Topic: [APPROVED] A comic by any other name (a comic BUR)

Posted under Tag Alias and Implication Suggestions

Watsit

Privileged

The bulk update request #5079 is active.

remove implication manga (5) -> comic (314434)
remove implication doujinshi (2) -> comic (314434)
remove alias doujin (0) -> doujinshi (2)
remove alias dojin (0) -> doujinshi (2)

Reason: Manga is literally just the Japanese word for comic, so should be aliased to it instead of implicating it. The original implication for manga was made too far back and doesn't list any topic, with the only a reason given: "Mangas are comic, but not always the other way around". This is actually not true, all comics are mangas just as all mangas are comics. If it's meant to be comics in a "Japanese art style", that brings up an issue. AFAIK, art styles are typically something we don't try to tag since it's too vague of a concept with a lot of room for disagreements. Anime is aliased to invalid_tag given the reason "The tag is way too broad and inconsistent. Cartoon is invalidated so why not this tag", and "manga" is similarly broad and inconsistent, covering a wide range of distinct styles since there isn't a singular "Japanese art style" (not to mention people calling their comic a manga for trying to emulate a Japanese style). But even if there should be a tag for this, having a separate tag for the art style which can be paired with the comic tag would work better, IMO. Having a set of separate tags like manga_style, anime_style, and manga all trying to say the same thing just for different contexts, makes it less effective to find what they're actually trying to point to.

Doujinshi is similarly just the Japanese word for a fan comic, or fanzine. Fan comic, fancomic, and fanzine exist, but haven't caught on that much and are in the General category instead of Meta, so I'm not sure if it's something that should be tagged separately from comic. In either case, it's in the same boat as manga. Using the appropriate English term, with a separate tag indicating a Japanese art style as appropriate, would be clearer and more functional.

BUR part 2:

alias manga -> comic
alias doujinshi -> comic
alias doujin -> comic
alias dojin -> comic

EDIT: The bulk update request #5079 (forum #368530) has been approved by @Rainbow_Dash.

Updated by auto moderator

rainbow_dash said:
I feel like manga is just styled differently than every other comic, and that may have some value in keeping it.

So is manga going to be kept separate from the comic tag, or will the implication be reapplied? Ditto with doujinshi.

snpthecat said:
So is manga going to be kept separate from the comic tag, or will the implication be reapplied? Ditto with doujinshi.

I don't think there could really be any argument for keeping doujinshi around separate from manga, it's literally just independently made manga, and nearly everything we host is independently made content.

Watsit

Privileged

rainbow_dash said:
I feel like manga is just styled differently than every other comic, and that may have some value in keeping it.

Like I said in the top post:

having a separate tag for the art style which can be paired with the comic tag would work better, IMO. Having a set of separate tags like manga_style, anime_style, and manga all trying to say the same thing just for different contexts, makes it less effective to find what they're actually trying to point to.

My reservations about such a tag aside, a tag for a Japanese art style could be applied alongside the comic tag, just as it can be applied alongside animation, or standalone, without having separate tags splitting the general idea based on what kind of media it is (that's already tagged).

But as it is, people are using manga simply to indicate something is of Japanese origin despite not looking "anime-ish" (post #4457737), or is trying to emulate an "anime-ish" style while not being of Japanese origin (post #3743108), or for no apparent reason (post #4630557 doesn't look "anime-ish", and I can't find any indication the artist is Japanese). Since it is technically correct to call a comic "manga", we'll have people tagging it because they want to associate it with Japanese stuff regardless of what it actually looks like. If we want a tag for how manga is usually styled, a tag that more clearly indicates that intent would be better, IMO, and isn't restricted to comics. Single non-comic images and animations could benefit from such a tag too.

  • 1