Level of Japanese in Anime/Manga

[1zzy]

I'd like to know what level of language proficiency one would need to enjoy an anime fairly comfortably, or read manga? What amount of vocab/kanji would you need to know?

I realize different anime/manga will require different levels, so we'll say "Naruto" since it's so popular. And would this level of Japanese be the standard level to enjoy general Japanese television/films?


Presumably you wouldn't need be of JLPT 1 proficiency..

This was one of my goals on the way to fluency, so I'd like to know how far along the road it lies.

[jesselt]

What do you mean "What level of Japanese"? It is like asking what level of English should you know to read a comic book. Hard question to answer, right?

Manga is written for native speakers, they don't write them for foreigners learning Japanese. Therefore they are written at a native, fluent level. You may be able to understand a lot of a manga without a native understanding with some research and a dictionary, but the simple answer I guess would be that you need to be fluent in Japanese to read something written for Japanese people.

Originally Posted by 1zzy

Presumably you wouldn't need be of JLPT 1 proficiency..

What makes you think that? JLPT 1 isn't fluent.

[1zzy]

Originally Posted by jesselt

What do you mean "What level of Japanese"? It is like asking what level of English should you know to read a comic book. Hard question to answer, right?

I understand that. I was expecting answers to differ depending on a user's experience/opinion. It would depend on the comic book of course, but I would say usually late primary/early secondary education level.

Originally Posted by jesselt

Manga is written for native speakers, they don't write them for foreigners learning Japanese. Therefore they are written at a native, fluent level. You may be able to understand a lot of a manga without a native understanding with some research and a dictionary, but the simple answer I guess would be that you need to be fluent in Japanese to read something written for Japanese people.

Originally Posted by jesselt

What makes you think that? JLPT 1 isn't fluent

JLPT 1 expects a level of fluency strong enough to read a newspaper in Japan, which I would think is equivalent to the level required over in the UK to enjoy broadsheet.

I expect a fair difference in language fluency between reading a comic book and reading a broadsheet.

I did say "Naruto". I'm sorry I couldn't ask for anything more specific (other than (roughly) the number of vocabulary and Kanji needed.).

[chryuop]

Actually in my opinion not as a beginner. If you think well, the room for phrases in a comic book is not much and that means finding the shortest form possible. In many times it is used a very colloquial way as well.

A normal book would be more advisible, but even there watch out. I am reading a novel now (mistery story) where the main character speaks very colloquial to his friends and that makes it harder to understand.

[allhailhata]

I think you need at least JLPT 2 to read Naruto.This level of Japanese is not the standard level to enjoy general Japanese television/films.
There is no long sentence and no difficult word in Naruto.written in colloquial style.so different from newspaper.

Btw,Japanese used in battle anime like Naruto is not necessarily normal. If you use Dattebayo in real life,it sounds so strange.
I think best anime series to learn Japanese is Sazae-san.