Manga and anime

Japanese world of fantasy

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In today's post I decided to bring up the issue of manga and anime which enjoys worldwide fame. For those who are not familiar with these terms, I will give at the beginning small explanation. The word “manga” comes from the way the decorating  drawings, but nowadays the manga is known as Japanese comic book.  While the anime is nothing more than animated version of the manga, however, anime does not necessarily must to have its counterpart in the manga and vice versa.

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Really often love for Japanese culture blooms in young hearts precisely due to the manga and anime. Persons in the age group of 20-30 years certainly remember in their infancy series such as Pokemon, Salior Moon, Dragon Ball, Naruto, or less popular Yu-Gi-Oh, Shin-chan, Sonic, Beyblade, Digimon, and a few other that were broadcast on Polish channels (usually on Polsat, TV4 or Hyper).

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Manga is not cartoon for children

In Poland, there is a widespread irreverent approach to manga and anime, comparing them to cartoons for children. However, in this post I would like to expressly deny this classification. It is true that there are many types of manga and anime starting with those for children, but also adventures containing violent scenes, school romances, ending with the horror ones and with erotic contents. On this occasion, it should be remembered that the first manga was created as a kind of erotic books for adolescent boys. With this in mind it is better to reflect what your child is watching when mentioning the anime.

  

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Although in Poland, the popularity of manga and anime is growing at a tremendous rate the most of fans still chose watching rather than reading (which I deeply regret). Myself I have so far read more than 80 titles of manga and watched at least once over 40 series of anime, but this result I still consider as insufficient.

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Manga and anime, and the singularity of the Japanese perception

Manga and anime will probably never stop to amaze me. Of course, like everything else in this world, it is not possible for each volume of manga and episode of anime, to be called great, or at least bearable. But manga and anime still have an unique charm, which you will not find in European productions. Of course between Japan and Europe there is an enormous cultural gap, and the first clear difference that I noticed, was an omnipresent death in Japanese productions. In contrast to the well-known american happy ending in Japan do not avoid death even in the anime targeted to a younger audience. Although usually death causes our sadness for me Japanese people have the unique gift of creating interesting plot, where the saddest death brings the desired catharsis. In this area, I would call Japanese people masters of death, because it is surprising how for the purposes of the manga and anime authors are able to work out a elaborated scenery and plot, which is worthy of our Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. Of course there are many other reasons for my fascination towards manga and anime, but talking about them I will leave for another occasion.

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I recommend

While writing this post I would like to encourage you to try several titles of anime and manga:

1.For those that never have watched anime and have not read manga –

I recommend to start with reading : 

Death Note (very good story based on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Penalty, one of the most recognizable titles), for fans of adventure: FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and for those who admires school romance type manga : Watashi ni shinasai 

Anime for the beginners :

is best to start with a short series so I suggest : K-project, for the more ambitious ones : Code Geass, and for those who like a lighter atmosphere : Toradora

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Please remember that the majority of anime is only shortened version of  the manga’s storyline (therefore it often loses on value), so for those who do not want to ruin all the fun, I suggest to start with reading. 

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For those who are more experienced with products of the Japanese imagination, I  suggest these titles (if you did not already have read / seen them):

Anime: Gintama (trolling masters of trolling!), No game, no life (well done, full of details, nice masterpiece), Suisei no Gargantia, Samurai Champloo

Manga: One Piece (despite the ugly drawing), for fans of Samurai I recommend Samurai Deeper Kyo, Makai Ouji- Devils and realist, and for those who also read the Korean manhwa: God,  Cavalier of the Abyss, Noblesse

  

And Korean :

 

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Hope you enjoy it :) see you next week !