Please note: the following article is by Saul Gomez-Vazquez

Manga

What is manga? Well according to Writingexplained.org, manga is a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels. It is read from right to left which tends to confuse people on their first time reading who aren’t used to the style.

Manga can be drawn either by the author themselves or someone who found it interesting enough to draw it for the author. Chapters usually come out weekly from magazines, like “Shonen Jump,” while a whole volume ends up taking about a month or two. It all depends on who draws as everyone has differing speeds and deadlines. 

Now normally, anime does an amazing job of portraying the gravity of events in the series. However, there are some moments in manga that anime cannot compete with or even get cut from the anime version of the same story. 

For example, in the series “Akame Ga Kill!,” a large portion near the center was cut out from the anime due to it being restricted to a mere 12-episode run. Unfortunately, the pieces that were cut out held some of the most amazing parts of the series that really plucked on the heartstrings of readers. Not only that, but the anime took a few liberties with the source material that weren’t exactly advantageous to the story. 

Now, Aimar will say that anime does a better job capturing the feeling of the material than a manga.  Clearly, Aimar has never read “Bleach.” Now, it’s undeniable that there are many times in which the anime did a mind-blowing job at creating depth in events. However, the manga has its own way of drawing out that heaviness even more than its motion picture counterpart, despite its monochromatic pages.  The feeling one gets from the manga is simply indescribable whereas the feelings from the anime are at times forced upon the viewer.

For anybody who doubts the veracity of the above claim, I like to use one of my favorite characters as an example who wears a mask. The mask is often depicted as downright frightening. The anime does a good job of copying the look but the manga’s monochromatic scaling pulls it off better and makes you truly grasp the horror that the characters get when facing that mask. 

Another important advantage to manga to look at is its lack of censorship. Censorship is obviously something that needs to be talked about because at times it can confuse some people. I will once again take a look at Bleach. 

In one scene from the anime, there was a character freaking out over his friend getting stabbed in the back. Normally it seems reasonable to do so, but it happens frequently in Bleach.  So why the panic? Turns out, in the manga, she had been cut in half from her waist. Now, that might just seem like superfluous gore, especially since the end result of either action is quite often the same.  However, as far as capturing the complete and utter brutality of the moment, the manga does a far better job. Mangas are hardly censored, and make for a more emotionally dynamic story.

Much like a flurry of punches from a favorite character in the heat of battle, there are lots of “rapid-fire” advantages to manga. 

Oftentimes, manga animators will include fun and interesting artwork in-between chapters or the manga as well as for the cover art.

Manga also includes small translations about words or items that appear in the text in order for readers to understand the lines better; show me that in an anime, AIMAR!

Aside from that, on occasion, small side panels in the manga also hold notes from the author. Whether it’s about the story or something else that is relevant, at the end of each volume or other, we normally have the author thank his staff for helping out. It isn’t much or story-relevant usually, but it adds a nice feeling at the end reading about the author’s feelings and adds a sense of connection.

Manga also lends itself to a deeper fanship, allowing readers to pour over minor details that are gone in the blink of an eye (or foregone completely) in the anime.

While Anime-mar (get it?) makes some ok points, I think it’s obvious that manga gives the fans far more bang for their buck. 

Thumbnail photo courtesy of Reelrundown.com

Header photo courtesy of Shogi-pinnapple.com