Asian sequential visual narratives—manga, manhwa, manhua, anime, and webtoons—occupy a prominent place in Uzbekistan's youth media culture. Google Trends data show a steady increase in searches for 'manga' since 2020; peak interest was recorded in Tashkent, Samarkand, the Syrdarya and Navoi regions, and Karakalpakstan. A 2023 audience survey (N=228), conducted as part of the first author's doctoral research, confirmed a generational shift: respondents aged 18–20 and younger prefer visual formats to text-based ones; 58.9% express interest in graphic adaptations of literary works; 75.7% consider foreign visual literature prohibitively expensive. No translations of major works into Uzbek exist; consumption is mediated by Russian-speaking otaku communities and by audiovisual channels—'Anime' sections of online streaming services. Growing demand is shaping local institutional supply. Tokyogroup—Uzbekistan's first manga studio, founded in 2021—produces original works drawing on Uzbek folklore, Zoroastrian iconography, and Karakalpak oral tradition; its works are state-commissioned and have appeared in Paris and Tokyo. The Uzbekistan–Japan Centre runs a short-term manga course. In 2025, a manga competition was held during the Tanabata Festival. The article combines this evidence with a 2026 survey conducted by the second author — a media studies student and reader of contemporary manga, manhwa and webtoons — and a case study of Tokyogroup's works. The Uzbekistan case opens a research agenda for Asian sequential visual narratives in Central Asia and the broader Turkic context, where similar demand-driven hybridisation is observable but remains academically unexplored.

Authors:
Gulnoza Najmiddinova, Journalism and Mass Communications University of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
Nigina Turgunova, Webster University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

About the Presenter(s)
Gulnoza Najmiddinova, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Visual Research and Multimedia Projects at the Journalism and Mass Communications University of Uzbekistan (JMCU) in Tashkent.

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https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gulnoza-Najmiddinova?ev=hdr_xprf

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