Manga 101

Reading comics has been a popular hobby for so many people of all ages, particularly in Western countries. While some read comics while commuting to and from their work or school, some folks make reading or collecting comics a habit; it has even become an obsession for other people. I can still remember the time wherein my friends and I would really do our best to either convince our parents to buy us certain comics or let us lend from our neighbors. Comics is indeed a good way to past up the time while also enhancing your imagination.

For Japanese people, comics is called manga; meaning, whimsical images. Manga has been available throughout the beginning of the 20th century; however, it was only after the World War II that it became so famous and in demand. It's because manga, for both the ordinary citizens and the artists themselves, has been their way of dealing with the anxiety and devastation brought about by the war. From then on, manga, followed by the creation of various anime, became a crucial part of the Japanese society.

The manga's existence can be traced down from the Japanese tradition of narrative art or telling stories with a series of sequential images. As such, the use of scroll paintings heavily-influenced the manifestation and boom of manga. Japanese comics are commonly attributed to Toba Sojo, an 11th-century painter-priest with a whimsical sense of humor. Toba's choju giga or animal scroll paints have become a part of manga's or Japanese comics' prominent history.

Later on, Shimoboku Ooka created the Toba-e or “Toba pictures” as an acknowledgment of Toba Sojo's influence on manga. Toba-e is an 18th century style of humorous images bound in books which relied on visual humor and the use of few words in an accordion style.    

Katsushika Hokusai, a famous 19th century ukiyo-e or "floating world pictures" artist and printmaker is perhaps the first one to make use of the term "manga" when he referred to some of his comic sketches as "careless" (man) "drawings" (ga). He was one of the many influential artists in the development of modern manga. Hokusai is known all over the world for his woodblock print images, particularly the "The 36 Views of Mount Fuji."  

to be continued... :D