Anime. Wha...?

First off, I'd like to make clear that I am not dissing manga or anime or the people who enjoy it. This is NOT a critique of the art form. It's simply personal oppinions stated to form a basis for a question.

I don't get anime. Or manga, really. I don't understand why soooo many people love it. I'm a HUGE comics fan so one would assume that manga is something I would feel a connection with, yet I don't. I have read numerous mangas, Ghost in the Shell, Domu, etc but I still prefer American/ European comics to manga. As for anime, I've watched a bit but I can't seem to connect with it the way I can with other animated movies/shows.

I think, for me, the biggest hurdle is that, to my eye, it all looks so similar. Perhaps this is due to my limited knowledge of the form but every manga artists looks pretty much like every other manga artist. Now, I admit the same could be said of comic artists however I can think of sever high-profile ones whose styles are hugely different from each other. As I said, this might just be due to the fact that I know a great deal more about comics than I do manga.

I can not place my finger on it exactly but I've never really completely enjoyed any manga I've read. So I'm asking you, the manga/ anime fans, to enlighten me. Explain to me what it is that you enjoy so much, what is it about the medium that speaks to you. This isn't some sort of test, or being a smart-ass on my part. I'm honestly curious and honestly wish to know. There is so much of it out there I feel I'm missing out, but I need to know which way to look at it.

Cheers.

Wikipedia offers the best explanation.

# Kodomo manga: intended for children
# Shōjo manga: intended for girls
# Seinen manga: intended for young men
# Josei manga: intended for young women
# Shōnen manga: intended for boys

Generally each of the above categories have distinct art styles in - in of themselves. Some more pronounced then others. For example Shojo is very distinct and easy to spot as the art style is more pronounced and the mangaka (person who draws manga) tends to be more often then not female.

Artists themselves then have their own style which drills down even further.

As far as finding entertainment value in a given story, be it manga or anime. It comes down to story, art, characters, plot, etc.

Some people can watch almost any anime and find it entertaining while others might only like certain specific series. Some are fast paced and easy to understand while others are vague and are generally mind trips. In general you should think of Anime/Manga as Media type on which a story can be expressed rather then as a specific genre. In fact Anime/Manga has many sub genres that are in in of themselves very distinct in nature.

Highly recommend www.anidb.com for info on specific series and as a database of anime that allows some exploration.

Also if you want to see some serious, hardcore, and definetly not for children stuff; check out some of these series.

Black Lagoon, Hellsing, Gantz, Berserk

I understand that manga/anime is it's own media type (you'll note above I called it an art form) and that, as with film, music, comics, games etc it has various categories aimed at different people and tastes. However, re-reading my original post I don't think I really got across my question.

As I said I'm a big comics fan. Of course there are creators and characters I prefer over others but before I'm a fan of a character/creator I'm first and foremost a fan of the medium and art form that is comics(or "sequential art" to use Will Eisners definition.) The reason I love the comics medium is the way stories are told through it, the harmonious existence of words and images. I love the heightened-reality of super-hero comics as well as the gritty realism of titles like Blankets. The hugly diffident styles of art, from Bryan O'Malley to Alex Ross. The language of comics is so unique and, I feel, they are a very personal medium. It's like a movie without the audience and a novel with more visceral impact but not necessarily at the loss of literary integrity. In my humble opinion the art from of comics is the greatest ever.

And some people get this from manga/anime. Manga in particular has so much in common with comics, yet I can't connect with it in the same way. What the real question in my previous post was is what is it that people who like anime/manga as I do comics see in anime/manga? What am I missing?

I hope that makes sense.

I wonder if it is as simple as a cultural difference. The people I know who like anime tend to immerse themselves in learning all about Japanese culture and language. When I watch a film with my brother he explains to me what a simple gesture that I easily overlook really means, or how much respect someone is showing towards another by what they call them. Without knowing these things, it is uninteresting to me.

But I just don't have the desire to learn about that culture and get into the art. What I have seen is not intriguing to me enough to put forth the effort. Sort of like how I was never interested in Egyptian art. The fact that it looked the same for hundreds of years is somewhat appalling to me. But the purpose of their art wasn't to glorify the artist, but to portray things in the best way to transfer into the afterlife. There was already a system set in place on what different things are supposed to look like and how they should be portrayed. Maybe with manga/anime, the focus is more on the story, and the system is already set in place for the most efficient way to portray the story.

I've got to disagree with you there; I like anime, but I don't immerse myself in the Japanese culture. I see it more as simply another form of media, just like the difference between TV and film. While there probably is a lot that I miss without that same background, there's enough of a similarity that I can still enjoy the stories in their own way. Take an anime like Eureka Seven, one that I just finished watching: everything was in Japanese, yes, (and let me say, thank god for subtitles!) but even the occasional reference to a culture I don't share didn't hurt my enjoyment, because I was watching it for the individual characters and their stories.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, try and take it less like something Japanese and more like just another cartoon or comic book, just one with a slightly different take on how to tell the story.

Interesting thoughts. The cultural difference is a possibility. As for taking like another kind of comic book, it doesn't have the same feel as American/European comics do for me. I don't know, maybe I need to try harder

I can't really say what draws me to anime/manga, other than the fact that I'm asian and I draw. 8D
But I like it because it's cute, it's simple, and it's simply cute. It's a lot freer than some American comics like Marvel or DC, because most of us are not capable of drawing dark shadows, intense crosshatching, or buff heroes. Another appeal of anime/manga is that most of the time, the general populace can connect with the characters, the story, the setting, etc. Girls can all imagine themselves as magical girls saving the galaxy as much as guys can pretend they pilot mecha robots that can save the world. Maybe this happens in American comics too, but as far as I know of Marvel, there's no way girls and boys can become giant muscleheads in a few days.
If you also consider the fact that American comics mostly deal with wordy, wry jokes, anime/manga utilises visual jokes, exaggerating features and whatnot. It makes it easier to laugh at the image, instead of thinking and chuckling at the cleverness of the words.
These are just what I think. Personally, since I'm still a naive student, this may or may not help you. But maybe it will? XD

I must say, I LOVE Anime, but for some reason I never got into the whole Manga thing. No idea why, but I prefer American comics. Odd, I know. Meh.

Yeah, You'll find that most of the staff are anime or manga addicts, I personally don't understand it, I'll stick to my movies, lol.

I guess it's one of those things that, to really get it, you have to actually watch some of it. My "gateway drug" to anime was Cowboy Bebop; try watching the english version sometime. It's accessible, mature, exciting, and the music is awesome to boot. There's a reason it was the first anime to be shown on Cartoon Network, not to mention being the reason why they started showing more anime on TV.

I think this might be a big issue in the comics VS manga thing (not that are actually fighting...you know what I mean). It seems people have a better understanding of what kind of stories you can get from manga/anime than they do of comics. SO many people, when they think of comics, only think of Marvel and DC. That's fair enough because they are the "big two" in comics. The problem is Marvel/Dc pretty much only do superheroes, so the average person thinks that all comics are are superheroes. This is sooooooo far from the truth.

Joypop, you said you like anime/manga because it's simple and cute. Well, check out Jeff Smith's graphic novel series Bone. It's simple, it's cute, it's beautifully drawn, funny as heck and very, very moving. It's an absolutely brilliant book.Then there is Korgi, another amazing title from Top Shelf. Again, very cute, very simple in execution but amazingly touching. Those two titles use visual humor as well. There are many other examples of such titles. And yes, there are comics whith relateable characters, "real" characters, such as Strangers in Paradise. There are also humor comics, horror comics, biographical comics, reference comics. Every genre, style, taste or subject you can think of, there is a comic dedicated to it. Honestly, my favorite issue of the 100+ run of Ultimate Spider-Man is the issue in which Peter tells MJ that he is Spider-Man. The whole thing takes place in Peter's bedroom. There is no super-hero fight, Peter doesn't even put on the costume. He just gives her a quick example of his powers and then for the rest of the issue tries to convince her he's not making it up. It's such a personal issue, it really shows who those two characters are. And not one "musclehead" in sight.

The problem is, and it's a big failing of the comics book industry as a whole and it makes me sad as a fan, that most people don't know about these books. If you ask an average person who Spider-Man is, they'll know in a second. You ask them who Scott Pilgrim, John Constantine, Katchoo or who another character from a very successful indy comic is and they will have no idea. Why? Because, for some reason, those characters aren't brought into the public consciousness like the Marvel/DC characters. Now, granted that Marvel/DC are much bigger companies that the indy publishers, but shouldn't the industry of comics be pushing these characters and their titles anyway? It's very strange, and quite sad, IMO

Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent, but I felt I should point out that there is more to comics than spandex...

One of the reasons manga and anime is as glorified as it is is because of how accessible it is. You can stay withing the 'big' publishers and find pretty much every ganra you could possibly want, while for comic books people you have to look a little harder then just the big publishers, and that my friend is too much work for some people. Not attacking anime and manga fans mind you, or labeling them as all like that This is simply an observation on my part.

For me I like animation and comic books from every corner of the world. I don't like everything mind you, in fact I'm very picky, but I'm not going to judge or label a story or series based on where it was made or how it looks. I like artistic things, I like the writing to be artistic and captivating, the characters to be likable and well developed, and of course, the art to be detailed and well worked on, regardless of if it's style is completely 'original' or not. I want it to feel like a part of whoever made it was put into it, and it wasn't something quickly thrown together to make a quick buck, or something made to show off 'how good they are at so and so"

As for convincing you to like it, it is unlikely, as people for the most part love picking sides, which you have clearly done. It's like the never ending video game console wars. A PS3 or Xbox360 fan can go on forever on why they like the system, and everything they say will go over looked or challenged, because clearly, the decision to keep to one side has already been made.

No, you're right. I run a fan-site on the comic hero The Phantom which isn't published by Marvel or DC. The vast majority of Phantom readers do not step outside the comfort zone of that one title, and if they do it's only for books by the same publisher. Again, they think all comics are are superheroes, but it's because they haven't looked elsewhere. As you say, they couldn't be bothered.



I'm trying to get more into European comics. I've recently read Sky Doll which Marvel re-printed and it was beautiful. The problem is the issues are so expensive I'll probably just wait for the trades unless I can find another publisher selling them cheaper than Marvel does.




That's not true, I didn't "pick a side." I didn't consciously say I want nothing to do with manga/anime. I simply don't understand it, that is all. I'm trying to widen my horizons here.

But yes, I have picked one in the console war. I will never, ever buy a Sony console!

Just read Gantz, really, Im a huge manga fan, but I have fail to have a manga to read that captures my attention for more than ten numbers, then I read Gantz and couldn't stop till I reached the chapter 303 which is the latest chapter published.
Just stop questioning the art form so much and have some reading.
There are like thousands of people that love country music, but I fail to love it, is just a question of taste, you may just dont have taste for the japanese sequential art.

Well, I think I know what you mean about manga/anime being hard to connect with. When I was younger, I used to think manga was a bunch of crap (I still kinda think that anime is... But anyway, I guess I hated it because manga is too often criticized as being ditzy soft porn, which I mean, some manga ARE, but a lot are NOT). I think that American comics are, in general, less cliche and more straightforward, and so maybe that is why you like them better? In terms of style, I think that there are manga artists out there with unique tastes, for example, some draw with smooth, soft lines while others use more sharp ones. And then there are those who overdose on detail and those who like to keep it simple.
A lot of manga fails to appeal to me because at LEAST 65% of it TRIES to be touching and fails to do so. But of course, there are also those manga that try to send some sort of deep message and fail to do so. There are a few diamonds in the dirt though, I myself enjoy Fullmetal Alchemist and Death Note because the art is great and the plots interest me. The thing about manga is that it is really hard to find something that has a perfect plot. Oftentimes, manga start out with a driving plot, but then sort of dissolve into subplots, dark and mysterious pasts, romantic scenes, and random twists that don't add to the plot, but instead come off as annoying (like it's there for shock value or something). I find that manga loses focus more than American comics... But maybe that's just me. (Sorry. I am not trying to criticize manga, after all I AM a fan of it, but I'm just trying to think of why you may not enjoy it.) I'm kind of a rambler, not sure if this even made sense...

But in terms of helping you understand manga, I think you just have to get someone who knows what you like and can direct you to some really good manga. It's hard to get to like manga because there is so much junk in that genre, but once you find something you like, it's hard to unhook yourself from it, and, IMO, that is what makes people so crazy about manga/anime.