As mentioned in the earlier articles, manga’s are for all ages. As in US it conceptualizes the fact that comics are for kids but in Japan it’s for all its audience no matter what age they belong to. Manga is a Japanese word for comics. The appealing factor is the artistry of the characters such as very bold appearances and appealing features like large eyes, proportion body, emotion etc.
Types of Manga’s
- Yoji
Manga’s for children aged 1 to 4.
- Kodomo or Jido Manga
Similar to Yoji appealing to the likes of children. Cartoons like Doraemon and shichan are common examples.
- Shonen
Usually it would be a boy taking on adventure or fighting crimes in a neighbourhood. It’s more of a middle school fantasy.
- Shojo
Shojo features more emotional characters with love and pure innocence more of a girl’s fantasy. This type of manga is for girls between the ages 13 to 17.
- Seinen
The word seinen means young men. Its ranges from action, fantasy, adventure to love. This type of manga is for boys between the ages 15 to 24 audiences.
- Seijin Manga
Manga for adult and it is rated A or its consists of erotic scenes which require censorship.
- Josei Manga
This is known as the ladies comics or comics for women audience. The readers range from 15 to 44. This manga is created for adults and late teenagers.
- Shonen-ai
Shonen-ai means that boy and love. It mostly depicts queer love. This manga depicts two male characters falling in love.
- Shojo-ai or yuri
Shojo ai is also similar to Shonen-ai. It also depicts queer love. This manga depicts two female characters falling in love.
- Hokusai Manga (19th Century)
A collection of sketches of various subjects described by Japanese artist Hokusai published in 1814-1878. Hokusai was the first artist to describe the word manga to describe his humorous images.
- Anime (20th Century)
An anime is a abbreviated form of animation. It is often very colourful graphics, vibrant characters and fantastic themes.
- Namakura Gatana (Short film)
A short film for 4 minutes running time. It is one of the oldest Anime films released in 1917. The story talks about a samurai who purchased a dull-edged sword.
Anime and Fandom base:
Fans of Anime are referred to as otaku. They wear detailed makeup and elaborate costumes modeled after their favorite anime, manga, and related video game characters. Fans spend immeasurable amount of money and hours constructing or purchasing costumes, learning signature poses and dialogue, and performing at conventions and parties, as they transform into those fictional characters. This is the essence of cosplay, or kosupure. We all know, mangastream is dead and check there for many alternatives.
The term cosplay refers to costume and play. It also refers to the activities, such as masquerades, karaoke, and posing for pictures with other otaku, that are associated with dressing and acting like anime and manga. While the term cosplay encompasses various types of costumed role-playing, such as science fiction, fantasy, horror, mythology, fetish, and so forth. Only a few sources that discuss the origins of cosplay are primarily found on Web sites, online publications, and weblogs these are constructed and maintained by anime and manga fans. It is not surprising that the specific origins of anime and manga cosplay are highly debated topics.
Role and history of Anime and Manga Cosplay
Costume role-playing has spanned a variety of genres and has inspired Japanese anime and manga fans to dress as their favorite characters. The origin story of costume play appears to have the most evidence in support to Takahashi writings. In 1984 Takahashi Nobuyuki (known in the United States as “Nov Takahashi”), founder of and writer for Studio Hard, an anime publishing company, attended World-Con, a science fiction convention, in Los Angeles. He was impressed with the costumed science fiction and fantasy fans whom he saw. Consequently, when he returned to Japan and he wrote about his experiences at the convention, he focused on the costumed fans and the masquerade.
Takahashi encouraged his Japanese readers to incorporate costumes into their anime and manga conventions. Takahashi was unable to use the word masquerade because this word translated into Japanese means “an aristocratic costume party,” which is drastically different from the costume competitions seen at conventions. Instead, he created the phrase costume play, which was eventually shortened to kosupure, or cosplay (Bruno 2002a). As a result, Takahashi added two new words to the subculture and pop culture lexicon: cosplay and cosplayer.