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GRAPHIC NOVELS OR MANGAS?
Posts
McBick
1339
McBick
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CloseI'm curious what you guys think about graphic novels and mangas. Which do you prefer to read? Is there really a difference between the two?
Felix20
363
author=McBickTechnically, no. Manga basically just means cartoon/comic/graphic novel/whateverYouTranslateItAs in Japanese
Is there really a difference between the two?
But yes, there is a difference between japanese and western comics/cartoons/graphic novels
I don't really prefer either kind, and I don't really read them very much.
eplipswich
2728
Actually there is a difference between graphic novels and mangas. While mangas are entirely filled with pictures and dialogues, graphic novels, also known as light novels, are what they are: novels of mainly story texts with various pages having graphic scenes.
Manga would be the equivalent of anime without animations and voices.
Therefore, Felix, manga isn't graphic novel, fyi. Manga is Japanese for solely comic.
Me? I read neither of them, unless they are translated into English.
Manga would be the equivalent of anime without animations and voices.
Therefore, Felix, manga isn't graphic novel, fyi. Manga is Japanese for solely comic.
Me? I read neither of them, unless they are translated into English.
prexus
309
Graphic Novels are literally novels, but with the descriptive text removed and replaced with Comic-styled panel-by-panel art, and the dialog implanted in comic-style dialog bubbles.
Manga are more like Comics, but are done in a specific style (thick, lots of pages vs. a few big pages, often only peppered with colored pages) whereas american style comics are big pages, full color, and often quite short.
Manga are more like Comics, but are done in a specific style (thick, lots of pages vs. a few big pages, often only peppered with colored pages) whereas american style comics are big pages, full color, and often quite short.
Please ignore what eplipswich said entirely. Graphic novel is a much looser term than what he describes.
As for what Prexus said, to describe a graphic novel as 'just a novel with pictures and dialog bubbles' is probably doing an injustice to both novels and graphic novels. There are entirely different techniques used in each and they require vastly different narrative approaches. Need an example? Read Watchmen. There's a reason this was made in the comic form and not as a book.
As for preference? Who cares. People read what they read.
As for what Prexus said, to describe a graphic novel as 'just a novel with pictures and dialog bubbles' is probably doing an injustice to both novels and graphic novels. There are entirely different techniques used in each and they require vastly different narrative approaches. Need an example? Read Watchmen. There's a reason this was made in the comic form and not as a book.
As for preference? Who cares. People read what they read.
I thought they were mostly the same...you can make a manga based on a novel (the ring is an example) and some starts as novels then translated to manga. etc.
I don't mind reading both. They're both great in their own way.
I don't mind reading both. They're both great in their own way.
deboo
85
i'm pretty sure manga falls under the category graphic novel. i don't know how it used to be, but these days if you go to the graphic novel section in Waterstones or w/e you'll find DC Comics etc. and manga. if it wasn't always like this, it probably started through marketing techniques expanding the genre of graphic novels.
manga, unlike a lot of western comics, covers a really wide range of audiences. western comics tend to be stereotypically superhero-ey.
they're both...good at what they do. i'm not an avid comic reader because i'm just not all that interested in the superhero scene, but i read translated manga if it has good reviews. i don't think you can really say, 'i enjoy western comics more than manga,' because there are so many sub-genres within graphic novels; i'm sure you could get an equally good thriller comic from america as one from japan. i would expect manga to be somewhat more popular simply because of the range of audience they cater towards, but it doesn't make the quality any better than a western comic.
manga, unlike a lot of western comics, covers a really wide range of audiences. western comics tend to be stereotypically superhero-ey.
they're both...good at what they do. i'm not an avid comic reader because i'm just not all that interested in the superhero scene, but i read translated manga if it has good reviews. i don't think you can really say, 'i enjoy western comics more than manga,' because there are so many sub-genres within graphic novels; i'm sure you could get an equally good thriller comic from america as one from japan. i would expect manga to be somewhat more popular simply because of the range of audience they cater towards, but it doesn't make the quality any better than a western comic.
Generally speaking I find Mangas have a more dynamic narrative, every panel is filled with action lines and stuff like that, they are also very technical, they put a mind blowing attention to perspective and every other detail. The downside is that they are mostly in b&w, and authors usually draw very similarly.
Graphic novels tend to be more slow passed and have more text, and these days they tend to be very "artsy", and the difference in styles is greater from one author to the other, so you could as well be reading something that is very akin to a kid's drawing, or a collage, or even a very detailed oil painting.
I prefer graphic novels thou' I find their variety very helpful to explore what is one's preferred graphical and narrative style, and because the themes are also often more diverse and mature than in mangas; But I really like to take a look at both of them just as much. ...This is just my opinion, of course. =P
Graphic novels tend to be more slow passed and have more text, and these days they tend to be very "artsy", and the difference in styles is greater from one author to the other, so you could as well be reading something that is very akin to a kid's drawing, or a collage, or even a very detailed oil painting.
I prefer graphic novels thou' I find their variety very helpful to explore what is one's preferred graphical and narrative style, and because the themes are also often more diverse and mature than in mangas; But I really like to take a look at both of them just as much. ...This is just my opinion, of course. =P
yamata no orochi
184
"Graphic novel" is basically another word for "comic." Way back when, Will Eisner wrote a comic book called A Contract With God. When he called up a publishing house to push it, the publishing house asked what genre the book was. Thinking quickly (because he thought that if he said the book was a comic he would be laughed off) he labelled his work a "graphic novel" on the spot. This made the publishers very interested until they found out the book was actually a comic, at which point they told him to find another publisher. But that's how the word "graphic novel" came into being.
At any rate, seems to me the main difference between manga and graphic novels is that manga is generally serialized, while graphic novels are occasionally self-contained. There is a distinct difference, for example, between something like Tekkonkinkreet or Fullmetal Alchemist, which was released chapter by chapter over a period of time, and Bottomless Belly Button, which was released all in one big chunk (as far as I know.) On the other hand, Bone and Watchmen are now labelled as graphic novels (though they were both released in serialized form) and comics are now generally found in bookstores filed in the "Graphic Novels" section, so it seems to me that for the most part there is no real difference between graphic novels and manga. In fact, since graphic novels could be said to be a fancier word for comics as a whole, you could probably say that manga are graphic novels.
That's not to say that there aren't significant differences between Western and Eastern comics, because there certainly are! It's just that the term "graphic novel," while a Western distinction, is really just a term meaning "comic collected in book form" that could be used to classify anything from Western to Eastern comics.
At any rate, seems to me the main difference between manga and graphic novels is that manga is generally serialized, while graphic novels are occasionally self-contained. There is a distinct difference, for example, between something like Tekkonkinkreet or Fullmetal Alchemist, which was released chapter by chapter over a period of time, and Bottomless Belly Button, which was released all in one big chunk (as far as I know.) On the other hand, Bone and Watchmen are now labelled as graphic novels (though they were both released in serialized form) and comics are now generally found in bookstores filed in the "Graphic Novels" section, so it seems to me that for the most part there is no real difference between graphic novels and manga. In fact, since graphic novels could be said to be a fancier word for comics as a whole, you could probably say that manga are graphic novels.
That's not to say that there aren't significant differences between Western and Eastern comics, because there certainly are! It's just that the term "graphic novel," while a Western distinction, is really just a term meaning "comic collected in book form" that could be used to classify anything from Western to Eastern comics.
eplipswich
2728
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_novel
I guess if one reads this, one will find that this term "Graphic Novel" is itself debatable. While some may say graphic novels are manga, others may disagree. It's all to one's opinions.
I guess if one reads this, one will find that this term "Graphic Novel" is itself debatable. While some may say graphic novels are manga, others may disagree. It's all to one's opinions.
Shinan
4314
Yeah sounds like the difference between "Sci-fi" and "science fiction" there's not really a difference but stuck up people within the subcultures like to pretend there is.
Yeah no. The variety in western comics is just as big as any variety in manga. Though there's some things western comics lack (romantic comedies especially. I don't think I've read any mainstream romantic comedy western comic while the Japanese seem to churn those out like a factory), but there's also plenty that the manga market lack.
I like my comic books. And all my favourites are "western". I've listed them before but there they come: Asterix, The Smurfs, Johan and Peewit, Lucky Luke and obviously the best graphic novel (comic book) ever "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck".
manga, unlike a lot of western comics, covers a really wide range of audiences. western comics tend to be stereotypically superhero-ey.
Yeah no. The variety in western comics is just as big as any variety in manga. Though there's some things western comics lack (romantic comedies especially. I don't think I've read any mainstream romantic comedy western comic while the Japanese seem to churn those out like a factory), but there's also plenty that the manga market lack.
I like my comic books. And all my favourites are "western". I've listed them before but there they come: Asterix, The Smurfs, Johan and Peewit, Lucky Luke and obviously the best graphic novel (comic book) ever "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck".
Even the term "comic book" is debateable. Comics, graphic novels and manga are all relatively new terms in the literary world. It's hard to pin them down to an exact description because someone can always come along and lay claim that their work is one of the above and may not fit the usual understanding of whatever s/he claimed it as.
Anyway, I read both; though Manga moreso, simply because I follow One Piece.
Anyway, I read both; though Manga moreso, simply because I follow One Piece.
author=Dudesoft
Anyway, I read both; though Manga moreso, simply because I follow One Piece.
Ditto. Among others.
Thinking about it, though, you're right Dude. People could call manga comics and comics graphic novels, even though you'd think there'd be a difference.
For instance - you could define manga as asiatic novels that use graphics to tell a story - usually long and serious, but there are those that are formatted like newspaper comics, others that are purely crazy and still others that don't focus on story. I'd like to say that generally manga is more focussed on telling a story.
Then you have comics, which you think would be different to manga, but really the only difference is that there are whole issues printed in colour and the way they are read from left to right... then you have manhwa/manhua which is read left to right but follows basic manga convention in being mostly black and white. And newspaper comics which may or may not focus on a story from week to week, but is mostly in black and white, just much shorter in length.
Then graphic novels which are heavier on story and characters than either (I do believe) but basically the same. I think the main difference is that the quality of paper used in graphic novels is higher than normal comics and manga.
There is of course a lot of overlap - There are comics that read more like graphic novels, manga that are like newspaper comics, graphic novels like comics, etc.
Either way... At least there's a lot to choose from. ^.^
McBick
1339
author=Libertyauthor=DudesoftDitto. Among others.
Anyway, I read both; though Manga moreso, simply because I follow One Piece.
Thinking about it, though, you're right Dude. People could call manga comics and comics graphic novels, even though you'd think there'd be a difference.
For instance - you could define manga as asiatic novels that use graphics to tell a story - usually long and serious, but there are those that are formatted like newspaper comics, others that are purely crazy and still others that don't focus on story. I'd like to say that generally manga is more focussed on telling a story.
Then you have comics, which you think would be different to manga, but really the only difference is that there are whole issues printed in colour and the way they are read from left to right... then you have manhwa/manhua which is read left to right but follows basic manga convention in being mostly black and white. And newspaper comics which may or may not focus on a story from week to week, but is mostly in black and white, just much shorter in length.
Then graphic novels which are heavier on story and characters than either (I do believe) but basically the same. I think the main difference is that the quality of paper used in graphic novels is higher than normal comics and manga.
There is of course a lot of overlap - There are comics that read more like graphic novels, manga that are like newspaper comics, graphic novels like comics, etc.
Either way... At least there's a lot to choose from. ^.^
That would be an interesting idea to see mangas printed in color, I wonder why they aren't.
That would be an interesting idea to see mangas printed in color, I wonder why they aren't.Tradition, reader familiarity, and cheaper, just to name a few reasons. Full-color manga is usually reserved for things like special issues and such.
I quite liked The Hedge Knight by George R. R. Martin. And Watchmen was also pretty good.
The only other one I read was the first volume of Berserk.
..oh wait, I also read the Dark Wraith of Shannara by Terry Brooks. Also pretty good.
The only other one I read was the first volume of Berserk.
..oh wait, I also read the Dark Wraith of Shannara by Terry Brooks. Also pretty good.
