The Materiality of Manga: Paper or Digital?

Abstract

In this research, I will validate what changes have been brought about by the digitization of manga from the viewpoint of materiality. Most people read e-books on their smartphones. Therefore, vertical scrolling is more general than clicking or sliding, Japanese manga is basically written vertically. There are many applications that provide frame-by-frame view instead of page view to make it easier to read manga with vertical scrolling. With the advent of digital comics, manga has been liberated from materiality, and the training of cartoonists who draw manga with vertically-scrolling has become more active. However, when providing existing paper manga, digitization way differs depending on the service or application. For example, paper manga is disassembled into individual frames, even if it is a page view. In other example, digitized manga can be read in a double-page spread, or it can be read in only one page. By using frame view or one page view, the picture may be cut off or the layout and/or size of the frame may be spoiled. In the first place, cartoonists draw paper manga, in considering frame division, layout, and visual effect of the entire double-page spread. The originality and characteristics of each cartoonist will be lost, when digitizing manga. Currently, digital comics are for personal use, and libraries have no choice but to choose paper. In order not to lose the originality and characteristics of cartoonists, the digital comic trade needs to deal with the above problem.