How To Start Reading Manga (The Beginner's Guide To Japanese Comics)

Manga. The comic form native to Japan. Those strange little books crammed with cartoon girls with boobs the size of Mount Fuji. You know, the black and white ones that you see the weird kid in class reading from right to left. Why would anybody wanna start reading that crazy shit?

Well, if anybody called me crazy for loving manga and recommending everyone to give it a try, I’d be the first one to tell them what part of my body they can kiss.

What is manga?

Manga isn’t some weird comic book form focused only on overly endowed girls with big eyes and cat whiskers fighting robots over a burning Tokyo.

Sure, there is plenty of that if you want it. But manga is an entire art form, completely different in almost every conceivable way from the comics and graphic novels of the West.

Dismissing manga as weird or childish or boring or “not your thing” is like dismissing music, movies, or books in the same manner.

Manga is a form of storytelling, underneath which is a whole world of diverse genres and compelling stories to suit every taste.

Manga is not a genre.

Manga is simply the medium in which you consume a story.

The manga a thirty-year-old guy reads is likely to be completely different from the manga a twelve-year-old girl chooses (though there’s often crossover – it all depends on your personal taste).

Types of manga

Here are just some of the main genres you can enjoy in manga form.

Each of these genres can be split down further and further into sub-genres and niches, so you can get some really specific tastes catered to in the manga world:

Action
Adventure
Drama
Thriller
Romance
Sports
Comedy
Ecchi/hentai
Horror
Slice of life

Manga can be categorised further not just according to genre but according to the target audience.

These are the Japanese words for these categorisations (you’ll hear and see them used even talking in English), but we can translate them here:

Seinen: this is manga for young adult men, stuff like Berserk, Vagabond, and Tokyo Ghoul, which feature gritty adult themes and often gratuitous sex and violence. If Game of Thrones was a manga it would certainly fall into the seinen category.
Jousei – this is manga for older women and older teenage girls, stuff like Bunny Drop, Nodame Cantabile, and Paradise Kiss. Think Sex and the City or Orange is the New Black.
Shojo – this is manga primarily aimed at teenage females (though people of all ages still read this type of manga), stuff like Orange, From Me To You, and Vampire Knight.
Shonen – this is manga primarily for teenage boys (though, again, it’s reach is much bigger than that), stuff like Naruto, One Piece, and Death Note.
Kodomo – this is manga for kids, stuff like Doraemon, Pokemon, and Hello Kitty.

Chances are you’ll pick manga based on story and genre rather than age categorisation.

Feel free to ask me on Twitter and I’ll figure out what manga is good for you.

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In a single day, for example, I’ll easily switch between a seinen horror manga (like Gyo), a shojo slice of life manga (like Orange), and a shonen adventure manga (like Fairy Tale).

Once you find a manga that you really like, you’ll probably also end up following the author and artist of the manga regardless of the different genres (I picked up Slam Dunk, a basketball manga, after reading Vagabond, a samurai manga based on the life of Musashi, not because I like basketball but because I loved Takehiko Inoue’s art style).

How manga is different from American comics

If you’re used to American comics and graphic novels (stuff like DC and Marvel), manga will take some getting used to.

Here are a few things that make manga different:

1 – You read manga right to left.

This will feel weird at first as it will feel like you’re starting at the back of a book and moving the wrong way.

But you’ll quickly get used to it and a lot of manga actually have reminders on the pages of which way to read. And after your first manga, you won’t even think about this different reading style.

2 – More diversity of storytelling (not just heroes).

I know the Western world does have a lot of fantastic stories in graphic novel form (everything from Maus to The Sandman), but the overwhelming mainstream comics in the West are those of DC and Marvel. Action heroes like Spiderman, Batman, and Black Panther.

Manga has these too, but places nowhere near the amount of emphasis on heroes that Western comics do.

You can read a straight-up horror with manga or a slice of life story with absurdist comedy humour or a school romance or a story about rising up in the world of baseball.

The types of stories you can get in manga is basically limitless and there is definitely something for everyone.

3 – Manga is more accepted in Japan.

It does still have a nerdy vibe (the Japanese use the word “otaku”) and it’s probably not something you’ll be able to talk in-depth about to every Japanese person, but manga is definitely read by a larger pool of people in Japan than America and other Western countries.

Even older Japanese men and women who claim they don’t like manga will usually have a couple of manga series that they talk fondly of and will read from time to time.

This widespread appeal, I think, leads to the form having way more diversity than the Western counterpart.

4 – Heavily reflective of Japanese life/beliefs/history.

Remember you’re reading a Japanese form here and practically every manga artist and writer is Japanese.

Manga is a great gateway to understanding more about Japan.

Reading manga, even the stuff that focuses on everyday life drama, will feel like a completely new world simply because of the fact that Japanese culture is so different from almost any other culture in the world.

This coupled with the supreme diversity of story types makes manga, for many Westerners, a very exciting medium to explore and will often lead to many wanting to visit Japan.

Where to start with manga

There are two great ways to get into manga for the first time.

1 – Start with the interests you already have.

You already have a set of preferences when it comes to what stories you choose to consume.

Just follow those preferences through to manga.

If you want specific recommendations based on your tastes, leave a comment at the end of this article and I’d be happy to recommend you some manga.

But as some examples…

If you like Stephen King, you should explore the work of Junji Ito (the horror manga master who wrote creepy works like Uzumaki, Gyo, and Tomie).
If you love the absurdist humour of Monty Python, you might want to check out Nichijou or Gintama.
If you like superhero stuff that doesn’t take itself too seriously, try One Punch Man.
If you like Game of Thrones, read Berserk.
If you’re a boxing fan, check out Ashita no Joe.
Or maybe volleyball’s more your thing? Try Haikyu!!.
Or maybe you’re a massive foodie? You should read Food Wars!

Whatever you’re already interested in, I assure you there’s a manga about it that you’ll love.

2 – Start with the most popular series.

Another great way to start reading manga for the first time is to start reading the most popular series.

They’re popular for a reason and the chances are high that there will be something in the top ranked manga that will interest you.

You could go by bestselling manga of all time and you’ll find some solid classics there to begin you on your manga journey.

Or you could follow manga that has received the popular vote by fans and manga connoisseurs all over the world like in Joey the Anime Man’s poll.

Here are the top ten bestselling manga of all time (with a mark next to my personal favourites and the ones I think are great places to start):

I personally think if you’re going to start reading manga by choosing the most popular, you should go according to a list put together by a common vote rather than the bestselling manga list.

The bestselling manga is biased towards older manga that have been running a long time and might not be the best manga to start with for newcomers (though you definitely can’t go wrong starting with One Piece, Naruto, and Dragon Ball).

Here’s Joey the Anime Man’s poll results for the top ten best manga (if you want more than 10, check out the full video for a bigger list):

Now that’s a damn good list of manga. Seriously, just read all of them.

Every manga on that list is a must-read. It’s heavily skewed to shounen action style though, so even though you’ll probably love these manga you might not find the exact thing you’re interested in.

My personal favourites from that list are Berserk, Death Note, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Now let’s check out some great manga to start with by genre.

Action manga recommendations:

Do you love high-octane fights? Guns? Explosions? Cool superpowers? Then you’ll wanna dive into a bunch of action manga.

Adventure manga recommendations:

Quests. Journeys across strange lands in search of treasures. Attempting to complete impossible tasks with worlds of villains against you. Sound like your sort of thing? Then get stuck into adventure manga.

Sport manga recommendations:

Do you love watching the rise and struggle of a young buck rising through the ranks of his chosen sport? Do you sympathise with the pain and anguish of one who wants to become the best boxer/golfer/baseball player/swimming champion? Then the sports genre is where you should start with manga.

Comedy manga recommendations:

There’s comedy manga to suit every flavour of humour. From the high brow to the ultra low brow, the innocent to the fifty to the extremely obscure.

Ecchi manga recommendations:

Like watching cartoons get their bangers out for the lads? Then you’ll want the erotica of the manga world, known as “ecchi” (which means “sex” in Japanese) or “hentai” (which means “pervert”).

Horror manga recommendations:

Jump-scares. Creep-out horror. Sick twisted boogeymen and the victims that fall prey to them. If that’s your jam, then the horror genre is the best place for you to start your manga journey.

Thriller manga recommendations:

Manga that falls under the thriller genre moves at the exact same breakneck pace as its western counterpart and has as many, if not more, exhilarating twists and turns.

Drama manga recommendations:

Human drama. More real than real. Storylines that will wrench your heart and tear out your soul.

Romance manga recommendations:

Heart-throbs? Heart ache? Tummy-turning swoon-action to rival even the steamiest Mills and Boon? Check, check, check.

Slice of life manga recommendations:

If none of the other genres float your boat, check out the everyday love, drama, and humour in slice-of-life manga.

And that’s a great way to start reading manga

Any questions about reading manga for the first time? Let me know your interests and I’d be happy to give you some more direction. Happy reading!

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