Manga Written in Hiragana

[Jeph]

I am now living in Tokyo near Odaiba and I'd like to buy some manga that are written in hiragana (or at least have small hiragana scrip sitting next to the kanji). I know enough Japanese to understand manga written in hiragana, but I am years away from reading manga written in kanji.

I realize that there lots of these kinds of manga for kids, but I'd like to find some that are written for an older audience. For example, something along the lines of the Akira or Appleseed.

Does anyone know if hiragana versions of these kinds of manga exist, and where I might find them in Tokyo?

Thanks!

[tiroth2]

There are many popular manga that have furigana for everything. Since you are Japan this is easy - just pull it off the shelf and see.

[dlai]

Most popular manga should have them. I bought a few volumes of Bleach and Death Note and saw it on there. I don't think Death Note is too kiddish.

I believe these are called "furigana". So you can ask the bookstore, "furigana ga arimasu ka?"

When I was visiting Akihabara, there were manga stores that were 7 floors high pretty much everything there ever was manga. So I guess you can start there.

[Jeph]

Ah, great. I've never heard the word, "furigana" before. And I also didn't know that they made furigana manga for older audiences. Thanks for the 411!

[Jason]

I highly recommend Yotsubato! by Kiyohiko Azuma. Also Mahoraba, although it's a bit harder read. I think just about every manga I've ever bought so far has furigana with the exception of Rozen Maiden and Ichigo Mashimaro. I can't remember now if Rurouni Kenshin does or not.

[wolfmaster]

I just finished watching the movies Death Note, and Death note 2, I'm very interested in the Mango, but seriously, I'm completely lost at Jpod101 after lessons 50s. Will I have alot of trouble? Good thing is that I'm chinese, grew up in HK and I can understand most of Kanji, just can't pronounce them.

[TheProfessorOne]

Well I am way over in Yokohama, but here I just drop by my local "Yurindo" to buy anything I need whether it be from the States or Japan. I believe Yurindo is all over Japan is it not?

Most all Yurindo's have a whole floor dedicated to manga and from what I have seen, only a few manga are written in kanji alone. Most have the furigana available. As one poster said, just grab it off the self and check it out. I suggest Death Note.

[nilfisq]

yes! death note is exciting! i watch all anime episodes now on tv-links.com.

[Jeph]

Thanks to you all for the advice. Yes, I found the furigana and gave it a try. The only problem with the ones I've been reading is that the hiragana is really really small, and after reading it for a while I'm like . In a perfect world, it would be the same size as the kanji, or instead of the kanji. I suppose some manga series are like this, but I have yet to find them. If anyone knows of any, please let me know.

And yes, Death Note is pretty cool.

[kc8ufv]

Thanks to you all for the advice. Yes, I found the furigana and gave it a try. The only problem with the ones I've been reading is that the hiragana is really really small, and after reading it for a while I'm like . In a perfect world, it would be the same size as the kanji, or instead of the kanji. I suppose some manga series are like this, but I have yet to find them. If anyone knows of any, please let me know.

And yes, Death Note is pretty cool.

From what I understand, how it is printed, (ie all kana, with furigana, or with raw kanji) is based on the target audience. I personally am reading mahou sensei negima (Alternate titles in other languages (not an exhaustive list) - MAGISTER NEGI MAGI - Latin (printed on all versions), Negima! - English), it is printed with furigana, and has a target audience that in english would be described as young adult.

[AzianFlu]

I just wanted to say that when I first arrived here, I went out and bought a few books for fairly young children. These books were written entirely in hiragana, but somehow with the help of a dictionary, I made it through them.

The problem is that as you all know, there are lots of words pronounced the same ways in Japanese, so I had to translate entire sentences only to realize that I had "guessed" the wrong words! If the books had been written with kanji and furigana, it would have been much easier.

With this experience, I would strongly recommend going for furigana books over hiragana books. (little magnifying glasses are pretty cheap these days! )

on a side note, if anyone is looking for manga in the original japanese, there are a few stores nearby and i wouldn't mind doing the legwork.

[Javizy]

I have some Death Note volumes, but even though they contain furigana they are very tough. Since they're aimed at people in their mid to late teens, you need a pretty solid grammar base, as well as an understanding of various idiomatic expressions; the vocabulary isn't exactly basic either. Some words have kanji prefixes or suffixes, so you have to know how to break them down in order to look them up in a dictionary.

If you're comfortable at an intermediate level, you should get through them all right, but for someone like Wolfmaster, I'd recommend something simpler. I've been reading Doraemon+, which is aimed at kids but is still pretty funny, and has a lot of useful everyday vocabulary. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

By the way, for idiomatic expressions and some really useful explanations of grammar that you already know, I'd strongly recommend Kakuko Shoji's two books, especially Basic Connections: Making Your Japanese Flow. It's cleared up so many things for me, as well as introducing so much grammar that hasn't been covered at jpod, and really helps you develop more natural Japanese, so I really think everyone should read this book.