The Many Types of Manga

By Marcio Guastavino
October1, 2006

For a newcomer, manga is a whole new experience of art and culture. Thus, some terms that most veterans of manga are used to may be confusing for those that are new to the manga frenzy. Don't fret everyone! Here are your answers to most of your problems! Well, at least all those related to manga. Needless to say I had to do some research. Some of these even had me going, “Wow, I didn't know that.” So if you think you're lost in translation, I wouldn't worry much because there are a ton of people who have no clue as to what exactly they're reading. Hopefully, this will clear some things up.

Ladies first, as I always like to say. Shojo is the first type of manga to be found. This type of manga is targeted toward junior high to high school level girls. Now, when I say targeted I mean just that. It was made on the intent that most girls in that age area would have a preference to this type of manga. It doesn't mean that anyone else would enjoy it any less. Shojo is usually based around a romantic storyline often centered on a female character. Shonen manga is targeted for teenage boys and is the counterpart of Shojo. The stories in Shonen manga usually have more action and not so much character development.

Now for my type of manga: Seinen manga, the goriest of the goriest, the action-packed thrillers with a substantial amount of storyline. These mangas were made for adults 17 and over. The storylines are usually very serious or have a darker feel to them. Definitely something that children shouldn't tread through, as some may be too gory or in some cases contain sexual content. For the women out there that want to see some violence to their liking there is Josei manga. The equivalent of Seinen only, you guessed it, aimed for adult woman 17 and over. Josei could also be considered an adult version of Shojo manga since the storyline still centers around relationships and usually has a female main character. For some reason I keep picturing a girl saying she stole a guy's heart and literally meaning just that. While these manga are more in the adult side, there are times when a series may swap places and actually be more of one than the other. By this, I mean that sometimes Shonen can be a little on the Seinen side, or vice versa. It really all depends on the situation of the manga.

The next type of manga is where people usually get the most dumbfounded. They pick up a manga and to their amazement, the content is not what they anticipated. Hentai is the type of manga I'm talking about. These were made strictly for adults. Hentai is basically manga with extreme sexual content. We can't necessarily call it pornography because the essence of a manga is still there. It has good artwork, and you know it has to be good since it deals with the human anatomy, which requires a great amount of detail. The stories in some are based on romance and may contain a good deal of action as well. Truthfully, it all depends on the person reading them, but if you're not into romance THAT much then I suggest staying away from this category of manga. For those who do enjoy it there are a few subcategories to take into consideration. Ecchi for example is mostly just nudity or partial nudity. There is very little contact with another person, just a lot of fan-service (girls or guy characters showing off their goods for the reader). Of course, Hentai in general is guy with girl, but there are those that are intended for different sexual orientations. Yuri is hentai that has to do with the relationship between two girls, whether just friendship or sexual intent. The counterpart to Yuri would be Yaoi. If you haven't stumped it yet, it's Hentai that involves the relationship between two guys; again it may be friendship or sexual intent. Yaoi is targeted toward female readers, while Yuri is for the male readers. Here's where it gets confusing. While Yuri and Yaoi will most likely be in the Hentai section, there are exceptions. The main character could have a strong bond between someone of the same sex but have no sexual intentions whatsoever. This is still considered Yaoi or Yuri. Rare, but there are a few mangas that have close bonds between friends out there.

Last but not least, there are Doujinshi manga, or actually some may consider them comics. Either way, these types of mangas are actually variations of the same series, but not done by the same artist. You're getting a different view of the same series. Some artists actually started off by making Doujinshi. They can be crude sometimes, or on the contrary, just as good as the original. The biggest difference between our Doujinshi and Japan 's Doujinshi is that North American Doujinshi centers around sexual parodies of manga series. Japan has more of a variety when it comes to Doujinshi. There is actually one more type of Japanese manga that North America really doesn't concentrate on, and that's Kodomo manga. Kodomo means “child” in Japanese and that's exactly what these mangas are intended for, children who are just beginning to read and want to get into manga. It's a shame, really. If we had Kodomo manga here in America , we could probably up the amount of manga readers by a large margin. Get them while they're young as they say.

That's it; you've made it to the end. You should now have a good idea of what exactly awaits you in the big world of manga. It may not stop there. Many more versions of manga may be on the way, in which case I may have to do more research. Until that day comes I hope this was of some help to those that were confused to begin with. Now you know what to go after or what to stay away from. In any case, always remember to have fun with what you choose to read. In the end, it's the readers who make manga as popular and diverse as it is today.