The question comes up in every conversation between readers. On social media, in book clubs, among friends: "What are you reading right now? — A manga. — Yes but what real book are you reading?"
Behind this seemingly innocent question hides a debate that has divided the reading community for years. On one side, purists for whom reading means a novel or essay, in paper form, full stop. On the other, a silent majority reading manga, comics, graphic novels, listening to audiobooks — and sometimes feeling like they don't quite belong.
It's time to settle this once and for all. And the answer is unambiguous.
What Science Says
Research in neuroscience and cognitive science leaves no doubt: reading a comic, manga, or graphic novel activates the same brain regions as reading a traditional novel. The visual cortex, language areas, regions linked to narrative comprehension — all are engaged.
Better yet: reading comics and manga engages additional skills. The brain must simultaneously decode text, interpret images, understand the gaps between panels, and reconstruct movement from still images. It's a multimodal reading that demands a cognitive workout that text alone doesn't require.
As for audiobooks, a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that the semantic representations built by the brain are remarkably similar whether you read a text or listen to it. In other words, your brain processes narrative information in nearly identical ways in both cases. The cognitive benefits of reading — empathy development, memory stimulation, stress reduction — apply to all these formats.
What the Numbers Say
Major reading barometers explicitly include comics, manga, and audiobooks in their reading statistics. This isn't trivial: the reference bodies on reading consider these formats as fully legitimate reading.
And the numbers speak for themselves. Manga now represents a major share of the book market. Audiobooks are growing double digits every year, driven by streaming platforms and narrative podcasts.
Excluding these formats from "real reading" means ignoring what millions of readers actually read. And it means missing out on what brings many people back to books.
Why This Debate Still Exists
If science and numbers are clear, why does the question persist? Three reasons.
The school legacy. At school, "reading" means reading a novel, a classic text, an essay. Comics are tolerated in primary school, manga ignored, audiobooks absent from curricula. This implicit hierarchy — novel > essay > comic > manga > audio — sets in early and persists.
Literary snobbery. In some circles, a reader's value is measured by the difficulty of their reads. Reading Proust "counts more" than reading One Piece. It's an elitist view that confuses effort with value, and discourages more readers than it forms.
Confusing format with content. A manga can be profound, complex, moving. A comic can explore subjects as serious as any essay. An audiobook can offer a richer narrative experience than its print version thanks to the narrator's interpretation. Format says nothing about quality.
Manga: Far More Than Drawings
Manga is often reduced to entertainment for teenagers. This ignores the phenomenal richness of the medium. Attack on Titan explores cycles of violence and propaganda. Monster by Naoki Urasawa is a psychological thriller that rivals the best novels of the genre. March Comes in Like a Lion addresses depression with rare precision.
Reading manga is reading. It means following a narrative, getting attached to characters, understanding complex story arcs, interpreting visual symbols. The fact that the text is accompanied by images doesn't make it less valid — it makes it different.
And for those who find manga "too quick to read": that's precisely their strength. A manga volume reads in 30-45 minutes. Perfect for maintaining a daily reading habit, for readers with little time, or for getting out of a reading slump when nothing else gets through.
Comics and Graphic Novels: A Full Narrative Art Form
Francophone comics have nothing left to prove artistically. Works like Maus by Art Spiegelman (Pulitzer Prize), Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, or The Arab of the Future by Riad Sattouf are unanimously recognized as major literary works.
The graphic novel in particular completely blurs the boundary between "comics" and "literature." These long, often autobiographical or historical narratives offer narrative depth comparable to a novel — with an added visual dimension.
Excluding comics from your reading stats is like excluding documentaries from cinema. The medium changes, not the value.
Audiobooks: Reading With Your Ears
Audiobooks may be the most debated format. "Listening to a book isn't reading it" is an argument you hear often.
Technically, it's true: you're not using your eyes. But the question isn't which sense is engaged — it's whether the narrative experience is comparable. And the scientific answer is yes.
Audiobooks have unique advantages: they make reading accessible to visually impaired or dyslexic people, they let you "read" during commutes or household tasks, and a great narrator can considerably enrich the experience. They also have limits: concentration can be harder, pace is set by the narrator, and complex passages are less easy to re-read. But these limits don't invalidate the format.
At Bukku, Everything Counts
This is a fundamental conviction at Bukku: if you read, listened to, or devoured a story in any format whatsoever, it counts. Novel, essay, manga, comic, graphic novel, audiobook — everything goes into your library, your stats, your progress.
Why? Because the goal isn't to measure effort or rank formats. It's to track your reading life as it actually is. If you read 12 novels and 30 manga volumes in a year, your profile reflects that. And that's perfectly fine.
The Only Criterion That Matters
Ask someone who cried at the end of Banana Fish, who laughed listening to Good Omens on audio, or who was transformed by Maus, whether their experience "counted."
Reading isn't a format. It's an experience. And that experience — discovery, emotion, learning, escapism — is the same regardless of the medium.
So no, the question isn't "does it count?" The question is: "did you enjoy it?" If yes, it counts. Full stop.
Manga, comics, novels, audio — track all your reading in one place. Try Bukku: a free reading app where every format belongs.