Manga and Anime are some of the most popular art forms in the world in 2023. As comic art goes mainstream, these Japanese arts are being disseminated around the world, translated into new languages and licensed in new markets. But what separates these two arts? Today we dive into the key differences between the two to see where they differ.
You’d be surprised how both these art forms have inspired the most imaginative game developers of no deposit slot games to design some of the best plotlines to ever exist.
What is Manga?While some will say that Manga is the epitome of the creative arts, it’s a little bit more nuanced than that. Manga is the original art form from Japan that originated in the late 1800s. It’s a drawn art, a cartooning style that is typically available in graphic novels and books, and sometimes in strip comics or online.
Manga is distinct from other graphic novel styles in that it’s mostly made in black and white. These novels are produced at a rapid rate, which means that elements like color and shading take too much time to produce. Many of the novels come in long-running series, that fans follow for years. In Japan, almost everyone reads Manga. You’ll find people of all ages engrossed in their books on the train, on work and school breaks, and in bed at home. Manga as we know it today came about in the 1950s, although it has its roots even further back than the 1800s. While Manga stories come in many different flavors, popular styles include action and adventure, sci-fi tomes, student stories, and sexually explicit stories.
Manga has gone from popular in Japan to Asia more broadly and is now popular around the world.
What is Anime?Contrary to popular opinion, Anime and Manga are not interchangeable; they are not exactly the same thing. Nor are they distinguishable by the types of stories that they tell. No, instead, Anime is the moving image form of Manga-style comics. It is an animation style that, again, originates from Japan. Anime can be produced in its hand-drawn form by traditional style artists, or, more commonly these days, digitally produced, just like Western-style animations.
Anime itself began in the early 20th century, around the same time as other animation styles were also first coming to the public eye. While we didn’t have screens back then like we have now, different types of film were breaking out around the world.
Again, the 1950s saw the rise of Anime as a big and popular industry in the region. In the 60s, Astroboy bought Anime to the world, and then in the 90s, Neon Genesis Evangeleon went global. Since then, Anime has exploded as an art form, coming to more and more audiences and gaining traction in markets that previously wouldn’t have “got” the animation style. As globalization continues, Anime continues to go on full steam ahead. While true Anime, that which is produced in Japan, is still uber successful, new styles from other regions are now coming to fruition.
In Anime, the style is colored, unlike in Manga.
On the popular of Manga vs. AnimeWhile Manga is hugely popular in markets like Japan and Korea, these graphic novels are only really popular among niche audiences in other places in the world. You’ll find Manga in comic book stores and in plenty of places online, but you’re unlikely to stumble across a title in your local news agency in America.
Anime, on the other hand, has become wildly popular. Thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix buying up Anime content and translating the series into English and other languages, these animations have become far more accessible to new audiences. Thanks to the relatively low cost of purchasing the titles, it makes sense for these platforms to buy up content. Western adult cartoon shows are not as prolific as Anime, so audiences explore these new titles and become engrossed in the content, further building its popularity.
Will Manga become more popular alongside the rise of Anime? It’s unlikely. The average person on the train in the UK isn’t reading a book; they’re scrolling social media. Unless Manga can find a place on the most used apps in these sorts of countries, it’s unlikely that they’ll develop a strong foothold. Anime, on the other hand, is likely to continue its explosion across the globe. As new artists try their hand at Anime, we’re likely to see the genre diversify and grow even further. This will make it a truly exciting field to watch, as we see new artists come to prominence, new series grip the planet, and new super production houses churn out amazing new content for new and existing audiences.