TODAY’S YOUTH

The period of life between puberty and maturity is a key time of development for young people,marked by questions of self-identity and world-view.

Although manga literature is produced in great variety and for target audiences of all ages, current studies indicate that adolescent leisure time is becoming much more visually oriented, helping to explain the tremendous growth in the popularity of comic literature among young people.

Tokyo Pop’s English language ‘Shojo’ manga, for example, is targeted for 13-17 year old girls. A publisher of Girl’s Life Magazine comments, “Girls across the board love manga.” Sixty percent of manga readers in the US are female. The leading publisher of manga for English-readers estimates an audience of nearly 15 million fans. Total North American sales are presently in the $200 to $300 million.