Types of manga

Manga-comics are divided into many different types, or genres. These are:

Doujinshi
This type of manga translates as "fan-work" (literally "same-person-writing") Doujinshi is unofficial manga that is made and produced by fans of an original series, or a self-published manga.

Gekiga
Gekiga means "dramatic pictures". This type of manga is more experimental or literary.

Hentai
This manga is sexually hardcore manga. Hentai is Japanese for "perverted" or "perversion". (adult content)

Redikomi
Redikomi is manga aimed at adult women. (adult content). It is derived from the English "Lady Comic"

Seijin
Seijin (literally "adult") is the exact same thing as Redikomi except for males. (adult content)

Sh&#333;jo
Sh&#333;jo (literally "girl") is manga aimed at young females up to the age 18. These series tend to focus on romance and relationships from a young female's point of view.

Sh&
This is almost the same as shojo except it is mostly action, sports or romance for males up to age 18. It translates literally as "boy".

Kodomo
This kind of manga is for little children that are just learning to read. Kodomo translates literally as "child".

Sh&#333;jo-ai / Yuri
This manga is based on female/female romantic relationships. Sh&#333;jo-ai translates literally as "Girl-love", though it should be noted that in Japan itself, this term has a different meaning, referring to pedophilia. Yuri translates literally as "Lily". In Japan, the term GL (Girl Love) is sometimes used.

Sh&#333;nen-ai / Yaoi
This manga is the same as Sh&#333;jo-ai / Yuri except it's boy/boy relationships. Sh&#333;nen-ai translates as "Boy-love" (same disclaimer as for sh&#333;jo-ai). Yaoi is an acronym of yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi (no climax, no punch-line, no meaning). BL (Boy Love) is sometimes used in Japan for this type.