Manga

MANGA! For those who do no know what manga is, it is a form of japanese literature much like a comic book (sometimes referred to as kommiku- Japanese for comic). Manga steadily became a major aspect in the Japanese publishing industry in the early 1950's.

The first few manga ever created have said to originated from scrolls which date back to the 12th century, some say that the first true real creations of manga did not exist until later in the 18th century.

This form of literature was said to be strongly shaped by the United States cultural influences brought to Japan after the U.S Occupation of Japan (1945-1952). This includes the bringing over of western comics, television, cartoons (Disney) and film.

Below: Extract from Vampire Knight 24- Vampire Within Vampires (page four) http://www.onemanga.com/Vampire_Knight/3/04/

HOW TO READ MANGA

Manga is read differently from normal comic books where you start from the right side of the page to the left, working your way down, then heading towards the next page on your right.

Manga is read in reverse. You start from the back of the book, as that is the front, and read from right to left as seen in the example on the left.

Manga themes consist of everyday issues as well as mystical and creative themes of paranormal beings. These themes range from romance to drama and even comedy. An example of a great modern manga is Death Note writen by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by manga artist Takeshi Obata.

Death Note is fitted into the genre of Mystery, Psychological thriller and supernatural thriller. The main plot is centered around Light Yagami, a student just entering university who finds a Death Note notebook. This notebook allows the user the gift to kill anyone whose face they have seen simply by writing their name in the supernatural notebook.

It continues on Light's journey in attempt to create and rule a world rid of any evil, and his battle against a well known detective known throughout the world as L. Along his journey Light also encounters the owner of his Death Note, a shinigami (God of Death) by the name of Ryuk, and many other supernatural mishaps and creatures.

MANGA ANALYSIS: DEATH NOTE

Drawings:

Death Note was drawn by manga artist Takeshi Obata. These styles are very much different and unique to this series for two main reasons. In this manga it can be seen to be more realistic than most. The drawings are more graphic and the use of shading definitely gives this manga a real form and general character. The emotions and graphic details in this manga is the second key to its unique styles.

In Death Note each individual character is specifically depicted in a way to enhance their individual personalities. A good example of this is Misa Amane. She is also a carrier of a Death Note in this series and she portrays quite a character. The style incorporated in her outfits and expressions show that of a punk rocker character trait.

Another great style used in this manga is the form of emotion portrayed in the eyes. The eyes in manga are usually bigger and used to show to show emotions of the character. They reveal the true inner thoughts using such techniques as shading and a sense of tone. These enhance the details in the eyes of the characters. Light Yagami’s eyes portray such sinister meaning when he uses his book of death to kill people. It can be seen that he thoroughly enjoys the feeling. His eyes like many eyes in most manga are very deceptive and true feelings can be seen through them if carefully looked at.

Dialogue:

In manga, dialogue can be very deceiving and can mean many different things. Sometimes though, dialogue and text are used only as an accompaniment to the pictures. In Death Note, the drawings are more significant that the text as dialogue in this manga usually is used to deceive the enemy. This manga is full of lies and the text only creates the suspense. Light Yagami, the protagonist in this manga using words twisted around to have some truth in them, but it can not be trusted. His dialogue is very advanced as it is apart of his character, and the use of ambiguous words also creates this idea of lies and mistrust.

By: Karolyn Jane Escarcha <3