Japanese Comic Strips and Cartoons

Japanese Comic Strips and Cartoons
How many Japanese comic strips can you name? You may have heard of Doraemon, Dragon Ball, City Hunter, Dr. Slump, Sailor Moon, Cobra, Akira, or Ranma 1/2. Japanese comic strips (called "manga") are very popular in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Fans like them for their high-quality art and interesting story lines. In Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other places in Asia, there are several magazines about Japanese comic strips. And in Britain, France, Italy, and other European countries, there are manga shops as well as magazines for manga fans.
Many manga have been made into TV cartoons, which are broadcast in many different countries. These Japanese cartoons are usually dubbed into the language of the country where they are being shown. For example, when a Japanese cartoon is broadcast in the United States, the voices are in English. Because of this, many people don't realize they are watching Japanese cartoons.
Of course, manga are popular in Japan too. They can be found in many places in Japan. They appear in magazines, and there are even whole books devoted to one comic strip. Many comic strips are made into TV cartoons or animated films. Over 2.26 billion manga books and magazines are sold each year in Japan. (That's 2,260,000,000!) This is about 40 percent of the total number of books and magazines sold in Japan each year. Manga are enjoyed by readers of all ages, from elementary school through adult. The number of readers is estimated in the tens of millions. In Japan, reading manga is a national pastime.

from - http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/archives/cool/97-7-9/manga.html