I apologize for the lack of meaningful blogging as of late. Sometimes, there’s not much to say. That, and the mountains call. I’ve managed to knock out the backlog, at least.
A couple of days ago, I received an e-mail asking if I could recommend any manga titles worth reading… and it absolutely stumped me. I simply don’t read manga. That’s not to say I haven’t read manga in the past, and that’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed what I’ve read … it’s just not something that interests me all that much. There are three reasons for this I think. First, I’m such a quick reader that I blast through manga like a bishoujo gamer furiously clicking ahead to the next sex scene. The pacing gets all mucked up, and I never take the time to enjoy the art. Second, manga is expensive. When I lived in Tokyo, I was always amazed by the incredible selection of cheap manga available in bookstores. It’s a much different story here in the States, of course. $10 per book? No used market to speak of? Thanks, but no thanks. And, finally… time spent reading manga is time better spent watching anime.
I suppose I lose some otaku points for not being a manga junkie, but I need another expensive, time-consuming hobby like I need a hole in my head.
On the other hand, if the bishoujo game market ever gains a foothold outside Japan…
Your point about the expense is understandable, but otherwise I generally find I’m the opposite. Anime just doesn’t capture the same spark of imagination I get from manga. Plus, it’s very rare that I watch an anime based on a manga and think it’s a worthy adaptation. Exceptions exist, for sure, but it doesn’t happen often for me. I think it’s akin to a film being based on a novel, with the novel almost always being better.
This ultimately amounts to preference, though, so I’m not saying either side is right. There’s loads of anime out there I love - just most of it is ‘original’ or I haven’t read the manga it’s based on yet. I usually operate on the ignorance-is-bliss rule if that’s the case.
The issue of being a fast reader can be easily remedied by training yourself to inspect the artwork as you read. Of course, you need the inclination to do this, but it gets better when you train your mind to ‘read’ both art and words at the same time. There are just so many great titles out there; it’d be a shame to dismiss them based on something that’s easily corrected. But then, I respect your choice so c’est la vie and all that.
But manga is just clearly better, soz!
:3
Well you could be a cheapass like me and download raw scans >_> Although I have an entire bookshelf dedicated to manga I’ve recently been holding back my crazy amazon.co.jp shopping urges XP
I am the same way.
This has nothing to do with expense. I do not think manga is more expensive than the equivalent amount of material on DVD. For example, 10 volumes of Naruto contain same material as 35 episodes of anime. So, $100 of manga corresponds to $210 of anime, if we count 4 episodes per volume (which is a cheap, cheap U.S. release!)
But anime has music and a very expressive motion language which manga lacks. It has acting, which manga does not. So it’s a much more exciting medium. I even have DVDs which I only bought to get OPs and EDs.
The argument about the imagination does not hold water. If I wanted to feed my imagination, I’d read a real book, which does not dictate the visual imagery.
“The argument about the imagination does not hold water. If I wanted to feed my imagination, I’d read a real book, which does not dictate the visual imagery.”
Well, it wasn’t an argument as such. Just an explanation for preference.
I generally don’t read manga in the US because for the expense, I kind of expected a better translation.
For example, I like the Negima manga, but when the characters actually go “OMG, WTF” in a speech bubble, it sort of kills the mood. (If you don’t believe me, it’s the Del Rey translation, Volume 6, page 127.)
The subs in an anime may not be much better, but at least I can kind of get the context and the feel of what’s going on through Moving Pictures.
For example, I like the Negima manga, but when the characters actually go “OMG, WTF” in a speech bubble, it sort of kills the mood.
I’d actually pay to see that.
Something else to consider: it’s also possible that I don’t care to read manga simply because it’s not all that convenient. When I was in college, I got in the habit of reading every night before bed. Now, my routine is to watch anime before bed. And my daily schedule isn’t such that I have little bits of time here and there to kill… little bits of time that are perfect for reading manga.
Ah I know what you’re saying. The Planetes manga is the only manga I own. And because it’s only five volumes long it only costs me $50. It’s a great manga.
The manga arguements are valid. The cost isn’t very efficient, the reads can be quite quick, and a lot of what you get depends on efficency. Fortunately, I have a lot of those little moments and am able to put them towards manga. I do love admiring the artwork, revisiting series, and going at my own pace, so I’ve never once regretted or second guessed the manga part of the hobby, and I could live without anime if I had enough manga to make up for the difference (even though I’d prefer not to).
As a side note, I think that Del Ray is doing a fine job with the Negima! adaptation.
…and I really do wish the bishoujo game genre would catch on.
France is known as the 2nd most important manga market after Japan I think, and 10 years ago, a manga was around 30F-45F so around $6-$9 (depending on the quality and the size of the book).
Now the majority costs 10€ ($12.5).
Damn you euro!
Still, I prefer manga.
There are some series that has novels, mangas, and/or anime. I find that, if the base material is good enough, all formats can add something unique to understanding and enjoyment of overall ’story’. Some Mangas are clearly better than its Anime ( ex: H2 by Adachi Mitsuru ) but there are cases where anime is better than manga ( ex: Koi Kaze )
>>> France is known as the 2nd most important manga market after Japan I think
If you are speaking only about manga ( manwha ), Korea is 2nd biggest manga producer in quantity and almost an equal in quality, and there is many trading of manga ( manwha ) ideas and designs between Korea and Japan. Korea also is biggest importer of Japanese manga as well. If you count the illegal translations, almost all Japanese Manga gets translated into Korean within a month of publication., usually within a week. In Korea, you can browse the manga book for cheap fee ( less than $1 ) in rental store, rent it overnight for moderate fee ( less than $3 ), buy a translated version or the original version ( price range varies very widely ) .
manwha is not popular in Japan ?
There are more people who do not know existence of manwha
Manwha is unknown to most common people in Japan, but it is relatively well known to the manga artist themselves who are looking for new materials. It is impossible to explain similarity between certain manga characters in other ways, especially when Korean characters predate Japanese ones by a year or two. There are some internet groups in Japan dedicated to translating Korean Manwha into Japanese.
I don’t read manga because it doesn’t have music and it doesn’t scroll by itself. Seriously. I am poisoned by audiovisual multimedia, and it is by far my most preferred method of taking in media, short of just sound through a headset or reading off a computer screen. I perfer the mousewheel or pressing a key over flipping pages.
I think it also explains why my handwriting is slow and sucky yet I type a hundred words a minute, since by far I read more off the internet and write with my keyboard than any conventional means of reading and writing.
Oddly enough, I perfer reading manga off paper rather than off the screen? I dunno how to explain that one.
Well, wontaek, I don’t have official numbers, but I know we’re selling manwha in France too!
There’s a manwha I like very much, it’s Ragnarök (yes, there are several manga named Ragnarok) by the designer of Ragnarök Online. Sadly, he stopped at Volume 10 and I’ll never forgive him…I want to know about Fenris and Loki, dammit!
Historically, I’m mostly an anime viewer, and seldom a manga reader. Though I’ve always been a graphic novel reader (of the non-Japanese variety). Until recently, at least . . . I’ve ponderd from time to time why it is that I haven’t been a huge manga reader, when I love graphic novels and am a compulsive anime viewer (my Netflix queue would make my college film studies professors cringe, I think, for the lack of any non-anime titles. But usually after a couple of seconds pondering that I crack open a beer or a bottle of wine and load an anime dvd . . . :-)
Anyway, recently I started to pick up the Maison Ikkoku and Genshiken manga series, and I’m loving both (just as I loved the Genshiken anime and will, I’m sure, love the Maison Ikkoku series). And I also picked up the first issue of Death Note and am truly enjoying that as well. I usually force myself to take the time to review each panel closely at some point during the reading process (sort of as a mechanism for avoiding racing through the things without appreciating the art). But the price is definitely a barrier to full-on otaku entrance into the market. Which means that, if I do land up reading more manga, it’ll be very selective purchasing and will never be at the level of my anime watching.
(Have to say I’m loving the ’80s manga art of Maison Ikkoku, though. Wow. It’s really doing the trick for me. And the story, well, just top tier and great. Price be damned on that score!)
Genshiken is one series I much prefer in print. I loved the anime, but as I watched the third DVD, I couldn’t help but notice a lax in quality in comparison to the early episodes, but the manga just gets better as it goes on. It’s not even about it going past the anime.
Maison Ikkoku is a great manga, but I think the anime does it better. Maison Ikkoku is one of the few cases where a full sensory expedition was conducted perfectly and in a far greater result than printed manga can ever accomplish. Another is School Rumble.
While I can’t argue against one’s disinterest in manga as a whole, I do hpe some more anime-inclined fans can still enjoy a great manga-only series at times, like Love Roma or Nodame Cantabile.