Examining the Positive Effects of Personality Similarity Between Manga's Main Character and Readers

In recent years, a stressful society has become an issue. Continued stress can lead to psychosis such as depression, so it is expected to relieve stress. Manga are effective for stress relief. Reading manga reduces nervousness and promotes relaxation. However, it is still unclear why manga makes people feel positive and what factors contribute to this effect. Manga contains multiple elements such as storyline, art style, and characters, of which the main character is one of the most important elements that have a significant impact on readers. In a previous study, similarity between the main character of the main characters and the reader was shown to be a factor that elicits positive effects, but this has not been applied to manga, and its effectiveness is not clear. In this study, we focus on the stress relief effect, one of the positive effects of reading manga. We aim to clarify the stress relief effect by examining the similarity between the manga's main character and the reader. Specifically, we conducted an experiment to investigate and analyze this effect. The experiment used a heart rate variability index to measure stress, reflecting the impact of character-reader similarity on stress relief.

In recent years, a stressful society has become an issue. Continued stress can lead to psychosis such as depression, so it is expected to relieve stress. Manga are effective for stress relief. Reading manga reduces nervousness and promotes relaxation. However, it is still unclear why manga makes people feel positive and what factors contribute to this effect. Manga contains multiple elements such as storyline, art style, and characters, of which the main character is one of the most important elements that have a significant impact on readers. In a previous study, similarity between the main character of the main characters and the reader was shown to be a factor that elicits positive effects, but this has not been applied to manga, and its effectiveness is not clear. In this study, we focus on the stress relief effect, one of the positive effects of reading manga. We aim to clarify the stress relief effect by examining the similarity between the manga's main character and the reader. Specifically, we conducted an experiment to investigate and analyze this effect. The experiment used a heart rate variability index to measure stress, reflecting the impact of character-reader similarity on stress relief.