The Top Five Reasons You Should Be Reading Manga!
Greetings, I'm Il Palazzo, and I'll be your resident manga expert. Now, I know what you're thinking: "Who the hell is Il Palazzo, and what's all this crazy manga talk?" It's true, Pink Kryptonite has always been dedicated to Americomics, but I believe people should be fans of all types of books-with-pictures. Think you can't get into manga? Think again. Check out the top five reasons you should branch out after the jump. 
5) Fewer delays: You don't have to worry about the Whedon curse with manga. Why? Because most titles have already been in publication for a few years before being translated to English. Yeah, it does take a while to translate and everything, but when a title has a release date, it's not gonna miss it. This means you won't have to worry if Tite Kubo is actually working on the next volume of Bleach. He finished that one ages ago!
4) Creator control: When a manga-ka creates something, that character tends to remain under their control (even when they let anime creators take the reigns). This way, you don't have to worry about some crappy writer you don't care about jumping on an issue putting their "own spin" on your beloved characters.
3) The art: No, it's not all just big eyes and small mouths. Some manga has a completely unique style that's very hard to copy. Some good examples include Hellsing (which seems to use almost as much ink as a Frank Miller comic) and The Drifting Classroom (which looks like a Jack Chick tract gone horribly right).
2) Compare it to the anime: In a lot of cases, the original manga is a lot better then the long-winded, drawn-out anime (Looking at you DBZ). But even if it's not, it's a nice companion if you like watching those moving pictures with subtitles.
And the number one reason you should be reading manga? You know, sometimes you just need a break from superheroes. Now go read Sgt. Frog. You'll thank me later.
Now that I'm sure you're converted to the wonderful world of manga, I'm sure you're thinking...."where do I start?" Geez, do I have to do everything for you? Ok, ok. Here's some good recommended reading for newbies.
1) Any Shonen Jump title - They're not exactly heavy reading, but oh-so entertaining. I recommend you start with either Shaman King or One Piece. Maybe even Dragon Ball if you're curious to see the inspiration for every Jump title ever.
2) Azumanga Daioh - An adorable comedy series about high-school girls. Every character has their own quirks and personality. After reading it, you'll most likely know which one identifies with you the most. I'm an Osaka!
3) The Drifting Classroom - I can't talk about this manga enough. With it being a horror manga set in an elementary school, I don't recommend it for the squemish, but if you come across it definitely give it a try. I highly suggest it for Lost fans.
You can find manga at your local library almost any place that sells books. Some comic shops carry them, but your best bets are probably Amazon, Books-A-Million, or Barnes and Noble.
Il Palazzo
Posted to Comics, Hot Stuff, New Writer, Other on 11 June 2008
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: Il Palazzo, Manga, Shonen Jump, Suggested Reading
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Shonen Jump? Ugh! Personally I feel shojo manga does action much better than shonen manga. Give me X, Angel Sanctuary or Utena (though the anime is far superior) over Naruto or One Piece any day.
And Seinen series like Monster, 20th Century Boys and Berserk are amazing too.
Manga comes out fairly regularly, until it reaches the point where the American releases catch up with the Japanese. With Hellsing, it's over a year between volumes of the manga being released now.
However, there are plenty of great series out there that have already completed their runs, or have 20+ volumes out like Berserk, so there's plenty of reading material while you wait for new releases.
4) Creator control: When a manga-ka creates something, that character tends to remain under their control (even when they let anime creators take the reigns). This way, you don't have to worry about some crappy writer you don't care about jumping on an issue putting their "own spin" on your beloved characters.
Well, sure... But it's not all birds and sunshine either, y'know? If a manga-ka creates something that turns into a massive hit, more often than not his/hers editors will start pressuring said manga-ka like, well, a good old cash cow... And all of a sudden what you liked about the manga in the first place gets totally lost under a peculiar amount of new subplots and characters that are only there so that the story will drag on and on forever. Ai Yazawa, I'm looking at you... -___-
Also, look at stuff like Saint Seiya Episode G.
Sometimes other writers do continue manga.
Wow, about time we got some manga goodness in here.
Oh hey, does Bara titles count as manga?
To Nexus: I like to think of Shonen Jump titles as the "Little Golden Books" of manga. They're not that deep, or word heavy, but a good jumping point for someone not used to reading right-to-left.
To BUBBLE-LEAD: Yeah, I've been noticing that happen more and more with series I collect over the past year or so. But at least they stick to the American release date!
To Nexus and AntonioSugizo: Agreed. There are exceptions to every rule.
And to beergoggles: Yes. Possibly more then regular manga.