AnimeSuki Forums

Fighter Volk · 2004-07-07, 20:33

Here's something I've been wondering about recently. Do any of you guys buy Japanese, untranslated original manga? And for what reason?

I personally like to buy the originals of the manga that I become attached to through scanlations. Then they not only look beautiful on my shelf, but they're there if I want to look at a certain scene without digging through all my manga folders. It also makes me feel good that I actually have the originals of all the stuff I get off of the Internet.

Then again, I'm biased because I have both a Kinokuniya and a BookOff (Oh God, BookOff is my HERO) an hour away from my houes

How about the rest of you?

Kaka · 2004-07-07, 21:00

yes I buy manga in japanese

I was used to read manga in chinese, but then after I learned japanese I soon felt the chinese translation of the characters are weird, so I decided to just read manga in japanese. About scanlations, I don't keep them, I will buy the book if I really like the series, besides I hate reading manga in languages other than chinese and japanese.

stpehen · 2004-07-07, 21:00

I buy them to read them.

zalas · 2004-07-07, 21:15

I used to buy Chinese manga, until I found out about Bookoff ^^;
Now I have a decent collection sitting in my room...

Fighter Volk · 2004-07-08, 07:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by zalas

I used to buy Chinese manga, until I found out about Bookoff ^^;
Now I have a decent collection sitting in my room...

The one dollar section, man

I love BookOff so much.

Ending · 2004-07-08, 07:19

Never had, due the simple fact that there aren't ANY shops that sell them. (Why should they? Like anyone around could even read asian symbols.) So Internet is the only source of mangas for me.

ShikaShika · 2004-07-08, 07:29

There's a Japanese store in downtown Stockholm that sells 'em. I bought I few to flesh out my vocabulary.

Akageno · 2004-07-08, 07:38

I buy on the Japanese rare things, which cannot be got in English, like Fushigi Yuugi story Genbu or Saint Seya.

And a good practice at study of language

Spooky-Electric · 2004-07-08, 14:44

No, I can't read Japanese.

bubblehead · 2004-07-08, 16:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spooky-Electric

No, I can't read Japanese.

Same here, sadly. Although it's not really like I've been trying to learn or anything. ^^;

I just buy the American ones. And shockingly, I don't read scanlations either.

There are actually two Kinokuniya bookstores within semi-reasonable driving distance of my house, one in San Francisco and one in San Jose. But when I go there, all I buy (if anything) are those American-released mangas.

tsurumaru · 2004-07-08, 16:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by stpehen

I buy them to read them.

I buy them to attempt to read them!

jennwenn · 2004-07-08, 18:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsurumaru

I buy them to attempt to read them!

Same here. And I fail miserably.

Tho at least I can pretend its "studying Japanese" just like watching anime is "research" heh.

7thMethuselah · 2004-07-08, 18:39

I bought a few out of curiosity. I've tried reading them but it goes slow, very very slow. Usually I prefer to read stuff in the original language (my bookshelf (regular books, not anime) has about half the worlds languages in it

).

But my current level of Japanese is not good enough to read it fluently, and I don't wanna take a week to read one manga, so I'm using it for practice and keep buying the french/english/... ones for now. Untill my jap becomes good enough, then i'l prolly switch

babbito2k · 2004-07-08, 18:53

I am not too good at reading them, so if I get a title and it is scanlated soon afterwards, I wind up reading the scans. I did find a couple I like that noone wants to touch - FARCE! and Mahou Tsukai Tai!, both by Shamneko. So all I know about those is from my labored reading efforts. I also have a fairly large stack of the monthly phone-book magazines, but I stopped getting those - most of the titles in any given issue are deservedly obscure.

KristopherZ · 2004-07-08, 19:01

Well, I took Japanese 1 over on college. It was acclerated and it was extrodinarily hard.

So I decided to self teach myself Japanese and Manga's are a bright and shiny new and different way to do it. I will say though that it does look good next to all my american manga's.

Key · 2004-07-09, 23:12

All of the above (sans "No, I don't"). I can read Japanese (although fully understanding it is a different story), they look nice on my shelf, and I buy series that I like that were first read in scantlation/scanned forms. Plus, it helps keep my knowledge of the language (which is decidedly very little) from getting rusty.

Roots · 2004-07-10, 00:08

You have selected: "Other - please elaborate in reply"

My elaboration is I plan to start buying Japanese manga. I've studied Japanese for 3 years now and I feel I have a good enough grasp over the language that I can read novice-intermediate material as long as I have some references handy. It's the really difficult manga about thermo-nuclear nanophysics that I get my ass kicked in.

I'm not taking Japanese class anymore though and its really, really hard to motivate yourself to learn on your own. So I thought that if I buy Japanese manga that would force me to keep actively learning the language. I think it's a good idea

That was reason #1 for buying Japanese manga. Reason #2 is that I simply dislike the translated material that I've read. A lot of time translators will throw out pieces of dialogue so they can fit the text in the bubbles, or they won't translate sound effects properly (or not at all), or they just plain suck. I hate English, the original Japanese sounds so much cooler to me.

I bought the Love Hina bi-lingual (Japanese-English) manga volumes and that helped a lot with my studies actually. The only bad thing was that the English translator was British and he often inserted British slang terms and the dialogue would sound weird. Ex) Keitarou: "Aww man my life sucks. I'm failing my exams and I had a big row with Narusegawa last night". (I'm not sure if it's supposed to be row or roe). Anyways once I get some financial stability after I start grad school I'm going to start importing and build my collection.

If anyone has good sites/sources for buying imported manga please share them for myself and others like me.

EDIT: Possible reason #3. Would girls be impressed if I had a bunch of Japanese books in my room?

Baba · 2004-07-10, 00:25

I can't really read in japanese well enough to understand a manga correctly, but I did buy manga in japanese while I was in Japan. This was mostly to try it out and to see how my favorit manga would develop, but I don't think I'll buy others before I get really better at japanese....

NinjaSetsuna · 2004-07-10, 01:38

I don't buy any American manga, translations or scanlations.

And BookOff is the best store on Earth!

Hiei · 2004-07-10, 13:19

i buy japanese manga, but i can't read them.. i downloaded the translation and reading it in one hand and the manga on the other hand..

i own quite a few titles, like Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, Dragon Ball, Recca no Honoo, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Naruto, Shaman King, Meitantei Conan, Shin Tekken Chinmi.. currently reading Wild Base Ballers..

View Poll Results: Do you buy Japanese manga?
Yeah. I can read Japanese.	33	37.50%
Yeah, because it looks really nice on my shelf.	4	4.55%
Yeah, I buy the originals of scanlations I enjoy.	13	14.77%
No, I don't.	32	36.36%
Other - please elaborate in reply	6	6.82%
Voters: 88. You may not vote on this poll

2004-07-07, 20:33	Link #1
Fighter Volk Thanks sakurabatou @ LJ Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NYC	Do you buy Japanese manga? Here's something I've been wondering about recently. Do any of you guys buy Japanese, untranslated original manga? And for what reason? I personally like to buy the originals of the manga that I become attached to through scanlations. Then they not only look beautiful on my shelf, but they're there if I want to look at a certain scene without digging through all my manga folders. It also makes me feel good that I actually have the originals of all the stuff I get off of the Internet. Then again, I'm biased because I have both a Kinokuniya and a BookOff (Oh God, BookOff is my HERO) an hour away from my houes How about the rest of you?

2004-07-10, 13:19	Link #20
Hiei The Black Dragon Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia	i buy japanese manga, but i can't read them.. i downloaded the translation and reading it in one hand and the manga on the other hand.. i own quite a few titles, like Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, Dragon Ball, Recca no Honoo, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Naruto, Shaman King, Meitantei Conan, Shin Tekken Chinmi.. currently reading Wild Base Ballers.. __________________ -- love of my life -- current most favourite

2004-07-07, 21:00	Link #2
Kaka 罪人クロノ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Canada Age: 38	yes I buy manga in japanese I was used to read manga in chinese, but then after I learned japanese I soon felt the chinese translation of the characters are weird, so I decided to just read manga in japanese. About scanlations, I don't keep them, I will buy the book if I really like the series, besides I hate reading manga in languages other than chinese and japanese.

2004-07-07, 21:00	Link #3
stpehen kisses for all Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: ぶちゅー！ Age: 40	I buy them to read them.

2004-07-07, 21:15	Link #4
zalas tsubasa o sagashite Join Date: Jul 2003	I used to buy Chinese manga, until I found out about Bookoff ^^; Now I have a decent collection sitting in my room...

2004-07-08, 07:19	Link #6
Ending Senior Member Join Date: May 2004	Never had, due the simple fact that there aren't ANY shops that sell them. (Why should they? Like anyone around could even read asian symbols.) So Internet is the only source of mangas for me.

2004-07-08, 07:29	Link #7
ShikaShika 無罪 Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: もう東京ではない Age: 43	There's a Japanese store in downtown Stockholm that sells 'em. I bought I few to flesh out my vocabulary.

2004-07-08, 07:38	Link #8
Akageno tomoshibi Join Date: Feb 2004 Age: 39	I buy on the Japanese rare things, which cannot be got in English, like Fushigi Yuugi story Genbu or Saint Seya. And a good practice at study of language

2004-07-08, 14:44	Link #9
Spooky-Electric Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003	No, I can't read Japanese.

2004-07-08, 18:39	Link #13
7thMethuselah Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Antwerp area, Belgium, Europa Age: 48	I bought a few out of curiosity. I've tried reading them but it goes slow, very very slow. Usually I prefer to read stuff in the original language (my bookshelf (regular books, not anime) has about half the worlds languages in it ). But my current level of Japanese is not good enough to read it fluently, and I don't wanna take a week to read one manga, so I'm using it for practice and keep buying the french/english/... ones for now. Untill my jap becomes good enough, then i'l prolly switch

2004-07-08, 18:53	Link #14
babbito2k annoying white bat Join Date: Jan 2004	I am not too good at reading them, so if I get a title and it is scanlated soon afterwards, I wind up reading the scans. I did find a couple I like that noone wants to touch - FARCE! and Mahou Tsukai Tai!, both by Shamneko. So all I know about those is from my labored reading efforts. I also have a fairly large stack of the monthly phone-book magazines, but I stopped getting those - most of the titles in any given issue are deservedly obscure.

2004-07-08, 19:01	Link #15
KristopherZ Car Freak Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: The Land of Nod Age: 39	Well, I took Japanese 1 over on college. It was acclerated and it was extrodinarily hard. So I decided to self teach myself Japanese and Manga's are a bright and shiny new and different way to do it. I will say though that it does look good next to all my american manga's.

2004-07-09, 23:12	Link #16
Key s e m p i t e r n a l Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: California Age: 38	All of the above (sans "No, I don't"). I can read Japanese (although fully understanding it is a different story), they look nice on my shelf, and I buy series that I like that were first read in scantlation/scanned forms. Plus, it helps keep my knowledge of the language (which is decidedly very little) from getting rusty.

2004-07-10, 00:08	Link #17
Roots 外人、漫画訳者 Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Austin, TX Age: 41	You have selected: "Other - please elaborate in reply" My elaboration is I plan to start buying Japanese manga. I've studied Japanese for 3 years now and I feel I have a good enough grasp over the language that I can read novice-intermediate material as long as I have some references handy. It's the really difficult manga about thermo-nuclear nanophysics that I get my ass kicked in. I'm not taking Japanese class anymore though and its really, really hard to motivate yourself to learn on your own. So I thought that if I buy Japanese manga that would force me to keep actively learning the language. I think it's a good idea That was reason #1 for buying Japanese manga. Reason #2 is that I simply dislike the translated material that I've read. A lot of time translators will throw out pieces of dialogue so they can fit the text in the bubbles, or they won't translate sound effects properly (or not at all), or they just plain suck. I hate English, the original Japanese sounds so much cooler to me. I bought the Love Hina bi-lingual (Japanese-English) manga volumes and that helped a lot with my studies actually. The only bad thing was that the English translator was British and he often inserted British slang terms and the dialogue would sound weird. Ex) Keitarou: "Aww man my life sucks. I'm failing my exams and I had a big row with Narusegawa last night". (I'm not sure if it's supposed to be row or roe). Anyways once I get some financial stability after I start grad school I'm going to start importing and build my collection. If anyone has good sites/sources for buying imported manga please share them for myself and others like me. EDIT: Possible reason #3. Would girls be impressed if I had a bunch of Japanese books in my room?

2004-07-10, 00:25	Link #18
Baba Grouky Freak Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Paris, France Age: 44	I can't really read in japanese well enough to understand a manga correctly, but I did buy manga in japanese while I was in Japan. This was mostly to try it out and to see how my favorit manga would develop, but I don't think I'll buy others before I get really better at japanese....

2004-07-10, 01:38	Link #19
NinjaSetsuna Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Denile, Earth	I don't buy any American manga, translations or scanlations. And BookOff is the best store on Earth!