I didn’t get round to continuing A Quick Rough Guide to Visual Codes in Japanese Comics series, which I started last May. My bad. I’m going to use this weekend to do two or three posts as a catch-up.
I’ll go with the basic first: How to read a Japanese comic.
While everyone knows that one should read from right to left when reading a Japanese comic, but there are more to it than that. Here are two examples.
1. Here’s a blue line to show how to follow a narrative in accordance with the panels (which I have numbered sequentially), visual codes and dialogue.
(Note: I accidentally didn’t note hearts next to the woman’s head in the second panel. Oops. Those hearts represent ‘lovestruck’, ‘awe’ or ‘happy’, which usually happens in presence of an inspiring person. It doesn’t necessarily mean romance. A male character could gaze at an inspiring woman with his head in a cloud of hearts, which could mean he finds her worth admiring or respect.)
[Click here for a full scan of those pages.]
1. A man walking past a glass door. It does seem it’s part of the second panel, but it’s actually from Kyouichi’s point of view as we will see in the next panel. Note how a dialogue bubble on the right of the second bubble is cut off.
The man in a suit suggests he’s in corporate. He walks with his hands behind his back suggests he’s in a position of authority as he’s relaxed enough to walk so casually. He’s smiling quietly, too, shows that he’s a gentle person.
In short, he’s an old wise man who owns the company. The boss.
2. Kyouichi’s attention is fixed on the door, ignoring the woman’s admiration and attention, which is actually a work-related social faux. This shows how affected he is by the sight of his employer. (He wonders why his employer is on his floor.)
Background info: Kyouichi’s in a relationship with Imagase, who ‘tricked and trapped’ him into having an affair. Since then, Kyouichi feels awkward about being in a gay relationship and has constantly tried to find a way to escape.
He’s an indecisive coward, unwilling to take responsibility for his actions as he’s blamed his mistakes and actions on other people including his own (now former) wife and women he had adulterous affairs with during his marriage.
[Imagase - a private investigator - was hired by Kyouichi's wife to catch him in the act so that she could divorce him while demanding financial compensation. Imagase did catch Kyouichi at a hotel with a woman, but instead of reporting this to the wife, he blackmailed Imagase into having an affair with him to prevent the report going to the wife. All this is in the first volume. The second volume - which those two pages are from - revolves Kyouichi's unwillingness to admit why he's allowing this affair to continue when his wife had already divorced him.]
Imagase knows or believes Kyouichi isn’t in love with him – like he is (and has been since their college days) with K – and he’s insecure enough to be suspicious of Kyouichi’s denials and well documented roving eye.
So when a female employee – the woman in the second panel – starts to show interest in Kyouichi’s search to buy a bottle of wine (for – unknown to her – Imagase’s birthday), Kyouichi is nervous and excited. Could this be his escape from the current relationship and Imagase himself? He preens under her attention. Meanwhile, Imagase senses that something’s up so he becomes suspicious enough to question Kyouichi’s feelings for him. It becomes a war between them throughout the story.
3. This establishes a setting to aid readers to know where the next scene takes place. We see it’s Kyouichi’s home at night, which suggests this takes place after Kyouichi’s work.
4. Imagase usually looks bored and indifferent, so what we see here is Imagase’s looking shocked. Behind his head, there are dark grey clouds, which suggests confusion and wariness. Clouds usually represent a person’s thoughts or mood.
5. Imagase asks Kyouichi about the bottle. Kyouichi’s blushing a little, suggesting he’s embarrassed that he has to explain himself. He says “Didn’t you remind me about your birthday?”
6. Kyouichi points at the clock while he says that it’s past midnight so it’s Imagase’s birthday. We can see from his half-lidded eyes and a faint trace of blush under his eye that he’s trying to play cool.
7. Imagase’s eye pupils become pinpoints, which illustrate his inability to absorb what he’s just heard.
8. the sfx lines in the background is an aura to illustrate a depth of intensity from a reaction. It usually radiates from a source of the reaction. Darker and crowded the lines, more intense they are. So here, we can see that the intensity is radiating from Imagase and that those lines are light and spread out, which suggests he’s intense and scared.
Imagase exclaims: “But this isn’t Peking duck!”
(Earlier in the story, he told Kyouichi he’d like a meal out – Peking duck – with him as a birthday treat. He knows Kyouichi cringes at the idea of two men dining together in case people would think they’re gay, but Imagase successfully got Kyouichi to agree to the birthday meal. So he thinks Kyouichi is trying to swap the meal deal (going out) with a bottle of wine (stay in). Hence, his outburst and a slight fear that he may scare Kyouichi off with this – even though forcibly honed-down – outburst.)
There are two sweatdrops on Kyouichi’s face, which shows how nervous he is. A sweatdrop usually represents nervousness and/or guilt. More sweatdrops on a person’s face, more nervous/guilt-ridden the person is. We know that Kyouichi’s worried about Imagase finding out about his interest in a female employee, so he struggles to handle Imagase’s outburst with a hint of guilt and nervousness.
Kyouichi defensively says he’s made dinner reservations and that the bottle of wine is a surprise bonus.
Oh, I forgot about the hair! When a strand of a person’s hair sticks out, it’s a common sign of bewilderment. More strands, more bewildered.
9. the background sfx of downward lines shows that he’s in daze. Utterly speechless. Free-falling into neverwhere if you like. There’s a huge range of blushes and flushes, from a hint to a full-face blush, as an indication of embarrassment, pleasure or awkwardness.
The amount and shape of Imagase’s blush here suggests it’s all three – embarrassment, pleasure and awkwardness. The sfx in a bubble is “Blush”.
10. There are four sweatdrops in the air between them, which shows they’re feeling quite nervous and awkward.
Imagase says “Ah. Thank you.” but couldn’t stop himself from asking “But why spend so much on me?”
(He knows Kyouichi isn’t the type to volunteer time, money and energy on a man. Bearing it in mind that it’s always Imagase who pushes Kyouichi to agree to do whatever pleases him.)
Kyouichi’s thoughts appear in two conjoined bubbles: “He knows how much this bottle costs?” – expressing surprise at the depth of Imagase’s knowledge – and “Well, he seems pleased so it’s OK. Thanks, Okamu-san.”
The woman’s face in Kyouichi’s second bubble is used to remind us readers when he mentions her name, Okamu-san. It’s often used as a comic relief moment.
11. Imagase asks if this is it all there is. A spiky hill next to Kyouichi’s head represents ‘startled’ and an aura of lines at bottom represents his body feeling that little shock. Similar to a cat reacting to something startling. Kyouichi says “Eh?” All this clearly shows he’s afraid Imagase will question him about the expensive wine, which could lead Imagase to discover the existence of female employee Okamu-san.
12. Imagase asks “Won’t you give me a birthday kiss?” while we can see – from his smile and closed eyes, and the completely sfx-free and white background – that he’s up to something.
There’s a slight anxiety, though, as we can see a shadow under his left eyebrow, which suggests he’s wary of Kyouichi’s reaction.
13. A full panel of dark grey or black background indicates ‘froze’ or ‘moment’.
14. Imagase says “I was only joking.” and thanks Kyouichi for the surprise gift.
In the background, Kyouichi’s eyes are pinpoints (couldn’t absorb the moment), sweatdrops circling above his head (nervous), little blushes (embarrassed) and his hair strands stick up (bewildered). All this shows that he doesn’t know what to make of Imagase’s “prank”.
15. Imagase says he won’t open the bottle, which prompts Kyouichi to say they should as it’s what he bought the wine for. Imagase replies “But if we drink this, it’ll be gone.”
He’s not looking at Kyouichi as he hugs the bottle to his chest (where his heart is) – this shows that he doesn’t want to see Kyouichi’s reaction to his comment. As if he’s afraid Kyouichi’s unguarded reaction may confirm his worst fear.
Ah. I was going to post the second example, but this post is a tad too long. I’ll use the second example in a different post.
This is so interesting! I knew there was lots going on I was missing! The stuff about the little hearts and the wayward hair and the mood stuff in the background of the panel is fascinating! And the stuff about the posture and expression of the boss in panel 1, wow.
It seems to be important to depict – with astonishing accuracy – the precise feelings the characters have? And this is done through artwork, text and these other little bits of wordage (*blush* and so on), yes? It almost feels like there’s more (oh, what am I trying to say here?!) more – types of emotions available? More degrees of things, each with their own little classification in the spectrum of feelings. Does this make sense?
The blushing amuses me because it seems to me there’s this huge language of embarrassment which I suspect is very Japanese but also very relateable to if you’re British because of the (similar but different) language around the same things. (So, does this mean you get to have double-blushes, Maili? Lol!)
There’s also this thing I want to ask you about that happens a lot in the ones I’ve read – where little ‘Chibi’ (?) versions of the characters appear in a kind of comic relief panel (but also sometimes saying something oddly profound?). The drawing of K in panel 14 looks a wee bit like that (but not quite exactly). Does that have a name?
Oh, I am going to be eating up these posts with a spoon!
No, it isn’t that important, but it’s what we sub-consciously absorb when we read. We don’t consciously make a note of each person’s body language when we communicate with them in real life, but it’s all still there. It’s same with comics. Body language is there but we don’t need to be conscious of it.
“It almost feels like there’s more (oh, what am I trying to say here?!) more – types of emotions available? More degrees of things, each with their own little classification in the spectrum of feelings. Does this make sense?”
Your guess is completely spot on. What I covered in that post is the tip of an iceberg. Really, it’s a matter of interpretation. You can interpret however you like in accordance with your interpretation of a story – or indeed, characters – as a whole.
Not only that, each comic creator has their own range of certain emotions. Yugi Yamada – whose book you read recently – for instance is well known for her comedic usage of the ‘anger’ sign (four curved lines as a ‘star’, usually appears on forehead, head or cheek), wayward hair strands, and parodies of famous paintings to convey her characters’ – usually, chaotic – emotions. Such as Munch’s ‘The Scream’, van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and Goya’s ‘Saturn Devouring His Son’.
I do think there is a lot of similarities between British and Japanese cultures, especially where emotions and social/work etiquette are concerned. I think embarrassment and such are exaggerated in comics because the ideals ones are not supposed to show emotions in public. What we see in comics are what they really *feel*. It’s quite odd, really. It’s as if a comic is an x-ray of a person’s hidden emotions and thoughts.
Ah, chibi! That’s one of some things I plan to write about soon. Yes, when a person says something profound while in chibi form, it’s supposed to be a moment of deadpan humour and perhaps, an amused acknowledgement that he or she knows she’s being immature for taking the mick out of their target.
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