This is turning into an interesting thread. Pardon the semi-lengthy post, but that's what happens when I find things interesting.
yukoxholic wrote:Ok, let me just state one thing be it graphic novels, manga, comics, etc I know that any one of those genres that I pick up I won't find anything ground-breaking. I know it won't be as gripping as reading an actual 300 page suspense novel or picking up a biography on someone's life. I tend to think those types of literature rely heavily on the art more than the story. They want their pictures to do the talking, not the dialogue which is why most OEL, OCL, etc (and yeah they should just call it all one thing!! >__<) always lack in terms of story.
That is an apt description of the field, but that doesn't mean I like it or believe it is appropriate. As far as I'm concerned, any time an aspect of the medium is elevated above the story the series suffers immensely. Pictures can talk, yes, but if it is the characters talking I want that part to be well-written too.
yukoxholic wrote:YenPress I have to give credit for they are at least searching for more depth in terms of manga. With the Light...Raising an Autistic Child by Keiko Tobe is basically a manga masterpiece in my opinion. It not only deals with the trials of those who raise an autistic child but also touches on what that child has to go through by using beautiful art and captivating storytelling. Another title that deserves to be noted is: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno which is about Hiroshima, Japan. Even though these are both by Japanese mangaka, if we put that aside what nationality they are, where they come from, etc and just look at first, the story which is based on 'life situations' and THAN the art we can see why these two are praised so much and given awards for their work.
This is why I hesitate to criticize too broadly. I have not read every title and I'm probably missing some excellent ones. Bad but exciting stories tend to win out over excellent but mundane literature, so good series remain unnoticed. This directly relates to a later paragraph:
yukoxholic wrote:As to Megatokyo, yes, I have heard the complaints of his works but than again these books have been translated into German, French, Italian Polish and recently Japanese. If these countries are willing to publish it than there must be something special about it to cause a spark across the globe!
"Something special" is defined as "will sell many volumes."
yukoxholic wrote:The reason why I loved Dramacon so much is because I myself am an anime con-goer (yes, I know that is pretty sad but also very fun!
) but to me if you left the character dramatics out of it she summed up an anime convention perfectly which I guess is why I praise it so much. I suppose I am biased! ^__^
One could argue I'm biased in the opposite direction and that this explains our different feelings about the series. I've been to a few conventions and didn't particularly enjoy them (I was there to meet friends, for the record).
minakichan wrote:90% of EVERYTHING-- manga, comics, 300-page suspense novels, biographies, everything-- is crap. There is only one exception to this rule, and that is that 100% of crap is crap. Yes, there are tons of super awesome deep classic novels, but they're the 10% of literature as a whole. For every novel of awesome there are 9 of not-so-awesome, but of course, we only see the awesome stuff because the others didn't stand the test of time.
I agree on this. Just how many cheap fantasy, romance, science fiction, or detective novels are there on the shelves? Or where are the rags-to-riches tales of early American history? How much non-fiction "fills a much-needed gap" or regurgitates known information? 10% of everything that has been written is still a massive amount of literature.
EricTheFred wrote:However, in one way MT stands head and shoulders above almost all OEL manga. It has an imaginative, original story line which can not be called a stale copy of some much better Japanese original. What most OEL Manga suffers from is copier syndrome. The stories are usually written by people who are really, really good artists, but haven't developed good writing skills. Their stories are copies, not originals, and they lack the sharpness and quality of the original. MT is original material.
I hadn't reflected on this at any length, so I may need to consider it more. Copy syndrome is indeed a problem, though I think some series have gotten away from the need to emulate a manga stereotype. Pantheon High, for example, has Norse mythology. Sure, we've seen superpowered high schoolers before, but I feel it does it in a different way (at least not a manga-ripoff way).
However, I have to say that I don't dislike Megatokyo because Rodney left or because of the art (I'm not really an art person, if you haven't noticed). I dislike it because I honestly don't like the nature of the story. Melodramatic wish-fulfillment, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it's free and online, so I keep reading...
yukoxholic wrote:Though you do have a point I suppose I am being too rash in what I had stated in a previous post. The art drawn inside of manga is just as important as the story if not more so due to the vast competition from other artists. Yours has to shine best among the rest.
Only somewhat. Hunter x Hunter had mediocre art at the beginning, dipping into atrocious levels quite often, yet it remains one of SJ's most popular series. There hadn't been a chapter for
two years and not only was it not canceled, it remained high in polls. The reason is because the storytelling is solid and the style is unique.
Even in the sense of popularity, art can only carry a series so far before it will die due to being uninteresting. I imagine this principle applies all the more when considering the test of time.
