An example of Novelle Manga by Frédéric Boilet and Kan Takahama
"La novelle manga" is an artistic movement started by French expatriate Frédéric Boilet in Japan as an attempt to narrow the gap between comics of all nationalities. Boilet wishes to do this by promoting and creating works that combine the best aspects of French literature, daily life manga, and Franco-Belgian comics (known as bande dessinée ). The strengths of Japanese manga are commonly thought to be experimentation in storytelling whereas French/Belgian bande dessinée are known for experimentation in style and design. As a result Boilet wants to see comics which capture the essence of real human life done with a dynamic visual and storytelling style. The result of this (according to Boilet) would be comics that appeal to a wider audience than just comic fans.
In addition Boilet wishes to refer to novelle manga as being in the French feminine form (la) as opposed to the French masculine form (le) which is used for the very mainstream action-oriented manga that is usually published in France.
Generally most novelle manga fall into alternative or semi-alternative manga generas, with Boilet being published in relatively mainstream Seinen magazines like Big Comic and Takahama being published in the alternative magazine Garo.
A mangaka who combines French and Japanese comic aesthetics who isn't part of this movement is Taiyo Matsumoto.
Examples of artists who are part of this movement:
Manga as people know it in the 21st century only really came into being after World War II when the government bans on any non-propaganda were lifted and many publishers sprang up.
Manga are primarily classified by the age and gender of the target audience.
As manga's popularity grows and the manga market continues to expand, it may still be difficult for these cartoonists to break out of fan circles, because of their lack of exposure to a broader view of comics beyond mainstream manga.
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