MANGA STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION

INTRODUCTION

Structure, structure, structure. All I keep talking about lately is structure. But as Henry Cloud says, “Boundaries are basically about providing structure, and structure is essential in building anything that thrives.” (2)

While writing allows for a lot of creativity, it still demands for the following of basic structure rules so we do not end up in complete chaos.

Mangas also follow certain structure patterns. Today we will take a quick look into how mangas are structured.

THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF MANGAS

STORY ARC

Mangas belong to the visual storytelling genre. They combine visual art with text to tell a certain narrative. As with every other written text they are composed of certain elements and follow a certain structure.

Mangas may include one or multiple story arcs. Story arcs are the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. They can also mean an extended or continuing storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strips, board games, and so forth. (3)

MANGA VOLUMES

Each arc consists of multiple volumes. Volumes are collections of chapters and are known under the name Tankobon. Usually, on average they are 6-8 chapters long. (4)

MANGA CHAPTER

Each manga volume consists of chapters. Chapters are made up of several elements and are usually 15-30 pages long, but can be much longer. (4)

Each chapter is made up of:

a cover
inside pages. (5)

Inside pages have the following basic elements:

panels: squares or rectangles that contain a single scene
gutters: space between panels
dialog balloons: contain communication between/among characters
thought balloons: contain a character’s thoughts
captions: contain information about a scene or character
sound effects: visual sound clues i.e.. Wonk! Pow! (5)
characters, (6)

The typical manga page template consists of a 2 x 4 grid consisting of 4 rows with 2 panels. Panels may be of different sizes, but the average page has between 6 and 8 panels. (7)

PANEL ORDER

As you surely know, manga is read from right to left and top to bottom. Panels, dialog, and thought balloons are numbered in the same manner.

CONCLUSION

Mangas follow a certain structure. They consist of story arcs, which are further then divided into separate volumes. Volumes are collections of usually 6-8 chapters. Chapters consist of a cover and inside pages. Every inside page contains panels that are divided by gutters. It can also contain thought and dialogue balloons, sound effects, captions, and characters.

SOURCES

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Henry Cloud. Quotefancy. Available at https://quotefancy.com/quote/1525751/Henry-Cloud-Boundaries-are-basically-about-providing-structure-and-structure-is-essential
Wikipedia. Story Arc. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_arc
Inubasket. Tapas Forums: Volumes vs chapters. Available at https://forums.tapas.io/t/volumes-vs-chapters/61093/2
Some Manga Basics. Free PDF available at https://www.buffalolib.org/sites/default/files/getgraphic/resources/HowtoReadManga.pdf
Lines and grace. How to make manga. July 7, 2023. Available at https://linesandgrace.com/blogs/manga-workshop/how-to-make-manga