Looking Slightly to the Right Anime Manga Character

Visual language of Japanese manga

Japanese manga has developed its own visual linguistic communication or iconography for expressing emotion and other internal character states. This drawing style has also migrated into anime, every bit many manga stories are adapted into television shows and films. While this article addresses styles from both types of output, the emphasis here is on the manga origins for these styles.

The pop and recognizable mode of manga is very distinctive. Accent is often placed on line over form, and the storytelling and panel placement differ from those in Western comics. Impressionistic backgrounds are very mutual, equally are sequences in which the panel shows details of the setting rather than the characters. Panels and pages are typically read from correct to left, consequent with traditional Japanese writing.

Iconographic conventions in manga are sometimes chosen manpu ( 漫符 , manga symbols) ^{[D 1]} (or mampu ^{[D 2]}).

Because manga is a various art course, however, non all manga artists adhere to the conventions most popularized in the West through series such as Akira , Sailor Moon , Dragon Ball , and Ranma ½ .

Panel characteristics [ edit ]

In that location are several expressive techniques typical (and some of them unique) to the manga art form:

Screentone: Transparent adhesive sheets manufactured with a distinctive pattern (typically, some grade of dots or hatching, only also including a variety of flashy furnishings similar stars or explosions, or commonplace scenes such as cityscapes, schoolyards, and natural landscapes), these are cut out and overlapped on the panel to introduce shading and item that would be fourth dimension-consuming or unfeasible to draw by hand. Increasingly, concrete tone sheets are being replaced by computer-generated equivalents.
Expressive dialogue bubbles: The borders of the speech/idea bubbles change in design/mode to reflect the tone and mood of the dialogue. For example, an explosion-shaped bubble for shouting,^{[D 3]} ^: 122 or an angry exclamation. Manga usually follows the normal Western comic conventions for speech communication (solid arc extending from the character'due south head)^{[D three]} ^: 122 and thought chimera (several small circles used in place of the arc).^{[D iii]} ^: 122 The latter bubble style is often used for whispered dialogue in manga^{[ citation needed ]}, which can confuse Western readers.
Speed lines: Often in action sequences, the background volition possess an overlay of neatly ruled lines to portray direction of movements. Speed lines tin can also exist practical to characters as a mode to emphasize the motion of their bodies^{[D 3]} ^: 14 (limbs in detail). This manner, especially background blurs, extends into most action based anime as well. Converging speed lines can be used to emphasize focus, as if the photographic camera were speedily dollying toward the subject area.
Mini flashbacks: Many artists utilize copies of segments from before chapters (sometimes merely a unmarried console) and edit them into the story panels to act equally a flashback (also applying an overlay of darker tone to differentiate it from electric current events). This can be considered a convenient method to evoke prior events along with visual imagery. In situations where a character's life events flash across his/her mind, a splash page may be used with the entire background consisting of segments from earlier chapters.
Abstruse background effects: These involve elaborate hatching patterns in the background and serve to bespeak or strengthen the mood of the plot. It can besides illustrate a grapheme's country of heed. A few examples:
- Instead of conveying quick motion, speed lines can be used to dramatize a character's determination, high spirit, argumentative or combative mood, etc.^{[ commendation needed ]}
- Dense gauze or cantankerous-hatch patches or contours for a mysterious, ominous mood, etc.^{[ commendation needed ]}
- Thinly dotted or iconic (with centre shapes, animal shapes, spirals, etc.) screentone for a fun, jubilant mood.^{[ citation needed ]}
- Pitch-black background for a serious mood.^{[ citation needed ]}

Facial features [ edit ]

While the art tin can be incredibly realistic or cartoonish, characters often have large eyes (female person characters usually accept larger eyes than male characters), small noses, tiny mouths, and flat faces. Psychological and social research on facial attractiveness has pointed out that the presence of childlike, neotenous facial features increases attractiveness.^[1] Manga artists oftentimes play on this to increase the appeal of protagonists. Large optics have become a permanent fixture in manga and anime since the 1960s when Osamu Tezuka was inspired by Disney cartoons from the United States and started drawing them in this way.

Furthermore, inside the large eyes, the transparent feeling of pupils and the glares, or small reflections in the corners of the optics are often exaggerated, regardless of surrounding lighting, although they are only present in living characters: the optics of characters who have died are the color of the iris, but darker. Sometimes this death effect is also used to bespeak characters who are emotionless due to trauma or loss of witting control considering of possession (ghost, demon, zombie, magic, etc.). In characters with hair partially covering the confront, the eyes that would otherwise be covered are often outlined to brand them visible, even when the hair is especially dumbo and dark.

Certain visual symbols have been adult over the years to become common methods of denoting emotions, physical conditions and mood:

Eyes [ edit ]

Center shape and size tin be exaggerated or changed altogether. Love-hearts and doe-optics betoken an infatuation, while stars signal that the character is star-struck. Spirals bespeak dizziness ^{[D iii]} ^: 14 or overwhelming defoliation, while flames or broad empty semicircles signal that the character is aroused or vengeful. When dead, unconscious or stunned, "X 10" sometimes used as an indication of the land, comically or euphemistically.^{[D 3]} ^: 51 A unmarried large "X" to represent both optics ways crying rigorously, or death, comically.^{[D iii]} ^: 50 Optics may be replaced with "> <" to represent a multifariousness of emotions, such as nervousness, embarrassment, or excitement. Eyes without pupils and with reflective glints indicate a state of delirium.

Enlargement of the optics, where they go huge and perfectly round with tiny pupils and no iris and going beyond the reach of the face (often shown with the oral fissure condign like a stretched semicircle, the signal of which extends past the chin) symbolises extreme excitement. Similarly, turning optics into two thick half-circles, conveys a cute, delighted look (see Character pattern department below).

The grapheme's middle shapes and sizes are sometimes symbolically used to represent the character. For instance, bigger eyes will usually symbolize dazzler, innocence, or purity, while smaller, more narrow eyes typically correspond coldness and/or evil. Completely blackened optics (shadowed) indicates a vengeful personality or underlying deep anger. It could also indicate that someone's being a wise-guy type, particularly when accompanied by grinning. A grapheme's eyes are shadowed regardless of the lighting in the room when they become aroused, upset, something is wrong with them, or they are emotionally hurt. Bubbles forming in the corner of a child's or female grapheme'southward eyes ofttimes indicate that the character is about to cry.

Rima oris [ edit ]

Mouths are often depicted as small, normally rendered with one line on the face. A fang peeking from the corner of the mouth indicates mischief or feistiness (unless, of course, the character has fangs normally). A true cat mouth (like a number "3" rotated 90° clockwise) replacing the character'southward normal oral cavity, and usually accompanied by larger optics may likewise represent mischief or feistiness (a notable exception being Konata Izumi from Lucky Star , whose usual mouth shape is this).

Nose [ edit ]

Once more, noses are often depicted as small-scale, with simply a brief Fifty-shaped marker to locate them. With female characters, the nose can sometimes exist removed completely when the character is facing forrard. In profile, female noses are often button shaped, consisting little more than a small-scale triangle. A nosebleed indicates sexual excitation following exposure to stimulating imagery or state of affairs. It is based on a Japanese old wives' tale.^[2] A balloon dangling from ane nostril (a "snot bubble") indicates slumber.

Head and face [ edit ]

Cruciform popping veins to a higher place center on the left and big sweat driblet higher up centre on the correct with eyes closed and eyebrows curved indicating the person is both confused and annoyed by something another person has said

Sweat drops are a common visual convention. Characters are drawn with one or more prominent beads of sweat on their brow or forehead (or floating above the hair on characters whose dorsum is turned). This represents a broad spectrum of emotions, including embarrassment, exasperation, defoliation, dismay and shock, not all of which are necessarily considered to be sweat-inducing nether normal weather.^{[D 3]} ^: 9 Actual physical perspiration in manga is signified by fifty-fifty distribution of sweat drops over the body, occasionally on top of clothing or hair.

Throbbing "cross popping" veins, usually depicted as a hollow cruciform in the upper head region, indicate anger or irritation.^[iii] ^{[D iii]} ^: 39 These shapes can sometimes be exaggerated, and placed on peak of hair when the character is facing abroad from the viewer. Further throbs point boosted anger. However, some manga such as Doraemon utilise fume puffs to represent anger, and does non have the vein insignia.

A red cheek or hatchings on the cheek represent blushing, commonly used when embarrassed past romantic feelings,^{[D 3]} ^: 25 while oval "chroma dots" on the cheeks represent rosy cheeks. This tin can sometimes be confused with a scribble on the cheek, indicating injury. Sometimes when the character is expressing strong emotions, such every bit sadness, a long blush through the nose would appear.

Facial shape changes depending on the character'due south mood, and tin can expect from round apple-shaped to a more subtle carrot shape.

Parallel vertical lines with dark shading over the caput or under the eye may correspond mortification, fatigue, or horror.^{[D 3]} ^: 24 If the lines are wavy, they may represent disgust. A far cuter way to stand for frustration/mortification is (mainly for female person/young female characters) that they tend to puff out their cheeks while their line is delivered in a gruff vocalism, an elongated "3" showing puffed lips, to emphasize that puffed expect.

Hair colors of anime characters are not just selected randomly. In some cases they express pregnant elements of that person's grapheme (based on colour symbolism in Japan^[4]).

Blackness : Power, evil, emptiness, sadness, depression, mystery, sophistication, intimidation, death ^{[ citation needed ]}
White : Fear, simplicity, innocence, humility, apathy, heaven (can also mean decease)^{[ citation needed ]}
Bluish : Patience, peace, calmness, cold, stability, dependability, loyalty.^{[ citation needed ]}
Purple : Royalty, wisdom, spirituality ^{[ citation needed ]}
Red : Passion, aggression, energy, love (basically strong emotions)^{[ citation needed ]}
Pink : Femininity, purity, childlike, love, kindness ^{[ citation needed ]}
Orange : Energy, balance, enthusiasm, warmth, attention seeking ^{[ citation needed ]}
Blond(due east) : Joy, wealth, sky, artless, courage, greenhorn^{[ citation needed ]}
Greenish : Fortune, envy, harmony, life, vigor, tranquility ^{[ citation needed ]}
Silvery/Gray : Reliability, intelligence, maturity, stoicism, boredom ^{[ citation needed ]}
Brown : Comfort, simplicity, endurance ^{[ citation needed ]}

Grapheme design [ edit ]

To better elicit a more emotional response with the audience for a certain character, a manga artist or animator will sometimes apply certain traits in the graphic symbol's design. The most common features include youthfulness equally a concrete trait (younger age or pigtails) or as an emotional trait such as a naive or innocent outlook, a childlike personality, or some obvious sympathetic weakness the character works hard to correct (extreme clumsiness or a life-threatening disease) but never really succeeds to get rid of.

Other creative conventions [ edit ]

Other artistic conventions used in mainstream manga include:

A circular swelling, sometimes drawn to the size of baseballs, is a visual exaggeration of swelling from injury.^{[D 3]} ^: 55
A white cantankerous-shaped bandage symbol denotes pain.^{[D 3]} ^: 55
In older manga, eyes pop out to symbolize pain, as shown in Dragon Ball .
Thick black lines around the character may indicate trembling due to anger, shock or astonishment.^[5] ^{[D 3]} ^: 107 This is usually accompanied by a rigid pose or super plain-featured styling.
Sparks literally wing between the eyes of two characters when they are fighting,^{[D 3]} ^: 59 or simply glaring at each other (in this example, their eyes may also be connected past a lightning streak).
A character of a sudden falling onto the flooring, usually with ane or more extremities twisted above himself or herself, is a typically humorous reaction to something unexpected happening.^{[D iii]} ^: 118
All facial features shrinking, the olfactory organ disappearing, the character sometimes lifting off the floor and the limbs being multiplied equally if moving very fast symbolizes panic; if the same but with larger facial features it symbolizes comic rage or shock. Some may come with a yellowish spark like symbol near their head.
Exaggerated facial features signify anger. Examples such as star-similar optics with dark shading surrounding them while the face is framed past a reddish and black background imply comedic and/or understated rage. Others may include white circular eyes with slanted eyebrows and a square jaw with sharp teeth or fifty-fifty burning eyes with gritted teeth.
Tear drops cascading down from the optics or forming a twin fountain indicate either intense joy or sadness.
An ellipsis appearing over a character'due south caput indicates a silence, implying that something is going implied.
A drooping head may betoken sorrow or depression.^[5] Some may come up with lines drawn of the hunched grapheme or over their eyes. Variations with wavy lines and white circular eyes can imply embarrassment.
More often than not, graphic symbol colorizations tend to represent the character in some manner. A more subdued character will exist colored with lighter tones, while a flamboyant character will be done in brilliant tones. Similarly, villains are oft colored in darker tones, while colder characters volition exist given neutral tones (black, white, gray, etc.).
Characters push their index fingers together when admitting a secret or telling the truth to another.
An odd white shape (more often than not, something shut to a mushroom) that appears during an exhale represents a sigh of awkward relief or depression.
A wavy ghost coming out of the mouth is frequently a comical representation of low, mortification,^{[D 3]} ^: forty or a comedic and figurative death. This is a reference to the hitodama, as is the in a higher place example.
Cherry blossoms signal a sweet or beautiful moment. This is a reference to Mono no enlightened.
A flower flower falling off its stalk may point death or, more commonly, loss of virginity.
Unbound hair may represent liberty, while hair that is tied back may represent some form of either literal, figurative or emotional enslavement of some kind.
Sleeping people may be indicated by having a chimera coming out of the olfactory organ, said chimera inflating and deflating equally they snore.^{[D iii]} ^: 60 This is usually done when the character sleeps at an inappropriate moment (e.g. during class, at work, outside, in public, in an unusual pose or location, etc.).
Sometimes, when a character screams or is surprised, they will do The Scream pose.
Twitching eyebrows or eyelids may indicate anger or stupor that the character is holding back.
Negative imagery or rapidly dilating optics often indicates either astringent shock or a astringent psychological effect.
The prototype of something slap-up or shattering often signifies either decease or a serious event.
Dark shading over the eyes or the eyes' omission while showing the face oft suggest a silent or sullen disposition.
Twinkling or star-similar eyes with a smile frequently signify excitement while center-shaped eyes imply immediate attraction to someone or something.
A serious encarmine olfactory organ (often mimicking a waterfall) often indicates a romantic or infatuated reaction from male person characters.
A graphic symbol with white eyes, a stern look, and a night atmosphere around them can imply barely concealed rage at someone or something.
Suddenly changing the character'southward eyes into Valentine hearts can also indicate that they are madly in love with some other character.
Smoke or steam coming out of the character'south olfactory organ indicates that the grapheme is aroused.
When ane graphic symbol sharply criticized or brings up a topic that is quite sensitive to some other character, the affect of their words are sometimes symbolically shown by having their word bubble form an arrow that metaphorically pierces the other person they are talking to.
The panel turns scarlet with speeding background effects and the angered graphic symbol grows large while yelling at the graphic symbol(due south).
Speed lines appear when the aroused character strikes the character(s) in an exaggerating fashion.

References [ edit ]

Dictionaries [ edit ]

^
Rousmaniere, Nicole (2022-01-28). "An introduction to Manga". The British Museum web log. How do you read manga?. Archived from the original on 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2022-02-12 . (quoted from Kono (2022))
- spinning symbol (p14 in the book)
^
"GIGA TOWN in TERA Town". Kyoto International Manga Museum . Kyoto. Archived from the original on 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-02-12 . (quoted from Kono (2022). Web page is in English but explanations are in Japanese})
- (p10 in the book) upward aerosol : (1)panicking (ii)crying (bawling)
- (p33 in the book) ZZZ : wikt:zzz from English language cartoons
- (_p7 in the volume) dust : roaming around
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ^north ^o ^p ^q ^r
Kono, Fumiyo (2022-01-19). Gigataun manpuzufu ギガタウン漫符図譜 [Giga town : album of manga symbols] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Asahi Shimbun Publications. ISBN 9784022515124 .
- Web preview: Kono, Fumiyo. ギガタウン漫符図譜 . manga preview (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun Publications. Archived from the original on 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-12 .
- A dictionary of 104 manga symbols with curt descriptions and strip cartoon examples. Appendix inclused brief explanation of several bubble speeches and groundwork effects. Many characters in the examples are based on the ancient Japanese comical film scroll Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga , hence "giga town".
  - (__p9 in the book) (1)droplet (ii)sweat/feeling guilty; tears/feeling sorry
  - (_p18 in the book) speed lines
  - (_p24 in the volume) having a stake confront
  - (_p25 in the book) blushing
  - (_p34 in the book) morning
  - (_p35 in the volume) dusk
  - (_p49 in the book) (1)fainting (2)shocked (three)appalled
  - (_p65 in the book) expense
  - (_p85 in the volume) honey letter
  - (p112 in the book) (1)uneasy (2)steamingly blushing

Other references [ edit ]

^ "Babyfaceness". www.beautycheck.de and Universität Regensburg. 2002-07-fifteen. Retrieved 2008-10-xv .
^ Van Huffel, Peter. "Tanioka Yasuji" . Retrieved 2008-09-17 .
^ "Cross-Popping Veins". TV Tropes. Retrieved 2015-06-19 .
^ Gan, Nina (2022-08-24). "What does hair color mean in anime? | campus.sg". Campus Magazine . Retrieved 2022-03-xix .
^ ^a ^b Norimi, Morisaki (October 2005). "How To Draw Manga: Lesson Iii". Shojo Beat. 1 (iv): 258.