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Forums - General Discussion - What is the western equivalent to Manga/Anime?

Killergran on 30 November 2008
That Guy said:
No. Manga has roots further back than the twentieth century.

It came from the Tokugawa Shogunate during the 17/18th centuries. The Shogunate was able to maintain peace for over 2 centuries and as a result, a money-based economy developed. (before, all currency was based on Rice Crop). The population increased, and cities were getting bigger and bigger.

Farmers still farmed, but now that they had a disposable income and more time to work with, the came to be a demand for entertainment.

Thus, the manga industry began. Within these cities, Artists and writers supported themselves, no longer by farming, but rather by writing comics and such.

While this is true, it doesn't at all contradict that manga as it exists today stems from Osamu Tezuka.

 

Parokki said:

A style like manga? Manga isn't a style, it's the Japanese word for cartoon/comic. There are some peculiarities and shared features amongst the works of Japanese artists, but they're nowhere near homogenous enough to call a style, especially with the amount of cross-borrowing that goes on these days.

I've heard people talk of a drawing styles that are typical for different European countries, but honestly didn't understand much about it. =P

True enough, Manga is actually the japanese word for comic. But to say it's not a style as well is not really true. Sure, a lot of manga really strays from the others, but there are so many that are incredibly similar. There's no other name for this style, so we call it manga. If you take a look at Soriku's sig, you'll know exactly what I mean. We recognise manga-characters anywhere as just that. Manga-characters.

CAL4M1TY said:

I'd say Parokki is right, it's not a style, it's a word.

It's like how in Japan Cowboy bebop is drawn differently from naruto yet they fall under the same umbrella of being manga/anime, similarly to how simpsons and Boondocks fall under the umbrella of cartoon.

So basically (to borrow a little bit of what Soriku said):
Manga - Comics

Anime - Cartoon Shows.

A good example would be like the simpsons comic and the simpsons show, a better example would be super hero cartoons, because some of them run story lines that appeared in the comics, which is how manga/anime work (most of the time).

You'll find so many more similarities between any two randomly chosen anime-shows than two randomly chosen cartoons. It's not just in the style, but in the techniques as well as the themes, character archetypes, settings, etc.

 

It's mostly nitpicking when you say that Manga/anime is not a style. There are examples that deviate, and it's pretty diverse, but we do not have a name for that style that it all originates from other than 'manga'.



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BringBackChrono on 30 November 2008

Id compare some of the good Seinen Mangas to graphic novels with brillian story lines and great art-work.
Since youre an artist , you should check some issues of Berserk, and see how Kentaroou Miura pwns any other manga or comics artist



"The accumulated filth of all their sex and murders will foam up about their waist and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"...

 ....and I'll look down and whisper  "no."  

                                                                   - Rorschach

okr on 30 November 2008

I don't know how to to answer your question about Manga/western style equivalence, there are dozens of comic art styles, but if anyone's interested to learn more about EU/US comics and Manga outside of those you already know, check out this illustrated compendium which lists several thousand artists: http://www.lambiek.net/artists/index.htm

Regarding European comics, the two most important and influential countries (by far) are France and Belgium.
Some important Franco-Belgian solo artists and teams:
Moebius, Charlier/Giraud (Giraud=Moebius), Hergé, Lewis Trondheim, Schuiten/Peeters, Christin/Mézières, Goscinny/Uderzo, Jean Tabary, Le Tendre/Loisel, E.P. Jacobs, André Franquin, Jijé, Vance/Van Hamme, Francois Boucq, Hermann, Enki Bilal, Jacques De Loustal...to name just a few.

Far less influential than France and Belgium, but still important EU comic countries are Italy, UK, Spain and The Netherlands: Hugo Pratt, Lorenzo Mattotti, Guido Crepax, Liberatore, Milo Manara, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Don Lawrence, O'Donnell/Holdaway, Alfonso Azpiri, Miguelanxo Prado, Daniel Torres, Henk Kuijpers, Martin Lodewijk, Joost Swarte.

The most important European comic artist of the late 20th century is most probably Moebius (aka Jean Giraud) http://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/giraud.htm He was not only influenced by both, US and Japanese culture, but he also managed to influence both, US and Japanese artists.

For the sake of completeness here are just a few great NA comic artists (outside superhero universes & Disney): Winsor McCay, Milton Caniff, Hal Foster, Will Eisner, Robert Crumb, Charles M. Schulz, Bill Watterson, Chris Ware, Jeff Smith.



SamuelRSmith on 30 November 2008

What about Matt Groening's style? Simpsons, Futurama, Life in Hell (comic), Bongo Comics?