Short history of manga
Manga is loosely refers to a style of cartoons originating in Japan. Manga usually published in installments which can be as large as a telephone book, reaching 1,000 pages or more. Outside of Japan, the term manga usually refer to comic or cartoon from Japan. Where as in Japan, まんが or manga is a term that refer cartoon, comic or comic strip and it does not have to be from Japan to be call manga.
12th Century Scrolls
Manga has been developed from historical art traditions in Japanese culture with influence from many people, culture and situation. Manga was said to originate from scrolls in twelfth century by Buddhist monks. The most famous art from this art form is the Chōju Giga or known as animal scrolls created by a monk Bishop Toba (Toba Sōjō). Chōju Giga the way Japanese use space and carefully considered calligraphic to create eloquent movement, figures and expression. The scrolls reach eighty feet and are viewed from right to left. The pattern of sequence across the page to tell the story in Chōju Jiga lay the pattern for the sequential storytelling to come.
Ukiyo-e
The next important shift in art come in 16th and 17th century when artist start to produce a style of illustration known as Ukiyo-e or pictures of the floating world. After hundreds of years of constant warfare during Tokugawa Era (1600-1867), artists were allowed to create an art for mass consumption by using woodblock printing. The characteristic of Ukiyo-e that influence artists to come and today's manga is the use of vibrant colour, caricature, the stylized blood splatters of battle and the erotic art.
The first use of term 'manga'
The first person to use the term manga is an artist call Hokusai Katsuhika. Hokusai is one of the most famous artist in Japan. One of his greatest and most famous art work is the brilliant and precise woodblock print known as The Great Wave off Kanagawa (background picture). His ability to capture a person or scene with a few lines which led to a collections of what he called manga in 1815.
Arrival of Western influence and Cartoons
In 1853, U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrived on Japanese shores at Gorahama and they representing American and Western civilization. Western political pressure and strong-armed already force Japanese government to open its port to trade with the West. Since then until the end of the 19th century, Japan was in state of turmoil. Society descended into political and cultural civil war between those who wished to maintain Japanese tradition and those who want to embraced the West. With the arrival of Western culture, the new form of art and tradition immediately influence Japanese art and the younger generation of Japanese artist were fascinated by the style and format that they had seen previously only in carefully edited excerpts. From all of these form of art, Japanese artists immediately incorporated their own styles and tradition to create a new hybrid art form.
Impact of World War II on manga
World War II greatly affect the comics world as well as other aspect of Japanese life. Before the outbreak of war, Government already increasing suppressed type of manga published. Artists and editors were threaten with punishment if they disobeying the government's idea of what they work should be. It was either work for government as a propaganda machine or be pressured out of a job, exiled or arrest. Many artist continue to work for government propaganda, a few decided to stop working during the war, some fled the country to continue their work and critique from afar. Another important impact is the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even today, many common themes in manga and anime today can be traced back to the bombing and the war, For example, from the conflict between man and technology to threat of apocalypse. The strong antiwar message can often be found in post war anime and manga such as Astro Boy. However, the war could not keep manga down for long. The manga reappearing almost immediately but as a small red books. Red book is a book with red cover, printed from cheap paper and sold on street like newspaper. Food, fuel and money were scarce. People wanted some cheap entertainment and thats make red book so popular in that time.
Arrival of Grandfather of Japanese Comics, Tezuka Osamu.
Tezuka Osamu is one of the red book artist and he become one of the most influential manga artist in Japan. His work influence every manga artists who came after him, whether following his foot step or reacting against his style of art. Tezuka believed that the format of manga can be used far more creative than it had been previously and the red book allow him to experiment with technique. Different from other artists who were influence by Western comics and traditional illustration, Tezuka major influence is from the cinema. He grew up absorbing motion picture. He particularly enjoyed Disney classics like Bambi, which he reported seeing 80 times. Another thing he was drawn to was the animated cartoons of the Fleischer brother, creator of Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor Man and Walt disney's work. Tezuka drawings were vivid and the captions were written in different shapes of box to enhance the mood of each scene. He used the panels on his page like the view out of a film camera, reader no longer saw the pictures from one point of view. He implemented cinematic techniques including pans, zooms and jump cuts by using the space between the panels like that short brake between the film frames. He also incorporating traditions from Japan's past by using the dramatic use of space seen in Ukiyo-e. Furthermore, he also implementing the sound effect to lend realism not only in fights but also to every sounds such as dripping of water. Another influence of Tezuka on manga are the overly large eyes of character which he mimicked from the artistic style of early western animator. One example of influence of war on Tezuka can be seen in his work, Astro Boy. Astro Boy is a robot boy with special powers. He can fly, he can speak 60 languages, he can detect whether a human being is good or bad. He is powered by atomic reactor. He fights to protect the world from people and robots who harm others. Tezuka repeatedly said that Astro Boy stories is about miscommunication and discrimination (Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy).
Tezuka summed up his work to a Japanese interviewer that
'My manga have a wide variety of themes—they are a paean to life, they are antiwar and they are antinuclear, and they advocate the preservation of nature—but ultimately they are all one thing. They are the following appeal to young readers, to think objectively about this fragile Earth: When you grow up, don’t forget to look at both Earth and mankind objectively. And always think about what it means to be human' (Schodt 2007, p144 in Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy)
Tezuka Osamu also influence genre of manga as he believe that the format could be used to tell every kind of story, from comedy to adventure to serious drama.
Arrival of Seinen manga
In the 1950s, reader start to get bored of juvenile storylines and start to look for something that would feed their need for more adult drama. That is when comics began to be published as a volumes bought through pay library subscriptions. The manga would featuring men as heroes instead of boys and told adult stories. These manga include violence, sex and crime which is began to be know as seinen manga.
Reference
Brender, R E 2007, Understanding Manga AND Anime, Libraries Unlimited, U.S.
Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy, accessed 25/08/2014, http://www.colorado.edu/cas/tea/curriculum/imaging-japanese-history/late-20th-century/pdfs/handout2.pdf
12th Century Scrolls
Manga has been developed from historical art traditions in Japanese culture with influence from many people, culture and situation. Manga was said to originate from scrolls in twelfth century by Buddhist monks. The most famous art from this art form is the Chōju Giga or known as animal scrolls created by a monk Bishop Toba (Toba Sōjō). Chōju Giga the way Japanese use space and carefully considered calligraphic to create eloquent movement, figures and expression. The scrolls reach eighty feet and are viewed from right to left. The pattern of sequence across the page to tell the story in Chōju Jiga lay the pattern for the sequential storytelling to come.
Ukiyo-e
The next important shift in art come in 16th and 17th century when artist start to produce a style of illustration known as Ukiyo-e or pictures of the floating world. After hundreds of years of constant warfare during Tokugawa Era (1600-1867), artists were allowed to create an art for mass consumption by using woodblock printing. The characteristic of Ukiyo-e that influence artists to come and today's manga is the use of vibrant colour, caricature, the stylized blood splatters of battle and the erotic art.
The first use of term 'manga'
The first person to use the term manga is an artist call Hokusai Katsuhika. Hokusai is one of the most famous artist in Japan. One of his greatest and most famous art work is the brilliant and precise woodblock print known as The Great Wave off Kanagawa (background picture). His ability to capture a person or scene with a few lines which led to a collections of what he called manga in 1815.
Arrival of Western influence and Cartoons
In 1853, U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrived on Japanese shores at Gorahama and they representing American and Western civilization. Western political pressure and strong-armed already force Japanese government to open its port to trade with the West. Since then until the end of the 19th century, Japan was in state of turmoil. Society descended into political and cultural civil war between those who wished to maintain Japanese tradition and those who want to embraced the West. With the arrival of Western culture, the new form of art and tradition immediately influence Japanese art and the younger generation of Japanese artist were fascinated by the style and format that they had seen previously only in carefully edited excerpts. From all of these form of art, Japanese artists immediately incorporated their own styles and tradition to create a new hybrid art form.
Impact of World War II on manga
World War II greatly affect the comics world as well as other aspect of Japanese life. Before the outbreak of war, Government already increasing suppressed type of manga published. Artists and editors were threaten with punishment if they disobeying the government's idea of what they work should be. It was either work for government as a propaganda machine or be pressured out of a job, exiled or arrest. Many artist continue to work for government propaganda, a few decided to stop working during the war, some fled the country to continue their work and critique from afar. Another important impact is the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even today, many common themes in manga and anime today can be traced back to the bombing and the war, For example, from the conflict between man and technology to threat of apocalypse. The strong antiwar message can often be found in post war anime and manga such as Astro Boy. However, the war could not keep manga down for long. The manga reappearing almost immediately but as a small red books. Red book is a book with red cover, printed from cheap paper and sold on street like newspaper. Food, fuel and money were scarce. People wanted some cheap entertainment and thats make red book so popular in that time.
Arrival of Grandfather of Japanese Comics, Tezuka Osamu.
Tezuka Osamu is one of the red book artist and he become one of the most influential manga artist in Japan. His work influence every manga artists who came after him, whether following his foot step or reacting against his style of art. Tezuka believed that the format of manga can be used far more creative than it had been previously and the red book allow him to experiment with technique. Different from other artists who were influence by Western comics and traditional illustration, Tezuka major influence is from the cinema. He grew up absorbing motion picture. He particularly enjoyed Disney classics like Bambi, which he reported seeing 80 times. Another thing he was drawn to was the animated cartoons of the Fleischer brother, creator of Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor Man and Walt disney's work. Tezuka drawings were vivid and the captions were written in different shapes of box to enhance the mood of each scene. He used the panels on his page like the view out of a film camera, reader no longer saw the pictures from one point of view. He implemented cinematic techniques including pans, zooms and jump cuts by using the space between the panels like that short brake between the film frames. He also incorporating traditions from Japan's past by using the dramatic use of space seen in Ukiyo-e. Furthermore, he also implementing the sound effect to lend realism not only in fights but also to every sounds such as dripping of water. Another influence of Tezuka on manga are the overly large eyes of character which he mimicked from the artistic style of early western animator. One example of influence of war on Tezuka can be seen in his work, Astro Boy. Astro Boy is a robot boy with special powers. He can fly, he can speak 60 languages, he can detect whether a human being is good or bad. He is powered by atomic reactor. He fights to protect the world from people and robots who harm others. Tezuka repeatedly said that Astro Boy stories is about miscommunication and discrimination (Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy).
Tezuka summed up his work to a Japanese interviewer that
'My manga have a wide variety of themes—they are a paean to life, they are antiwar and they are antinuclear, and they advocate the preservation of nature—but ultimately they are all one thing. They are the following appeal to young readers, to think objectively about this fragile Earth: When you grow up, don’t forget to look at both Earth and mankind objectively. And always think about what it means to be human' (Schodt 2007, p144 in Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy)
Tezuka Osamu also influence genre of manga as he believe that the format could be used to tell every kind of story, from comedy to adventure to serious drama.
Arrival of Seinen manga
In the 1950s, reader start to get bored of juvenile storylines and start to look for something that would feed their need for more adult drama. That is when comics began to be published as a volumes bought through pay library subscriptions. The manga would featuring men as heroes instead of boys and told adult stories. These manga include violence, sex and crime which is began to be know as seinen manga.
Reference
Brender, R E 2007, Understanding Manga AND Anime, Libraries Unlimited, U.S.
Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy, accessed 25/08/2014, http://www.colorado.edu/cas/tea/curriculum/imaging-japanese-history/late-20th-century/pdfs/handout2.pdf