Product Review

The Japanese in MangaLand series from JPT introduced students to an engaging and educationally sound way to learn Japanese through the use of manga. In Kanji in MangaLand, the first of three volumes, released in 2007, this same approach was applied to the often-daunting task of mastering the 1,006 basic kanji (ideogram) characters.

Aimed at Western students aged 12-25, the Kanji in MangaLand program differs from traditional methods in that it uses distinct drawings for the parts that form each kanji character, then it shows a manga-style illustration to help the student connect the shapes and the meaning. In addition, the books present information on compound words, stroke order, meaning and such unique features as identifying similar-looking kanji and alternative or older shapes for the same character.

Kanji in MangaLand 2 picks up where the first volume left off, with 34 lessons covering 400 new kanji characters (the first book had 240 kanji). Each lesson presents 8-12 kanji and exercises, as well as a one-page manga story in which all the new kanji are used; an answer page; translation of the manga; and a summary of the new drawing-compounds that will appear in the next lesson. The book also includes indexes of kanji and readings.