Manga Resources

<< Comics Workshop RECOMMENDED READING

Favorite Titles:

by SHIGERU MIZUKE:

Showa series = Mizuki’s autobio manga history of modern Japan:

Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (Miyazaki)

• www.nausicaa.net= A thorough fan site.
  • The site’s Manga Page
  • Interviews: Miyazaki
    • “Money Can’t Buy Creativity”
    • “After Nausicaa” (influences, themes, etc.)
• Nausicaa on Wikipedia
• …

General Manga Links

“Manga”on Wikipedia, including major styles…

• Shonen Manga
• Shojo Mangai
• “Chibi” (“cute, little” … a.k.a. “Super-Deformed”)
• Gekiga = “dramatic pictures” = more realism & mature material…

“A Beginner’s Guide to Reading Manga”

Manga Techniques from Deleter.com

Historical Connections

“Japanese painting” on wikipedia

Ukiyo-e = “floating world” woodblock prints ~ MIT Collection: Western Industry Russo-Japanese War Perry: Encounters  Perry: Demon Ships  Perry: Portraits Perry: The Black Ship Scroll ~

Kibyoshi= 18th-century Japanese storybooks, a.k.a. “Yellow-Covers” [on wikipedia]

Santo Kyoden (1761-1816) ~ Sample books @ Archive.Org = Kibyoshi jusshu + Mukashi gatari inazuma hyoshi

Kamishibai = 12th-20th century sequential storytelling, or “storycard theatre” [Kamishibai history]

Samurai = Pre-industrial Japanese warrior class

“Fart-War” (c. 1700?) = Sigh…. Well, you’d probably find out about this sooner or later.

Scholarly Articles & Review Sites

• Visual Cultural Research in Art Education= manga, anime, and more
  • “Cross-Cultural Analysis of Artistic Development: Drawing by Japanese and U.S. Children” = article on manga’s influence on the cognitive and artistic development of Japanese students.
• About Japan: A Teacher’s Resource
  • “Anime and Manga: It’s Not All Make-Believe”
• manga4kids.com = A thorough & helpful index of titles, with recommendations and discussions of appropriate content, themes, etc.
• Matt Thorn’s Manga-Gaku site
  • History of Manga = Cultural roots of manga, including ancestors, direct & indirect
  • “Selling Ice to Eskimos” = What do Japanese readers see in American comics?
  • “The Grammar of Manga” = How manga affects the reader
  • “What Shojo Manga Are and Are Not” = An overview of a popular manga subcategory
• Osamu Tezuka’s Museum Website

Manga (& Japanese Culture) in the News

• NPR on International Comics (with some Manga-oriented articles) (Can anyone explain why this series is called, “Men in Tights”?)
  • “Japan’s Comic Book Export” (January 2003) = Anime and manga culture (via Shonen Jump magazine) in the USA
  • “Librarians Harvest New Manga Titles at Comicon” (July 2008)
• “‘Soft Power’ part of balancing act” = Japanese culture (manga & anime, specifically) on the world stage, from CNN.com
• “What Your Global Neighbors are Buying” = a NYTimes.com interactive graphic on “discretionary income.”  (Watch Japan across the categories…)
• “Manga for Girls” = from NYTimes.com