by Matt Bird

Created on: May 17, 2009

While people outside Japan might easily get the terms anime and manga mixed up, it's equally easy to discern the difference between the two just by looking at the names. Anime and manga are essentially terms for cartoons and comics, so keeping them apart is as simple as remembering that 'anime' is animated. Manga, therefore, is static, and read in book form.

And in all honesty that's sometimes the only huge difference between these two media. Anime is found on television, manga isn't. Often the stories are exactly the same between the two, with extended material added to one or the other just to further capitalize on the medium at hand. It's entirely feasible to have a storyline in a manga that's identical to one in an anime of the same name, and even with an art style that closely resembles one another.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. As I've already hinted, anime and manga are just the Japanese equivalents of comic books and cartoons, although making a direct translation between East and West isn't entirely accurate. Both anime and manga have their own unique methods of telling a story and displaying that story which set them apart from what you'd find in North America or Europe.

Anime more closely resembles cartoons than manga does comic books. Most anime run for 26-episode seasons (though depending on the story they may go into multiple seasons), and are often slightly more adult in their content and humor than North American cartoons. Though there is still a heavy dependence on slapstick gag humor anime more readily strikes into risque, sometimes perverse comedy than most cartoons. Anime also more readily throws out comedic, light-hearted elements altogether, moving instead to stories that can become exceedingly dark and gory. In other words, the nature of anime relies on their respective stories, which seem to embrace a greater range of genres than your average cartoon.

Manga is a form all its own. Typically manga run for a few years and then come to an end with a definite conclusion, whereas many comic books simply continue on for as long as possible. Read from right to left rather than vice versa, manga are published in generally weekly chapters in magazines and then released as collective volumes once enough chapters have been released. Because chapters are released so often most manga is in black and white, though color splash pages are not uncommon.

Anime and manga are blanket terms that encompass a wide variety of different genres, catering to virtually every age group. Some are comedic; some romantic; some horrific; some a blend of all three, and plenty else besides. Some have long, continuing stories while others rely more on a series of generally unrelated incidents that may or may not culminate in an overall storyline. Some are run-of-the-mill and look only to entertain, while others try for something greater, and may aspire to be great works of philosophical art.

In short, it's difficult to classify either manga or anime as any one thing beyond defining what they are in concrete terms. The stories these two words represent are as varied as every minute of every day, and the only way to get a good sense of the range of manga and anime out there is to sample a few.

And, considering there are hundreds of both, there's plenty of choice for everybody.

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