What exactly is gekiga? I Wiki-ing up the term, but I got a rather vague answer. How is it different from seinen? And if I were to use a visual example, would a series like Gorio be considered gekiga?

Also, out of curiosity, how and does it appeal to the manga-reading members and seinen fans here?

*unsure*

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Damn. Where did you hear the term? Definitely not something in common usage in the states, even in the manga community. Personally, the stuff that encompasses Gekiga isn't my cut of tea. As for what counts as gekiga, Golgo 13 is probably the most familiar example and works using similar art styles would be included by extension.

I wouldn't really think of it as a genre. It may very well have been, sort of, but that was just because pretty much all the mainstream stuff was so silly. Nowadays, a lot of manga have serious storylines and more realistic drawings, so the term has lost a lot of its meaning. That's just my opinion, of course.

Also, if you actually read a couple of those old gekiga series, you'll soon discover that "realistic" is a very relative term

So anyway... I don't think your question about difference is possible to answer in a useful way. Seinen can be gekiga (very far from all of it is, of course). And gekiga is most likely seinen (but doesn't have to be). Don't forget that seinen isn't actually a genre either, it's used to describe manga meant for a certain target demographic.

As for its appeal, I assume it doesn't appeal as much to the people who think "seinen == tits and violence", but quite possibly to the people who have actually managed to be seinen (i.e. young men) a couple of years already.

What a suprising topic to find here on humble Baka-Updates!
I'm a dedicated fan of Gekiga myself, I even run a blog on it (check my sig).
I would agree for the most part with Pnyxtr's post. It was a type of Japanese comic. The term was originally coined by Grandfather of Gekiga, Tatsumi Yoshihiro, in order to distance his gritty, no-holds-barred work from the mainstream, kid-friendly manga of the late 60's/early 70's, popularized by the great Tezuka Osamu.
It was later used to describe most works put out in underground anthologies, but I think around the 80's it started to lose its significance, as more manga became adult-orientated at the time, to a stage where adult/young adult manga was mainstream.
So yeah, no new manga can be technically labelled "Gekiga", because it was pretty much a counterculture movement of years long passed. Of course, you'll still find gritty, realistic manga in today's market, but art style has become more modernized, and less similar to European/American indie artists.
So just to clarify, Berserk is definetely not a Gekiga, nor that Gorio manga you mentioned. That applies to all Seinen from the 80's onwards, by the way.

To answer your last sentence; it simply doesn't. Perhaps there are a handful here, but generally Gekiga is too much of a departure from other manga, and most people spurn it for the dated, sometimes cartoony/sometimes photorealistic art. I know for a fact that screentone was not as heavily used as it is in today's manga.
Most English-translated Gekiga manga is bought up by fans of American indie/alternative graphic novels, so that's why you see publishers like Drawn & Quarterly printing their Gekiga in a left-to-right format.

As for a visual example, off-hand, I suggest the short story Chico, by Tsuge Yoshiharu (another recognized figure of the Gekiga movement, famous for his dreamlike and surreal stories)

I've had a look through your lists, and to be honest, I don't think you're going to enjoy Gekiga at all, but if you're still interested in sampling it, then I recommend downloading the scanlated The Push Man and Other Stories, by the afforementioned Tatsumi Yoshihiro.

I agree with everything you say. (What's this, agreeing on teh Intarwebs? Nothing good can ever come of it.) I was just doing a sort of quick average between what I think and what the OP probably wanted, with my post.

It's funny, this, because chances are the OP will get much much more than he bargained for. There are lots of "old" (meaning not teenager) fogeys here, but most have difficulty finding threads that they actually give a shit about.

Yeah, I think I did write a lot, but put it this way; I could've wrote a whole lot more. That was basically as condensed as I could make the post.
Actually, I'm a teenager myself, but I've no interest in what most manga-readers my age like. I don't find most Shonen manga appealing, and well, Shojo clearly isn't my thing either.
Oh, I'd also like to generally point out that Top Shelf are working on a collection of Gekiga short stories by many underground artists (including more well-known figures like Tatsumi Yoshihiro and Hanawa Kazuichi, and English-debut artists such as [a]Kondoh Akira[/a], [a]Abe Shinichi[/a] and [a]Saito Yunosuke[/a]), and its going to be a keeper. Expect it sometime next year.

Thanks so much for the interesting and in-depth explanations!
I was interested in what gekiga was because I enjoy learning about new subcultures within anime and manga. Another reason I suppose would be how this seemed like something my cousin (who's an adult) would like reading so I wanted to get a better sense of idea about his tastes.

But I do agree with Highway-STAR that this is probably not something I would read. No offense, but gekiga seems like something too adult and mature for someone so young like me.
But thanks for the suggestions anyway.

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I love reading senin, and i've read the push man and found it pretty interesting (Actually one of the good mangas i've found in my local library). so i may like Gekiga, but i've never heard of it before this thread.

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Common sense just isn't that common

Ahh, I was wondering where you might've heard of Gekiga. That 'splains it all. I'm glad some people around here aren't so close-minded and ignorant of manga history.
When I said you more than likely wouldn't be too fond of Gekiga, I was judging by your taste and what you might've read, and whether you'd be able to cope with the violence, not based off your age. I'm only sixteen myself, as a matter of fact, but I've no problem with gore etc.

Hahaha, I'm only 16 too. But still, I don't think I could take even ordinary seinen.

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Well, then I suggest you read the author (Tatsumi Yoshihiro)'s other works. So far, there has been two other collections released. D&Q are in the midst of translating his epic biography, Gekiga : A Drifting Life, due for release next year as well, which should prove to be an interesting read.
If anyone wants to sample Gekiga, but not purchase in case they find it isn't their thing, then I suggest checking out the following scanlations;

Human Clock
Screw-Style
The Push Man and Other Stories
Chico
Lone Wolf and Cub
Satsuma Gishiden
Akairo Elegy*

*An excerpt of this was included in the Gekiga! Sampler Drawn & Quarterly released as part of Free Comic Books Day, alongside a preview of Tatsumi Yoshihiro's story Hell from Good-bye (TATSUMI Yoshihiro).
It was scanned, but you won't find it on the usual manga-upload websites. PM me if you're interested in downloading it.

I enjoy seinen, but I've never heard of the term gekiga.
So how exactly do you explain the term?
And how are they related?

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Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.

And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.

Click 'n Play!

If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.

I do like gekiga.
Manga that causes self-contemplation is
definitely of my liking.

Uh, I explained it in my first post, actually. Well, its my two cents anyways...

Just wondering if this topic is in the right forum.
Well, actually it stands on its own...

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Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.

And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.

Click 'n Play!

If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.