380 MANGA
collectability in comic books largely does not translate to Japanese manga magazines
and volumes. After 1970 and through today, manga became stratifi ed into a variety of
well-defi ned genres designed to appeal to commercial audiences.
Genre
Manga is marketed in several basic genres, which are determined by the intended
audience of a given work. Within each genre are several formulas, which can target very
specifi c reader interests, although a work might contain elements of multiple formu-
las or genres. An example of this is the recent series Hikaru no Go (1998) by Yumi
Hotta and Takeshi Obata. Th is series focuses on the subject of competitive hobbies
and pursuits, specifi cally the traditional Japanese board game, Go. Manga about such
personal pursuits are very popular — there are series about most popular sports and
hobbies, all featuring the same basic plot elements, such as the impetuous, youthful
beginner, the seemingly invincible opponents, the obsession with minute details and
perfectionism, and so forth. Th is formula is part of a genre called shonen manga, which
is manga geared toward a young, male readership, primarily focused on readers under
the age of 18 years old. Th e popular American manga magazine Shonen Jump focuses
on such titles, as does the Japanese Shonen Jump franchise and many other magazines
in Japan. Tezuka dominated early shonen manga: his early trilogy Lost World (1948),
Metropolis (1949), and Next World (1951), along with his later series Astro Boy (1952),
set the tone for shonen manga and had innumerable imitators throughout the 1950s and
1960s. Later shonen creators infl uenced by Tezuka include Shotaro Ishinomori, who
created Cyborg 009 (1964) and Mitsutero Yokoyama, creator of Tetsujin 28-Go (1956,
an animated version of this manga series was released in the United States as Gigantor ).
Shonen is arguably the dominant genre of manga both in Japan and worldwide, and
includes such series as Dragon Ball (1984) by Akira Toriyama, Rurouni Kenshin (1994)
by Nobuhiro Watsuki, and Naruto (1999) by Masashi Kishimoto.
Shojo is another major genre of manga in Japan, focusing on stories for young girls,
though as in the case of shonen manga, the stories have appeal to a diversity of readers.
Shojo manga does include romance themed stories, although the diversity of stories avail-
able to female readers is a distinct characteristic of manga. Tezuka is again recognized for
creating one of the fi rst shojo series, Ribon no Kishi (1954, translated as Princess Knight ).
Tezuka’s shojo series introduced an important trope in shojo manga: sexual ambiguity
and androgynous characters. In the 1970s, shojo had a wave of popularity, coming from
series such as Riyoko Ikeda’s Th e Rose of Versailles (1972), a historical drama centered
around the French Revolutionary period; and Swan (1976) by Kyoko Ariyoshi, which
follows the struggles of a young ballerina. By the 1970s, female creators were becom-
ing more heavily involved in the creation of shojo manga, and current shojo manga titles
are almost exclusively created by women. One noteworthy formula in shojo manga,
called magic girl , features main characters that are almost the equivalent of Japanese
superheroes. Magic girl characters dress up in elaborate costumes and fi ght evil foes,
yet with fantasy elements instead of a focus on crime, common to superhero comics.
