For manga fans, this book celebrates the excitement of manga’s cross-cultural appeal and its long history of breaking barriers. For those new to manga, it offers the chance to become literate in what is fast becoming a universal visual grammar of our globalized age.

Manga is a visual form of narrative storytelling. Its roots are international, but the form as we know it today developed in Japan between the late 19th and early 20th centuries and has recently achieved global reach. Originally confined to comics, prints and graphic novels, manga has expanded to influence animation, fashion, gaming, street art and new media. It is a multi-billion pound industry, popular with people of all ages in Japan and increasingly all over the world, encompassing hundreds of genres, from sports, love, horror and ageing to global threats and sexual identity. 

The volume showcases the work of Japan’s most influential manga-ka (manga creators) past and present, with printed manga extracts, original drawings, manga magazines, theatre, film, digital technologies and exclusive interviews with artists, editors and publishers.

by Nicole Rousmaniere and Matsuba Ryoko

Paperback

Pages: 352

Dimensions: 19.3 x 3.3 x 26.16 cm