2006 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION (pp. 4049) doi:10.1598/JAAL.50.1.

Understanding the manga hype: Uncovering the multimodality of comic-book literacies

Adam Schwartz, Eliane Rubinstein-vila

The sharp rise in mangas popularity in the United States warrants directing educators attention toward these comics.

Its regrettable, but teachers and parents often undermine the ability to make meaning from the myriad of popular culture texts to which young people are exposed. Comics, television, Rubinstein-vila teaches at the same university. So far, we find that discussions and video games are often perceived as regarding manga are dominated by contributing to students short attenscholars in the field of cultural studies (Grigsby, tion spans, passivity, and lack of creativity and as 1998; Ito, 2002; Kinsella, 1999, 2000; Martinez, providing distractions from educational practices 1998; Ogi, 2003; Schodt, 1996). Although several (Gee, 2004). Therefore, the hype around the popuscholars in education have explored the role of larity of Japanese-style comics, or manga popular culture in youths literacy and meaning (Japanese for amusing drawings), among youths making (e.g.,Alvermann, 2004; Alvermann & in the United States is viewed with bewilderment Heron, 2001; Alvermann & Xu, 2003; Gee, 2004; and amazement (Wolk, 2001). While some teachMuspratt, Luke, & Freebody, 1997), the manga ers are banning manga from their classrooms, hype among young adults, which has swept the some public librarians are rejoicing because they United States for the past few years, has not been are unable to keep manga on the shelves (e.g., addressed by educators and literacy researchers. Carey, Reid, & Kawasaki, 2005). We intend to raise educators awareness about In the meantime, literacy researchers not manga, explore mangas semiotic features, and only validate but also expand upon the ways underscore the multimodal demands of these youths engage with and use popular culture as a popular culture texts on readers. tool for literacy development and critical inquiry (Alvermann & Xu, 2003; Gee, 2004). A growing number of scholars even argue that engagement with sophisticated computer games is associated For the benefit of educators and researchers, it is with distinct cognitive development, increase in important to differentiate between manga and rapid decision making, and enhancement of

handeye coordination (Carrington, 2004). Those of us who have not been socialized from a young age into the postindustrial, saturated consumer culture of computer games, film, interactive toys, e-mail, and Schwartz is a doctoral student and teaches at the DVDs may find the visual grammar University of Arizona in and storytelling used in manga chalTucson (Language, Reading, lenging to follow. Not to mention that & Culture, 1430 E. 2nd Street, 512 Education its multimodality is difficult to comBuilding, Tucson, AZ 85721prehend and build upon to make 0069, USA). E-mail adamfs@email.arizona.edu. meaning.

What are manga, anyway?

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anime. Many are likely to confuse and interchange these terms, which both refer to Japanese varieties of what U.S. audiences would consider to be cartoons. Specifically, manga are printed comics found in graphic-novel format, whereas anime are animated cartoons (i.e., moving images on television, movies, or video games). What begins as manga in Japan and ultimately gains popularity is likely to become anime. Conversely, what originates as anime is often also appropriated into printed manga form. Sailormoon is a perfect example of this fluidity; this popular series is about a superheroine who fights for justice against the Dark Kingdom (Grigsby, 1998). The series began in Japan as manga in 1992 and was quickly reproduced as anime, filling a primetime Saturday night slot on TV Asahi. It has since been widely released internationally as both manga and anime (Grigsby). There is little doubt that proficient manga reading demands a reader who is a negotiator of multimodalities. Manga are said to require a complex visual reading on the part of the reader (Adams, 1999, p. 71). Proficient manga readers are adept at negotiating multimodality, using image plus language in increasingly complex ways (Bearne, 2003, p. 98) as they partake in the dynamic interplay among cultures, identities, texts, and literacies. Manga readers are likely to attend to graphical information at the same hierarchical level as the printed text. This is a drastic change from traditional reading that involves attending first and foremost to the written text, using pictures and illustrations only as supplements to it (Carrington, 2004). Manga are reflective of Japanese communication. They rely on highly contextual cues, combining visual and auditory modalities: facial expressions, tone of voice, and grunts (Ito, 2005). The integrative storytelling style of manga relies heavily on homonyms and onomatopoeia, usually expressed through Japanese characters called katakana, to create dynamics and atmosphere (Ito). It is not unusual for subjects of the comics to be drawn breaking out of their rectangular

frames, an artistic technique intended to capture certain feelings and emotions (Adams, 1999). Moreover, the dialogue and the visuals in manga are not just expressed through the written words, drawn characters, and landscapes within (or jutting out of) a strips rectangles. Readers in Japan must negotiate a variety of fonts and script styles; dialogue may be printed in kanji (Chinese characters), alternate between the two Japanese character families of hiragana and katakana, or borrow from English or romanized Japanese (Allen & Ingulsrud, 2003). The variation in directionality, frame, and font is also found to apply, if to a lesser extent, in English editions of manga (Allen & Ingulsrud). It is interesting that many of the U.S. manga translations have retained the original Japanese style, artistic format, and rightto-left directionality (Colford, 2004; Wheeler, 2004). The series that conform to Japanese directionality are perceived by U.S. readers as being more authentic. But because dialogues may be read from right to left, left to right, and at times horizontally, even proficient readers of English who are not experienced with this level of multimodality and have been socialized into more traditional, nonhypertext, story linesmay find manga, as we do, to be a challenging read.

Why should we care about manga?

We contend that there are two main reasons that warrant drawing educators attention toward manga: (1) the comics sheer popularityevident by the sale of manga across the United States and (2) the unique multimodal reading that manga seem to demand. Manga sales in the United States have exceeded publishers predictions. Sales were estimated to gross US$100 million in 2003, at least 75% higher than the previous fiscal year, and were anticipated to clear US$120 million for 2004 (Wheeler, 2004). Public libraries are having a hard time keeping the bound manga books on their shelves. Librarians are delighted; the manga hype has lured many

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new patrons among U.S. youths to public libraries (Carey, Reid, & Kawasaki, 2005). Given the popularity of manga among young adults, it is surprising that these comics have not been explored in greater depth in the literacy research literature. Manga, like other multimodal texts of consumer culture, may be dismissed as another form of lowbrow, popular culture. Nevertheless, the multimodality of manga texts extend[s] the traditional notions of text and literacy (Carrington, 2004, p. 215). Several scholars have claimed that manga require multimodal reading skills and a sharp critical inquiry stance. For example, recent studies have reported on how manga have been used as both a teaching tool and a subject of cultural study (Allen & Ingulsrud, 2003; Frey & Fisher, 2004). Ultimately, like any cultural texts, manga provide a way for youths to negotiate alternative identities. By engaging with a wide range of manga characters, dynamic plots, and storyboards, children and young adults make connections between these popular texts and their own life experiences (Allender, 2004; Frey & Fisher).

evil ones and save her friends mother.... At one point, she pitches another little tantrum and says she has had enough and wants to go home. (p. 71)

Multimodality and the New Literacy Studies

Here we return to Grigsby (1998), who paraphrased Sailormoon in great detail. Usagi is the name of an ordinary Japanese schoolgirl who transforms magically into the valiant superheroine Sailormoon.
Usagi has a fight with her brother, then goes to her room and takes a nap. The black cat Luna arrives, from whom Usagi learns that she is Sailormoon. The cat convinces her by giving her a cute pendant. Usagi goes to the mirror and looks at herself with it on. The brooch begins shining.... Usagi becomes Sailormoon! Make up! Prism power! Meanwhile, in a subplot, the jewelry store owner and mother of Usagis friend have been taken hostage by the evil ones. Luna guides Sailormoon to defeat the

Unlike many Western comic strips geared toward youths, manga plots are rather indirect: It is not always clear who the main protagonists are (although Sailormoon, which focuses on the conquests of a schoolgirl-turned-heroine, is an obvious exception). Moreover, the plots are usually nonlinear, much like soap operas or movies. Subplots are highly common, as shown in the above example. Gender is addressed more flexibly, less moralistically, and in greater complexity than in traditional U.S. comics. For instance, characters may appear in the nude when taking a bath; nevertheless, nudity is not necessarily connoted with sexual activity. In a very popular series, a young man, who is a martial artist, is occasionally transformed into a voluptuous young woman as a result of his accidental dipping into magical waters; his father, by the way, is occasionally transformed into a panda bear. Contrary to what might be expected, these reoccurring flipflops do not seem to have a major impact on the young mans developing (heterosexual) romantic relationship with a young woman, who is also a martial artist. Thus, it is possible that manga story lines not only afford readers a nonlinear, rich imaginative read of the world but also tap into an array of complexities in human experiences toward which young adults seem to feel great affinity. Scholars who directly or indirectly contribute to what we have come to term the New Literacy Studies all point to the need to broaden our understanding of literacy. These scholars hope to encourage a shift from educators traditional perceptions of literacy as an autonomous set of skills to be mastered to a view of literacies as a range of social practices affected by social factors, such as socioeconomic status, race, or gender, and linked to broader social goals (Barton & Hamilton, 2000). The theoretical framework that has come to be known as the New Literacy Studies encourages educators and researchers to

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examine the range of literacy practices that people engage in to mediate and make meaning of their lives outside the context of formal schooling. The New Literacy Studies not only encourage a critical reexamination of what counts as literacy but also broaden the definition of texts. This framework is especially beneficial to examine the multimodal literacy practices of manga readers. Today, people are more likely to negotiate a range of texts and contexts simultaneously, which often overlap the physical and the virtual world (Jacobs, 2004). As critical educators, it is our role to encourage students to value the multiple forms of literacy and representation that constitute their lived experiences (Williams, 2001, p. 26). But to do so, we educators and literacy researchers need to broaden our definitions of texts and recognize that our bias toward written text is a result of our own socialization in a printdominated world. It is doubtful that teachertraining programs and K12 curricula are encouraging teachers and students to develop an adequate metalanguage to help them understand the construction and features of visual texts. Some educators argue that 21st-century metaliteracy skills are to be taught explicitly in schools, to help youths to analyze and evaluate the constant barrage of information in todays visually drenched world (Abilock, 2003, p. 30). Semiotics of manga speak directly to the overlapping nature of image and text and the shift towards the primacy of the image (Carrington, 2004, p. 218). Visual texts, however, can be more effective than verbal text in expressing perceptual information such as colors, shapes, textures, positions in space, sizes, and patterns (Williams, 2001). Several scholars have underscored the impact of new technologies on how we use and think of language and define communication (e.g., Jacobs, 2004). Proficiency in manga and anime, as in Short Messages (SMs), requires an understanding of the semiotics of languages and literacies. For example, in order to communicate efficiently using SMs, the user must be proficient in communicat-

ing through Squeeze Text (Carrington, 2004). This means that to adhere to the limits of 160 characters per message, English text needs to be converted to its most compact format, which typically equates to a compression ratio of 30% to 40%. Thus, to maximize compression, Squeeze Text has its own rules; for example, all text is converted into lowercase, and certain words are converted to a single symbol without losing their meaning. So the word for is converted to 4, less to , more to +, and most to ++. Thus, while many parents and teachers may dismiss manga reading, avid manga readers are strategic literary negotiators of that form of text.

A brief history of manga

The art of manga boasts a lengthy history, even if its origins are debatable (Gravett, 2004; Kinsella, 2000; Schodt, 1986). For a more in-depth account of mangas place within the context of Japanese history, see Ito (2005). Schodt estimated that Japanese narrative comic art is perhaps as old as the civilization itself, noting caricatures uncovered in the 7th-century Horyuji Buddhist temple. The roots of early modern manga, however, are neither religious nor mundane but social and political. Misaka (2004) constructed the history of modern manga as an artistic movement birthed by European political cartoonists living in Japan in the 19th centurya form of east meets west (p. 23) in a newly industrialized Japanese society. Misaka also argued that the explicit and often elaborate political statements and social commentaries were fitting for story manga, with their strip style and multiple boxed frames that implied the passage of time. Like the older elaborate picture scrolls, they told a story. The evolution of manga as serialized comic art opened the doors for more complex stories and messages. Scholars in cultural studies and sociology assign the agenda of adult manga as texts that directly reflect a broad array of political editorializing, from social change to proestablishment rhetoric (Kinsella, 1999, 2000; Misaka,

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2004). The 1920s and 1930s featured manga as an outlet for response to Japans postindustrialist Westernization (Misaka), whereas the late 1960s reflected political and avant-garde manga movements that included publications of leftist interest, focusing on social issues that other Japanese media dared not cover (Kinsella, 1999). The social and economic turbulence of the mid-1980s marked a time when manga were first appropriated by corporations and government agencies as a means of balancing pop culture movements with the political interests of the Japanese state (Kinsella, 1999). But the politically charged story manga quickly progressed into marketable mass entertainment for all ages. Manga are commonly accessible as serialized strips found in magazines and newspapers, although comic shops in both Japan and the United States offer story manga in bound compilations (Kinsella, 2000; Misaka, 2004). These compilations, more commonly known as graphic novels, present a manga series in its entirety (Misaka). The black-and-white graphic novels resemble a thick paperback book and often include advertisements for other manga collections on their glossy, colorful back covers. Since the mid-1990s, however, and partially due to the competition from and demand for newer entertainment media such as video games and DVDs, sales of manga in Japan have been in a steady decline (Misaka, 2004). Thus, publishers resorted to U.S. audiences as a new marketing frontier, one where the success of manga has been astounding (Misaka). Manga have been referred to as the fastest growing genre in U.S. publishing; the demand for authentic, original manga strips and graphic novels is high despite the cost ranging from US$10 to over US$20 per book. Before the publication of manga, a series of visual formats or anime (video games, films, and television cartoon programs) was pitched at U.S. youths. Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, Yu-GiOh!, and Pokmon ushered in the manga hype (the last two were also marketed as interactive,

collecting card games). Manga comics with anime counterparts in English are likely to sell better in the United States (Wolk, 2001). Although manga are geared mainly toward adolescents, specifically in the 12 to 17 age bracket, rising popularity among older readers has encouraged publishers to invest in the U.S. market.

The five spheres of manga

In Japan, its hard to avoid manga. In addition to graphic novels, strips of manga can be found in newspapers and magazineswith topics ranging from finance and economics to sports and leisure. Recently, even tax guidelines have been distributed in manga form. This popularity is greatly due to mangas tailoring for a wide range of target audiences, accommodating a variety of tastes, interests and stages of life (Gravett, 2004, p. 5). The four main genres of manga to emerge after World War II are shonen (boys) manga, shojo (girls) manga, seinen (adult) manga, and rediisu komikku (ladies comics). These four categories may also overlap into a fifth manga category that includes hobby, specialist, sports, erotic and pornographic (Kinsella, 2000, p. 45). We expand on three categories here. Boys manga: Compassionate competition. Although manga as an industry originally catered to boys, in 1996 only 40.6% of Japanese manga publication was geared specifically toward young male audiences (Kinsella, 2000). Nevertheless, boys comics, in which friendship and struggle are often popular themes, are a forceful mainstay in modern story manga. Gravett (2004) argued that manga series such as Shonen Jump appeal to boys and men by stressing values such as friendship, perseverance, and winning. He paralleled this popularity to the rebuilding of Japan following World War II and the revival of the Japanese economy. Tales of competition are often developed by situating manga characters in national sports such as baseball, sumo wrestling, basketball, soccer, and even fishing and car racing (Gravett,

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2004). Ever since the 1950s manga have been credited for increasing Japanese youths interest in sport; a sports manga hero is bound to win, or lose well, so the thrill comes from reading how he overcomes all challenges with determination and honesty (p. 54). Sport, then, becomes a metaphor for life; often these boys manga follow the life of an ordinary male protagonist who fights his way through the big leagues as an underdog. Through trainingnot just physical but also mental and psychologicalthe young boy becomes a man, whose masculinity is defined by values of heart and perseverance. But boys manga are not just about sports heroes. Postwar advances in modern technology inspired new ways of constructing the underdog type of hero to entertain and enlighten male audiences, and this formula has been widely applied to a variety of settings from martial arts, fantasy and science fiction, to big business, and power politics (Gravett, 2004, p. 54). The arrival of Mazinger Z in 1972 introduced the adventures of a high-tech robot, a character that inspired decades of spin-offs and appropriations that pitted technology, intelligence, and strategy against the worlds evil. Boys manga also include a share of lighthearted humorgags, pranks, jokesand a strong appeal to the male libido (Gravett). Girls manga: Compensatory sexuality. Postwar Japan (particularly the 1960s) was also a watershed time and place for girls manga, which evolved into the construction of female empowerment. At the turn of the century, Shojo Kai (Girls World) generally idealized domesticity and servitude. Male artists created story lines and characters to project female rolesfor example, the role of mother and homemaker as submissive and sexually available companion. This image was particularly manifest in the physical drawings of women in girls mangathe large eyes and pupils; long lashes; slim torso, limbs, and hips; and the petite noses, mouths, and breasts. Such elements persist today, although breasts are often grossly exaggerated (Gravett, 2004; Ito, 2002; Ogi, 2003).

Much as in the past, todays girls manga dabble in love and romance; however, similar to boys manga, they often pit a young female protagonist in a position of self-empowerment. Sailormoon is a fine example. This particular series presents a female protagonist in an actionadventure role and her pursuits to protect the earth from the queen of the Dark Kingdom. She is, therefore, required to be strong, intelligent, and authoritative. But in her transformation to her superheroine alter-ego, through the jewelry that provides her with magical powers, Sailormoon seems to compensate with traditional notions of heterosexual femininity as her svelte adolescent features are transformed with more womanly characteristics (Grigsby, 1998; for a discussion on compensatory and apologetic behavior as it originally relates to sport and female sexuality, see Festle, 1996). In other words, Sailormoons brave, heroic conquests to save the world seem to require compensatory conventional, heterosexual femininity to appeal to young female readers who are in the process of constructing their own gender identities (Grigsby). Sailormoons transformation from child to woman also invokes parallels to the state of affairs in Japan: Part of the popularity of the character may be because at one level she resolves major tensions present in contemporary Japan with respect to the diminishing primacy of the mother role for women (p. 75). What could be defined as the epitome of the modern protagonist in girls mangaa character designed for and by womenis often construed as paradoxical. This paradox is also found frequently in contemporary young adult literature in which young women are the main protagonists. In reviewing the research literature, we found that the so-called strong and powerful young female protagonists are also the ones who compliantly fulfill their caretaker roles (as good daughters, granddaughters, or girlfriends). They respond readily to the needs of their families and communities (before their own needsalthough those are seldom voiced explicitly). Although these contemporary female protagonists are proclaimed by reviewers and literacy researchers to

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be nontraditional, they seldom, if ever, cross, disobey, or transgress mainstream, acceptable, gender-role boundaries (Rubinstein-vila, 2005). The image of sexually powerful young women in manga is paradoxical in this regard as well as in another sense: The comics are designed and drawn to entice male consumers as much as to entice young women seeking modern-day heroines as role models (Gravett, 2004). This paradoxical issue of power is also present in ladies manga. Ladies manga: Tensions between empowerment and conformity. At some point, the readers of girls manga adopt a more mature, sophisticated style. The genre rediisu komikku, or ladies comics, was born in the 1980s as a more mature extension of the classical themes found in shojo manga (Ito, 2002). As a type of feminist discourse, ladies manga attempt to address the experiences, desires, and needs of women and to present role models for the modern Japanese woman (Ogi, 2003). Rediisu komikku tend to focus on the reality of life as experienced by the modern Japanese woman, whether she is a housewife, office worker, or college studentstories tend to focus on themes such as love, romance, female friendship, careers, motherchild relations, and more recently sexism, divorce, and even domestic violence. Ito (2002) quoted one rediisu dialogue between a heroine and her girlfriend, who are reflecting on marriage as a rite of passage into adult life. The heroine says,
I have also been thinking that I do not want to marry. I have a very difficult time taking care of myself. Once married I would not have any freedom, and then I must protect my family and make everyone happy. However, I started to think that turning my back on marriage will not lead to my growth as a human being. I think it is very important for me to be positive and take the first step [to marry] (p. 73).

barriers in some empowering, positive way. However, these challenges are consistently laced with romantic fantasy and lustful perversion (Ito, 2002, p. 77), which complicate the idea of manga as a site of empowerment for female readers. Even while considering her unhappiness or dissatisfaction with life, the female protagonist consistently reinforces the idea that Japanese womens ultimate life goal is to find and marry a Prince Charming. According to Ito, the protagonist provides the reader with a sort of psychological reward: The female adult reader can vicariously relive her youthful dreams and experiences. Ultimately, ladies manga might be viewed as soft pornography, often showcasing what is traditionally private and personal: voyeurism, masturbation, and bodily fluids (Ito, 2002). Topics seemingly taboo to the U.S. reader are often framed as natural, playful, and nonsexual in manga. Nudity, gender-bending, homosexuality, and dream-like fantasies are common in girls and ladies manga, often without the intent to be sexual discourse (Gravett, 2004).

Is there a place for manga in the classroom?

Although there are many reasons for educators to carefully consider the pros and cons of bringing alternative (especially alternative, unsanctioned) literacies into the classroom, some educators are making use of graphic novels to develop students traditional writing skills. For example, Frey and Fisher (2004) used Will Eisners graphic novel about city life to encourage urban high school students development of reading and written communication skills. The class collectively read Hydrant, a wordless graphic novel that illustrates the life of a woman living in a housing project without running water. Considering the connections between popular culture and critical literacies, the authors encouraged students to collectively list the techniques the artist used to convey meaning; after brainstorming colorful vocabulary, students were encouraged to rely on the

In ladies comics, protagonists tend to be victims of gender stereotyping, often trapped in oppressive spaces of marriage and family life. As heroines, the lady characters often overcome lifes

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elicited vocabulary to narrate their own individual stories in a written composition. Students experimented with first- and third-person narrations, as well as various ways to describe tone and mood. Frey and Fisher also used this exercise as a springboard to instruct students on how to effectively convey multiple ideas in fewer words. Ultimately, the semiotics of the wordless graphic novel inspired Frey and Fishers students to become not only more descriptive writers but also critical consumers of ideas and information (p. 24) as they produced concise, original stories of their own. Nevertheless, Frey and Fishers exercise, which succeeded in teaching writing technique and the art of consuming ideas and information, failed to serve as a practice of critical pedagogy. No efforts were made to construct Eisners text as an impetus for raising awareness on poverty and the greater social issues being conveyed. Manga could be used in the classroom to develop students analytical and critical reading of visual texts. As Alvermann and Heron (2001) contended, critical reading of unique media like manga calls for both the expression and examination of multiple points of view (p. 121). In the case of students using manga for classroom study, they can use the mechanics and multimodalities of the comic strips to learn how to question their own pleasures (Alvermann & Heron, p. 121). For example, students can examine how a manga storyboard works to invite and produce particular views (Alvermann & Heron, 2001, p. 121). This technique was used with great success in a reading of the computer-based anime Dragon Ball Z (DBZ). As in the case of various manga serials from which it originates, DBZ uses storyboards to constantly negotiate a good-andevil character dichotomy. Students can use this dichotomy to investigate how the animator, as author of the texts, visually portrays the characters in ways that convey traits of altruism and treachery..., [how] characters change position (from hero to villain), revert to their original position,

or appear to operate from both positions at the same time (p. 121). As Kress (2000) reminded us, multiliteracies go beyond just communication through myriad modes; each mode has its own regularities. Critical educators can encourage youths reflexivity about their use of popular culture by selecting appropriate texts for the classroom that help students situate themselves in the world around them and underscore how power shapes our emotional, political, social and material lives (Alvermann & Xu, 2003, p. 148). Gilles Poitras, a librarian and manga enthusiast in northern California, provides librarians and teachers with resources through an up-to-date guide to anime and manga accessible through his website at www.koyagi.com. In the spirit of situated literacies and influencing students to think as critical consumers of ideas and information (Frey & Fisher, 2004), older students could also use Kinsellas (2000) manga spheres as an entry point for critically examining societal disparities in the representation of gender and sexuality. Although manga is by origin a Japanese genre, inequalities in the representation of males and females persist crossculturally. For example, students may survey examples of girls and ladies manga to analyze the female paradox of power and submission. How, for instance, is the consistent image of the sexually enticing yet assertive, powerful female in manga mirrored in Western advertising campaigns, television, and movies? On another note, how, for example, do boys manga frame athletic success as a venue for proving socially acceptable notions of masculinity? How might this view of athletics contrast or compare with conceptions of sport in U.S. society?

Skills may transfer

This article introduces the world of manga to educators; mangas hype among young adult readers is examined through the New Literacy Studies. The genre is the embodiment of hybrid texts.

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Manga are in line with the current literacy revolution, as traditional reading is being expanded into postmodern readings that combine print text, graphic images, and sounds. It is not surprising that the multimodal and iconographic features of manga attract consumers across age groups, cultures, languages, and genders. The skills manga readers use may transfer well to other media, and vice versa. For example, reading manga is very much like playing video games if we consider both as literacy domains as space for deciphering images and practices. Gee (2004) argued that it is highly beneficial for adolescents to practice negotiating semiotics in order to develop critical and multidimensional thinking. Thus, the popularity of manga among youths and young adults on the cusp of the 21st century may be precisely a consequence of this genres highly multimodal and semiotic properties.

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