Does manga have to be from Japan to be considered manga?

[Oddlyunspecific]

I'm gonna say no. Manga is diverse enough as a medium that the only two defining characteristics of all manga having an anime artstyle and its structure as a story told through creative use of panelling, art, and writing. Nothing about that is inherent to Japan.

 

[sunmoonmoon]

it's all trash comics in the end just zone out and look at the pretty (lol no) pictures

 

[421cookies]

Manga literally mean comic (or "drawing made on purpose for entertainment" by japanese wiki) so, not really.

 

[Gian]

Sure. There'd be no point in calling them "manga" otherwise.

 

[raincoatkiller]

Well in my opinion it has to be from Japan to be manga otherwise it's manhua/manhwa (from China or Korea) or Graphic Novels/Comic Books/Manga Inspired in the West (though I can understand arguing it if the series is very similar to manga though there needs to be a term like that for separation like we have manhua and manhwa) . It may be different in other places but in the USA, and it seems most other english speaking countries are the same, manga as a colloquial term is from Japan or at least somewhere in Asia while most of that sort produced in the west are usually deemed graphic novels or comic books regardless of the content or inspirations.

 

[AviKav]

SCIENCE FOR THE SCIENCE GOD!

 

[Kanami-chan]

manga is just a social construct

lol

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

This is my definition:

Comic - American comic
Manga - Japanese comic
Manhwa - Korean or Chinese comic
Screw the rest of the world lol

 

[Kaarme]

@DANDAN_THE_DANDAN You are going to confuse people by referring to European comics as "screws". How on Earth did you even come up with that?

 

[goronyanpai]

Simply put, follow the terms.
"Manga" is equivalent as "Comic" in general.
Several countries have their respective names. For example : Korea -> Manhua, China -> Manhwa.
In a sense, no one said it must come from Japan.
This debate is the same as how people dispute the use of "anime" which basically comes from the word "animation".

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

@Kaarme

Mom: "What are you reading, son?"
Son: "Oh, I reading screws."
Mom: "Screws? What's tha-"
Fanservice scene pops up
Mom: "Oh... I guess you have grown up."
Son: "NO MOM I SWEAR THIS IS AN ACTION-COMEDY I'M NOT READING PORN I SWEAR!!"

@goronyanpai Wait, those two are different by one letter? Wow.

 

[goronyanpai]

@DANDAN_THE_DANDAN
Shut up, go to sleep. You know it's already midnight here.

Anyway, manga ... talking about manga, there is its own history that makes it popular and is known for its own style. So maybe that is where the problem comes from.
But, it is not absolutely owned by Japan to see America also has a kind of classic comic. I have Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comic. They also have the same column, the same bubble speech, etc.
I will not debate which one first appeared. You can do research in various articles on Google.

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

@goronyanpai Pfffft... It's only, like, 2 a.m. in the morning.

Edit: it's now 4... haaaalp.