Japan is a country with unique traditions and culture. One of them is Manga. People follow it like a religion and discuss it like politics. Advertisement agencies in Japan have heavily integrated manga into their commercials to boost their sales. They have dedicated manga cafes where people can spend the night. It has been a reason for the increase in tourism too. It has left behind a similar industry in the US by a long margin. The country itself has seen a growth in its economy because of it. Naturally, the question arises…

What is Manga?

Remember how we used to read comic books that we bought from our local scholastic fair or borrowed them from the library? Books like ‘Panchatantra‘, ‘Champak‘, ‘Tinkle‘ and ‘Archie’s comics‘ were a treat. I was fortunate enough to have all these available in my library during both school and college. Unfortunately, they didn’t keep manga in the library. Mangas are comics too but that’s the only similarity between them. Comics or Graphic novels that are from Japan are called Manga. The widely popular cartoons such as ‘Doraemon’, ‘Shin-Chan’ and ‘Ninja-Hattori’ which we all have watched in our childhood are also manga which got adapted into anime ( animated shows/movies from Japan ). In Japan, people of all age groups read manga, and unlike the ones that we grew up with, they are black and white and to be read from right to left.

Manga Types

Mangas are segregated by demographics. Shounen mangas are targeted at young boys but they attract older men and females too because it includes topics such as friendship, discipline, will-power, etc. This is the most popular and has the most sales compared to other types. Dragon Ball and Naruto are some examples of Shounen Mangas. Shoujo Mangas are aimed at young girls and although it explores many genres, it focuses on relationships and emotions. Sailor Moon is one of the most popular shoujo series of all time. Seinen Mangas have more adult and dark themes which are intended for men above 18. Josei manga, meaning “Women’s comics” is more mature than shoujo in its art and story. There are also mangas for children aged 10 or below called Kodomo mangas.

Fun Fact : Shin-Chan is a Seinen manga. No wonder India tried to issue a ban on the animated series.

How the Manga Industry works

The artists who draw manga are called Mangaka. Initially, they write the plot, draw rough sketches, and take them to an editor who gives them a green signal if they like it. From here on, Mangakas have to write and draw the story and deliver the chapters adhering to a discussed schedule ( usually weekly ). The editors deal with marketing, publication and also guides the mangaka in storytelling. Many Publishers in Japan release multiple weekly magazines based on demographics. One of the most popular magazines is ‘weekly shounen jump‘ by the publisher ‘Shueisha‘. This magazine is very thick and contains weekly chapters of all the ongoing series that Shueisha is currently publishing. All the series are published separately in a volume format known as tankōbon in which 11/12 chapters are grouped together. The weekly magazine has a poor paper quality compared to the volumes. This makes the magazine cheaper so that people can afford to buy it weekly. Once the tankōbons hits the shelves in Japan, it is picked up by various publishers for different markets. VIZ Media is the official English language publisher for Shueisha.

Revenue of the Manga Industry

According to a survey, 33% of the population in Japan reads manga. In 2017, 532 million copies of manga were sold which is still less than the 1.9 billion copies sold in 1995. The graph for sales has seen a steady decline maybe because of digitization. Some publishers have arranged the digital release of their weekly chapters even before the physical one. The sales alone make this a multi-million dollar industry without adding merchandising into it. Then there is the issue of piracy which continues to affect the sales overseas.

The Issue of Piracy

The Manga stores and cafes in Japan receive their copies of the weekly magazine before the scheduled release date. This is to make sure that there is no delay and the outlets get time to manage all the logistics. This is where the problem of piracy starts. Many outlets put the magazines on sale days before the actual release date. People buy them, scan them, and put them on the internet where the fans translate the Japanese version in their own language and upload it on pirate websites. We sometimes get the English translated chapters even before the official release of the chapter in Japan. These series have a massive following all over the world and people are afraid of spoilers and eager to discuss theories within their fandom/community and so they resort to the early scans. Some people wait for the official digital release because the translation is more accurate.

How to support Mangakas

Publishers in Japan arrange popularity polls for their audience and the least popular series is likely to get canceled. It is not easy being a mangaka because of this huge competition. They are underpaid and overworked initially and only the most popular and big names in this industry have a million-dollar income. They don’t have a social life outside work as they keep drawing for 16-18 hours a day to meet deadlines. There is a history of artists getting broke and even taking their own lives.

It is difficult for people outside Japan to show their support in an effective way. The popularity polls are localized too. We can do some things like buying merchandise from a verified source, writing to them on Twitter or any other way you can find, buying the official manga, and reading from the official digital releases. The author of ‘One Piece’, Eiichiro Oda has received letters from all over the world and he has expressed his gratitude many times.

My Favourite Mangas

I started reading Manga in 2019 after one of my colleagues introduced me to it. I was already surrounded by Otakus( people who love anime/manga ) and that was all the push that I needed to start reading. My first manga was One Piece which completed its 1000 chapters recently. During the pandemic, I had the time to read many more and it is always good to join new fandoms and communities. Don’t let the traditional black and white pages and the right to left reading style stop you. You will get used to it pretty fast and when you do there is no going back. Below are some that I’ve read or will be reading.

One Piece, Berserk, 20th-century boys, Uzumaki, Tokyo Ghoul, Jojo’s Bizzare adventures, The promised neverland, Jujutsu Kaisen, Vinland Saga, etc

Make sure to check them out. Happy reading.