Have you ever read a manga book or series before? Manga are Japanese comic books or graphic novels that are drawn in a way that is unique to the animation style. You might notice manga look like anime movies and TV series. That is because many anime are actually adapted from manga! Some popular anime that have been adapted from manga include My Hero Academia, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Dragon Ball (all of which you can check out from the library).
Reading your first manga can be a little tricky, but not to worry – I will show you what to do. Most comic books and graphic novels have their front covers with the spine on the left. Manga are the opposite. Their front covers have the spines on the right. This means that you will turn the pages from left to right. Weird, right? It feels like you are starting at the end of the book!
BUT THAT IS NOT ALL! You will also read the panels differently. In most comic books and graphic novels, you start in the top left panel on the left page and read all the panels horizontally from left to right. Then you move down to the next level (like the next line in a book) and read the panels from left to right. You will repeat this until the end of the page, then you will go on to the next page. When reading a manga you will start reading in the top right panel on the right page. You will read all the panels horizontally from right to left. Then move to the next line down and read the same way until the end of the page.
There are so many great manga stories out there. If you want to try it out, we have tons of manga and manga series in our collection. Just visit our catalog! Here are a few you might want to check out:
-Gina, Teen Librarian
