Reasons Why Anime-Only Fans Should Give Manga A Chance

By Jess.

Anime has always been a big part of my life since I was young, watching shows such as Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh.

As I was getting older, I felt like I wanted to branch out and see what manga was all about. My first manga was Dragon Ball Z (I do not quite recall which volume) and I just remember how fascinated I was by the back-to-front style of it and how detailed the panels were. So today I'm going to talk about why anime-only fans should start reading manga.

The Source

With manga, you get a better insight into the plot and I feel like it’s more consistent and the story flows better. You also get to see the artist’s uncensored vision with regards to art-style and direction. Anime can’t always capture everything that manga has to offer, and I feel anime-only watchers miss out on a lot of information because of the limited number of episodes an anime may have. Some panels have incredible artwork and manga also has no fillers, which is something you can get a lot of in anime.

This is all subjective though as some anime can do the manga justice but on the other hand, some don’t. For example, one of my favorites Tokyo Ghoul. After season one it fell flat in comparison to the manga. The adaptation was disappointing, to say the least. If you are interested, I recommend reading the manga instead of watching the anime.

More Detailed

Manga tends to be more detailed and in-depth with the story and characters. There are some characters in anime that you might be interested in knowing more about but the show may not expand upon their backstories or go as in-depth with their development. This is a strong point for manga as there are fewer limitations, for example, episode time constraints can sometimes lead to things being cut from the anime that are present in the manga.

Different Experience

To me, I find the black and white art from manga very aesthetically pleasing.

I love how manga stimulates your imagination as everyone will interpret a scene in their own way, for example, a character’s voice might sound different in your head while reading the manga compared to how the character was voiced by the actor in the anime. You have the freedom to give the characters whatever voice you feel suits them best.

You also get to imagine your own sound effects while reading, for example, during fight scenes. I would recommend reading manga while listening to anime original sound tracks because it’s so therapeutic and it hits differently.

Some people may say reading will ruin the experience when watching the anime which I think is not true because the majority of the time you would like to see how they animate the panels. I am currently reading Jujutsu Kaisen and even though I know what’s going to happen I still look forward to the anime adaptation. You can’t say one is better than the other because they both bring you different experiences and I love both mediums.

In summary, this is a very subjective topic, and these are just my opinions.

Neither manga nor anime is better than the other and they both have their strengths and weaknesses.

I hope any anime-only fans that were perhaps on the fence have now sparked some interest in reading manga and can see for yourself the differences between your favorite anime series and the manga material. Who knows, you might find new love in reading manga and can get more anime related content into your life, which is always a plus.