What this genre is
Out of the newspaper four-panel tradition (Sazae-san, Kobo-chan) came dedicated four-panel magazines such as Manga Time. Its setup-and-punchline form became the soil for slice-of-life.
Gag & Comedy — about this band: The lineage of laughter Akatsuka Fujio systematised — nonsense, absurdism, and the slice-of-life that followed.
Connections
Three kinds of line: direct evolution, influence, and born in reaction against.
↓ Flowed into this
↑ Grew out of this
Key works
A newspaper four-panel standard about the kindergartener Kobo and his family. A national work read across generations.
Gentle, philosophical four-panel strips about the otter child Bonobono and his friends in the forest. A long-running work where comfort and absurdity live together.
The crude, precocious gags of the five-year-old Shinnosuke. A national anime and the standard-bearer of everyday gag manga, loved across generations.
Gag & Comedy — walk the band
Genres in the same band, in order of year. You are at the highlighted one.
- 1962 Akatsuka Gag↓
- 1970 Nonsense & Parody↓
- 1980 Yonkoma（you are here）↓
- 1988 Absurdist Gag↓
- 2002 Slice-of-Life Yonkoma
All genres
About this entry
Genre boundaries are drawn where the network of manga happens to concentrate, not by decree. Years are approximate. Where opinions differ, this page says so rather than picking a winner.