Manga! where and what? :D

[iCe-BLaZeD]

Hey people!

Right... I've watched anime for a while now (few years) and love it, but never read manga as I've never wanted to read scans on screen but recently I brought some volumes of Love Hina (1&2) and Vampire Knight (1&2) after getting buy 1 get 1 half price and 20% off (voucher thingy) in WHSmith, so the price wasnt too bad.

What im wondering is, where is cheap and where do you buy your manga?

also recommend me some I should look into... and would you think that its worth reading some manga of anime I've already seen?

Cheers

 

[SKILL]

The main place I buy what little I get from is a competitor so can't really say, but don't think places like Forbidden Planet and Waterstones are that much more expensive (if at all), just I prefer to have it sent to me, easier

As for whether it's worth getting manga for anime you've already seen then definately, I love Initial D, watched all the Anime and recently started reading the Manga as well, and there are several bits which aren't in the Anime already, only downside being the americanised names...

 

[memyselfandi]

I normally get Manga from one of three places; the Rainforest place we cannot mention, United Publications, Forbidden Planet. Mostly I get things from United Publications but they can be a bit slow with Manga. Forbidden Planet is mostly for impulse purchases with their 3 for £15 offer. I have also picked up odd volumes from places like Waterstones, Manga does tend to be very short print runs so if you are collecting a series then sometimes you have to grab volumes from wherever you can!

You say that you have read the first couple of books of Love Hina, have to admit that I prefer the Anime to the Manga in that case although I am currently rereading the Manga at the moment.

Other series which I think are good are:
Ai Yori Aoshi - 17 volumes which take the plot beyond the two Anime series. Like Love Hina it's a harem comedy at heart but the main plot is different and is good. Note that the Manga is a bit more risque than the Anime.
Yotsuba&! - hard to get hold of as it was released by ADV Manga so currently is OOP. ADV released the first 5 volumes and the 6th was due out last February but due to their issues this has not been forthcoming Gentle stories with no great plot and nice and relaxing, (and in places very funny). They're by the same author as Azumanga Daioh.
Azumanga Daioh - Just plain funny. I have the ombnibus edition. The only downside on this is the English translation is a bit Americanised.
Aria/Aqua - Nice gentle series. TRSI/Nozomi have just started releasing the Anime. Aqua comes before Aria.
Full Metal Panic/Full Metal Panic Overload - Mixture of action and fun.
Genshiken - Nice series about a Otaku club at university.
Rozen Maiden
AI Love You - by Ken Akamatsu of Love Hina fame.
Kare Kano - The Anime His and Her Circumstances was based on this but the Manga takes the plot a lot further, (I think it's 23 volumes)

Other (currently single) volumes include:
Sola 1
Iono-sama Fanatics 1
Ichigeki Sacchu!!

also the Korean Manga Unbalance Unbalance is quite good if you can get hold of it, (unfortunately this along with the latter two singles above are published by Infinity Studios who always have supply problems but produce nice quality books).

 

[iCe-BLaZeD]

;o.. nice one. ill look into em aye i wanna try an steer clear from things that have been mistranslated, would rather have cultural notes than it be changed to something Americans understand

im suprised you say the love hina anime is better than the manga, isn't it 9/10 times that people prefer the manga? maybe I made a poor choice there? (didn't really know what to buy but since I had some of the anime and hadn't watched them I bought those 2)

 

[LeJosh]

A recommendation would be samurai executioner, a lot of japanese history, err if you can handle very mature content that is. Full metal alchemist is hilarious and brilliant, dragonball is a must (imo). The manga is ok but I'd rather buy the books, just a preference. I only watch the movies. Akira for the win.

 

[memyselfandi]

;o.. nice one. ill look into em aye i wanna try an steer clear from things that have been mistranslated, would rather have cultural notes than it be changed to something Americans understand

im suprised you say the love hina anime is better than the manga, isn't it 9/10 times that people prefer the manga? maybe I made a poor choice there? (didn't really know what to buy but since I had some of the anime and hadn't watched them I bought those 2)

I prefer the Love Hina Anime to the Manga, but that is probably because I saw the Anime first and enjoyed it. The differences in the Manga tend to grate a bit as I'm used to the story from the Anime version. But if you read the Manga first your may prefer that. Some series are very different between the two medias whilst others are similar, (and if you throw light novels into the mix as well it can get enen more confusing). The written versions of the stories, both novels and Manga, tend to span longer periods to the Animes which may only cover a few of the books.

The thing to remember as well is that neither Anime and Manga are genres, they are types of media. Within them you will have many different genres covered so two people could both like Manga but really dislike the others choices, i.e. some one may like action or horror whilst someone else may like comedy or slice-of-life. For example LeJosh indicates that Dragonball is worth a read and Akira is a good watch, whilst I dislike the former and find the latter boring and dated .... but we are both right as it's just we have different tastes within the Anime and Manga arena.

If you are enjoying it then continue with Love Hina, there's 14 volumes I think plus two light novels. If you like it then I would suggest giving Ai Yori Aoshi a go as it has a similar feel.

Fruits Basket is good too ... I think vol 21 is out soon.