History Of Manga
The origin of manga as a way of telling stories and defining the word began during the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, 1868-1912, in the midst of a period of cultural and economic opening under the rule of Emperor Mutsuhito.
The word manga (漫画) is made up of two kanji; man (informal) and ga (drawing). It literally translates to whimsical drawings or doodles. This term was coined to define the art that emerged from the union of the graphic style of traditional Japanese painting and Western-style comics.
Currently, the word manga is used in Japan to refer to "comics", in a general way. Outside of Japan, this word is used more specifically to define the Japanese style of drawing and storytelling.
The first engravings that show a hint of manga aesthetics are found in the work Chōjugiga, made in the mid-13th century. They are a series of drawings with a satirical charge representing animals
They are attributed to Toba no Sōjō, a character who lived in the 11th-12th centuries. Only some black and white copies are preserved, however, in them you can see a primitive representative line that would later evolve into the manga.
In the Edo period (1603-1868), the ukiyo-e art movement (Japanese traditional printmaking) developed. These graphic representations included narrations describing what was shown in them. They can be remotely compared to what would later become the manga genre.
The greatest exponent of this artistic movement is the painter Hokusai, famous for his world-famous prints. In addition, he was the creator of the word manga, written in the title of his book, Hokusai Manga.
Manga in the 20th century
Cartoonist Rakuten Kitazawa was the author of a comic called Tagosaku to Mokube no Tokyo Kenbutsu. His work (1902) is officially considered the first manga in history in form and characteristics similar to the current ones. In it, the story of two peasants who make a trip for sightseeing in Tokyo is told. How they are rural characters with little knowledge of modern life and the big city, when they arrive they behave in a stupid way.
In the 20s and 30s of the 20th century, manga became popular, guiding children and young people of the time. It was at this time that a portion of these works began to be exported outside of Japan for generic consumption as entertainment.
However, it was not until after the second world war (1945), in the middle of the war, when the consumption of manga became widespread and firmly established as an industry.
At this time, Japan demanded the psychological need to look the other way for the suffering suffered years ago. This was an opportunity for the manga, since it covered this need, apart from the low cost of acquiring one in the serious economic situation of the moment.
Currently, manga is one of the most important industries in Japan, although in recent years there has been a notable decrease in the sale of copies in favor of anime, which is experiencing a considerable increase. The fault of this change has to do with the change in the habits of the consumer society, since the immediacy and ease of the internet to watch and consume entertainment is pursued.
In this sense, anime has been favored to the detriment of manga, which generates a greater effort for those who want to consume it. The best-selling manga in history is One Piece (1997), with more than 406 million copies sold worldwide... so far.
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