Real (manga)

Real (Japanese: リアル, Hepburn: Riaru, stylized as REAL) is a manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Inoue that deals with wheelchair basketball. It has been serialized in Weekly Young Jump since 1999, with the chapters collected into 14 tankōbon volumes to date by Shueisha. By 2013, the first 12 volumes had sold over 14 million copies in Japan alone.

Although not as popular as Inoue's Slam Dunk, Real is a more serious take on basketball with more character development in a realistic setting. It is also aimed at a more mature audiences, being a seinen manga series serialized in Weekly Young Jump.

Plot summary

The story revolves around three teenagers: Nomiya Tomomi, a high school dropout, Togawa Kiyoharu, an ex-sprinter who now plays wheelchair basketball and Takahashi Hisanobu, a popular leader of the high school's basketball team who now finds himself a paraplegic after an accident.

Real features a cast of characters who find themselves being marginalized by society, but are all united by one common feature: a desire to play basketball, with no place to play it in. Nomiya, being a high school dropout, has no future in his life. Togawa, being a difficult personality, finds himself constantly feuding with his own teammates. Takahashi, once a popular team leader, now finds himself being unable to move from the chest down.

Manga

Manga (漫画, Manga) are comics created in Japan, or by creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. They have a long and complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art.

The term manga (kanji: 漫画; hiragana: まんが; katakana: マンガ;  listen ; English /ˈmæŋɡə/ or /ˈmɑːŋɡə/) is a Japanese word referring both to comics and cartooning. "Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan.

Manga (magazine)

Manga magazine, formerly known as Takuhai, is a free quarterly magazine published by Tokyopop, which gives preview chapters of a selection of the company's new manga titles, as well as fan art, interviews, and short articles. The magazine is intended as a publicity vehicle, similar to Tokyopop Sneaks, free preview compilations of Tokyopop titles. It was first published in the summer of 2005, and readers can subscribe to the magazine through Tokyopop's official website. The magazine's original title, Takuhai meant "home delivery" in Japanese, but this was changed when Tokyopop discovered that many readers were accessing it through bookstores, comic stores, and newsstands.

The magazine has two parts, each with its own cover page. The front half is read left-to-right, while the back half is read in Japanese style, right-to-left. Manga also includes an online issue with completely different material to the printed publication, and which is updated every month.

References

Manga (band)

Manga (also stylized as maNga) is a Turkish rock band whose music is mainly a fusion of Anatolian melodies with electronic elements. In 2009, they won both the Best Turkish Act award from MTV Turkey and consequently the Best European Act award from MTV Networks Europe in MTV Europe Music Awards 2009. They represented Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with the song "We Could Be the Same" and took second place.

Band history

Manga was formed in the year 2001, being named after the word for 'cool man', 'Manga'. Initially, they were mostly underground, playing covers of other rock and metal bands. They came into the public spotlight after finishing runner-up at the Sing your song' music contest. This caught the attention of artist manager Hadi Elazzi (GRGDN), who immediately promoted the band to Sony Music, which resulted in their first, self-titled album being published in 2004, becoming a mass hit.

Following this, they performed at various music festivals and have worked with such famous Turkish singers as Koray Candemir (of Kargo fame), Vega and Göksel. Most of their songs are written by the group members.