10 Reasons Japanese Manga is Unique

Some Japanese manga works are surprisingly long. In addition, the length of such works is not planned right off. Instead, the length is frequently decided based on the popularity of the works in terms of the magazines in which they are published. Overseas as well, it is not uncommon for popular works to continue to be drawn over a long period. However, the total number of pages drawn by a given artist is sometimes overwhelming. In addition, both the number of pages that can be used in so many ways and the weekly or monthly publishing cycle became the foundation for the characteristics of Japanese manga.

Osamu Akimoto’s Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo [This is the Police Station in Front of Kameari Park in Katsushika Ward] (Shueisha) was serialized from 1976 to 2016, with a total of 200 published volumes. 

The characters who appear in Japanese manga are excessively emotional. Or at least they apparently seem that way to people who are not that familiar with Japanese manga. Come to think of it, the characters in the manga you happen to be reading seem to yell more than they really need to. At the same time, extremely simple actions are sometimes surrounded by concentrated lines to emphasize movements. This sort of emphasis on motion and emotion is an important element symbolizing the fact that Japanese manga is more subjective than objective.

In the hands of Umezu—a consummate master of horror and gags—even everyday things lose their sense of peace. Perhaps people who find Japanese manga to be excessively emotional experience a similar sense of unease.

In the same way that Japanese manga works are unique, the artists who draw them are unique as well. Constantly pressed by an unbelievable weekly schedule, these mythical artists sacrifice hours of sleep to achieve super-human levels of work output. At the same time—as these artists negotiate with the editors who work with them—there are various episodes in which both sides pull out all the stops to get what they want. Perhaps one reason Japanese manga artists are so unique is that the role played by manga magazine editors in Japan was unique as well.

From Shigeru Mizuki’s Suimin no Chikara [The Power of Sleep], in which he pointed out the importance of sleep to Osamu Tezuka and Shōtarō Ishinomori, who talked about staying up all night.    

To complete works in time to keep up with the fast pace of weekly serialization, an assistant system was essential. (However, there are also segments—such as shōjo manga—where a weekly serialization cycle did not become the standard.) Early on, there were many cases where manga artists helped each other out, and this also functioned as a way for manga artists to train around the time of their debut. At the same time, this led to the birth of professional assistants and the associated division of labor.    

In the past, Japanese manga has been criticized overseas for its depictions of sex and violence. This was associated with contempt for Japanese manga as a whole and was ultimately identified as a characteristic of Japanese manga. However, we must not forget that this is related to the fact that manga was assumed to be for children. In any case, the avoidance of depictions of sex and violence is a direct result of the fact that such depictions deviate from social norms.

Another feature of Japanese manga is the wide range of manga’s themes and genres. These themes even extend to daily life devoid of dramatic events. However, we must not forget that genres are in fact commercial norms. Although the framework of existing genres can aid with the process of creation, it can also be a hindrance. And creative artists have come up with new genres by dressing their works up as existing genres and then deviating from them or by fusing different genres.

In addition to being a representative BL-genre artist, Fumi Yoshinaga crosses borders between genres. However, she is not merely a deviant. Instead, by crossing genre borders, she has made a more general audience aware of the potential of the BL genre. Kinō Nani Tabeta? [What Did You Eat Yesterday?] is not only a BL manga but also a slice-of-life and cooking manga.

Incidentally, if you know a bit about overseas manga, it’s not especially difficult to find proof that contradicts the above arguments about the originality of Japanese manga. As a matter of fact, there is no limit to the list of exceptions within Japan itself. However, do we really have to determine whether Japanese manga is unique to begin with? Doesn’t the pursuit of such originality itself result in norms being imposed on Japanese manga? Perhaps we should be careful about claiming that Japanese manga is unique.

Jiro Taniguchi is sometimes said to have drawn works similar to French manga. However, trying to apply his works to such norms will not enable us to completely appreciate the potential of his work, even if doing so does help to explain why his work was so well received in France.