Japanese Manga For Beginners: Guide to Reading Real Japanese Part 1

I've been reading up quite a bit on this topic and I felt I should share my experience on reading manga in Japanese. Now, I'm nowhere near fluent but I do understand enough Japanese to get around Japan. You could probably say my level of Japanese is at Beginner Level II. Not quite intermediate yet but enough to understand some of the language and enough to get me around the country. I've been studying Japanese off and on since 2007. I began studying back in college for 2.5 years and from then on, I was on my own and it was great! I learned so much within those two years of hard work. I then went to Japan for two weeks and gained even more knowledge of the country's culture and language. Then about 6 years later, in March-April of 2015, I spent a whole month traveling in Tokyo. I dream of one day taking an 8 week summer course to study more Japanese in Tokyo. 

Since I don't have the money for that now, I'm doing my best to immerse myself in the language. It is said that immersing yourself as much as possible is a great way to learn and I agree. Manga is one of the many great tools for learning more vocabulary and slang words because it teaches you how to use it properly. You can use websites like Quizlet.com to create digital flashcards to help you learn a new word. Anyway, without further adieu, here is my list of easiest manga to read that I have in my collection! 

Side-note: If you're interested in buying any of the manga series mentioned in this blog, they can be purchased at amazon.co.jp. amazon.co.jp can ship any books, CDs, and DVDs outside of Japan to your country.

1. ドラゴンボールSD/ドラゴンボールサイヤ人編
    Dragon Ball SD/Dragon Ball Saiyajin-Hen

Ah yes, the famous Dragon Ball. When I was in Tokyo, I decided to pick up the latest reprints of the series while I was shopping at Book 1st (A huge book/manga store in Tokyo). Dragon Ball SD is about the misadventures of Goku and friends from the original story. The series is supervised by Akira Toriyama (the creator of Dragon Ball). Both of these books are entirely in color and they both have furigana next to the kanji. Furigana is a helpful tool for learning to read Kanji. Most children's books and manga have Furigana so it's easier for younger readers to read Kanji. Dragon Ball Saiyajin-Hen is a color edited version of the original black and white series. Dragon Ball is a pretty wordy series. Lots of thinking will be involved in trying to comprehend this from Japanese to English. It may help to have an english version handy if you get stuck.

2. ふくふくふにゃーんNEW/ふくふくふにゃーん文庫版　
    FukuFuku Funyan NEW/FukuFuku Funyan (Bunkoban)



I remember discovering this series when I was at the Kyoto manga museum back in 2009. I loved that this series was super easy to read. It barely has any text involved at all. If I remember correctly, the Tankoban volumes of the original FukuFuku Funyan has furigana. However, it's super difficult to get a hold of those old volumes so the best rout to take is to buy the Bunkoban volumes. The Bunkoban volumes do not have furigana nor does FukuFuku Funyan NEW. However, if you have a denshi jisho of some sort, it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out the reading of the kanji (I'll write more about denshi jisho in a future post). Most of the kanji in this series are simple to read without furigana anyway. The stories are all very cute and the reading fast paced because it is so simple. If you like cat manga, definitely grab this series and give it a go.

3. チーズスイートホーム 
    Chi's Sweet Home



I think everyone who has read this series in Japanese can agree that this is perhaps one of the easiest manga out there to read in its original language. Much like Fukufuku Funyan, there isn't much reading to do. It's one of those series that you don't have to think too much about but at the same time is an enjoyable read. The series is entirely in color and the story follows a cat named Chi who gets separated from her mom while out on a walk. Chi finds a new human family to live with while she searches for her mother. Unlike Fukufuku Funyan, this series does have furigana. In case you couldn't guess, Chi's Sweet Home is by the creator of Fukufuku Funyan. I highly recommend this manga for any beginner wanting to read manga in Japanese. This series was in fact the very first manga I could understand fully without much help.

 

4. どらえもんカラー作品集
   Doraemon Color Works

The Doraemon Color Works is a 6 volume series featured in full color. These are the misadventures of Nobita, Doraemon and friends from the original Doraemon series. The text is fairly simple to understand. Furigana is included. Doraemon has been an extremely popular franchise for children since the late 60's and he is still going strong today. Be sure to also check out the original Doraemon series that was published in CoroCoro Comics Magazine. There are 45 volumes in total of the original series. I strongly recommend reading anything created by Fujiko F Fujio (creator of Doraemon) in general.














5. どぶつの森 ホヒンダ村だより 
    Dobutsu no Mori Hohinda Mura Dayori

If you're a fan of the Dobutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) franchise, picking up the manga is a great choice. It's a real shame that none of the Animal Crossing manga has been released outside of Japan. The franchise is so popular here that companies probably would make a ton of money off of the manga as well. Since there are no English translated volumes in America you'd have to fully rely on your knowledge of Japanese to get through it. Scanlations aren't even available online in English either. There are at least 5 other Animal Crossing manga series I own in my collection. This one was the first series I picked up back in 2009 on my first trip to Japan. I had no idea there was Animal Crossing manga available to read and I was happy to discover that the reading was fairly easy (and yes there is furigana). Especially if you're familiar with the franchise. 

6. よつばと！Yotsubato!

Like with Chi's Sweet Home, I think anyone who has read this series can agree that Yotsubato! is a great beginner manga to read in Japanese. To my surprise, it was pretty simple to read in its original language. This was the second manga series I was able to read without much help. The series is by the creator of the well known comedy anime series, Azumanga Daioh. If you loved that series, definitely make sure to add this series to your manga collection. PS: Furigana is provided.

7. サルゲッチュ Saru Gecchu

Also known as Ape Escape in English, this manga was published in CoroCoro Comics Magazine with a total of 9 volumes. I remember reading and liking the series in the magazine back in 2009 when I had a full year subscription to CoroCoro. The series can be quite humorous and has made me laugh a number of times. Sadly, there are no English translations available anywhere so you'll be on your own for translating it yourself. Since the series was published in CoroCoro, that means that it was intended for children and it does have furigana. 

8. 妖怪ウオッチ Youkai Watch

Youkai Watch is the latest popular children's series in Japan. I saw this series everywhere I looked when I went to Japan in 2015. I decided to purchase a couple volumes of the manga at New Days Conbini when I was grabbing myself some snacks for my next Shinkansen ride. I fell in love with the series and I could see why it was so popular. Reading is pretty simple with furigana available. The characters are fun and lovable which makes it a great read. Definitely recommend this series to anyone's collection. I recommend getting the English volumes as well if you find yourself getting stumped. Bit of warning with the English volumes, the names of some of the Youkai and Characters were unfortunately localized. 



9. まじかるタルるートくん Magical Taruruto-Kun

I remember discovering this manga at a Book Off I went to here in the US. I believe it was either in NYC or somewhere in LA. Can't remember which one but it was one of those two but anyway, the series is 16 volumes long. I fell in love with how simple it was to understand and bought the first volume without question. It's a JUMP Comics series which means it does have furigana. The majority of the time, there isn't a lot of text in each bubble which makes this manga simple to read. I love the humor in this manga and I ended up buying the entire series used on amazon.co.jp for a decent price. I definitely recommend this to any beginner!




10. ちよこれいと Chocoreito

Chokoreito is a shoujo manga series published in Nakayoshi Magazine. I've heard that shoujo manga is easier than shounen manga however, I believe that they're both about equal in reading levels. Some are difficult, some are moderate, some are easy. In my opinion, Chokoreito fits in the easy category. Not much text in the bubbles, furigana is of course available since it's a children's manga. The vocabulary is pretty easy to grasp. That said, this manga would be great for shoujo manga lovers and those who just want to feel happy knowing they can understand manga in Japanese. The story and art is cute and I honestly love anything by this author (Fukushima Haruka).

11. Chocotan

Chocotan is currently being published in Ribbon Magazine (a magazine similar to Nakayoshi). These magazines are filled with comics that are geared towards teenyboppers in Japan. All series published under Nakayoshi, Ribbon, and Caio magazines have furigana. I would say that Chocotan is more at a moderate Japanese reading level. It's a bit wordier than Chokoreito but still fairly easy to get what's going on. I would not recommend it for a total beginner but someone who is more at Beginner Level II. The series is about a girl who falls in love with a guy named Arima and she has a dog that has the ability to speak human. It's art and story are really cute. Sadly, only one chapter has been translated into English. No official volumes have been released in the United States as of yet. You will have to rely on your Japanese skills to get through this one after chapter 1.



12. コロコロコッミク CoroCoro Magazine

CoroCoro Magazine is a manga magazine geared towards boys. You can easily pick this up at any bookstore in Japan or any Japanese Bookstore in the US. What I like about this magazine is that it has beautiful color advertisements with tons of vocabulary to learn. It also introduces you to some great children's manga that are pretty simple to read. I would not have found out about Saru Gecchu if it weren't for this magazine. Every word in this magazine has furigana. I loved reading this magazine every month back when I had a subscription to it in 2009. It was something I looked forward to. 

In case I didn't say this already, all the series I have mentioned are for those who are at Beginner Level II. If you start out with a wordier series like Dragon Ball or Bakuman, you may find yourself feeling a bit discouraged and frustrated. I don't recommend starting out with wordy manga for a total beginner. If you're a total beginner, I would recommend starting out with Chi's Sweet Home and/or Yotsubato. Starting off easy and working your way towards more difficult levels is the best rout to take with any new thing you learn. 

Also, if it wasn't obvious already, you must know how to read hiragana and katakana to read any manga in Japan. Romaji is basically non-existent in any Japanese manga. Once you learn those two alphabets, you'll be able to read manga with furigana. Of course, as you get better, you won't always need furigana to help you read kanji. All it takes is a bit of practice and patience. And that's all! I hope you all found this post useful and I hope you will check out the manga mentioned in this post. Next time, I plan on writing about easy books to read in Japanese.