Yonkoma

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Yonkoma manga (4コマ漫画, "four cell manga"), or 4-koma for short, is a Japanese comic strip format which generally consists of gag comic strips within four cells. The cells are usually equal in shape and flow in vertical, horizontal or a 2×2 cell "square" sequence, depending on the layout requirements of the publication in which they appear. These comic strips appear in almost all types of publications in Japan, including manga magazines, graphic novels, the comics section of newspapers, game magazines, in cooking magazines, and so forth. The plot often ends within the four cells, although some serial development may pass on to future installments, creating a somewhat continuous story. Some Yonkoma also tackle serious topics, though most do so with humor.

Well-known manga/anime drawn using the 4-koma style include Sazae-san, My Neighbors the Yamadas and Azumanga Daioh. This format is used in several Western webcomics, including Ghastly's Ghastly Comic, Nelshael and Sexy Losers. Ctrl+Alt+Del and older strips of Megatokyo both use the 2×2 format.