You Need a Break!

Are you tired of working in you life? Manga is not only for teenagers, but also for mid - aged.
There are some manga for mid -aged. Some of them are for men, and some of the others are for women. If you want to relax, just read them!


Girls' manga is usually about high school love, but for mid - aged women, most of them are about office love. I don't know why, but girls' and women's manga are often about romance! However, for boys and men, most of all are about erotic.





My mom likes reading manga. When she has free time, she often read manga for having fun. So, don't think it's terrible or foolish. Manga can make you fun. You can forget how long do you spend time to read manga.


As I mentioned, most of manga for men are erotic, some manga for women are also erotic. But, those are totally different! Why? Because erotic manga for men are really realistic. Some of erotic manga for women also realistic, but most of those are not. For women, they're included a lot of drama.





After all, when you want to relax, you can read manga to forget about real life.

How Lovely These Are

I’m a 21 year old student. I like to read romance manga, so my selections are all romance stories. Here are my top ten comics. It’s difficult to decide, but those are my favourite selections.




Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai ~I’m not an Angel~
I already talked about this comic, this is my favourite. It’s about high school love. I like love stories, so this story is superior for me.









NANA
NANA is the name of the two main characters. This is a love and rock band story. One plays in a rock band, the other has several part time job. They met on the train on the way to Tokyo. They became close to each other, but they said good bye when the train arrived. A few days later, they are looking for the apartment by themselves. Incidentally, they found same room. From there, the story starts. As time goes by, they get closed and they have many problems, but they solve together. This story includes love. Both Nanas have boyfriends, and it occurs problems.










Kyou Koi Wo Hajimemasu ~I Start Love From Today~
Tsubaki Hibino, one of the main characters, met Kyota Tsubaki at the entrance ceremony of high school. They have a same name and they are in same class. First she hates Kyota because he is smart, but he doesn’t look smart. As time goes by, she notices that she falls in love with him. After that, they are getting closer. The comics are still continuing, so I have to wait for comics to be published.









Kare First Love ~He is My First Love~
The girl, Karin Karino, is a high school student. She is afraid of men, so she chose a girls’ school. One day, she met a guy, Aoi Kiriya, on a train. He whispered to her that she is too shy. She wears glasses, a long skirt, and pigtails. When she heard that she got angry. She thinks she never wants to see him, but they meet at party again. At the party she got drunk, and then she stayed at his apartment accidentally. Next morning, when he sees her without glasses and untied hair, he falls in love with her. She ignores him at first, but after a few days she feels she also loves him.











Good Morning Call
Nao is a junior high school student. Her family has to move to another city because of her father’s job. However, she doesn’t want to. They talk a lot, and they decide not to bring her. When Nao arrives at the new apartment, a guy is already there. His name is Hisashi, he also got a lease for the same room. They decide to live together. After few months, they fall in love with each other.










Have you found anything interesting?? If you find something interesting, you should check one! I like those arts, too. When I read romance manga, I feel really pure. So whenever you want to feel pure, read romance manga!

Killing Time

When do you usually read manga? Have you ever tried? If you think that it’s childish, you are wrong. Once you find an interesting story, you can’t stop reading!



I usually read manga when I have free time, before I go to bed. My mom is 50 years old, but she really likes manga. When I buy the first manga of a series, and if she likes it, she buys all of the other series. I can’t stop reading, but also she can’t stop reading.



When I read manga, I don’t feel anything, such as hunger, sleepiness. So, I can continue to read. Once I start reading, I can’t stop until the story finishes.




Now do you have some interest in manga? In Japan, there are many internet cafés. They are not same as cafés in foreign countries. They have manga space! There are many kinds of comic books and you can read whatever you want. Moreover, soft drinks are for free and sometimes the café provides some snacks, miso soup. The price depends on the café and how long you stay, but it’s not so expensive. They are reasonable. For example, I searched one internet café: three hours is $9.80, and 10 hours is $25. It’s cheap, right? They include 44 kinds of free drinks. You can read manga all day long without going out!









How do you feel manga now? Do you want to start reading? You should try to find your favourite!

Do You Have...?

I recommend reading manga. It is interesting and fun. What do you think about comics? These are for kids or teenagers? It’s wrong! Every generation can enjoy manga. Have you ever read comics? You may watch cartoons on TV. Manga is like them. I suggest One Manga to read comics. This website can read a lot of manga for free. It’s really good for killing time.








Do you like romance? Or do you like action? Also do you like sports? Comics have all of them. I like romance, so I usually read romance stories. However, there are other categories, so you can choose whatever you like. Sometimes I read about baseball, volleyball, tennis, boxing, and soccer. They are also fun and exciting.




How do you kill time? You just lay down on the couch? Walking around? Then, you should try manga! As I mentioned, manga is really good for killing time. If you are bored, you should start reading! First, go to One Manga, then choose your favourite. Besides you, you’d better to prepare snacks, drinks, and cigarettes.

Please Grant His Dream

I really don’t know about baseball. I don’t watch baseball game on TV, I don’t have any brother who plays baseball. But, I like this comic.
The comic title is Touch. This is an old manga about baseball. The comic has three main characters: Tatsuya, Kazuya, and Minami. Tatsuya and Kazuya are twins, and Minami lives next door.



They are high school students, Tatsuya is always lazy, Kazuya is good at everything, and Minami is also good at everything.
Kazuya is in a baseball club. Kazuya is the starting member of the game of district competition for Koshien (the biggest competition for high school baseball player in summer). But when Kazuya is on the way to the dome, he is involved in a car accident. He died. After he died, Tatsuya start playing baseball, instead of Kazuya. Kazuya wanted to go to Koshien, so Tatsuya wants to grant that dream with Minami.




The title of this comic has a reason. After Kazuya died, he passed the baton to Tatsuya. Kazuya had a dream that he will go to Koshien with Minami, but he couldn’t do that, so he passes the baton to Tatsuya, and then Tatsuya started playing baseball.



Tatsuya had conflicts with Kazuya, but when he starts baseball, he becomes stronger. I’ve read these comics again and again. Moreover, I watched the anime. These are excellent story. You should read once!

I Wanna Be His...

My favorite category is romance story. I especially like romance set in high school. The targets of girls’ comics are high school students. So, their stories are usually about high school students.






I have been reading Kimi ni Todoke ~Reaching You~ since I was a college student. This story is about high school life. The main character is called “Sadako” like in the movie The Ring, but her name is actually Sawako. Her character is negative and dark. So, classmates call her “Sadako”.







One day, Kazehaya, a classmate, wants to become friends with Sawako. After they get close, her friends increase. Before she makes friends, there are some rumours, such as she can talk with ghost. When she gets some friends, they help to resolve her problems.






Kazehaya loves Sawako, but she doesn’t notice anything. However, Sawako also likes Kazahaya. She is too shy about that kind of thing. So, he always tries to get closer. People who surround them know both their feelings. They always try to get together, but Sawako always misunderstands their conspiracy.






When I read this comic, I can be a pure girl. Sawako’s personality is shy and pure. Then, she doesn’t know anything. I really enjoy these comics. This story hasn’t finished yet, it continues monthly. I can’t wait for the next chapter!

If You Have a Dream...

Do you have any wishes? If you were granted three wishes, what would you ask? Koucha Ouji ~Tea Prince~ is a comic where tea princes grant any three wishes.








There is a superstition in England. At exactly 12 am, if you pour Darjeeling tea in a white cup, you will see a moon shadow in the bottom of the cup. If you use a silver spoon to stir it softly, a miracle will happen. And then, you can see the Prince of Tea. One day, Taiko, Haruka, and Someko had a midnight tea party. They are junior high school students. When Someko hears that tale, they have a midnight tea party on the roof of their school. Taiko drank Earl Grey tea, Haruka drank Assam tea, and Someko drank Darjeeling tea. Except Someko, Tea Princes show up.





First, Taiko, Haruka, and Someko are shocked, but they befriend tea princes. They start their life together and Taiko and Haruka begin to look for their three wishes. As time goes by, Taiko and Assam (Assam Tea Prince) fall in love each other. However Assam must go to his country after granting Haruka’s wishes. So, both of them don’t tell their feelings to each other.






This story is really good love story. Assam loves Taiko and Taiko also loves, but Haruka also loves Taiko. Haruka is master of Assam. Assam thinks about that too much, and he denies Taiko. They struggle to have good relationship with each other. If you have an opportunity like that, what will you wish?

Do You Want to Be Strong?

Title: Hjime no Ippo
Author: Morikawa Joji
Rating: ★★★★★

“I want to be stronger.” Ippo said. He is the main character in Hajime no Ippo, a boxing manga. Ippo is a high school student. He is always bullied by someone. He always feels shy, afraid, anxious and nervous. He doesn’t have any confidence.

One day Ippo is caught by a bully, Umezawa. Umezawa say, “You are stinky. Do you want to know why? The reason is your mother is too stinky.” Ippo got angry, but he can’t say anything, because he is scared of him. They beat him up. Then someone is coming closer to Ippo. He saves Ippo from Umezawa whose name is Takamura. He is a boxer who takes Ippo to a gym. This time Ippo sees BOXING first time in his life. So, he asks Takamura, “Can I box even someone like me?”

This manga is about boxing and how Ippo can be strong. This manga can make you have confidence. If you read this, you can get rid of stress.
Meaning of Hajime no Ippo is “first step” in English. So if you start to read manga, I recommend your first step should be Hajime no Ippo. Check it out.

Manga VS Comics

What is the difference between manga and comics?
It is obvious. Comics (American comics) are usually about A SUPER HERO. Manga has various genres include super hero stories. Obviously that is one difference.

The atmosphere of comics is usually serious, and there are heroes. However, before 1960, comics had various genres like manga, such as Funny animal comic, Western, Love story, Horror, War and Criminal story. But the American comic community adjusted comic’s rules strictly for children’s education. They thought comics were giving harmful effect on children, except for super hero comics. So, many comics disappeared since 1950. That’s why recent comics are dominated by the super hero genre such as Spider Man, X-men and Batman.

Another thing is comics are easy to understand. Even kids can read and understand. Some manga are also easy to understand, because manga has many genres include Shounen manga (this is for teenagers). However, most manga are more complicated than comics. Sometimes it is difficult to read.

Some manga is educational. This is also different than comics. For example, Say Hello to Black Jack is extremely informative. This manga is about a doctor and hospital. It is written about all serious real problems such as cancer problems. It must make you think deeply. You can take something away from this manga.

These are the differences between manga and comics. I think if you are a mature person, maybe you don’t want to read comics. But even though you are mature or you are 60 years old, you can read manga and you can learn from manga. This is the biggest difference.
Nevertheless, manga and graphic novels are extremely similar. You should check graphic novels as well.

No Sexism

Girls’ comics are called Shoujo manga. Boys’ comics are called shounen manga. Do you know what is the difference between girls’ and boys’? First of all, if you check several girls’ comics and boys’ comics, you will recognize that the pictures are totally different. Girls’ comics are drawn more sensitively than boys’.


Most girls’ comics are about love, such as high school love story, university love story and things like that. Those are so romantic and amorous. Probably you will feel shy. It makes your heart beat so fast.

However most men don’t care kind of these love stories and don’t like pictures of girls’ comics. On the other hand, women really like these manga.

Boys’ comics have various genres such as adventure, sports, fighting, etc. The drawing is sloppier than girls’ comics. These boys’ comics are usually more popular than girls’ comics, because women can read boys’ comics easily. The reason is boys’ comics have a lot of genres. Women can find their favorite genre, except love stories. Nowadays, a lot of women are reading Shounen manga (boys’ comics).

But I got information that men also read girls’ comics recently. So, girls’ comics and boys’ comics border line is getting unclear.

Therefore, you can get any manga you want. Gender is no matter. If you want to know manga’s genre more, you should keep reading this blog, because I already wrote about it. I hope it will help you to find your favorite manga. Please check it out.

700 Years Old

Manga already spread around the world. It is very famous think about Dragonball, Naruto and Astro boy. Despite that, people don’t know about history of manga. First of all, manga was born 700 years ago in Japan. That is ridiculous. It was totally different from recent manga. A long time ago, manga was separated into pictures and captions. The artwork was more powerful than recent manga, because in the past, they used only a paint brush. After World War Two, manga was heavily influenced by western comics. However, manga has changed its style since 1945. Nowadays manga is not even close 1945 manga. Western comics just pushed Japanese manga to develop their style. Now, manga is totally Japanese style. That is why modern manga is totally different than old manga.

These days, we can see a lot of manga every where. Its influence is amazing, because if a new manga become popular, it is going to be video game. Then it will be a cartoon film or drama. Next it will be a movie in Japan and finally be a Hollywood movie. You are able to watch them in theater. For example, Dragonball became a Hollywood movie, but originally, it was a manga. First of all, it became a cartoon film on TV and became a cartoon movie many times in Japan. It became a lot of video games. Then finally it crossed the Pacific Ocean. A lot of countries have been enjoying Dragonball in Asia, Europe, South America and North America.

Nowadays, so many Japanese movies are based on manga. Such as NANA, Gegege no kitarou, and Boys Over Flower. It is marvelous. Now the economy deeply influences new manga. I think it is almost a Japanese tradition. All we need is manga.

Where Is Dream Store?

Now I can show you some good ways to buy manga in Vancouver. As you know, manga is from Japan, so some book stores don’t have a manga section in Vancouver. If you go there, it will be waste of your time. Please remember this name: CHAPTERS. This book store is the best place to buy manga. There are a lot of great manga. It is located downtown. If you get off the Skytrain at Burrard station, please go down Burrard, and turn left on Robson. Go straight for a while, you will see Chapters on your right at Robson and Howe. Then, enter Chapter and please walk toward the escalator. On the third floor, you can see a lot of manga. You can choose whatever manga you want. Most of the manga’s price is around $9.

Another one is BOOK OFF. It is managed by a Japanese company. It is also located downtown near Hornby and Georgia. However, it is a Japanese store, so there are less manga which is translated into English, but the price is cheap.

At Burrard and Robson, there is HMV. If you go there, you can get DVDs which are Japanese cartoon films (anime). Actually, they come from manga. If manga became popular, it always will become a cartoon. That makes you excited, right? You can watch your favorite manga on television.

If you couldn’t find what you want, you should ask the bookstore’s employee. Be sure whether you can order the manga. Unfortunately, when you can’t order it, you’d better check on the internet. You can probably get it.

Welcome to Genius Inoue Takehiko World

I’m going to introduce my favourite manga. First of all, my favourite author is Inoue Takehiko who drew several famous manga such as Slam Dunk, Real and Vagabond. I love these.


Slum Dunk is about high school basketball. This is published by Shounen Comics. Sakuragi Hanamichi is a main character who is an extremely bad student. He always fights with someone. His first day of high school, he meets a beautiful girl who likes basketball. So he begins to play basketball, because he wants to attract her, even though he’s never played basketball.






Real has many good aspects. I can’t say what this is about, because it has too many good things. If I tell you something about Real, it is about high school students, traffic accidents, disabilities, how to live, what is human, how parents should behave toward children and things like that. I think this is a very wonderful manga. I want everyone to read this manga. I’m sure it makes you better. It makes you think deeply. You will be impressed by Real. Anyway, please READ IT.





Finally, Vagabond is about Japanese history. Do you know Miyamoto Musashi? He was a very famous Samurai. He is the main character in Vagabond, so this manga is basically a true story. If you read this, you can of course enjoy reading about and learn Japanese history. His life is very impressive. I like his way of live.
“What is strength?”Miyamoto Musashi wants the answer.

Find Your Favorite

Do you know about manga? manga is from Japan. Japan has so many kind of manga. What do you think about manga? Someone said to me. “manga is only for children.” This is wrong. If you think so, you are missing out. You should study more about manga, because manga makes us grow up even if you are adult.

Manga is divided into so many types. For example,

• Shounen Comics: this is for boys, around 7 to 18 years old. This is the most popular in Japan, such as Dragonball, Naruto, One Piece and Bleach.
• Shoujo Comics: this is for women. Any female readers can enjoy it. Such us NANA, Absolute Boyfriend and Kimi ni todoke.
• Seinen Comics: this is for men, around 18 and up. I recommend this. You can learn from these excellent manga. These manga make you better person. Such as Real, Vagabond and Say Hello to Black Jack.
• Adult Comics: this is for men, around 18 and up. However these are very sexual. If you like manga character, go ahead.
  
  
  Here are manga’s genres.

Adventure story : Dragonball, Naruto and One Piece

Love Story: NANA, Absolute Boyfriend and Kimi ni todoke

Horror : Seven Wonders in School

Suspense: Death Note

Sports: Slam Dunk, Real and Hajime no Ippo

History: Vagabond and Hadashi no Gen

Fighting: Worst, Close and Rokudenashi blues

Drama: Say Hello to Black Jack and GTO

Comedy: Inachu Table Tennis Club

These lists are manga’s Genres and my recommendation about each genre of manga. If you are interested in some genres, please read one that I recommended.

Are You Ready to Cry?

My favourite manga is “Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai ~I’m not an Angel~” written by Ai Yazawa, a famous author in Japan. When I was a junior high school student, I read this comic for the first time. I borrowed from my friend. At that time, she just bought two volumes of four volumes, so I should have waited for her to buy the other two comic books. I really love this story, after I read all comic books, I bought them by myself.

This story is about high school romance. The main characters are Midori, Akira, Hiroko, and Masashi. Midori and Akira go to a same high school and they are the school council members. Midori and Akira are in love with each other. Since Midori and Akira started dating, Midori has a suspicious that Akira loves Hiroko who is an art teacher. One day Akira and Midori make plans to go on a trip, but he doesn’t come to meeting point. After that Midori can’t trust Akira. Actually Hiroko is Masashi’s girl friend. Masashi is a painter. He usually isn’t in Japan. Between Akira and Masashi, they have a big secret. The secret makes the story interesting. When Akira was a junior high school student, he loved Hiroko, however he loves Midori now. She still loves Akira, but she is afraid of being betrayed by him. He struggles to make her believe him.

The story is complicated, but this is a really good comic! When I read this comic, I cry. I like Ai Yazawa’s comics. I have read all of her comics. Her characters are always fashionable, cute, and handsome, and the stories are always complicated. I can’t stop reading her comics. Some of her comics became movies, and broadcasted as anime. Read her comics!

Read Manga for Free

Do you know the website, “One Manga?” On this site, you can read a lot of comics in English for free. I like to read manga, but when I decided to study abroad, I thought I can’t read any Japanese comics in abroad. However, my friend told me about “One Manga.”

The site has many categories of comics. They are divided into boys’, girls’, sports’, and loves’. On the top page, they show daily updated, manga categories, and top viewed manga of boys’, girls’, and the other comics. Then there is also a searching bar. You can type comic’s name, writer’s name, and choose categories, as soon as you click “filter manga list” the site can help to find comics. On this site, there are over a hundred comics. Moreover, they categorize by 41 sections. In the manga list, there are many comics, and it’s good for us because it means we can read a lot of comics. Sometimes, Japanese titles have English titles, so don’t get confused.





There are many kinds of comics and they are written in English, so in my opinion, it’s good for international students to study English because only reading and practicing text books are boring. We need interesting things. How about reading comic books in English? Comics are a lot of fun, and they have many dramas. They’re not only for girls, but also guys. It doesn’t matter how old you are and where you are from. So you should try to read once. You might not stop reading.