FAQ FOR SCI.LANG.JAPAN - MANGA

This will be controversial... I want to list here some mangas that can help on Japanese study. They have several advantages over "normal" text: are very abundant in several difficulty levels, are very cheap (I believe even outside Japan) and are more interesting ;-) The disadvantages are: some are garbage, and maybe difficult to get in some places. Anyway, they *can* be used for learning, and I am an amateur mangaholic, so here it goes. Before, an introduction by Alfredo Liu-Perez, based on the alt.arts.anime FAQ and with some comments (in parenthesis):
Manga: Pronounced "man-gah". Manga are Japanese comic books and have their roots in Ukiyo-e wood prints and other traditional art. There are no hard rules in defining manga, but here are some general characteristics:

1. Drawn in black and white (sometimes over colored paper. For some compilations, the first pages of the main story are in full-color. There is maybe an explanation for it, but I could not figure it out yet).
   
2. Compilations of several manga may appear in thick paperback books of more than 700 pages! (that will be read in minutes: some pages are only onomatopoeia, that can describe anything you can imagine)
   
3. They can be quite graphically violent and erotic (including some in compilations for young people).
4. Most mangas are stories that continue, like soap operas, but after a some years will end (and they mean *end* - not like DC or Marvel comics, that can even ressurect the same 50-year character).
   
5. They are created and drawn by the same person (always ?).

Manga related postings can be posted in rec.arts.manga. I will divide tentatively the Manga section in 5 degrees of difficulty. I think that it is impossible to classify the compilations with several stories, so I will just comment on the titles that are republished as books. Of course, the complexity of the storyline is only sometimes related with the difficulty of the language used. Some of them cannot be classified in a 1-5 grade, so other classification with explanation is provided. The 5 classifications are:

• Level 1: Very Easy Manga: Almost all words are in Hiragana, and even some Katakana words have Furigana in Hiragana. Sometimes the words are separated to make an easier reading. Usually no Kanjis.
• Level 2: Easy Manga: Almost all Kanjis have furigana, except the very obvious ones. Usually no furigana for katakana.
• Level 3: This is the average manga for the average reader (foreigner, of course :-) requires a fair knowledge of kanjis and vocabulary.
  
• Level 4: Harder to read, almost no furiganas, words not so common or easy to understand.
  
• Level 5: A real challenge. No furiganas except on some obscure readings, kanjis and words sometimes technical.

URUSEI YATSURA, BY TAKAHASHI RUMIKO (SHOGAKUKAN)

Story: Series. Aliens, schoolboys, inter-racial relations, inter-planetary confusion. Lum, of course, is great. Level: 2 (all kanjis with furigana) Printed face, some slang.

EIGYOU TENTEKO NISSHI BY GYUU JIROU AND KONDOU YOUSUKE (SCHOLAR)

Story: Adventures of a salesman for a big appliance company. Level: 4 (furigana only for some unusual readings), printed face.

O.L. SHINKARON BY AKIZUKI RISU (KODANSHA)

Story: Stripes. Office-ladies shows the other side of the Japanese working women.
Level: 3.5 (no furiganas), printed face.

OISHINBO, BY KARIYA TETSU AND HANASAKI AKIRA (SHOUGAKKAN)

Story: Series. The search for the ultimate menu. Tips on cooking, too.
Level: 4 (furigana only on some unusual readings), printed face.

O-JAMA SHIMASU, BY IMAZEKI SHIN (TAKE SHOBOU)

Story: Stripes. Surrealistic stories, sometimes about sheep counting.

Level: 2.5 (few text, no furiganas), handwritten face.

OBATARIAN, BY HOTTA KATSUHIKO (TAKE SHOBOU)

Story: Stripes. Obnoxious old ladies, don't care for the others, fun to read, but avoid them in real life. Level: 3 (easy kanjis, but no furigana). Handwritten face.

KOROBOKKURU-KUN, BY HANAWA KAZUICHI (KODANSHA)

Story: Short, weird, stories.
Level: 2 (with furiganas), printed face.

KONNICHI WA KURIKO-SAN, BY TERASHIMA REIKO (TAKE SHOBOU)

Story: Stripes. Life in Kuriko's family. Level: 3.5 (no furiganas), printed face.

GINGA TETSUDOU 999, BY MATSUMOTO REIJI (SHOUNEN GAHOUSHA)

Story: Series. In the future a young man search for the meaning of life and a mechanical body that will allow him to live longer. Level: 4, lots of technical/sci-fi words but with furiganas even in the easy ones. Printed face.

KOKO DAKE NO FUTARI BY MORISHITA HIROMI (TAKE SHOBOU)

Story: Short stories about a couple's life. Level: 2 (no furigana), printed face.

SARARI-KUN, BY NISHIMURA SOU

Story: Stripes about the life of a salaryman. Level: 2.5 (few text, no furiganas), handwritten face.

SARARIMAN SENKA, BY SADAO SHOJI (KODANSHA)

Story: Short stories about the life of yeat another salaryman. Level: 3 (few text, no furiganas), handwritten face.

TANAKA-KUN BY TANAKA HIROSHI (TAKE SHOBOU)

Story: Stripes. Adventures of an anti-hero salaryman. No car, no girlfriend, no style, no luck, but ability to get in trouble with the boss.
Level: 3, handwritten face

DAI-TOKYO BINBOU SEIKATSU MANYUARU BY MAEKAWA TSUKASA (KODANSHA)

Story: Short stories about a don't-worry-be-happy life of a guy in Tokyo. I don't know that he does for a living - and neither does him.

Level: 4, printed face

CHINMOKU NO KANTAI BYKAWAGUCHI KAIJI (KODANSHA)

Story: Series about a Japanese submarine that defects and becomes a sovereign nation.
Level: 5 (furigana only for some loan words and names, lots of technical words), printed face.

TSURUMOKU DOKUSHINRYOU BY KUBONOUCHI EISAKU (SHOUGAKKAN)

Story: Sometimes serious, sometimes gag series about life in a big company.
Level: 3.5 (no furigana), printed face, sometimes handwritten

NINGEN KOUSATEN BY YAJIMA MASAO AND HIROKANE KENSHI (SHOGAKUKAN)

Story: Short stories about human beings. Very realistic even in the art, deals with social issues.
Level: 4.5, printed face

BAKUHATSU SUNZEN, BY TANIOKA YASUJI (KK BEST BOOK)

Story: Gag, short, absurd stories.
Level: 2 (few kanjis, no furigana), handwritten face.

HI NO TORI (THE PHOENIX) BY TEZUKA OSAMU (TEZUKA PRODUCTIONS)

Story: Long, philosophical story about the meaning of life Level: 3.5 (furigana for all kanjis, but lots of difficult words), printed face.

BENRAMEI TOU-CHAN BY TACHIBANAYA KIKUTAROU (TAKE SHOBOU)

Story: Stripes about a die-hard Edokko Level: 2.5 (almost no kanjis, no furiganas, but lots of hougen), handwritten face.

BONO-BONO BY IGARASHI MIKIO (TAKE SHOBOU)

Story: Short stories about a sea otter and its friends. Level: 2 (almost no kanjis, no furiganas either), handwritten face.

POKETTO SUTO-RI (POCKET STORY) BY MORI MASAYUKI (KODANSHA)

Story: Short and light stories about life, small things and feelings. Nice to read, almost poetic.
Level: 2.5 (few words, but no furigana), printed face

WHAT'S MICHAEL BY KOBAYASHI MAKOTO (KODANSHA)

Story: Not the Japanese Garfield - Michael is sometimes a cat, sometimes a salaryman, sometimes a parody to 'Planet of the Apes'. Level: 3.5 (no furiganas), printed face.

Click Rafael Santos (santos@mickey.ai.kyutech.ac.jp) Last Update: March 25, 1995