Manga
Manga is a broad form of comics originating in Japan, published across diverse genres and often serialized in magazines or collected volumes.
Comic: A sequence of images, often combined with text, used to convey a narrative or information. Manga belongs to the wider medium of comics, while developing distinctive Japanese conventions.
Kibyōshi: An illustrated Japanese book form popular in the late eighteenth century, combining images and extensive text. Kibyōshi shows that sequential illustrated storytelling flourished in Japan before modern manga.
Shōnen manga: Manga marketed primarily to adolescent boys, commonly featuring action, friendship, and competition. It is a major audience category within manga publishing.
Western comics: Comics produced within the diverse publishing traditions of Europe and the Americas. Differences in page direction, serialization, and publishing markets distinguish many manga traditions.
Panel (comics): A bounded image or scene in a comic sequence. Panel size, shape, and order control pacing in manga.
Hokusai Manga: A collection of sketchbooks published by Katsushika Hokusai beginning in 1814. Its title helped establish an early use of the word manga for varied drawings.
Shōjo manga: Manga marketed primarily to adolescent girls, often emphasizing relationships and emotional development. Its conventions and readership form another major manga market.
Manhwa: Comics originating in Korea, published in print and digital formats. Manhwa shares regional histories with manga but belongs to a distinct Korean tradition.
Speech balloon: A graphic container that assigns written dialogue or thought to a character in comics. Balloon placement helps coordinate dialogue with manga’s right-to-left reading flow.
Rakuten Kitazawa: A Japanese cartoonist who helped develop modern political and newspaper cartoons in the early twentieth century. His work connected manga to modern newspaper cartooning and professional cartoonist culture.