Great literature has taught us many things. Click your heels three times and repeat “There’s no place like home.” Pictures of ourselves in the attic will get uglier for us if we don’t want to age. And of course, if Pooh flew like a bee, he wouldn’t have to climb that tree for honey. But what has manga taught us? This genre is as main-stream and popular as it has ever been, certainly there is something to these Japanese graphic novels that gives something back to society. Let’s look at the ten things that manga has taught us.

1. Heroes come in any age: Whether you’re ten and just super smart, or a thirty-five year old who happens to be a grizzled war veteran in a steampunk world, you can be a hero. Whether it’s driving an impossibly large mech, shooting sparkles out of a heart-shaped wand, or just defeating the most evil being the universe has ever seen, you apply.

2. If you are male, sixteen, and the main character, you will brood: No matter how happy or unhappy your childhood, whether you’re a lone wolf or a social butterfly, or how rich or poor, if you are the hero of a series, male, and sixteen, you will be a broody, bad-mood machine. It doesn’t matter if you’re about to get the girl, save the universe, or just have a tasty snack, there’s no pleasing you, Mr. Bad Mood.

3. If you are female, sixteen, and the main character, you will be a klutz: If there is a planter on the other side of the room where you are standing, you will manage to knock it over. If your crush is holding a glass of grape juice, red wine, or a bottle of ink, you will manage to spill it all over him. If you are female, sixteen, and the main character, you will be a klutz. So watch out for those stairs.

4. Skirts are magical devices that defy the laws of physics: Thankfully, in the world of manga, your skirt can be so short that you’d make a sailor blush, and yet, nobody will get a glimpse of anything underneath. As amazing and physics defying as this is, it also proves another way skirts are magic. If you are wearing a skirt at least knee-length or longer, you will get knocked over, a stiff breeze will appear, or an evil demonic plant will appear to rip it off/lift it up, revealing to the world what cartoon character panties you chose to wear that day. But this is the only circumstance in which a skirt will ever rise.

5. There is no such thing as collateral damage: It doesn’t matter if you are in a fifty story piece of mech with shoulder cannons and rockets coming out of the arms, obviously nobody is going to get hurt that isn’t related to the story, and no buildings will be damaged. Not even if you are fighting a gigantic lizard while you, a twelve year old in a huge suit of armor, rampage around the city, will you destroy anything of value.

6. All animal sidekicks can talk: Always. Even when they are pretending that they cannot in order to test you, they can talk. All of them.

7. There is always someone trying to end your existence/steal your boyfriend: On the scale of horrible thing to happen to a manga hero, the two worst, on the “Never recover from it” end of the measurement is definitely end of life and of course, boyfriend stolen. And there is ALWAYS going to be someone trying to end your existence and/or steal your boyfriend. He’s just so cute. See number eight for more info.

8. The cuter you are, the more apt you are to being kidnapped/captured: Everyone loves an adorable moppet in danger, and manga is no exception to this rule. The cutest of the cute, be it little brothers and sisters, that adorable girlfriend, your super-hot boyfriend, or your favorite four-legged companion are almost guaranteed to eventually be the target of the psychopathic nutcase trying to end your existence and take over the world.

9. The most annoying person in the world will become your destined true love: Whether it’s that guy who is always around when you do something dumb but you think is actually really hot, or that girl who can do nothing but give you a hard time about everything you do wrong, inevitably, this person will be your true love. Your destiny. The one whom fate has deemed you shall be with forever and ever or until you kill each other.

10. It’s perfectly acceptable for a thirteen year old girl to date a seventeen year old boy: Age does not seem to matter in the world of manga when it comes to things like dating. Yes, while that thirteen year old girl may be obsessed with boys and stickers and MySpace, you have to admit, she’s still a princess. And while it might be wise to wait another four years or so, to see how she turns out, or how she looks after she hits puberty, you’re throwing the dice and going for it now. Just ask Usagi and Mamoru. That one turned out okay, so it’s obviously okay for everyone.

I’m sure manga has taught even more important lessons than these, but certainly, it is something to think about the next time you open your favorite series and dive in.