Manga or anime?

[katikat]

What is better - manga or anime? I usually hear that manga is way better than the anime that was made after it. I hear that manga is more in depth, has more details, more character development and other stuff like that. Well, so far, my experience goes the other way around...

I have read several manga that inspired anime - the first four books of Prince of Tennis, the first seven books of xxxHolic and the first book of Ouran High School Host Club. And I must say that the anime are better done than the manga.

In PoT, the matches are really short, sometimes missing completely. If you don't like them, then the manga is perfect for you. But I kinda, sorta do like them. Without the matches, it's not really about tennis. On the other hand, this way there is more space for character development there. But the anime offers a lot of space for that too. And it's better drawn that the manga. I've noticed that the new National Championships OVAs go rather with the manga style than the previous anime one. But except for these details, the anime and the manga are pretty much the same...

In xxxHolic, the style is pretty much the same like in the anime. But the stories are less developed and concentrate much more on the xover between the worlds of xxxHolic and Tsubasa Chronicle. A lot of these scenes are missing in the anime. And since I'm not really bonkers about TC, I very much prefer the way the anime is done. And a lot of the stories that the anime developed into full episodes are just mentioned or are really short in the manga (especially the Pipe Fox story). And xxxHolic is naturally about seiyuus too, which you always miss reading the manga. So, here goes another point to the anime team XP

And Ouran High School Host Club. I think that the majority of people who has read the manga will tell you, that the anime is much better. It's not just the stories that are mostly the same (Tamaki finding out about Haruhi was done differently and it didn't have such a stunning effect). It's about the style and drawings that are much better in the anime. And then there are the seiyuus that did an incredible job. Oh, and one mustn't forget the music here. And the colors. The anime feels much more alive than the manga.

So, even though manga has its own charm, in these three cases, I pretty much prefer the anime. It doesn't mean that I won't buy other volumes of xxxHolic and Ouran (PoT I had only borrowed from friends) but I would still tell my friends to rather watch the anime :)

Comments

[sharona1x2.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of friends who swear that the manga for Bleach is so much better. Having read the manga and seen the anime, I can't tell the difference.

This is just my opinion, and it obviously doesn't apply to every manga fan, but I think there's a bit of an elitist attitude about preferring manga. I don't see it as much (if at all) in reverse.

I think both are good, and no one is a better fan if they prefer one to the other. ^_______^

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I will definitely buy more xxxHolic manga and maybe even Ouran. My prefering the anime doesn't mean that I don't like the manga. I think it's mostly about the seiyuus. The one voicing Tamaki did such a great job. My favorite scene? In the department store when Kyoya came to the receptionist's desk where the gang was waiting for him and he had Haruki with him. Tamaki's "Hohoho, Kyouya..." and then how his voice dipped and then rose again... Wonderful XD

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

i think it's like tea being better than coffee. Or the chicken and the egg. I also think it might be an old argument.
I have lots of series where i bought both the anime and the manga, yuu watase for example, I have versions of Ayashi no Ceres and Fushigi Yugi and apart from one scene of Mitsukake crossdressing that got shifted to the hilarious omake they're interchangeable, but they're a great adaptation of a great story.
angel sanctuary i'd warn you off the anime entirely but for Koyasu takehito's star turn. It barely follows the first arc and is just getting interesting when it ends. In that case, read the manga.

I do read a lot of manga, i find it easier to plot through hundreds of chapters than hundreds of episodes but modern mangaka have found something new and interesting. Their series becomes so popular so early that they often follow to a point and then become wildly divergent, FMA for example is entirely different after so many chapters and is still ongoing in the manga but not the anime and is a much darker animal to boot.
So do I prefer the manga or the anime, I like both. I must admit to writing off PoT because I could not get into the manga, but I couldn't get into the anime for Hikaru no Go but loved the manga.
Any way that's my two cents worth, I've read the bleach manga but I'm struggling through the anime, because there's so much of it and it is so similar, and the same with Naruto, i know what's going to happen. I'd rather see the anime first, truth be told, and then hope to be pleasantly surprised like with X/1999 or FMA

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I think my problem is that I am not sure that I would be able to read action manga. When there is action, I need to see the pictures move, to hear the sounds... Otherwise it's just too bland. I very much prefer character and plot driven manga. They don't really have to be yaoi, slight hints are more than enough for me. I wanted to buy X but since I heard that it was discontinued in Japan... I hate to read books/manga that have no ending :(

[chyna-rose23.livejournal.com]

I really think it depends on the individual manga and anime. While I have never seen the xxxHolic anime (although I do read the manga), I both read and watch Naruto and Fruits Basket. The Naruto anime, I find, is pretty much on par with the manga while Fruits Basket differs greatly; the manga just has so much *more* than the anime.

It also might depend on personal preferences, which came first, and which you saw first.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about buying Fruits Basket. I'm mostly interested in seeing how the relationships between Yuki and Kyo continues and to learn more about the friendship among Hatori, Ayame and Shigure. How many volumes does the anime cover?

[sabershadowkat.livejournal.com]

For me, I guess it depends on which I come across first! I love Bleach, One Piece, and Fullmetal Alchemist as anime. The first two, though, follow very closely to the manga in terms of story. I like Get Backers better in manga form, same with Fruits Basket. I tried Ouran as manga but didn't like it, thus I didn't try the anime until you recommended it.

I think, for action, it plays better in an anime than on the written page. Thus my love of the first three as animes compared to the mangas. The voice actors, too, are really great for the particular animes. I listened to the eng-dub of Weiss Kruetz and almost died from the horror, but the Japanese voice actors hit the characteres spot on.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I don't like the art of GetBackers manga. The anime is way better drawn, so I went with that. Although I'm thinking about buying Fruits Basket. I've loved the anime *Yuki-fan here*