manga

noun

man·​ga ˈmäŋ-gə 

plural manga also mangas

: Japanese comic books and graphic novels considered collectively as a genre

The characters' faces beam the big-eyed, manically jolly winsomeness that in anime and manga signals contentment.

—Peter Schjeldahl

also : an individual comic book or graphic novel of the manga genre

This black-and-white manga is based on the Japanese animated TV series of the same name …

—Library Journal

Examples of manga in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For the summer sequences, originally set in Chiba in Tsuge’s manga, Miyake selected Kozushima island for its timeless cliffs. —Jenny S. Li, Variety, 22 Sep. 2025

Pop culture symbols elevate protest messages Luffy first appeared in the popular manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump in July 1997. —Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2025

The Japanese Netflix series first debuted in 2020, adapting Haro Aso's manga series about a parallel version of Tokyo where a series of games — represented by a suit in a deck of playing cards — unfold with life-or-death stakes for the players. —Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Sep. 2025

The series comes lifted from the pages of Shogo Imamura’s best-selling Ikusagami series of novels, later turned into a manga series. —Mathew Scott, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Japanese, comic, cartoon, from man- involuntary, aimless + -ga picture

First Known Use

circa 1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for manga

• ganga
• pampanga

Kids Definition

manga

noun

man·​ga ˈmäŋ-gə 

: a Japanese comic book or graphic novel