Manga aimed at children started in the late 19th century with the production of short manga, approximately 15 pages long, printed in magazines. These short manga were created as a part of the
Meiji era's attempt to encourage literacy among Japanese youth. A major milestone in the popularity of anime was the creation of
Astro Boy by
Osamu Tezuka, who is often considered the father of anime. Children's anime and manga can be divided into four categories. The first category consists of anime and manga adaptations of Western stories, such as
World Masterpiece Theater. Most of them are TV series. Despite being popular, they are less representative of traditional Japanese anime. Instead, they are modeled after classical American or Soviet cartoons. The second category consists of adaptations of Japanese media and original works. They use linguistic gags, contain references to
Japanese society, and may be harder to understand for
non-Japanese audiences. They are in some ways similar to
American animation. An example is
Doraemon. The third category, known as , consists of manga and anime aimed towards young girls, such as
Hello Kitty. The fourth category, which is closer to
shōnen, has connections with popular
video game and toy franchises, and has the greatest commercial success. Manga magazines such as
CoroCoro Comic and
Comic BomBom primarily target young boys, especially those in elementary school, though some, such as
Pucchigumi, target young girls. Popular children's manga is often adapted into anime and accompanied by a plethora of merchandise. ==Awards==