This two-volume series is designed for the self-study of the spoken, colloquial Japanese used in manga, so that you will be able to understand a Japanese comic book or anime series in the original, with the help of a dictionary. With the focus on the informal oral language of manga, you will study many aspects of Japanese not usually taught in conventional courses or textbooks at such an early stage. Difficulty increase as the lessons progress, so it is recommended studying them in order. To make studying easier, Roman alphabet transcriptions (romaji) are included for lessons 1-30 in volume one.

"Originally published as: Japonés en vinetas: volume 1"--Title page verso.

Lesson 1: Learning the Hiragana alphabet -- Lesson 2: Learning the Katakana alphabet -- Lesson 3: Learning the Kanji characters -- Lesson 4: Basic expressions -- Lesson 5: Numbers -- 'Rakujåo! Manga episode 1' -- Review for lessons 1-5 -- Lesson 6: Days and months -- Lesson 7: Personal pronouns -- Lesson 8: Katakana special -- Lesson 9: Basic grammar -- Lesson 10: The four seasons -- 'Rakujåo! Manga episode 2' -- Review for lessons 6-10 -- Lesson 11: Nouns -- Lesson 12: What's the time? -- Lesson 13: -i adjectives -- Lesson 14: -na adjectives -- Lesson 15: Name suffixes 'Rakujåo! Manga episode 3' -- Review for lessons 11-15 -- Lesson 16: Particles -- Lesson 17: End-of-sentence particles -- Lesson 18: The verbs aru and iru -- Lesson 19: Verbs (1): The -masu form -- Lesson 20: Verbs (2): The dictionary form -- 'Rakujåo! Manga episode 4' -- Review for lessons 16-20 -- Lesson 21: The family -- Lesson 22: Adverbs -- Lesson 23: Swear Words and insults -- Lesson 24: Verbs (3): The -te form -- Lesson 25: Counters -- 'Rakujåo! Manga episode 5' -- Review for lessons 21-25 -- Lesson 26: The body -- Lesson 27: Everyday expressions -- Lesson 28: Verbs (4): The verb naru -- Lesson 29: Onomatopoeia -- Lesson 30: Commands -- 'Rakujåo! Manga episode 6' -- Review for Lessons 26-30 -- Lesson 31: Expressing wants -- Lesson 32: Can and must -- Lesson 33: At the airport -- Lesson 34: Question words and the future -- Lesson 35: -te form special -- 'Kage, manga episode 1' -- Review for Lessons 31-35.