- Manga comics can appeal to many ages and either gender, depending upon the genre.manga image by tomdoe5 from Fotolia.com
Manga is a form of Japanese cartoon, typically drawn in black-and-white and found in comics and print collections. Manga has its roots in the Japanese art of the 18th and 19th centuries, according to the Jappleng University website, but first began appearing in magazines in the 1950s. Around this time, manga began to diversify into the different types still found in 2010, which generally appeal to particular audience age ranges or genders. - Shoujo manga appeals mostly to young or teenage girls, and often focuses on themes such as love and drama. Shoujo stories are built around relationships between the central characters in the series, which are developed or broken as the plot progresses. Shoujo clichés include wild patterns, such as bubbles, in the background of the art, along with female protagonists. However, as noted on the Matt Thorn website, the subject matter of shoujo can vary considerably, and some titles feature non-typical themes, such as science fiction or otherwise ignore the standard tropes found in this type of manga.
- Essentially the counterpart to shoujo manga, the shounen genre appeals to boys, with themes such as martial arts and battle playing a prominent part in the stories. Like shoujo, the shounen type has a few typical tropes of its own, such as the presence of pretty or tomboyish female characters and humorous situations. Shounen titles that have gained popularity in the West include "Naruto" and "Fullmetal Alchemist."
- Josei manga is aimed towards an older female audience than shoujo, and is often referred to as redikomi, meaning ladies' comics. The stories told in josei manga focus on more adult themes which will appeal to older teenage girls or women, with the protagonists in a josei series in her late teens, early twenties or above. Some of the content in josei manga is unsuitable for younger readers, and may be quite explicit in places. Examples of josei manga include "Loveless," which deals with themes of abuse and revenge, and "Honey and Clover," about the love life of a student in Tokyo.
- Kodomo is manga aimed towards a children's audience, with stories featuring themes that play up the importance of loved ones. Kodomo first gained momentum in the late 1800s, and later appeared in magazine form in the 1960s. In 2010, titles such as "Doraemon," which was launched in 1969, are still going strong and appeal to children of many ages, even though most kodomo is aimed at kids between 6 and 11 years old, according to the Jappleng University website. Though some kodomo appeals to both genders, a few magazines of this manga form concentrate on stories of interest to boys, such as "KoroKoro Komikku."
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