Why people dont read manga ?

[Nerd]

@Savannah Well.... sure I agree buying manga would be expencive, but I mean reading it online (for the sake of everything being 100% legal lets use example of korean webtoons) It's free and it's not any harder to read it than anything else.

 

[Pskovanion]

I dont really know to be honest. I dont have time for it and what i have seen from manga it isnt something what really interests me. I can fully understand why others like it but for me personally it isnt something i'd watch.

 

[Kan]

I do read manga, but finding it legally for free that is the problem. However, I have bought manga a lot more when I was in Highschool and would like to get back into it!

 

[Alkaline Martin]

I really enjoy reading manga, thankfully for me there is a store in Glasgow that is full of manga and for a reasonable price aswell.

But being honest the way it goes for me is watch an anime if i liked it then look and see if there is a manga because with the manga you will sometimes get a slightly different story or take on it. I think the only one i read before watching the anime was Death Note.

 

[Savannah]

@Savannah Well.... sure I agree buying manga would be expencive, but I mean reading it online (for the sake of everything being 100% legal lets use example of korean webtoons) It's free and it's not any harder to read it than anything else.

I know, but I prefer to read actual books because it hurts my eyes less than a computer screen lol. I may look into seeing if I could handle it being on my Nook.

 

[Bee]

I was actually reading the manga of Kore wa zombie desu ka this morning :3 I'm proud to say my shelf of manga is a pretty decent size. I'm actually still hunting to complete my collection when it comes to the one I was reading earlier... I only have 4 of the books and I know there is for sure more of them.

 

[Generic Baka]

In Japan you can find some newer mangas for about $5-6 USD. So if anyone wants to get back into it in binge amounts come to Japan! xD

 

[goshops]

I used to read a lot of manga between the years of 2002-2008-ish, and there are a few reasons why.

One, I was still in high school mostly so I really didn't have to worry about work and real life issues that I have to contend with now. I was first exposed to anime and manga back in 1996 but didn't realize what it was, I just thought it was a cartoon/comic book. It wasn't until later with Toonami that I learned the difference and read everything that I could.

The internet really helped as forums were huge back then and I was lucky enough to have found a forum that shared lots and lots of high quality English translated manga scans, listing in the thousands. So during my free time, I sat and read a wide variety of mange from all kinds of genre.

Two, getting older and real life setting in. Getting a job where I rarely had access to the internet really hampered my capabilities in finding new anime and manga, eventually I lost interest due to the lack of exposure to new titles. I've tried to rekindle the same fire I had when I was new to everything but I've since become jaded and skip over or drop a lot of titles that don't hold my interest. Although there are a few series I still follow and check nearly every season if anything new piques my interest but nothing much does; or holds my interest longer than a few episodes at least.

 

[Jadkens]

Before I got into reading mangas, there are a few things that turned me away from them. 1.) The colors in the manga were black/white as opposed to the anime. 2.) I preferred the animation's to know what is going on as opposed to the artwork making confused. Then 3.) I'm not an excellent reader by any means so I tend to lose focus much more easier than if I were to watch the anime itself.

 

[1SB2Gamer]

I love reading manga actually, even collecting it. The issue is, I like watching anime more. So if there is a manga and an anime for the same series ... I am going to watch the anime. The other issue is I don't like reading new manga because in many cases the popular ones become anime.

Now with that said, I would probably read a whole lot more manga if I had the money to buy it. However, if I remember correctly each volume is about $10. Which means if you wanted a full set you can be spending over $100 easily.

Though I suppose it's not like anime is any cheaper.

Honestly though, if I had the money ... I would buy everything anime and manga related XD

 

[Pew]

I like reading it, but only during long journeys like on a plane or in a car etc, other wise anime it up!

*cough* (on this note I'd like to give a shout out to crunchyroll for providing the best of both worlds experience) *cough*

 

[Lucas Machado de Andrade]

I read a lot of mangá, more than I watch anime, I think the mangas are a lot better than most of the animes.

 

[Ikerot]

It's because I haven't been on the forum in a while, that's why you're getting silence Lol. No. I actually prefer reading manga over anime just because it has absolutely no shame in the things that it do. They can do whatever the hell they want. That's why I love manga(s) like My Balls!, Trash., and Murcielargo. They're so over the top, but it's great.

It's also a great way to get through at a faster rate ;] Dear lord, I couldn't get through Attack on Titan because of how they dragged on with the monologues in the beginning episodes, but I can get through a hundred chapters in a day. I could not stand the whining in Tokyo Ghoul, but I can go through it in the manga easily. There are some mangas I do prefer as anime. Obviously music anime, but there are a few.

I try to read light novels, I sincerely try, but it's either the writing style or the translation that kills me most of the time.

 

[Kuway000]

I won't lie, I'm more an anime person and that's because I like to watch the action than visualize it myself.

 

[Kurisu]

In fairness Japanese pop culture is stained by cheap mass products like YuGiOh or Beyblade... The product advertisement anime series are just getting worse which each season. These kind of stories give the whole market a bad reputation.

Several things are also hard to translate into western culture as people in mangas are behaving in not western ways for obvious reasons. This alienates many viewers. However, if something is heavily americanised you can`t sell it anywhere else as the rest of the world would just be annoyed. In fairness I have watched Dragonball in German, French, Japanese and even Italian but I can`t stand the American version. The soundtrack is often too loud and the whole show is much louder than for other markets and is also extremely censored. The product needs therefore multiple localisation to be suit the needs of the viewership in several markets.

Localisation is an issue due to language barrier. There are not many gifted writers out there who can translate the Japanese original and convert it in an interested way. However, many items are just lost in translation even if the language is using the same puns but they won`t have the same cultural knowledge. f.e. Europe has a man on the moon and not a hare.

It is also confusing that some stuff is just translated in items the audience knows. Sailormoon has never eaten any rice balls on German television even if you see her holding something in her hand which doesn`t match the translation. This can also cause at some point confusion in case not the same translation was chosen.

The good mangas are intended for a mature audience. These kind of market is a niche which only a few US and European readers recognise as such. It is part of Western culture that adults prefer books over comics.

Japan also doesn`t do much effort to export culture. Keeping centuries of isolation in mind it is still a country which has issues to open itself. Japanese have also issues adapting other cultures which makes it difficult to negotiate with Japanese if you don`t want to adapt either.

See also the pricing for the things... When I was a teen I could afford to get hundreds of pages (we got in Germany in the 80s and 90s several issues of US comics in one cheap issue) of comics for my pocket money. (No, I haven`t received much) The comics nowadays are just 20 - 39 pages strong and cost the same amount... This has also raised the price of manga comics which makes it less attractive or me.

I reckon these are some of the reasons why Japanese comics aren`t as successful outside of Japan as they are over there.

I still like some authors like Katsuhiro Otomo or Yoshito Usui....
However, beside these authors I consider most manga to silly for myself and prefer a live action adaption like the excellent Thermae Romae 2.
I might now also shock the audience but I also had some hard times liking Attack on Titan... but I still want to see the movies... Well, maybe it is my age.

I would rather watch Yugioh and Beyblade over AoT and One Punch Man day day. Than again I enjoy main stream anime over other stuff.