no Kitarō; and George Akiyama, whose manga series Ashura depicts cannibalism, child abuse, and mass murder. Although this provoked a public backlash, it did not lead to the decline for the industry: series with anarchic, offensive humor became popular in and manga alike, with Crayon Shin-Chan by Yoshito Usui becoming an internationally famous example of this phenomenon. Manga artist Go Nagai originated the sexually-charged genre with Harenchi Gakuen, which was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump. The stylistic and thematic differences between and began to narrow considerably beginning in the 1980s, with widespread exchange of stylistic devices and themes. For example, the characteristic large eyes of manga became common in manga to convey the emotions of characters, and female characters have enjoyed greater prominence as both supporting and primary characters in manga. Other graphic storytelling techniques that originated in manga, such as montages of multiple panels, were imported into manga and have become common stylistic devices. Female manga artists also began to enjoy increasing critical and commercial success as manga creators. As a result of the combined influence of and the rise of female artists, romance emerged as a subgenre of manga, especially romantic comedy. When manga began to emerge in the western world in the early 1990s, the category was so dominant in these new markets that it came to shape the image of manga as a whole. While made gains in popularity by the 2000s, remains the most popular category of manga, both in Japan and internationally. Characteristics Themes and genres This thematic orientation of manga is readily inferred from the formal values or slogans that manga magazines assign themselves: for example, "friendship, perseverance, and victory" for Weekly Shōnen Jump, and "courage, friendship and fighting spirit" for CoroCoro Comic. The editorial focus of manga is primarily on action, adventure, and the fighting of monsters or other forces of evil. Action stories are so dominant in manga that some manga and non-manga works are occasionally designated as not because of their ostensible target group, but because of their content focus on action and adventure. Though action narratives dominate the category, there is deep editorial diversity and a significant number of genres and subgenres within manga, especially when compared to other comic cultures outside of Japan. This includes but is not limited to comedy, crime, romance, slice of life, and stories about activities such as sports and the lives of different