I started to become an anime fan by watching them on our local TV station and the earliest anime I could recall was Voltes V. I was watching it every time I could and was hoping to know how it would end, but to my dismay the TV station was replaying it. That time I didn’t know Manga existed.
Just a quick recap of what a Manga is before getting started.
"Manga" are Japanese comic books/graphic novels. The word literally means "whimsical pictures" in Japanese
-urbandictionary.com
By now, especially with the aid of the internet, Manga is now more accessible and more known as ever. Why would I emphasize on a thing that’s already known mostly to anime fanatics out there? Well, if I experienced not knowing the thing before I’m sure I’m not alone and of course as much as I love watching the anime on television, there are still perks in reading from the real source.
Keeping up with the storyline. Yes, most of the time the Japanese comics come first than the animation. I remember watching the animated version of “Soul Eater” and followed it until the episode where they meet the big evil boss and defeat him. I was somewhat not satisfied probably because I wanted more of the stuff, so I checked the Manga to see if it really ended there, and to my surprise it’s still ongoing and of course a different story twist. (You have to read to find out, lol)
Updated with what’s the latest on your favourite anime. Aside from keeping on track, you actually have a firsthand advantage of knowing with what’s the most current happening on your favourite characters, in other words you have the Spoiler’s Knowledge. I have this best friend who doesn’t seem to be much of a reader but more of a watcher so he gets all excited when new episodes are posted up online. To him, he may have the latest scoop when it comes to people who don’t watch online, but behold, I got the power to spoil him even more!
No fillers. As much as I love watching my favourite characters boost into action kicking the butts of the enemies, the series tries to slip in a few filler episodes (episodes out of the Manga) to give space for the release of its Manga counterpart, and let’s admit it, not all of those fillers are that great especially when it’s going on for too long.
Imagination fun time. Alright, one of the things why some people don’t read the “komiku” is because they want to see most fighting scenes in actual action. It’s actually fun to use that power of imagination of yours to create the battle scene within the realms of your thought.
It keeps THEM alive. When I say “them” of course I mean the authors and their team that made it possible to create the characters who we adore now. I also encourage buying the actual reading material itself and not just be satisfied with the ones being seen online. It helps them plus if we keep it long enough we might turn out to have a collector’s item.
There are more perks to read coming from the original source. Please comment if you have more ideas on the positive things about Manga. Let’s share ideas!
Photo credit and thanks: http://www.flickr. com/photos/eljorgeluis/
