Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics by Paul Gravett

Manga is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as japanese comic books and animated films with science fiction or fantasy themes. But, that's wrong. For one thing, Manga is the just the written form. Anime is the animated form, and while it's true that many manga are written with Science Fiction or Fantasy themes, you can find just about *any* theme in manga, from sports stories (even "sports" like Mah-jong, Sumo Wrestling and Boxing) to romances and beyond. What we see in America are only a tiny percentage of the manga published in Japan, and while that may color Western perceptions, there is another common definition of manga.

That would be "manga" of the horrid, disgusting and vile sort, depicting pre-pubescent or adolescent women in situations of sexual torment while they are degraded by inhuman or barely human tentacle monsters that violate every orifice while the women shriek, wail and swoon. At one time, this sort of manga (and anime) were over-represented in the west with offerings like Urotsukidoji, "Legend of the Overfiend" and various other titles. Given the human propensity for seeking out new sorts of pornography, this is hardly surprising, but it, too, is not representative of the kinds of manga out there.

"Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics" is an overview of manga in Japan: where and why it arose, and how it grew in popularity after the Second World War. It also shows the difference between what came before and modern manga, and how new sorts of manga arose.

Originally written entirely by men (even the sorts of manga aimed at female readership), today manga is written pretty equally by both men and women, but we still see only a small fraction of the manga that are published in Japan. Manga in Japan range from manga for children, Manga for young boys (Shonen), Manga for young girls (Shojo) and then manga for older men (Seinen) and Older women (Seijo). There are specialized manga aimed at businessmen (Sararimen or Salarymen), at Office Ladies or "OL's" (who work as secretaries and tea-fetchers) and so on and so on.

But not only does "Manga" cover many of these types of manga, it actually prints pages from many of those manga, showing typical situations a reader might encounter. Some are printed in the original Japanese, others in English from the American or Western traditions. And now manga's influence is spreading into other countries as well, from France to Spain, Germany, Italy and beyond. With each new market, manga itself changes, growing wider and broader in scope and influence. Where will it go next? Who can say? But this is an excellent look back at where it has come from.

There are a few things missing from the history of manga, like Ukio-e prints, but on the whole, this is a very good and fascinating history of manga, with lavish prints and reproductions in its pages. Anyone reading this book will enjoy and be intrigued by the stories represented in its pages, from Princess Knight, to Blackjack, One Piece, Naruto, Yu-ji-oh, Kimba the White Lion and others, just to mention some already fairly widely known in the west. But this book will introduce you to others and make you hunger to see and read more. An excellent first volume for those already into Manga and wanting to know more, or manga afficionados.