Post by Zainin on Jun 21, 2009 15:10:58 GMT -7
Discussion of a violent series lies in here, so pass by if you don't like that.
I admit it, I'm a fan of comics of all sorts. I like American ones, I like Franco-Belgian ones, I like manga, I like manhwa (Korean comics), I just like them all.
This little thing somewhat assumes you know what some different manga terms are, so here they are, just in case.
Shoujo = girls' comics.
Jousei = women's comics. (Like shoujo, but for adults)
Shounen = boys' comics.
Seinen = men's comics. (Like shounen, but for adults.)
Kodomo = kids' comics, usually not gender specific.
Sometimes the line between shoujo and jousei and shounen and seinen are really blurry. For instance, my favourite series, Hameln no Baiorin Hiki, definately started as a shounen but turned into a seinen as the series went on as it got more violent and more serious. However, since it continued to be published in a shounen manga, it was considered a shounen. Yep, that's how it works.
Some examples of each that you'll all probably be familiar with...
Shoujo: Card Captor Sakura, Sailor Moon
Jousei: Nana, Paradise Kiss
Shounen: Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragonball
Seinen: Berserk, Bastard!!, Chobits
Kodomo = Doraemon, Hamutaro\Hamtaro
Personally, I'm a fan of seinen moreso than anything else, and to a lesser extent, shounen. I really don't tend to like shoujo at all but jousei can sometimes keep my attention.
Each of these tend to have different qualities to their art. Such as the stereotypical "shoujo bubbles" and the like. For the most part, you can tell a shoujo is a shoujo just by looking at it, or that a seinen is a seinen.
So I see a manhwa called Jack Frost by JinHo Ko that grabs my attention just by the cover. Its artwork is terribly seinen, and even seems to border the type of art I've seen in a lot of eroguro. I grab it up off the shelf and start flipping through it.
I am art first very disappointed. The art reeks of shoujo, terribly. But as I keep flipping, I realize only the main character and backgrounds around her are drawn that way... the men are all drawn in a very seinen style.
And then the fight scene happens.
It's bloody, brutal, and I swear it reminds me VERY heavily of Kohta Hirano's Hellsing, a macabre seinen series I ate right up. Without any hesitation, I bought it just by the art in the fight scene.
Going to read it tonight. Let's hope I'm not disappointed!
If it's any good, if makes me wonder what the author's intention was on drawing the girl in such a cutesy, girly style. Was it a form of characterization? If so, it's a very unique one I've not seen before and I applaud it.
I admit it, I'm a fan of comics of all sorts. I like American ones, I like Franco-Belgian ones, I like manga, I like manhwa (Korean comics), I just like them all.
This little thing somewhat assumes you know what some different manga terms are, so here they are, just in case.
Shoujo = girls' comics.
Jousei = women's comics. (Like shoujo, but for adults)
Shounen = boys' comics.
Seinen = men's comics. (Like shounen, but for adults.)
Kodomo = kids' comics, usually not gender specific.
Sometimes the line between shoujo and jousei and shounen and seinen are really blurry. For instance, my favourite series, Hameln no Baiorin Hiki, definately started as a shounen but turned into a seinen as the series went on as it got more violent and more serious. However, since it continued to be published in a shounen manga, it was considered a shounen. Yep, that's how it works.
Some examples of each that you'll all probably be familiar with...
Shoujo: Card Captor Sakura, Sailor Moon
Jousei: Nana, Paradise Kiss
Shounen: Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragonball
Seinen: Berserk, Bastard!!, Chobits
Kodomo = Doraemon, Hamutaro\Hamtaro
Personally, I'm a fan of seinen moreso than anything else, and to a lesser extent, shounen. I really don't tend to like shoujo at all but jousei can sometimes keep my attention.
Each of these tend to have different qualities to their art. Such as the stereotypical "shoujo bubbles" and the like. For the most part, you can tell a shoujo is a shoujo just by looking at it, or that a seinen is a seinen.
So I see a manhwa called Jack Frost by JinHo Ko that grabs my attention just by the cover. Its artwork is terribly seinen, and even seems to border the type of art I've seen in a lot of eroguro. I grab it up off the shelf and start flipping through it.
I am art first very disappointed. The art reeks of shoujo, terribly. But as I keep flipping, I realize only the main character and backgrounds around her are drawn that way... the men are all drawn in a very seinen style.
And then the fight scene happens.
It's bloody, brutal, and I swear it reminds me VERY heavily of Kohta Hirano's Hellsing, a macabre seinen series I ate right up. Without any hesitation, I bought it just by the art in the fight scene.
Going to read it tonight. Let's hope I'm not disappointed!
If it's any good, if makes me wonder what the author's intention was on drawing the girl in such a cutesy, girly style. Was it a form of characterization? If so, it's a very unique one I've not seen before and I applaud it.