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Where does the word "manga" come from? It comes from Japanese manga, and was adopted directly into English (1980s-1990s).
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Where does the word "manga" come from? It comes from Japanese manga, and was adopted directly into English (1980s-1990s).
Manga’s story begins in Japanese: manga meant “whimsical or impromptu pictures.” Literally "whimsical pictures", coined by artist Hokusai. It reached English by 1980s-1990s as manga. Adopted to describe Japanese comic books and graphic novels. Today, manga means a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels.
- Stage 1 · Japanese · 1800s manga "whimsical or impromptu pictures", literally "whimsical pictures", coined by artist Hokusai.
- Stage 2 · English · 1980s-1990s manga "Japanese comic books", adopted to describe Japanese comic books and graphic novels.