<p>The term you're looking for is (generically) "speed lines". Unsurprisingly, they are typically as a visual indicator that something is speedy. </p>

<p>The terminology is a little silly, though - the horizontal, fixed-width lines in your first image are clearly used for different purposes from the vanishing-point-oriented, variable-width lines in your second image, and bucketing them all as "speed lines" is a bit inaccurate.</p>

<p>As it turns out, Japanese has better terminology for these lines. There is a broader term <a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%B9%E6%9E%9C%E7%B7%9A">効果線</a> "effect lines" that subsumes both スピード線 "speed lines" (your first image) and 集中線 "focus lines" (your second image), as well as some other rarer styles of line. This is a more appropriate choice of words, in my opinion: the "focus lines", unlike the lines in your first image, are used to draw focus to whatever is "at" the vanishing point of the lines. </p>

<p>(This visual language seems fairly intuitive and universal to me, so I'm a little surprised that you had this question - not that there's anything wrong with that.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-24T00:51:37.723Z
2015-12-24T00:51:37.723Z
senshin
<p>The top drawing shows when a character is moving fast (such as running or hitting something with power) The lines show the direction the movement is happening. The lower drawing shows that this is a very important piece of information or that the character is at an intense state of emotion: such as if the character finds out that his/her friend is a mass murderer.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-23T23:14:27.470Z
2015-12-23T23:14:27.470Z
Major Tom
<p>The left drawing looks like it is showing something happening at speed, for example if you were to put a character there in front of those horizontal lines, you'd get the impression that that character is moving at speed, e.g. like running.</p>

<p>The one on the right has the effect of focusing the reader on a particular aspect of that drawing square, and it's use can hugely vary. It can also be used to reveal something surprising by putting an object/character between those exiting lines.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-24T02:22:03.120Z
2015-12-24T02:22:03.120Z
user19937
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/oGiZ7m.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/oGiZ7m.png" alt="horizontal lines"></a>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/zZXzUm.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zZXzUm.jpg" alt="lines converging to a vanishing point"></a></p>

<p>They are always seen when in an action sequence. Why do mangakas draw these kinds of lines and what do they mean?</p>

<manga-production>
What do these lines mean in manga?
# What do these lines mean in manga?
Posted by: username_0 on 2015-12-23
[![horizontal lines](https://i.sstatic.net/oGiZ7m.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/oGiZ7m.png)
[![lines converging to a vanishing point](https://i.sstatic.net/zZXzUm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/zZXzUm.jpg)

They are always seen when in an action sequence. Why do mangakas draw these kinds of lines and what do they mean?
**Tags:** manga-production
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## 3 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2015-12-24. Score: 6
The term you're looking for is (generically) "speed lines". Unsurprisingly, they are typically as a visual indicator that something is speedy.

The terminology is a little silly, though - the horizontal, fixed-width lines in your first image are clearly used for different purposes from the vanishing-point-oriented, variable-width lines in your second image, and bucketing them all as "speed lines" is a bit inaccurate.

As it turns out, Japanese has better terminology for these lines. There is a broader term [効果線](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%B9%E6%9E%9C%E7%B7%9A) "effect lines" that subsumes both スピード線 "speed lines" (your first image) and 集中線 "focus lines" (your second image), as well as some other rarer styles of line. This is a more appropriate choice of words, in my opinion: the "focus lines", unlike the lines in your first image, are used to draw focus to whatever is "at" the vanishing point of the lines.

(This visual language seems fairly intuitive and universal to me, so I'm a little surprised that you had this question - not that there's anything wrong with that.)
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### Answer by username_2 on 2015-12-23. Score: 2
The top drawing shows when a character is moving fast (such as running or hitting something with power) The lines show the direction the movement is happening. The lower drawing shows that this is a very important piece of information or that the character is at an intense state of emotion: such as if the character finds out that his/her friend is a mass murderer.
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### Answer by username_3 on 2015-12-24. Score: 0
The left drawing looks like it is showing something happening at speed, for example if you were to put a character there in front of those horizontal lines, you'd get the impression that that character is moving at speed, e.g. like running.

The one on the right has the effect of focusing the reader on a particular aspect of that drawing square, and it's use can hugely vary. It can also be used to reveal something surprising by putting an object/character between those exiting lines.
---
