HondaTohru

The first manga I ever read was Di Gi Charat. ^^; Got 2 of those from my Aunt for Christmas one year. It was okay I guess but there are definately better mangas out there. (Like Fruits Basket! lol) After Di Gi Charat came Ceres: Celestial Legend, then Fruits Basket, then Reservoir Chronicle Tsubasa, Naruto, DNAngel, Alice 19th, Dragon Knights, Princess Ai, ok, I'll stop now, lol.

I've never read yu gi oh but I've watched a few episodes...they seriously changed the characters names?? American DNAngel is one f*cked up anime it is too much different from the manga to be likable but at least the names are the same lol.

One of the main reasons I read manga is because I adore the artwork. You can't even compare it to the artwork of normal comic books. And I'm going to have to disagree with EternalxDusk and SunfallE. I simply hate reading. I can not STAND it. But then one day my Aunt gave me a Manga for Christmas. So I read it, and now Manga is really the only kind of book I even want to open. If I do read a regular novel it is either a fantasy or a horror. I read Manga because the pictures make it easier to understand what is happening. For example, if an author tries to describe the facial expression on a character, it might be tough. With manga, you can simply -see- the facial expression. Here are some examples: [URL=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/makaze3/FacialExpression1.jpg]1[/URL] [URL=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/makaze3/FacialExpression2.jpg]2[/URL] [URL=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/makaze3/FacialExpression3.jpg]3[/URL] [URL=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/makaze3/FacialExpression4.jpg]4[/URL] [URL=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/makaze3/FacialExpression5.jpg]5[/URL] [URL=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/makaze3/FacialExpression6.jpg]6[/URL] [URL=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/makaze3/FacialExpression7.jpg]7[/URL] Whoever can give me a full, detailed description of any of those facial expressions...well...I'll worship you. (All examples are scans from Fruits Basket Vol. 1.) Sometimes I try to imagine reading manga like a regular book. It is...weird, I guess I could say. Try to picture a new paragraph every time somebody else starts talking...the endless paragraphs trying to describe what somebody looks like...it's just terrible. In manga, the author doesn't need to worry about detailed descriptions or beautiful narration or anything. All they need is a pen and an artistic imagination. A lot of manga tends to be funnier than normal novels. Probably because the artist can draw very funny facial expressions that you can not describe in words, like a normal book. Examples are: When eyes get almost as big as the characters head. When eyes get very small caused by shock or surprise. Sweatdrops to show confusion or irritation. You can't exactly say "A sweatdrop appears on so-and-so's head..." lol. So, in general, I read manga because it is easier to follow than regular books, and I love the artwork that the mangaka does and they tend to be funnier or have a very original plot.

When I buy manga I don't even look to see if it is a Shonen label or a Shojo. I pick it up and read the back and maybe the first chapter and if I like it, I buy it. Fruits Basket is a Shojo manga, but personally, I don't think boys would find it girly or anything. I think it is mostly a comedy manga that anyone can read. I think it is considered Shojo because of...well...i guess you could say people turning into animals when hugged is "girly". But I read lots of Shonen manga and I'm a girl...example: Naruto. I don't buy manga if it is Shonen or Shojo I buy manga if it is a good story. Fruits Basket is a good story. And it is not all comedy, it is very much a romance as well. Each character has a very well developed and original personailty. Each character is unique and different in their own ways. Tohru is always happy, Yuki is mysterious, Kyou is angry and short-tempered, Shigure is kind and perverted. This manga may appeal more to girls than to boys but I would love to see more boys reading this manga. Most boys think "That's a Shojo manga, I can't read that." Yes, you can. Who's stopping you? All you're doing is missing out on a great story. So please, don't look at Fruits Basket as being a 'girly' manga because boys will enjoy it just as much.

I prefer manga over anime. With a lot of animes, they don't show many parts of the manga that I liked and things tend to be out of order. The manga is how the mangaka originally wanted their work to be and making them into animes can change the whole feeling. take for example Ceres: Celestial Legend (Ayashi no Ceres). In the manga, Shuro is one of the main characters. She is in many volumes and becomes good friends with Aya. In the anime, Aya meets Shuro in one episode and she dies in that SAME EPISODE. It's...disgusting. Really. Fruits Basket is another example. Well, my example is a spoiler...so...I won't say it...I'll just say the manga reveals something about Akito that the anime doesn't. It's something rather important, too. Also, two characters who are members of the zodiac (the horse and the rooster) aren't in the anime. I found that odd. How can they completely cut out 2 characters, expecially, ones of the zodiac...? And DNAngel is yet another example. The anime took parts of the manga and rearranged them in completely different orders. I hate that anime with a passion. I love the manga. I also like manga better because you can hear their voices in your head and their voices sound like whatever you think fits their personailty. If you read a manga and then watch the anime their voices are probably a lot different and well i don't like that IMO. Example: Yuki from Fruits Basket. In the Japanese anime he...well, if I didn't know it was Yuki I'd say it was a woman. It's...terribly feminine. In the english version it's more man-like (Eric Vale ^_~) but it sounds sort of monotonous. Manga's draw the story out more than the animes do. Sure they are longer and take more time to finish but they are also a lot better. There are many volumes of Ceres: Celestial Legend that are completely cut from the anime. I can't remember which volumes but the one about the white dog and such is not in the anime at all. It makes me really mad to see important parts of a story cut out of the anime. Also, most English voice acting sucks arse. And watching them in Japanese is a pain because if you blink you miss what someone says. The art in manga is always more beautiful than in the anime. Take Kyou Sohma from Fruits Basket for example. He looks a lot better and a lot more detailed in the Manga than the anime. Plus, you can take manga with you everywhere you go. Can you take a DVD player everywhere you go? (Well, maybe if you have a portable one, but shh!) And so goes my wonderful explanation of why manga is better than anime. ^o^

I've read 1-3 of Dragon Knights. I think it is pretty good but maybe a little hard to follow. It seems to me as if the plot keeps changing throughout each book. But maybe I just don't understand it as well as you people. My favorite charcter is Rath. ^^

I think Fruits Basket is the funniest manga I've read so far. ^^ All of the characters have very well developed personalities and it's just really fun to read. There are a lot of funny parts in it. ^^;

I hope this is the right place to introduce myself. ^^; Well I am HondaTohru. Nice to meet you. I'm new to myOtaku and the Otaku boards. If there are any special rules that I should know of, please tell me. ^^ I hope I can make some new friends on my first day at the Otaku board. ^^ :cool: