REVIEW: Giga Town: The Guide To Manga Iconography - A Must Own for Manga Fans

I received an ARC of Giga Town: The Guide To Manga Iconography by Fumiyo Kouno from the publisher, Udon Entertainment, via Netgalley.

I’ve been reading manga since 2003 and because of that, I know a lot about manga and Japanese culture. I’m the type of reader who rereads a volume multiple times, carefully scanning translation notes, and paying attention to details. Yet there is SO much I did not know and learned through Giga Town: The Guide to Manga Iconography. And what I’ve learned, I will take with me forever.

Giga Town: The Guide to Manga Iconography was created by Fumiyo Kouno. She is also the mangaka behind the popular manga series, In This Corner of the World. The guide uses short comics featuring characters from the famous Japanese scroll Choju-jinbutsu-giga to explain popular manga symbols, known as manpu, and their meaning. If this sounds unfamiliar to you, don’t worry! The guide includes a detailed explanation of the scroll too.

The comics themselves are adorable but the meaning they provide is priceless. There are SO many symbols I thought I knew, but learned that they can convey different meanings based on other context clues in the drawing. I also learned a lot about the cultural significance of certain symbols and how they originated in Japan.

Preview images from the publisher.

A guide like this should be a staple in every manga collection. There is so much rich history behind these symbols and since I’ve learned about them, it has transformed the way I’ve been reading manga. There’s so much added context now and I find myself thinking of the layers of messaging a mangaka may be trying to convey.