Anime (アニメ) refers to animation originating from Japan. It is characterized by distinctive characters and backgrounds (hand-drawn or computer-generated) that visually and thematically set it apart from other forms of animation. Storylines may include a variety of fictional or historical characters, events, and settings. Anime is aimed at a broad range of audiences; consequently, a given series may have aspects of a range of genres. Anime is most frequently distributed by streaming services, broadcast on television, or sold on DVDs and other media, either after their broadcast run or directly as original video animation (OVA). Console and computer games sometimes also feature segments or scenes that can be considered anime.
Manga (漫画), Japanese for "comics" or "whimsical pictures", are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Manga developed from a mixture of ukiyo-e and Western styles of drawing, and took its current form shortly after World War II. Manga, apart from covers, is usually published in black and white but it is common to find introductions to chapters to be in color. It is typically read from top to bottom and then right to left, similar to the layout of Japanese plain text. In 2005, manga represented a market of ¥24 billion in Japan and $180 million in the United States, and was the fastest-growing segment of books in the United States in the same year. In 2020, Japan's manga industry hit a value of ¥612.6 billion due to the fast growth of the digital manga market, while manga sales in North America reached an all-time high of almost $250 million.
Anime and manga have a shared iconography, including exaggerating the scale of physical features to which the reader presumably should pay most attention, the best known being "large eyes". Manga are often adapted into anime, usually with the collaboration of the original author. Light novel series and video games can also be adapted into anime or manga. In such cases, the work's original story is often compressed or modified to fit the new format and appeal to a wider demographic. Popular franchises sometimes include full-length feature films, both animated and live-action, as well as live-action television programs.
In most places, LGBT themes in comics are a relatively new concept, as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) themes and characters were historically omitted from the content of comic books and their comic strip predecessors due to anti-gay censorship. LGBTQ existence was included only via innuendo, subtext and inference. However the practice of hiding LGBTQ characters in the early part of the twentieth century evolved into open inclusion in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and comics explored the challenges of coming-out, societal discrimination, and personal and romantic relationships between gay characters. (Fullarticle...)
