the genre of manga and anime.)
RomanceĀ (Anime or Manga about people falling inĀ love.)
HorrorĀ (Anime or Manga intended to invokeĀ fear,Ā anxietyĀ or dread in its viewers, the most common elements in horror-themed animes areĀ ghostsĀ (yÅ«rei),Ā yÅkai,Ā demons,Ā demonic possession, graphic violence,Ā monsters,Ā curses, etc.)
Comedy
Fantasy
EcchiĀ (Sexual content, but not as much asĀ hentai. Doesn't show any sex.)
MechaĀ (Anime or Manga about robots, usually ones big enough for people to sit inside them and control them like people drive cars. Mecha anime often have wars where the robots are used to fight between countries likeĀ tanksĀ andĀ planesĀ are used today.)
LoliconĀ (Anime or Manga about very young girls around 8 to 15 years old, often with flat chests. Technically not a genre.)
ShotaconĀ (Attraction to young boys)
IsekaiĀ (Set in a different world.)
YaoiĀ orĀ shounen-aiĀ (Anime or Manga about boys who are in love with other boys.)
YuriĀ orĀ shojo-aiĀ (Anime or Manga about girls who are in love with other girls.)
Drama
SupernaturalĀ (Anime or Manga about witches, magic, ghosts,Ā deities, or other things that we do not normally see in everyday life)
Thriller
Slice of LifeĀ (Anime or Manga that contains moe, but usually about things people do every day, like going to school, or playing sports, or going to cultural festivals, Generic life)
Some of the source content are adjusted for the clarification of the article idea. The contents in this article is not mine and I don't getting any credits of other work as mine. All credits to the proper owner of the picture, ideas and contents of the article. As I said in my introduction all of this is my compilation of ideas that are needed to start reading Japanese Manga. I'm not a professional writer or anything, I'm just on a human who loves Japanese Anime and Manga, who may did wrong sometimes.
Source:
https://www.japanesewithanime.com/2017/08/yonkoma.html?m=1
Exploration into the world of manga, I highly recommend checking out Solo Max-Level Newbie Chapter 1 at https://solomaxnewbie.com/solo-max-level-newbie-chapter-1/. It's an opportunity to embark on an exciting journey into a captivating narrative realm.