While manga basically means comics in Japanese there are many different forms of manga directed at a variety of age groups from kids through to young adults and the more mature audiences both same and opposite gender orientated.
Depending on what type of artwork and story you’re after (whether to draw for yourself or to read) will mean both knowing the difference in styles and name and being able to stick to that style – you don’t want to aim your manga for children only to have it end up being for a more mature audience.
For example. There’s Shojo manga which is primarily a romance manga for girls, of course within this romance there’s a variety of different genres: from science fiction to historical and the opposite which is Shonen manga or comics for boys – generally action packed and dramatic though again while it’s primarily aimed at boys the sub-genres range from humorous to technical.
For the more mature/adult audience there’s Seinen manga for men or Josei manga for women, while these cover the same types of themes as Shojo or Shonen they usually feature more complex storylines and themes and tend to have more sexually explicit or violent scenes. You will also find what is know as Yuri (girl meets girl) and Yaoi manga (boy meets boy)
That’s just a basic guide to the different types of manga and will give you a brief idea of what style you may want to aim for when you start to draw manga for yourself or perhaps for the next time you’re looking for a new manga to sink your teeth into.
Posted under Start A Manga