Manga Lecture #3

Manga became the form most widely read medium in Japan, because of the difficulty of the language. Japanese uses a system of three different alphabets, with one (kanji) containing over 7000 characters alone, which makes it slightly more difficult to read than English. Thus, a medium with less text is better. Because of this, manga - which is a combination of words and pictures - became popular.

Manga encompasses a great deal of subject material, and as it is the most popular medium to read, is not just relegated to children, but extends to topics adults will enjoy as well. People, from the time they can read until the time they cannot, read manga in Japan. Often the age range is declared to be 2-97 or even longer, depending on the person. As such, the material is often aimed at older readers.

Though much of manga is aimed at children, there are many subjects addressed that are not appropriate for the age group. Children of eight will not necessarily understand or appreciate philosophy, religion, biography, or many other subjects addressed in the adult oriented series. Though this is not entirely the case, as many series aimed at adults also contain graphic adult content. A series might discuss philosophy, but also contain sexual content or excessive violence. So if a reader is easily offended by such material, they should check before reading a series both the rating itself and the reason for the rating in the first place.

To be continued.