Ask Lemmy

Sorry if there is a misunderstanding, but what I meant is that I feel like manga has not hit the mainstream in the west so generally people will not hear about any particular manga unless they have a friend who is really into mangas.

You might have a different experience. I basically don't know anyone who frequently reads mangas. Some people might follow one or two mangas because they watch the anime (eg. One piece) but they will usually not read any other mangas.

"Manga" is the Japanese word for basically "comic". In the English speaking communities it generally refers to Japanese comics where the primary difference is that the panels are generally read right to left whereas the text inside (if it's been translated) is usually read in our typical left to right.

There's more cultural differences largely stemming from how in the West (or at least my experience here in America) comics were often considered for kids or niche nerd communities, whereas in Japan it's been more acceptable for a wider audience to read them for a longer time, but webcomics have been making the medium more accessible and thereby more acceptable for wider audiences so that stigma has been slowly being diminished.