manga

The word “manga” means a comic or graphic novel originating in Japan. In plain terms, japanese comic books, or comics anywhere drawn in that same visual style.

“Manga” is pronounced MANG-guh (/ˈmɑŋɡə/ in IPA).

Here is “manga” used in a sentence: “She spends her allowance on manga from the import bookstore.”

“Manga” is a noun.

The word “manga” dates back to around 1814 and comes from Chinese. Borrowed from Japanese manga, itself from Chinese characters meaning roughly "free, unrestrained" plus "drawing." The word took off after an 1814 book by the artist Hokusai used it as a title.

“Manga” is an uncommon word in modern English.

“Manga” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a comic or graphic novel originating in Japan.

Manga refers to comics or graphic novels originating in Japan, which are printed and read on the page. Anime refers to Japanese animation, so the key difference is that manga is drawn comics while anime is moving pictures.

Both are illustrated stories, but manga originates in Japan and is traditionally printed in black and white and read from right to left. Western comic books are more often in colour and read from left to right.

Traditional Japanese manga is read from right to left, both across the page and through the panels. Editions translated for Western readers are sometimes flipped to read left to right, though many now keep the original direction.

In English, manga is usually treated as uncountable, so "manga" serves as both singular and plural, as in "she reads a lot of manga." The form "mangas" is occasionally used but is far less common.