Manga+and+Anime

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Manga & Anime =まんが ＆ アニメ =

Manga & Anime are a major part of everyday life in Japan and are read by people of all ages. They are almost always in black and white but there are a few mangas that are in colour. Manga is almost always drawn from right to left following the traditional way of writing in Japan.

 The factor that influences the way a manga is written the most is whether the manga is shounen or shoujo. Shounen and Shoujo are the two main genres of manga. Whether a manga is shounen or shoujo can influence everything from the drawing style of the manga, the themes in a manga, and even what people will read a manga. Shounen is generally more geared towards male readers. The style is often lacking detail and blunt so that it is easier to draw action and fight scenes. The different themes in Shounen often include action, adventure, martial arts, comedy, and sports. Shoujo is a type of manga that is more adapted to female readers. The drawing style is more complicated and has a lot more detail than shounen. Popular themes in shoujo manga are comedy, romance, school life, supernatural, and fantasy. Left: Kaichou wa maid-sama (Shoujo) Right: Digimon (Shounen) The history of manga dates back to mediev al Japan. Although the first modern manga was Astro Boy (written by Osamu Tezuka) in 1952 the very first form of manga came from medieval Japan where pictures and text were written on scrolls in order to tell a story or describe an event. In the late eighteenth century another form of manga was produced in book format by using wood block technology. Unlike the picture scroll before it this new form of manga was meant for mass production instead of for an exclusive audience. This new form of manga was called Kibyoshi and had dialogue and narration centered around an ink picture. Kibyoshi had disappeared by the mid nineteenth century. Although modern manga bares a great resemblance to both the ancient Japanese picture scroll and Kibyoshi its direct ancestor is actually European/American political cartoons of the nineteenth century and the multi panel comic strips that appeared in American newspapers throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. In 1954 Osamu Tezuka wrote the first Shoujo manga called Ribon no Kishi.

 Anime is an abbreviation of the word animation. Anime first began to appear in the early 1960's. It originated in Japan as a manga which was then turned into an animated form. The true beginning of anime started in the beginning of the twentieth century when Japanese filmmakers began to experiment with the animation styles being used in the west. Anime only truly started to distinguish itself from western animation in the 1970's. Today almost any manga that is extremely popular will be turned into an anime. Once the anime is released in Japan it will be translated into many different languages and be released around the world. Most manga and anime fans (otaku*おたく) will watch both the English and Japanese versions of an anime but most often prefer the Japanese version.  