Easterm Style Comics- Manga

Eastern styled comics have a very different feel to those of western art. The comics are read from right to left (the way Japanese read) and they adopt a 'Manga' style of characteristically. Ill have a look at one manga comic 'Full Metal Alchemist'.

Firstly, eastern manga comics are drawn in a 'Manga' style which is known for exaggerating character's eyes and other features and using more rounded figures. The art is often black and white, which contrast with the more common coloured artwork in eastern comics like Marvel etc.

This particular style found in FMA (drawn by Hiromu Arakawa) is one of my favorites because the characters are robust and rounded and you get a good sense of them in their surroundings. She also uses a lot of exaggeration which can bring in alot of humor and show of emotion or action.

In terms of sequential images, the frames are very mosaic like and fit together nicely as boxes. Its very easy to read and the panels flow nicely, telling the story well. Sometimes elements appear out of the boundaries of the frames which accentuate action of helps to focus on a certain point/direct attention to somewhere else.

I really love the art style of this manga in particular with the 'screentones' applied that add shading and effects. It is very cleverly done and looks beautiful.