Manga iconography
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The Japanese comic book style of manga has developed its own visual language or iconography for expressing emotion and other internal character state.
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[edit] Characteristics
There are several expressive techniques staple (and some of them unique) to the manga art form:
Expressive dialogue bubbles: The borders of the speech/thought bubbles changes in pattern/style to reflect the tone and mood of the dialogue. For example, an explosion-shaped bubble for an angry exclamation. Also, manga does not usually follow the normal Western comic conventions for speech (solid arc extending from the character's head) and thought bubble (several small circles used in place of the arc). The latter bubble style is often used for whispered dialogue in manga, which can confuse Western readers.
Speed lines: Often in action sequences, the background will possess an overlay of neatly ruled lines to portray direction of movements. Speed lines can also be applied to characters as a way to emphasise the motion of their bodies (limbs in particular). This style, especially background blurs, extends into most action based anime as well.
Mini flashbacks: Many artists employ copies of segments from earlier chapters (sometimes only a single panel) and edit them into the story panels to act as a flashback (also applying an overlay of darker tone to differentiate it from current events). This can be considered a convenient method to evoke prior event(s) along with visual imagery. In situations where a character's life events flash across his/her mind, a splash page maybe used with the entire background consisting of segments from earlier chapters.
Abstract background effects: These involve elaborate hatching patterns in the background and serve to indicate or strengthen the mood of the plot. It can also illustrate a character's state of mind.
Symbols: Certain visual symbols have been developed over the years to become common methods of denoting emotions, physical conditions and mood. The following is a brief list of representative manga symbols and usage:
- Sweat drops, usually drawn largely on the head region, commonly indicate bewilderment, nervousness and mental weariness. On a sidenote, actual physical perspiration in manga is signified by even distribution of sweat drops over the body.
- A round swelling, sometimes drawn to the size of baseballs, is a visual exaggeration of swelling from injury.
- A character suffering from a profuse nosebleed indicates sexual excitation when it follows exposure to stimulating imageries or seduction. It is based on a Japanese old wive's tale[1]
- Throbbing veins, usually depicted as a cruciform in the upper head region, indicate anger or irritation.
- Hatchings on the cheek represent blushing, while oval "blush dots" on the cheeks represent rosy cheeks, usually used when embarrassed.
The popular and recognizable style of manga is very distinctive. Emphasis is often placed on line over form, and the storytelling and panel placement differ from those in American comics. Impressionistic backgrounds are very common, as are sequences in which the panel shows details of the setting rather than the characters. Panels and pages are typically read from right to left, consistent with traditional Japanese writing.
While the art can be incredibly realistic or cartoonish, it is often noted that the characters have large eyes (female characters usually have larger eyes than male characters), small noses, tiny mouths, and flat faces. Large eyes have become a permanent fixture in manga and anime since the 1960s when Osamu Tezuka (see above) started drawing them in this way, mimicking the style of Disney and Betty Boop cartoons from the United States.
Furthermore, inside the big eyes, the transparent feeling of pupils and the glares, or small reflections in the corners of the eyes are often exaggerated, regardless of surrounding lighting, although they are only present in living characters: the eyes of characters who have died are the colour of the iris, but darker. In characters with hair partially covering the face, the eyes that would otherwise be covered are often outlined to make them visible, even when the hair is particularly dense and dark. (See also: Bishoujo)
Because manga is a diverse art form, however, not all manga artists adhere to the conventions most popularized in the States through anime such as Akira, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Ranma ½.
A fair number of manga artists do not feel that their stories and characters are set in stone. So a set of characters may build relationships, jobs, etc. in one set of stories ("story arc") only to have another story arc run where the same characters do not know each other. The Tenchi series in particular is known for this; there are more than thirteen different unrelated story arcs based around Tenchi and his friends. There is also the case of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure where the protagonist changes depending on the story arc following new generations of characters.
[edit] Manga symbols
The following is a non-exhaustive and incomplete list of artistic conventions used in mainstream manga and their place of origin.
- A white cross-shaped bandage symbol denotes pain.
- A large sweat drop on the side of the face denotes a broad spectrum of emotions, usually embarrassment or exasperation.
- A scribble on the cheek can show injury; it is also used in black-and-white media to denote red cheeks, i.e. blushing.
- A red cheek denotes embarrassment or blushing.
- A throbbing vein, sometimes comically simplified to a "+" shaped outline on the head (or occasionally other body parts, especially fists), represents anger or irritation.
- A balloon dangling from one nostril indicates sleep.
- Electricity shoots out on the eyes of two characters when they are fighting.
- A common artistic pun are nosebleeds, usually caused by shocking sights - especially those with a sexual undertone.
- There are many eye symbols such as love-hearts, crosses, flames, stars, and spirals.
- A character suddenly falling onto the floor, usually with one or more extremities twisted above him or herself, is a typically humorous reaction to something ironic happening.
- The pupils disappearing from the eyes, and the iris gaining a glass-like glare smoothness denotes loss of conscious control because of possession (ghost, demon, zombie, magic, etc).
- The eyes becoming huge and perfectly round with tiny pupils and no iris and going beyond the reach of the face, plus the mouth becoming like a stretched semicircle, the point of which extends past the chin, symbolises extreme excitement.
- All facial features shrinking, the nose disappearing, the character lifting off the floor and the limbs being multiplied as if moving very fast symbolizes panic; if the same but with larger facial features it symbolises comic rage.
- Tear drops everywhere indicate intense joy or sadness.
- An ellipsis appearing over a character's head indicates an awkward and speechless moment.
- Eye shapes and sizes are often symbolically used to represent the character. For instance, bigger eyes will usually symbolize beauty, innocence, or purity, while smaller, more narrow eyes typically represent coldness and/or evil.
- More often than not, character colorizations tend to represent the character in some way. A more subdued character will be colored with lighter tones, while a flamboyant character will be done in bright tones. Similarly, villains are often colored in darker tones, while colder character will be given neutral tones (black, white, grey, etc.).
- An odd white shape (more often than not, something close to a mushroom) that appears during an exhale represents a sigh of awkward relief or depression.
- Completely blackened eyes (shadowed) indicates a vengeful or deep anger. It could also indicate that someone's being sort of a wise-guy, grinning.
- Characters push their index fingers together when admitting a secret or telling the truth to another.
- A character's eyes are shadowed regardless of the lighting in the room when they become angry, upset, something is wrong with them, or they are emotionally hurt.
- The anime character's eyes turn into two thick half-circles, conveying a cute, delighted look.
- Face expressions change depending on their mood, and can look from apple shaped to a more subtle carrot shape.
- Parallel vertical lines with dark shading over the head or under the eye may represent mortification or horror. If the lines are wavy, it may represent disgust.
- A wavy ghost coming out of the mouth is often a comical representation of depression or mortification.
- Cherry blossoms indicate a sweet or beautiful moment. This is a reference to Mono no Aware.
- A flower blossom falling off its stem may indicate death or, more commonly, sex.
- A fang peeking from the corner of the mouth indicates mischief or feistiness. (Unless, of course, the character has fangs normally).
- A cat mouth (like a number "3" rotated 90° clockwise) replacing the character's normal mouth, and usually accompanied by larger eyes may also represent mischief or feistiness.
- Unbound hair may represent freedom, while hair that is tied back may represent some form of either literal, figurative or emotional enslavement of some kind.
