cartoon, involuntarily, unrestrained, in spite of oneself, corrupt
漫 centers on a lack of restraint or control: things that happen involuntarily, spread without limit, or become loose and corrupt. The cartoon sense is a natural extension of this free, unrestrained expression.
漫 combines 氵 (water) with 曼, which likely contributes the sound and the idea of spreading or extending. The overall sense of water overflowing or spreading without restraint fits the core meaning.
Water 氵 spreading out without control, like a flood covering everything, captures the idea of unrestrained, involuntary action. Cartoons are free, unrestrained drawings that flow from the imagination.
For マン, imagine a man drawing a cartoon with wild, unrestrained strokes: man -> マン, and his hand moves involuntarily across the page.
cartoon; comic; comic strip; manga
romance (e.g. Arthurian romances); heroic tale
manzai; comic dialogue; two-person comedy act, usu. presented as a fast-paced dialogue, occ. presented as a skit
innocent; naive; artless; unaffected; genuine; childlike
vague; desultory; distracted; loose; half-hearted; diffuse; scattered
in full bloom; in full glory; glorious; luxuriant; splendid
manga cafe; coffee shop with a manga library (usu. has Internet facilities and charges by the hour)
chat; desultory conversation
whimsy; looseness; indiscretion; laxity
pleasure trip; tour
spread; pervasion; permeation
society for the study of manga
restless; on edge (and unable to concentrate); distracted
revilement; derision
four-panel comic strip; yonkoma
manzai based on comic dialogue (as opposed to a skit)
webcomic; web manga
erotic manga; pornographic manga
animated TV show; cartoon
flip book; flick book