What is a manga and why is it unique?

Japan ships two of its strongest pop culture products abroad - manga paper comics and their cartoon versions called anime. Heroes such as Astro Boy, Speed Racer besides Sailor Moon show up on toys, lunchboxes and shirts in every corner of the planet, as well known as Mickey Mouse.

The word “manga” covers every comic printed in Japan - yet outside Japan it points only to Japanese titles. Western comics arrive in full color plus read left-to-right - Japanese manga stay mostly black-and-white and read right-to-left.

Picture stories on Japanese scrolls from the twelfth century and woodblock prints from the eighteenth century set the early pattern. The label “manga” appeared in print in 1798. After World War II, American comics reached occupied Japan - local artists borrowed layouts but also pacing. Osamu Tezuka, later nicknamed the “godfather of manga,” drew Astro Boy and reworked Disney stories into Japanese form fixing the big eye style and cinematic panel flow that still dominate shelves today.

Comic books sit at the center of Japanese daily life. A single weekly magazine runs gag strips, baseball epics, economic lessons or diet tips side by side. Readers range from toddlers to retirees. A story about a boy who shoots footballs into nets, “Captain Tsubasa,” pushed thousands of Japanese children onto real pitches as well as helped the sport take root nationwide.

Publishers keep most pages black-and-white to hold down printing bills - the spare palette turned into a trademark look. Artists stretch eyes to impossible size, freeze sweat drops in mid-air and plant motion lines behind runners so readers feel speed and panic without extra color.

Publishers sort books by the age or gender they serve. Kodomomuke titles amuse small kids. Shonen magazines chase boys with robots and tournaments. Shojo books give girls first love tales. Seinen paperbacks supply salarymen with crime and politics. Josei comics talk to adult women about work, marriage also heartbreak.

Television cartoons carried the stories overseas in the 1990s. Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon aired after school in Europe, Latin America and North America. Video stores stocked tapes from Studio Ghibli. Tokyo Pop printed English editions and later CrunchyRoll streamed chapters the same day they hit newsstands in Tokyo. The ripple reached fashion runways, mobile games and weekend costume contests on every continent.