Why Manga?
 

So, why is Manga so popular and what makes it better then watching an anime? I don't really know how anyone can get into things with no animation whatsoever and just plain images. But, that's me. So, tell me why you like Manga. I'm interested to hear why it's so popular.

Well, I grew up reading comic books so it is only natural for me to continue to do so.

Manga usually gets away with having more to it because it has a MUCH lower production value. You tell your story across panels, and can cover more ground quicker this way, as well.

the story is usually more detailed and better told in the manga than the anime. The anime usually leaves out stuff they think is unnecessary or just don't fit into 30minute slots

Anime tends to become very slow paced when they try to include everything a manga has. Especially long sequences of character conversations, thoughts, explanations etc. Instead of "choking" the anime episode with all this, they often drop it or rewrite the plot. This isn't always successful. You might have heard people say "the book was better" when speaking of movies? The same goes for anime and manga, the written one is most often considered better. Take Lord of the Rings, for instance. I'm sure most people who read the triology before the movies came prefer the book.

Sometimes large pieces of the plot is left out because they need to fit the anime into a specified number of episodes, like 12 or 26 episodes total.

Anyone read the manga for DNAngel and watched the anime? That was an extreme case of plot changing and dumbing down the story, and I form that opinion after reading only a few scanlated issues. When the Graphic Novels are released in April by Tokyopop, I'll finally get to see the story the way it was meant to be told.

ahh i get it. well, anyone recommend a start manga for me to download (unliscenced of course) and take a look at? maybe i'll find it interesting.

I think that it's become a very sad day when peope can no longer use their imagination or read for the simple fact that the images aren't moving. Have we become such a tv addicted culture, or people, that unless it's moving we don't want anything to do with it? Or unless the information is presented to us right in our faces in a manner that we have become accumstomed to from the "boob tube" we can't accept it? Is this our ultimate demise? Have we become that superficial?

True that we live in ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) stricken society, but I guess it's still so hard to accept the consequences of it. There was a time not too long ago when people had patience. What has happened? I think we're doomed as a society. :sad:

As for your question...I like both. Many times, the manga can go deeper into something, or explore more story, contain more depth, and even be more beautiful than the anime, because they are just cheaper to make and the person who created, obviously is attached to the work and will in fact put all of their hard work and dedication into the art that they are creating. When it comes to manga, there is no concern of budget except when it comes to printing costs. It's also more than just about plain images, these are images juxtaposed together to create a story. The artist/creators use this story and juxtaposed images is their way of communicating to you, the reader. Whether you listen or not is up to you.

You know, I don't watch TV and haven't in a over a year. I do read books as well. But I have never been really into comics/manga. Not everybody likes all the same things. You can't say I have no imagination when I've read far more books then I can keep count. Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings, Sword of Truth, the Shanarra series, etc.

I don't really know how anyone can get into things with no animation whatsoever and just plain images

The same thing could be said for "plain text". I like reading both books and manga, so I would say that the above statement doesn't really give the impression that you're the reading type. You see how easily that statement could be misinterpreted into you disliking anything about reading, right?

Anyway, no need to take offense, as I'm sure it was a general remark, not an insult. :)

Well, manga's are literally the origin of the animes. Most of the animes you see nowadays come from their orginal form, manga. And like Hunterx mentioned, most of the animes tend to leave out some stuff and will end up being slightly different from the manga itself. If you wanna try out some manga, well dunno if others will agreee with me but, I'll recommend Hajime No Ippo, Pretty Face, SlamDunk (can't remember if it's licensed or not) for now. Of course there's a lot more out there.....

any sort of sites that are kind of centralized for manga like animesuki is with anime? i guess i can try out a few.

and yes i guess i gave the wrong impression in my original post. i do love to read but i can remember reading comic books and they never really interested me. i assume manga is basically the same thing except in japanese. but i haven't read a comic in near 8 years so maybe i'll like them now.

I can't stand American comic books... they just... suck. Of course, manga's different, for reasons listed above.

Anyway, check out http://www.manganews.net for unlicensed manga releases. And sites you'll want to go to are http://www.snoopycool.com (of course I list myself first... who the hell wouldn't?), http://www.toriyamaworld.com http://www.omanga.net, and http://www.mangascreener.com

All of those provide some, if not all, of their archives in direct downloads.

Wll many people here gave valid answers to ure question and i'm pretty sure no one is going against it. But there are times that the anime version is better than the manga version. I'm kinda sure some manga are created after the animeshow (i think escaflowne is one of those and i heard that it sucks). As for which manga to start reading well, currently i'm reading black cat, tokko, hajime no ippo, prince of tennis, hunter x hunter...

if u want to comapre manga with anime, i think prince of tennis is a good example why most people prefer manga over anime. especially in the last few ep of pot.

book is always better.

lot of manga has better art.
and unless u have those new portable media player that can hold .avi and other video files and play it on a small screen. you can carry mangas a lot easier.

I hope you arent including X-men in that generalization of yours! :eyebrow:

Not really....why? Simply coz we get to see our fav' manga on the screen in action. There are times when the anime can be better then the manga itself. Like Saint Seiya Hades OVA is a good example. The animes was somewhat better then the manga itself. But I do agree with you about about art; coz if you notice carefully, there are times in the later series of the anime where the characters art tend to be out of shape..... In manga, that kind of error doesn't occir frequently since it's done directly by the creator himself/herself.

LOL Well, American comic's do have a bad reputation dude. When it comes to anime, no one beats the Japanese. However, there seems to be a huge change through out the years, and I hate to say but the art works for the comics has somewhat become acceptable.

I enjoy anime very much, but it all comes down to cost. It costs $25 USD for one volume of anime on DVD in most cases. Outlaw Star is only 3 discs, and that box set costs $90 last time I saw it. But I can get 1 volume of manga for $10, and it will usually have more story elements in it than one volume of the anime did.

Then there's the issue of quality. Of the mangas I've read, (not many mind you, but still), the manga was [i]much[i/] better than the anime. Plus there is usually more to the story in the manga that was cut out of the anime (Full Metal Panic, Nausicaa, and Love Hina to name a few).

Actually, yes. Yes I am including X-Men in that. As well as Spiderman, Spawn, Superman, and all the other American comis that start with 'S'. I've simply never liked the art styles used in main stream comic books. The lines are too harsh, comedy sucks if it's in there at all, and I find no possible way to even remotely connect with any of the characters.

Besides, I can buy an imported manga for 6 bucks (way less if it's used), and an import DVD (or an American release DVD for that matter) costs me 25-80 dollars (the latter being the import... yeah, seriously), so of course, I'll pick the media that's best suited for my lifestyle. Also, there are 100's of mangas started and ended each year that are never animated for various reasons, and some of them are very much worth reading.

Yes, yes, it's true, my Ippo manga collection continues to grow and grow. One day I'll even catch up to snoopy and then BEWARE! ^_____^

I love anime, but before I ever liked it I already liked comics (french and beligum ones) and later on manga.
As has been previously stated, I think anime just doesn't deliver the exact same kinde of content as a manga. I t can give more in terms of emotions through the voices and images, it can be beautifull and can have many things a book or a manga will never have; but it will also miss many things. (just like film adaptation always miss something out of the original)
Manga, books or comics can afford longer story, more detailed descriptions of the world, the charachter and any detail the author think is important to his work. Therefeore I think I will always prefer written versions as most of the times they are just deeper and anyway, there are many things that you just can't find anywhere else.

I actually started with anime, but lately I've spent more money on maga, simply coz I've been travelling a lot and I need to have a fix on the plane of the road trips. It's just a way to get "anime" away from home for me. :D