minori takeo, nhk world. >>> japanese mung airports have a huge following around the world.where they're finding new things is in the classroom and they're helping to bring history alive. >> reporter: a crammed school in tokyo. a student is preparing for high school entrance exams. but it's not a textbook he reaches for. it's monga, part of a series of comics covering japanese history. the students are required to read them between classes and they don't need much encouraging. teachers say even those who had a difficult time with history are now eager to study. >> translator: i've crowded munga because nigoticed how easy students memorize story lines. >> reporter: book shop managers report a shop rise in sales with history comics. one reason is the quality of the drawings. the publisher of this series launched in june recruited leading talents in the monga history. the artist of this cover works for a study award winning studio. and figure, drawn in the same hip style as fiction mongo. and battle themes come alive in graphic detail. in its first month on sale, this series so