Gekiga
劇画 / 1957–1970s / Style / Illustration Styles
The name Tatsumi Yoshihiro raised in order to separate his work from manga for children. With a thin drawn line, heavy shadow and cinematic panel flow, it treated adult social themes and violence. It decisively widened the range of subjects comics could take on afterwards.
Thin, hard drawn line / Strong light and dark with solid black / Cinematic panel division / Realistic bodies and backgrounds
Dictionary entry
- Best used for
- Supporting a heavy subject with the hardness of the line and the quantity of darkness · Designing cinematic time through a sequence of panels
- Type
- Hold back hand lettering and bring the hardness of phototype onto the page.
- Composition
- Swing widely between long shot and close up, and insert silent panels.
- Material
- Build the gradations of darkness from solid black and crosshatched screening.
- Caution
- A dark drawing style is not what gekiga is. The starting point is what the hardened line was meant to tell.
- Further study
- The naming by Tatsumi Yoshihiro in 1957 / The rental book trade as a channel of distribution / The roles of Garo and COM