Editing Megatokyo (section)

== Themes and structure ==
[[File:Megatokyo - 0619.png|thumb|left|Strip #619 demonstrates ''Megatokyo''{{'s}} style and several of the comic's themes. It depicts Piro, Largo, Sonoda Yuki, and Nanasawa Kimiko.]]
Much of ''Megatokyo''{{'s}} early humor consists of jokes related to the video game [[subculture]], as well as culture-clash issues. In these early strips, the comic progressed at a pace which Gallagher has called "haphazard",<ref name=IGNinterview>{{cite web | date=June 21, 2006 | url=http://comics.ign.com/articles/713/713708p1.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904213127/http://comics.ign.com/articles/713/713708p1.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 4, 2006 | title=Take a Trip to Megatokyo | access-date=August 19, 2006 }} IGN interview with Fred Gallagher.</ref> often interrupted by purely [[Punch line|punchline]]-driven installments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=45|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 45|access-date=July 18, 2006|archive-date=July 1, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701215810/http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=45|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=51|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 51|access-date=July 18, 2006|archive-date=July 1, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701215934/http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=51|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=85|title=''Megatokyo'' Strip 85|access-date=July 18, 2006|archive-date=July 1, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060701220610/http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=85|url-status=live}}</ref> As Gallagher gradually gained more control over ''Megatokyo''{{'s}} production, the comic began to gain more similarities to the Japanese [[shōjo manga|''shōjo'']] (girls') manga that Gallagher enjoys.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Fred|date=June 17, 2002|work=Megatokyo|title=the other brick|url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=273|access-date=May 19, 2006|archive-date=March 7, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060307001651/http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=273|url-status=live}}</ref> Following Gallagher's complete takeover of ''Megatokyo'', the comic's thematic relation to Japanese manga continued to grow.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}

The comic features characteristics borrowed from anime and manga [[archetype]]s, often [[parody]]ing the medium's clichés.<ref name="fullpage2" /><ref name=commongripes>{{cite web | last=Gallagher | first=Fred | date=February 2, 2006 | url=http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=819 | title=common gripes | access-date=November 3, 2006 | archive-date=July 18, 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060718082518/http://www.megatokyo.com/index.php?strip_id=819 | url-status=live }}</ref> Examples include Junpei, a [[ninja]] who becomes Largo's [[Apprenticeship|apprentice]]; Rent-a-zillas, giant monsters based on [[Godzilla]]; the Tokyo Police Cataclysm Division, which fights the monsters with [[Mecha|giant robots]] and supervises the systematic destruction and reconstruction of predesignated areas of the city; [[fan service]];<ref name="fullpage2" /> a Japanese school girl, Yuki, who has also started being a [[magical girl]] in recent comics;<ref name=megatokyobook12>''Megatokyo'' book one, pg. 51</ref> and Ping, a robot girl.<ref name=megatokyobook11>''Megatokyo'' book one, pg. 156</ref> In addition, Dom and Ed, [[hitman|hitmen]] employed by [[Sega]] and [[Sony]], respectively, are associated with a Japanese stereotype that all Americans are heavily armed.<ref name=megatokyobook10>''Megatokyo'' book one, pg. 13</ref>

Characters in ''Megatokyo'' usually speak Japanese, although some speak English, or English-based [[leet|l33t]]. Typically, when a character is speaking Japanese, it is signified by enclosing English text between [[angle bracket]]s (<>).<ref>''Megatokyo'' book one, pg. 33</ref> Not every character speaks every language, so occasionally characters are unable to understand one another. In several scenes (such as [http://www.megatokyo.com/strip/716 this one] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926030507/http://www.megatokyo.com/strip/716 |date=September 26, 2008 }}), a character's speech is written entirely in [[Romanization of Japanese|rōmaji]] Japanese to emphasize this.

''Megatokyo'' is divided into chapters. Chapter 0, which contains all of the comic's early phase, covers a time span in the comic of about six weeks. Each of the subsequent chapters chronicles the events of a single day. Chapter 0 was originally not given a title, although the book version retroactively dubbed it "Relax, we understand j00."<ref>''Megatokyo'' book one, pg. 5</ref> Between the chapters, and occasionally referenced in the main comic, are a number of ''[[omake]]'' (extras).