So I don’t know whether you guys will find my crazy obsession with manga cool or extremely lame, but nevertheless, I thought, “Why not share it anyways”. Basically, for those of you whom have never heard of manga and are completely unaware as to what it is, I can sum it up with a definition as simple as Japanese comics. But truthfully, they are so much more than that. Manga comes in many genres, such as shoujo (attempting to grasp the attention of primarily female) and shounen (more gender neutral). Whether you are more into the mainstream types of manga (e.g Skip Beat, Naruto, Bleach) or into something that’s a little less widely know (e.g Moe Kare, Missile Happy).

Reading manga has taught me a lot about the Japanese culture and the formality of their methods of speaking. For example, in the majority of these books, even friends are called with a formal call, for example, a girl would call her friend Ann-chan instead of Ann. In the same manner, older siblings are meant to be highly respected, and are called Oniichan or Aniki (brother) or Oneechan (sister).

Also, manga makes Japanese food look extremely delicious, even to me, who doesn’t eat me. I’m dying to visit Japan and try omurice for my self. Their adorable bentos are also something to look for! Japanese culture, although not completely different from American culture, has its own aura. It makes you curious, and one day, you might just become like me, who longs to spend a semester abroad in Japan.

If you’re interested, check out

http://www.viz.com/manga/print/shojo-beat ( for shoujo manga )

or

http://shonenjump.viz.com/ (for shonen manga)