Ratings

Publishers usualy add a rating on the cover of U.S. distributed Manga.

Below is the Tokyopop rating breakdown. Most of their current titles seem focused on the T and OT groups.

A (All Ages) - Suitable for all ages. No offensive material.

Y (Youth, ages 10+) - Appropriate for ages 10 and up. May contain violence.

T (Teen, ages 13+) - Appropriate for ages 13 and up. May contain violence, profanity, and semi-nudity.

OT (Older Teen, ages 16+) - Appropriate for ages 16 and up. May contain violence, profanity, semi-nudity, and sexual themes.

M (Mature, ages 18+) - Appropriate for ages 18 and up. May contain graphic violence, nudity, profanity, sex, and intense sexual themes.


And this is the Viz rating system. Most of their titles seem to be in the T grouping, although there are plenty of T+ and A titles as well. Haven't seen too many M titles.

A - All Ages. Suitable for any age group. No swearing or nudity. Fantasy violence only.

T - Teen. Recommended for early to mid-teens. May contain violence, language, suggestive situations, and alcohol or tobacco use.

T+ - Teen Plus. Recommended for older teens and adults. Posible sexually-oriented nudity, but no explicit sex. No bans on language. Possible gory violence.

M - Mature. Recommended for adults. Mature themes and depictions. As with any rating system, the systems used for manga are subjective. The systems used for rating anime are similar in both style and variety. I have a feeling that the publishers really do give series particular ratings based not only on content but also on which market group they think will enjoy it the most.

~Shadrach Anki
This was taken off http://www.manganews.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-605.html

Most public libraries run into difficulty deciding how to catalog Manga series. Some titles may start out as teen rated and then increase in mature content as the series develops or they branch out into different storylines with the same characters. It has been explained on several websites that "nudity is not unusual in some anime and manga, even tv shows and manga for children. This is a result of a different culture's views on naked bodies. Often nudity is used for comic effect and the characters involved may be highly embarassed. Also, in Japan the definitions of children's and adult's entertainments are more ambiguous than in the U.S., for example some types of sexual humor, often at the expense of adult dignity, are found in some works for children."

"Anime and Manga are not just for children"

www.koyagi.com