Anime’s fanbase continues to grow year after year and, according to recent data, about 2.88 billion viewers worldwide watched anime in 2021. Moreover, while the top anime subgenres– crime drama and sitcom–cater mostly to adult audiences, there’s a growing demand for child-friendly shows as children across the globe are also starting to watch more anime in their spare time. Watching anime may seem like an idle pastime, but in reality, it can be beneficial to young kids as it boosts creativity, and it may encourage them to draw or dress up as their favorite character.
If you’d like to get your children into anime, one of the best ways to start them off is by getting them to read manga. Finishing a manga series before moving on to its anime adaptation enables children to have a thorough appreciation of the plot, characters, and the story’s fictional world. Here are a few kid-friendly manga to introduce your mini geek to anime.
Chi’s Sweet Home
Collecting manga series is an effective way to get your child interested in reading. According to Tama University professor Yuichi Higuchi, reading and re-reading manga is an excellent way for children to develop their language skills. Professor Higuchi also said that it can potentially enhance a child’s reading comprehension skills since kids can pick up on the deeper meaning behind the printed words with just one quick read-through. However, despite their cute illustrations, keep in mind that not all manga are suitable for children as some of them may have violent or sexual themes. Thankfully, there are titles that are perfectly safe for kids to read, such as Chi’s Sweet Home.
This Japanese manga series is composed of 12 volumes and was written and illustrated by Kanata Konami. Chi’s Sweet Home is about a cute little kitten that wanders away from its family and is taken in by a young boy and his mother. Throughout the manga series, Chi meets other animals and people. Once your little one is done with the manga, you can let them watch the anime adaptation, which has 104 episodes. Each episode runs for only three minutes, so it’s perfect if they want something short to watch during study breaks.
Pokemon Adventures
If you’re looking to expand your family’s manga collection, look no further than the Pokemon Adventures manga. This series has been running since 1997, and currently, it has 62 published volumes. Pokemon Adventures is divided into 15 major divisions and each are divided further into volumes, so your mini geek can spend hours immersing themselves into the world of Pokemon, the Pokemon trainers, and Team Rocket. The anime series has 1,215 episodes to date, and the manga also has 23 animated films, so you’re bound to have lots of fun watching all of them.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Parents who want their kids to get into Studio Ghibli’s whimsical films can start them off by letting them read Kiki’s Delivery Service, a children’s fantasy novel, before watching the film adaptation. It tells the story of Kiki, a young witch who can fly on her broom. In the story, she sets up a delivery service in a new town to help the locals. After the success of the movie, five more Kiki novels were published in Japan, and the English translation of the first novel is now available for young readers worldwide.
Reading manga can be beneficial for young children in so many ways. Consider letting your mini geek read these kid-friendly titles so they can develop a deeper appreciation for anime while honing their reading skills.
