The Long Speech!!!
Thank you VERY MUCH for coming here ^_^;
Ok....since you are here now, that means that you're ready to read my long speech, or in short, why do I like manga.
Ok....first thing first. Anime is a Japanese animation, while manga is a Japanese comics.
Manga is very easy to recognise (most of the time). For one, it's totally different with western comics. Usually, manga characters have a big eye (that depends to the mangaka, of course.), and a very wide range of hair colour!!! You can find any colour in the world, just mention it!!! From black to white, brown to green, red to blue.....even a bright yellow to bright pink!!! Their eyes colour are also vary, as much as their hair. Amazing.....
The story line of manga are also different from those western comics.
Western comics are generally intended for children. Therefore,
the stories are for children. Of course not ALL of them for children...
I'm completely aware of the fact that they have adult comics too.
One thing that I find from western comics is, the main characters are
usually perfect, or has a very small weaknesses. The heroes are (usually) male, white,
handsome (^^ Not that there's anything wrong with that...*giggles*), cool, smart, etc.-etc.-etc.(all good qualities). If is a
heroine, they are (usually) white, (usually) blonde, beautiful, smart, sexy (^^), etc.-etc.etc.(all good qualities too). They are just too perfect!
Ok.....perhaps I am a little bit biased in this area, please don't mad at me (that is, if you happen to like western comics more than manga/anime). Perhaps not all western comics are like that... However....we are talking in a very general terms. The fact that I love manga so much won't help either, huh? *sigh* Anyway....if I do offend someone, please forgive me. I never intend to offend anyone.
OK. Back to business. Manga story line however, are different. Not all hero/heroine are perfect. Some of them are simply stupid (^^) with huge luck and excellent sidekicks (e.g. Sailor Moon at the beginning of the series). Most of all, they are people (well...some of them aren't really human, but...^_^;), with weaknesses, problems, and feelings. They will become (almost) perfect at the end, but they achieved that through (LOTS of) trial and error. Hey....nobody's perfect, right? They learn from their mistakes, and improve with time. I think that what makes me love manga so much. It reminds me more of reality, since sometimes, the story are simply....so real. And there truly are lessons to than you can learn from some of those stories.
In some cases they are real enough. Some mangaka wrote based on history. Of course they add some *spices* and creates their own imaginary characters, but the history are left intact. An example of this is "Rose of Versailles" by Riyoko Ikeda. Rose of Versailles was based on French revolution, and it amazes me, how acurate the basic storyline is to the real history. It's surely one of the greatest manga ever created, very interesting story line, touching story, and...it also improve your knowledge!!! Highly recommended. There are others that are truly a saga. One of my favourite (long) manga is Garasu no Kamen (Glass Mask). Excellent story, great plot, also highly recommended.
However.....the other good thing about manga is the are so many type of stories. Comedy, love story, horror, mystery, action, history, well....even some *dirty* one ^^. Just mention it. Very wide range of stories. Usually, you can categorized them as "girls" and "boys" manga. Stereotyping, huh? ^_^; Some of them are incredibly hilarious, you end up with a sore jaw and stomach-ache (laugh too much), some gives you goosebumps all over, some lifted up your spirit, and some are sooooo touching, cute, sad..... tragic.... dramatic..... or simply "wet" (it is so sad and tragic that you really really cry all the time. Even worst than reading sad novels. Some of those manga are much better than novels). *sigh* whatever feelings you want, you can find it! It's all there.
OK.....some of my favourite mangas are Yoroiden Samurai Troopers, Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon (manga version is better than the anime), Magic Knight Rayearth, City Hunter, Rose of Versailles, Garasu no Kamen, Slam Dunk, Fushigi Yuugi, Shurato, Macross/Robotech (but I think I prefer Macross), Yuu Yuu Hakusho, Ranma 1/2, um....hum....it's kinda hard to think of the tittle...well, I like Yu Asagiri's work, Yoko Matsumoto's, Waki Yamato's, Yuka Takase's, Michiyo akaishi's, Nami Akimoto's, Kyoko Hikawa's, Keiko Ushijima's, Yukari Kawachi's, um...... who else? Lots of them. Can't remember all of them but the point is: I really really really love manga. Very much.
If you know a good manga, please tell me. I know my knowledge are not that wide. I don't read that many manga, since I don't have enough money to buy 'em all (plus I think my mom doesn't like me reading too much "comics"). Mostly, I read girls manga (go figures. I'm a girl!!!), and a few boys manga. My knowledge about boys manga are pretty narrow.....*sigh*
OK......I'll stop writing my "essays" here. ^^ Please email me after you finish with my homepage. I love to talk about manga. Below, you will find links to some of my favourite sites on the web, about manga, of course. I'll add more links each time I find new great sites. And....please take a look at my gallery. It's very small, not many pictures. But it's better than none, right?