Survey reveals that the power of storytelling in manga can do a lot for learning more about the world around us.

Was there ever a time growing up when you got yelled at for reading comics instead of studying? At the time, little did those grown-ups probably know that you were actually learning in one of the best ways possible.

Japanese online illustration school Atam Academy recently conducted a survey of 500 men and women of various ages (with the highest proportion in their 30s) to explore people’s perceptions of learning through manga and why it can be such an effective study strategy. Certain manga clearly deal with historical or scientific topics, but others also teach us how to interact with one another and important life lessons. Let’s dig more into the survey questions and responses together.

▼ Even if you learn all about chemical reactions in a manga, we don’t condone playing around without proper supervision–unless it’s to test new scientifically-backed food creations.

Q1: Have you ever felt that you learned something from reading manga?
● 65.4 percent: Occasionally
● 32.4 percent: Often
● 1.6 percent: Seldom
● 0.6 percent: Never

Taking the top two categories together, 97.8 percent of participants responded that they’ve learned something by reading manga. We tend to think that the other 2.2 percent just aren’t very self-aware…

Q2: What have you learned from reading manga?
● 35.6 percent: Historical knowledge
● 20.2 percent: Scientific knowledge
● 15.2 percent: How to interact with others
● 15 percent: Ways of thinking
● 14 percent: Sports rules
● 12.2 percent: Vocabulary
● 4.4 percent: Kanji knowledge

The largest proportion of participants responded that history was the top subject they learned from manga, commenting that it’s easier to understand things like the flow of time, societal relations, and major battles in manga form rather than a textbook. Similar responses were received regarding scientific topics, such as anatomy and physiology of the human body or outer space, due to the presence of visuals and a narrative rather than just factual text.

Branching out a bit, many respondents also pointed out that manga has continuously taught them how to navigate social situations and different ways of thinking for dealing with the many confrontations and reconciliations in life. Especially for those who identify as being on the shier side, manga can serve as a guide for teaching life lessons and how to cultivate a particular mindset for getting along with others.

Finally, from a more technical standpoint, manga can do wonders for learning the rules of a sport or game as well as specialized jargon for particular professions that isn’t used in daily life. Whether you’re just getting into soccer due to the World Cup or have always liked legal dramas, you’re bound to pick up a few new things. Plus, manga geared towards younger crowds usually include furigana (phonetic readings), making them a great way to organically learn kanji as opposed to rote memorization.

▼ One respondent commented that they always saw their parents watching baseball on TV but could never solidly grasp the rules until they read a baseball manga. Now the whole family enjoys watching the sport together!

Q3: What are some reasons why you think you can learn from manga?
● 50.8 percent: It’s easy to understand
● 22.2 percent: It sticks in my memory
● 21.2 percent: There are few reading hurdles
● 10.2 percent: It’s easy to empathize with the characters
● 3 percent: I can read it over and over again

Association is a powerful tool for memorization. It’s much easier to learn a new concept when you can associate it with a particular context, a memorable story, or a favorite character. Plus, there’s usually less of a mental lift to casually pick up a manga rather than a textbook since you’ll genuinely want to keep reading. Manga also causes us to reflect on what we might do in particular situations and can teach us about our values and actions, serving as a mirror for when we encounter similar situations in real life.

Q4: What are the best manga that you can learn from?
● 9.4 percent: Cells at Work! (2015-2021)
● 6.2 percent: Dr. Stone (2017-2022)
● 4.2 percent: Kingdom (2006-present)
● 3.6 percent: Haikyu!! (2012-2020)
● 3.2 percent: Slam Dunk (1990-1996)
● 2.8 percent: Detective Conan (1994-present)
● 2.6 percent: One Piece (1997-present)

The top three manga on this ranking all deal heavily with scientific and historical subject matter while the bottom four all teach technical knowledge, vocabulary, and important advice for living life.

▼ Perhaps we took Coach Anzai’s famous quote in Slam Dunk–“It’s when you give up that the match is over”–a little too much to heart since our team doesn’t actually seem to know when to quit.

Image©SoraNews24

All of the above teaches us not to feel guilty the next time we pick up a volume of a manga rather than a non-fiction text because there are plenty of lessons to be learned. Whether you’re a longtime Detective Conan fan wanting to know more police/detective vocabulary or are trying to learn the history of the unification of China through Kingdom, manga might actually be the best bet for cementing that knowledge in your long-term memory. You may also want to check out the latest research on effective memorization methods related to breathing patterns to use as a further aid in your studies.

Source: PR Times
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2), SoraNews24
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