<p>Using onomatopoeia to stress sound effects in literature is not manga-specific or even comic-specific. For example, 1966's <em>Batman</em> TV series or even Nickelodeon's <em>The Fairly OddParents</em> had readily available audio to match their onscreen text with emphasis. But several cultures have their own origins. Tracing back <strong>when</strong> this particular artistic/literary device caught on would be pretty exhaustive, if even credible at all.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-19T18:49:20.010Z
2013-09-19T18:49:20.010Z
Daz C
<p>In Japanese, katakana is used for loan words/foreign words, but it shows up a lot in backgrounds of manga as what seems to be onomatopoeia. Is this manga-specific, and where did it originate?</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DfQLn.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>The center white katakana on the bottom panel seem to be "fuaaaaa", for instance.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-19T18:57:40.293Z
You would probably get better answers by asking this on http://japanese.stackexchange.com/.
senshin
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-09-21T01:06:04.720Z
This question appears to be off-topic because it is about the Japanese language (which already has a SE), not something specific to anime/manga.
atlantiza
<japanese-language>
Why is katakana used for the onomatopoeia/sounds in the background?
# Why is katakana used for the onomatopoeia/sounds in the background?
Posted by: username_0 on 2013-09-19
In Japanese, katakana is used for loan words/foreign words, but it shows up a lot in backgrounds of manga as what seems to be onomatopoeia. Is this manga-specific, and where did it originate?

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DfQLn.jpg)

The center white katakana on the bottom panel seem to be "fuaaaaa", for instance.
**Tags:** japanese-language
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You would probably get better answers by asking this on http://japanese.stackexchange.com/.  
> **username_2**: This question appears to be off-topic because it is about the Japanese language (which already has a SE), not something specific to anime/manga.  
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_3 on 2013-09-19. Score: 1
Using onomatopoeia to stress sound effects in literature is not manga-specific or even comic-specific. For example, 1966's *Batman* TV series or even Nickelodeon's *The Fairly OddParents* had readily available audio to match their onscreen text with emphasis. But several cultures have their own origins. Tracing back **when** this particular artistic/literary device caught on would be pretty exhaustive, if even credible at all.
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