On Gentle Narratives: The Simple Beauty of Slow and Gentle Storytelling in Comics

If possible, include moments in your storytelling that slow down the narrative and induce a feeling of serenity upon the reader

I was searching through Pinterest when I came upon this particular page from the manga Horimiya:

Page from Horimiya by HERO and Daisuke Hagiwara (Square Enix)

In the example above, we see the two characters — Souta and Yuna — walking beside one another in the first panel, glancing away as if unsure of what to say or do next. The absence of other artistic elements draws our eyes to the pair alone.

The vertical panel arrangement on this page then guides us downward to a close-up of Souta’s hand slowly taking hold of Yuna’s. This close-up conveys the tenderness of the gesture. Because these panels contain few artistic elements that may otherwise be distracting, the reader’s attention lingers on the moment, thereby creating a sense of warmth.

Notice how the middle two panels move at a slow pace, allowing us to both see and feel the softness of the hand-holding. This then leads us to the final panel, which is an enlarged close-up of Yuna’s widened eye as she reacts to Souta’s sudden, unexpected sign of affection. The deliberate pacing lowers the visual “volume” of the scene, encouraging the reader to pause and linger for a moment before turning the page.

The absence of speech bubbles, text, and detailed backgrounds, along with the use of white space, adds to the serenity of the sequence. While Horimiya is a shōjo manga, moments like this are still rare, but when they appear, they are a delight to the eyes.

This is one of the main reasons I love the art and paneling styles found in Japanese manga. Their simplicity, beauty, and subtle pacing — combined with minimal colours, screentones, and white space — help slow the otherwise busy narrative at just the right moments. I haven’t encountered many similar scenes in Western comics, but if you have, dear reader, then please share them in the comments. I may feature them in a future post!

If you are a comic artist, try to identify moments in your story where you can slow the pacing and lower the visual “volume”, encouraging readers to linger and absorb the emotional weight of the scene. Such moments can deepen their understanding of your characters, thereby helping them form a stronger connection to them and to your narrative.

Final thoughts

The use of white space, as well as the size, shape, and position of panels, allows artists to make a portion of their story slow down at the appropriate time. A comic may be categorized as visually "loud", but if there are moments where the art takes on a lower tone and a slower pace, like what I discussed in my last post, it can make room for the reader to slow down, relax, and linger.

However, this is entirely upon the artist, as they alone know what the story is like that they are trying to convey through their panels and art. There are plenty of action-themed comic books out there that often don't have slow, quiet moments, as seen in the example above from Horimiya, but then again, Horimiya isn't an action-themed manga, so that made it possible for the artist to incorporate slow scenes in his narrative art.

Despite that, I think it is essential to look for ways to try and slow down the story in comics at times to allow the reader to pause and linger. I believe that is the beauty of visual art — gently guiding the reader to pause and reflect on what's been drawn on the page as they deepen their understanding of the character(s) or events happening in the story.

Your turn

Do you like slow-paced portions in a comic that make you linger on the page? What do you think of the style found in Japanese shōjo manga? Is it something that you find appealing, or do you prefer visually "louder" comics? Let me know down in the comments.

Until next time, stay creative!