View Single Post
Old 05-10-2009, 08:59 AM   #1 (permalink)
CaptainRukiaKuchiki Female
FeyRukiaBlachiki datass!
 
CaptainRukiaKuchiki's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 36,952
Blog Entries: 9
Default Village of Manga Guide

I'll start with the basics for those of you who haven't started Manga yet or are a little bit confused. If you feel something is missing or should be removed, tell me and i'll edit it!

-What is a Manga?
Basically put, Manga is a Japanese comic usually read from right to left and is shown in black and white for the most part, with some coloured pages everynow and then. Many of the anime series are based on their Manga versions to bring the characters and story to life.

Manga is serialized on weekly or monthly magazines where a chapter is released per issue. A magazine such as Weekly Shounen Jump, La La, Big Comic Original, etc. will have many different manga series per release and then each manga will be collected to form volumes.

A volume is a collection of chapters of certain Manga which usually have a much better quality than the serialized chapters. Usually, a Manga will have at least one or two volumes and could reach all the way up to 87 volumes and more. Volumes are the size of novels and they look something like this:
Spoiler


-Do Manga have genres?
Yes, Manga have a lot of different genres targeted at certain audience. Even though Manga may be targeted for, let's say, teenage boys, you may and will find females reading those Manga too since it's not really restricted to a gender. It can be noticed that some genres, such as Shojo, tend to have a drawing style somehow "similar" and "unique" to it and the same goes for other genres. List and a little description of most of those genres are as follows:

Spoiler
-Shounen: It's a genre which is primarily targeted at male audience of ages ranging from 10 to 18 years old. It's usually action packed with some comedy or drama in between. Though, a Manga may still be categorized as Shounen yet has less or no fighting scenes. It's considered as the most popular genre in Japan and outside of Japan. Examples of such genre include Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, Claymore, Detective Conan and Hajime no Ippo.

-Shoujo: It's the equivalent of Shonen and is targeted at female audience of ages ranging from 10 to 18 years old. It's more of the romance type with, usually, happy endings and a lot of drama going on. Again, this genre isn't restricted to a certain gender. Examples of such genre include Vampire Knight, Skip Beat, Fruits Basket, Absolute Boyfriend and Ouran High School Host Club.

-Seinen: It's targeted for young men between 18-30 or even more. The stories in seinen works appeal to university students and those in the working world. Typically the story lines deal with the issues of adulthood. (Taken from Baka-Updates which was taken from Google lol) Examples include Monster, 20th Century Boys, Gantz, Berserk, xxxHolic, Lair Game and Vagabond.

-Josei: Literally "Woman". Targets women 18-30. Female equivalent to seinen. Unlike shoujo the romance is more realistic and less idealized. The storytelling is more explicit and mature. Examples include Midnight Secretary and First Girl.

-Shounen-Ai: Often synonymous with yaoi, this can be thought of as somewhat less extreme. "Boy's Love", so to speak. Examples include Boys Next Door and Count Cain - GodChild.

-Shoujo-Ai: Often synonymous with yuri, this can be thought of as somewhat less extreme. "Girl's Love", so to speak. Examples include Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl .

-Ecchi: Ecchi manga contain healthy doses of 'Fan Service'. A manga term denoting sexy content that is added into the story mainly for fans of the genre. Although borderline at times, ecchi manga does not usually involve nudity. Examples include Air Gear, Historys Strongest Disciple Kenichi and Mahou Sensei Negima!

-Harem: A series involving one male character and many female characters (usually attracted to the male character). A Reverse Harem is when the genders are reversed. Examples include to-LOVE-ru

-Gender Bender: Girls dressing up as guys, guys dressing up as girls.. Guys turning into girls, girls turning into guys.. I think you get the picture. Example: Ouran High School Host Club

-Mecha: A work involving and usually concentrating on all types of large robotic machines. Examples include Code Geass and Full Metal Panic.

-Horror: A painful emotion of fear, dread, and abhorrence; a shuddering with terror and detestation; the feeling inspired by something frightful and shocking. Examples: Highschool of the Dead, Zombie-Loan and Doubt.

-Psychological: Psychological manga deal with the psychology or state of mind of people. Usually the crazy kind. Series in this category can be quite disturbing and we recommend them only to our more mature readers. Examples include Doubt, Monster and Persona 4.

-Mystery: Usually an unexplained event occurs, and the main protagonist attempts to find out what caused it. Examples: Detective Conan and Death Note.

-Tragedy: Contains events resulting in great loss and misfortune. Examples: Death Note and Hello Baby.

-Sports: Manga in this category center around any kind of sports. The Japanese have a knack of making any sport into an interesting manga series. From the more popular sports like baseball and football, to the less obvious fare like roller blading and ping pong. Examples: Prince of Tennis, Slam Dunk, Captain Tsubasa and Eyesheild 21.

-Fantasy: Anything that involves, but not limited to, magic, dream world, and fairy tales. Examples: Claymore, Bleach and Bastard.

-Comedy: A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict. Examples: Yankee-kun to Megane-chan and Angel Densetsu.

-Historical: Historical manga deal with familiar storylines that are based on our own history. Examples: Asklepios, Red River and Vagabond.

-Yaoi: This work usually involves intimate relationships between men.

-Yuri: This work usually involves intimate relationships between women.


There are other genres out there but those mentioned above cover most of the manga.

-What's Manwha?
Manwha is the Korean term for manga and denotes series that were published in Korea. Manwha is read from left to right, instead of the usual right to left reading of traditional manga. Although not as popular or well known as manga, manwha is starting to makes its mark on the community.

Discuss Manwha here: http://www.animecrazy.net/forums/vil...on-thread.html

-I'm finally interested in starting Manga! Where can i read it?
You can read Manga at popular sites such as
One Manga
MangaFox

Though, it's always better if you can support the author and series by purchasing a copy of the volumes.

-I want to discuss X Manga. Can i create a thread for it!?
Of course it'll be great to see members discussing their favourite Manga while anticipating the new chapters, though it'll be better to not create thread for a really unpopular Manga or finished since not many may actually discuss it.

It'll always be better to have at least 3 members willing to discuss Manga X before creating a thread. It'll help in reducing empty threads or dead threads.

Also, don't forget to use the search features to make sure a thread was already made, that is to prevent repeated threads as much as possible.

Threads already made for discussing certain Manga, as of now, are as follows (I'll edit it everytime a new one is made)




-I've just finished this awesome Manga! Where can i tell AC members about it!?
You can always recommend it in the recommendation threads where appropriate:
-Shounen: http://www.animecrazy.net/forums/vil...ns-thread.html
-Shoujo: http://www.animecrazy.net/forums/vil...ns-thread.html
-Other Genres: http://www.animecrazy.net/forums/vil...ns-thread.html
-Manwha: http://www.animecrazy.net/forums/vil...on-thread.html

Also, you can make a Manga or Manwha review which could help in making it a little known through out the land of AC
http://www.animecrazy.net/forums/vil...ha-review.html

-What is there to be done in the Village Of Manga?
First of all, you can always discuss your favourite Manga with other members. Then comes Manga Of The Week. This little event was made for two purposes:

-To get the Village of Manga a little more active and to let members participate more and visit the section.
-It's a good chance for an unpopular series to get known and believe me when i say 'gets to be known' because some have reached the spot light lol

So, if you want to take part in it, you can always go to this Thread to post your suggestions, and who knows, it could be the winner!

-I have a question about a Manga but don't think there's a need for a thread to be created for a question. Where can i ask it?
A thread (Any Manga Q&As!) was made for the sole purpose of that. Yes, you get to ask a question about any manga and hopefully members will answer it. Questions could be something like "When is the new Bleach chapter released?" and so on.

Questions are always welcome!

-I have read Manga X and i really loved it. Do you guys know a similar Manga??
You can always go to one of the recommendation threads, be descriptive as much as possible about what you want to find or read in a manga and then wait for a reply.

There is no need for a new thread everytime one wants to read a new manga. If i see a thread like that, i'll simply close it.

-This is not Manga-related but, how do i get an avatar or signature?
The answer to that question is as follows:

To get an avatar you need 30 posts and to get a signature you need 100 posts. All threads created with this question in mind should be referred to this thread and will be closed.

Make sure to read the general rules of AnimeCrazy before posting. AnimeCrazy.net Forums - The True Anime Streaming Community - Announcements in Forum : Village of Manga

-I have ideas that could help this section a lot. Who's interested!?
As a Moderator of the Village of Manga, i'd always welcome new ideas to improve the section and make it more and more active
So, have any ideas...just send me a private or visitor message and i'll reply back as soon as possible.

Last edited by Pad Frank; 03-19-2010 at 02:31 PM.
CaptainRukiaKuchiki is offline