A little over a year ago, I was able to get some friends to participate in a group discussion reading Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya. The format of reading a graphic novel was new to several in the group - especially a Japanese graphic novel reading right to left - not to mention the daunting length of the series (23 volumes). One friend committed to reading the first 5 volumes. She said she couldn't make any promises to read further, and by the tone of her voice, I thought that might be all she would read. I was surprised (but not too surprised) when she not only kept on reading to the end of the series, but read far ahead of the reading schedule.That everyone enjoyed the story made the experiment a success. We also had some interesting discussion about the medium of storytelling - graphic novels versus prose. The consensus was that Fruits Basket would not be the same story in prose, that indeed, a lot of the storytelling conveyed in the art would be lost. I think this case could be made for most, if not all, of the manga that I've read over the past several years.
Since I know a few of us follow a variety of manga, I thought I would open the discussion up to why you like manga. Do you prefer manga over anime (when comparing the same story told in the two different mediums)? Does it vary with different series? Or, if you don't like manga at all, why not?
If there's any interest, in the coming weeks, I'd like to open this up to discuss certain series specifically, either in depth or by posting reviews. I hope you'll join me!
22 comments:
I participated in that read of Fruits Basket, and I'll admit I re-read it about once a year on my own just out of love for the series. Even now I find myself falling in love with the characters all over again as I read, and so much is due to the artwork. A look in a character's eye, their manner of dress, even seeing them grow and mature...so much can be conveyed in art that would be tedious to express in just words.
I enjoy manga very much. At first I wasn't sure I would, when I started reading it in college, because I had never been a fan of comic books like Marvel and DC, with all their busy artwork and speech bubbles with absurd POW and ZAPs in them. I only liked newspaper comics like Calvin and Hobbes at that point, but I was willing to dive in nonetheless. The right to left format didn't daunt me, since I seem to have an innate knack for reading either direction anyway, and I came to enjoy reading my books backward. The artwork is beautiful and I love the style that my favorite manga is done in. That said, I have encountered a few series where the artwork was still a bit busy for me, but by and large most of the manga I've started, I've enjoyed. I can't say I prefer one over the other, since both manga and anime have their merits, but I love having both mediums available to me for many of my favorite series, and both equally well done, in a time when every popular book becomes a movie and is twisted and redone to satisfy Hollywood's whims. I hate seeing my favorite books turned into mediocre movies. It's also fun in manga to see the ways action is visualized, and how the sound effects are rendered in Japanese. I'll probably have more to say as we go on, but for now, those are my thoughts on manga. I love the idea of broadening this blog to include more of the stuff we love, not just anime.
Oh right...this exists. And I'm a part of it. Yeesh.
I can't say I'm a fan of manga myself, nor do I have much interest in it. It's not really a manga-exclusive thing, as that extends to anything in comic-book form (the fact that manga art is in black-and-white doesn't help matters, though). I tend to find the comic format rather tiresome to read for anything longer than a traditional strip; you have to jump all over the place between word bubbles, and for authors who haven't mastered the art of layout, this can quickly get confusing. The limited frame-by-frame style of the art can also render certain actions, especially fight scenes, almost impenetrable, unless the artist really knows what they're doing.
Along with that, I personally look at comics as a kind of unhappy medium between novels and full-fledged animation. If I wanted to read something, I'd far rather choose a book, where I'm able to create the images myself based on the author's descriptions. If I want the imagery provided for me, I want to see it animated, with all the benefits of motion, voice work, and music that this brings. Comics, especially black-and-white manga, feel like the storyboards to some unfinished work...often very well-drawn storyboards, but still. I've watched every single episode of One Piece up to the Japanese broadcast, but I could never imagine going through the story by reading the manga.
I've neglected getting back to this, but have been meaning to all month. Other priorities and all that.
Angela, you
would be happy to know that Brian is rereading Fruits Basket right now.
I came from a similar perspective as you, Angela, having no interest in comic books and the like. I quickly learned that Japanese graphic novels vary greatly from what we have come to expect from American comics or American graphic novels (which are in turn different from comics).
For me, manga enhances the story. When the story is animated, events happen quickly. While this is beneficial in action sequences such as fights, a lot of the subtle nuances are lost in anime that the art in manga conveys. Angela alluded to this aspect of manga when comparing it to prose. I think a similar comparison can be made to animation.
One of the more significant issues for me that I have when contrasting anime and manga, is that with a great many series that I have followed, the anime only covers a portion of the material. This is what turned me to manga in the first place as I wanted to continue the story to its completion. What I discovered was the depth of storytelling that you find in manga. It's since become one of my favorite vehicles for storytelling.
What medium is superior comes down to personal preference, but I don't think that any medium can be dismissed without acknowledging its strengths and contributions to storytelling. The critiques that TG listed, for example, are subjective in nature (for example, I have absolutely no problem with black and white art, just as I have no problem with black and white movies, but that is my preference, and I wouldn't pretend that everyone should feel the same way as I). TG, I do think it would be important for you to recognize (if you don't already) that some of the anime that you have enjoyed over the years would not exist if it wasn't for the manga predecessors of each story even if you don't appreciate the medium in general.
I'm glad to see activity coming back to this blog again, I had missed this discussion. TG, nice to see you here. I have to agree with Kate, in that a lot of the things you mention come down to personal preference. Nothing wrong with that, of course, everyone has their likes and dislikes. I also want to agree that especially for some of my favorite series, the anime didn't cover it all, and I wanted the whole story. Fruits Basket is a prime example, as it only covers something like the first 8 volumes, and so much more goes on by the end that one almost feels like there was no real conflict in the anime by comparison, and what they turned into the final dramatic scene was only a minor occurrence in the manga. Ouran is another that falls into this category.
I'm enjoying the One Piece manga about as much as the anime, but I will say that it's daunting on both ends of the spectrum just for length. Totally worth it in my book, but daunting nonetheless.
Can we all mention some manga that we've loved, and what about it we particularly enjoyed? I'd love to compare thoughts.
Do you want to mention manga here in this discussion, or branch it out to separate posts? Maybe we can list manga that we want to discuss and go from there? I was thinking of periodically posting my goodreads reviews in here. Thought about that with FMA coming up on its finale later this month, and xxxHolic ending in another month or so...sad. :(
Sure, however you'd like to go about it, just so the discussion happens. New posts might be a good idea, starting with a list of series to talk about. Otherwise this will get pretty crazy.
I think it might just be me and you. That's not a problem except that we don't read a lot of the same stuff. The series I know we share a common interest are FMA, Ouran, and Tsubasa. If you'd give Kamisama Kiss a try, we might be able to go somewhere with this, though. :P In the meantime, which do you want to discuss? I've finished all three of the ones we have in common, so you can choose.
I'm due a re-read of both Ouran and FMA, and I'm through volume 12 of Tsubasa. We can also discuss Kodocha, it's been a while since either of us read that, hasn't it? And it's shorter than any of the rest. I was considering rereading Ouran first, so why don't we start there?
Or you might want to wait and start from the beginning sometime in the spring leading up to the final volume in June (gosh darn it, Viz, what is up with the delay???????).
I actually recently reread Kodocha earlier this year. I don't think I'm ready to read it again. It was surprisingly emotionally draining for me. I had forgotten how intense the story gets there near the end.
Hm...not really in the mood for FMA unless we just discuss it generally since it's ending this month. We could maybe do that. That wouldn't be too much to take on during this busy time of the year. That also gives me time to work on you with other series. :P
Oh, btw...checked out Bookmans yesterday and they don't have anything beyond 11 in Tsubasa. They did a few months back...had much of the series actually when I picked up several volumes, but since then, it's been cleaned out. Sorry. :(
I could wait or I could just read it again then. The reason I want to reread it now is because I just got a new volume...by then I'll be itching for it again anyway.
The end of Kodocha breaks my heart to think about, but it's so good. I haven't read it in a while, so I may read it at some point soon anyhow.
I'm always up for FMA in whatever capacity, I've watched Brotherhood through a few times already since I obtained all of it.
As for other series, my plate is pretty full right now, but I'm still going to keep working on Tsubasa. No worries about finding it used, I can still get it for a decent price elsewhere. At least now I know I can order it and read more. I'm really enjoying it.
And if nothing else, we decided to read LOTR again together after the new year anyway, so we have plenty of options for discussion.
Well...maybe we could discuss FMA first in light of it's final volume coming out at the end of the month.
How soon will you be picking up new volumes of Tsubasa? I think it would be fun to discuss that series because of how crazy it gets. That might be a good on-going one to discuss.
I'm really not sure I'm in the mood for Ouran. I reread it this summer, and when I reread a series, I need about a year to recover. :P
Um, yeah, LOTR. I also want to read Jane Eyre again. Too many books, so little time.
I'm ok with FMA. Bet we'll get some commentary on it too.
As for Tsubasa, depends on how things play out for Christmas and what I can afford, I'll probably be ordering a few volumes at a time every couple of weeks, so it won't happen all at once unless I get a major gift card.
No worries about Ouran, I'll read it myself and we can talk about it in June when the latest volume comes out.
I'm still up for a reading of LOTR, just because it's been on the brain for a while, but if you don't want to I'll read it on my own later.
Oh, I'm good with reading LOTR. Just not until the new year. Too much going on in the meantime.
That's why I suggested FMA, though, since I know it well enough to be able to discuss it cogently without having to refer constantly to the volumes.
That sounds good...a few volumes every few weeks is a good plan. Until you won't be able to wait any longer and just buy the whole thing. Maybe you won't get to that point, but I sure did. I do think you'll enjoy volumes 13 very much since you like Kurogane and it's very Kurogane centered. Go ahead and order it. Now. :P
Yup, June sounds nice. I love Ouran, but sometimes I can only take it in small doses. I've met my quote for the year. :D
I can wait until then for LOTR, I'm in the middle of a few other books at the moment anyway.
I haven't actually read FMA in ages, but I need to go through it from the beginning at some point. But like you, I know the story well enough that it shouldn't hamper me discussion-wise.
I'm sure at some point I'll want to splurge and buy all of it at once, but right now with Christmas and everything, finances are tight. I may order 13 soon, but can't right this second. Waiting for some money to get into the account again.
My only reason for wanting Ouran right now is that I love where the story is at the point I've read and I haven't read it through from the beginning since I got it, but I can respect that it would get to be a bit much if you read it over and over constantly.
*woah, postflood*
I do acknowledge that many of the series I've enjoyed wouldn't exist without an original manga series. (However, I think the majority of my favorite series tend to be original anime works, or else adaptations that aren't a straight retelling of the original manga.) As you said, it really comes down to personal preference, and manga happens to be a medium that doesn't seem to work well for me. I've been fortunate enough that the only incomplete anime adaptation whose manga I've been seriously interested in reading has been Nausicaa, and that's mainly because Miyazaki himself wrote it. I really do need to get on that someday.
Oh, and for whatever it's worth, I still would like to return to Wolf's Rain, even if it's just me posting my own thoughts on it. Lord knows when I'll manage to do that, though.
Woah, it's our blog, so we can do whatever we want, my dear.
I've come to the conclusion that we will probably not agree on much, Top Gun. But, that might make for interesting discussion? That's the hope.
You can post your thoughts on Wolf's Rain anytime. Didn't you know we were waiting on you? ;)
Angela - how do you want to go about discussing FMA? Since you've watched it recently, I'll let you lead the discussion.
Guess it didn't work the first time...anyway, I'll make a post about FMA and see where it goes. I'm betting it will turn into a contrast of the original series and Brotherhood/manga, but I'm ok with that, or whatever they want. I just like talking anime. Last night at 2 in the morning I was wracking my brains to remember the names of the other countries surrounding Amestris.
Yeah, feel free to post more about Wolf's Rain, TG, it slowed up enough that it just kind of died. I don't remember the series feeling so long. Wonder if that means my tastes have changed...
No worries about disagreeing, discussion is boring if everyone agrees about everything. Just let's not get petty or mean about it, that's all I ask. Not that anyone is, but it's something I want to avoid.
So if I do start this up, do you think I should just post my comments in the original posts for each set of episodes? Or should I make a "TG babbles on and catches up" sort of post? I'm not incredibly familiar with how visible comments on older posts would actually be in this type of format.
Totally up to you. We get email updates for comments, regardless of how old the post is, so we'll all see it.
Not everyone gets email updates, although I would recommend it if you want to keep up with discussions. This blog is hardly active enough to flood an email inbox, so I would recommend it. To sign up for the email notifications, go to settings and then comments. Scroll down to the bottom when you can add your email to get notifications.
You can also click the option when you make a comment to get notifications when someone else comments, but that will only work in posts where you've already commented.
Yeah, I was thinking about tracking down the e-mail setting, since it's much harder to distinguish new content in this format than it would be on a forum layout. (Doesn't help that I've never really done the blog thing before.) If at least some of you guys do get e-mail updates, I'll probably post the older stuff in the appropriate entries. I'm listening to a great little bit on this week's ANN podcast about the series right now, and it's giving me that extra nudge to pick up the series again.
Sounds good, TG. I'm looking forward to kicking off some more discussion in here.
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