Forum - View topicQuestionable popular manga
|
Goto page 1, 2 Next |
| Author | Message | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
stuckinfresno
 Posts: 223 Location: Fresno, CA |
|
|||||
|
I hate to be negative but . . .
This is a question I have had for some time now. Why is NANA so popular? I've read chapters in Shojo Beat mag and find the art rather ugly, the story seems pointless, and the background is just weird. The characters are so skinny they appear to be approaching starvation. The few story arcs I have read are focused on who is dating whom and who cheated on whom. It might as well be an episode of OC. Also, the use of manga characters overlaying photographs produces a bizarre look that makes me cringe. (I realize fans of the work hate me now - and there are so many.) However, there are other works out there, that I cannot bring to mind at this moment, that create the same question. Why is it so popular? I was wondering if anyone else has felt this way about other mangas and wouldn't mind sharing. I'm just curious. |
||||||
|
||||||
Aylinn
 Posts: 1684 |
|
|||||
You know it is subjective opinion whether or not someone like the art.
From what you said I assume you don't like romance so why the hell did you read that? |
||||||
|
||||||
Terrestrial_Cel
 Posts: 99 Location: SF Bay Area |
|
|||||
|
Nana didn't interest me enough to continue reading the series for long. I didn't dislike it though. I thought it was a little ground breaking actually - I haven't read manga where young women were so open and incharge of their sexuality (usually shojo manga is about staying "pure"...). I agree that the stories themselves are not all that original, but what is?
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
stuckinfresno
Posts: 223 Location: Fresno, CA |
|
|||||
Actually I like a lot of different types of genres including romance. I just don't believe "romance" is centered on high school dating. For instance, Angel Sanctuary can be seen as a romance (incentous though it may be). But the work focused on other aspects. As for art, obviously it is subjective. If you think it is good great. I was just explaining why I didn't care for it. Gathering from your post you are a NANA fan and I expected some backlash. I only named NANA as an example. It didn't mean for it to be the center of the post. I only asked this question because this is something we were talking about and I wanted to see what others thought. If you like NANA fine, perhaps there is something out there that is popular that you don't like. THIS is what I was asking. |
||||||
|
||||||
Murasakisuishou
 Posts: 1469 Location: NE Ohio |
|
|||||
|
Why is NANA popular? Because it's a great story about two strong yet insecure characters whom many people can identify with, and it feels more gritty and real than a lot of other shoujo out there (I'm generally not a fan of shoujo romance stories). I don't care for the art much either, but I do love the story.
However, I can't for the life of me see exactly why Fruits Basket has such a following. I read the first two (I think) volumes, and couldn't stand anymore after that. |
||||||
|
||||||
marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
|
|||||
|
I love NANA to death, I find it's characters so relatable and it's story, while sometimes very soap opera-ish, is still pretty realistic, more so than the majority of manga geared towards a female audience. I also quite like the art personally, I prefer it quite a bit to some of the other series (though her coloured art can be a bit hit and miss for me).
And yes, maybe the proportions aren't right, but hey, they're probably closer than CLAMP's latest stuff (where you have characters like Fai who are probably 6 feet in height and weigh 50 pounds when wet  ).
As for questionable popular manga, I'm going to go with one of my own that will probably have defenders jumping to the thread: Naruto. And any of the Shounen Jump type things, for that matter. What is the attraction to something that just is so episodic? It just keeps going and going and going and you have your villians of the week (talking generally here, I haven't actually seen/read Naruto enough to know if they necessarily have this though I would be surprised if they didn't). I just don't get it. I also don't see the appeal of Fruits Basket. I read on volume and thought it was cute, but cute isn't enough to justify the length of it. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Aylinn
Posts: 1684 |
|
|||||
Sorry I see my assumption was wrong. I thought that if you don't like dating aspect you don't like romance in general. I don't understand people who watch things they don't like ann later just complain how bad it is. It's not like I was pissed off because you said you don't like Nana. Now I see it wasn't the reason. Why is NANA popular? is already answered. I answer, why Fruits Basket is popular? Simple.. maternal feelings. Probably many women would like to take care of good looking guys. I don't think why some series I don't like are popular. I can understand someone would like it because of interesting character for them, bishounen, fanservice, cute girls, nice artwork etc. and that not everyone will be bothered about the same things. For example all “rape scenes” in Yuu Watase works I consider as pathetic attempts to make story more dramatic, but others could not mind it. Last edited by Aylinn on Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:42 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||||
|
||||||
|
marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
|
|||||
They do definitely go a bit overboard in Fushigi Yuugi and I could do without the somewhat one in Imadoki!, but I think the others really do add to the story, especially in Alice 19th spoiler[since Mayura arranged for it to happen]. |
||||||
|
||||||
ANBUx3
 Posts: 187 |
|
|||||
|
The first preview I read of NANA, I didn't like it. spoiler[It involved Nana's affair with the business man] I kind of went 'bleh' but after reading several chapters in Shojo Beat, I got into it. I agree the photograph backgrounds are kind of awkward, and at first I didn't like the art so much, but the story grabbed me because like Murasakisuishou said, it's gritty and more real than a lot of other stories.
|
||||||
|
||||||
Neverwhere
 Posts: 351 Location: socal |
|
|||||
I find that statement particularly demeaning to both myself and Furuba. I have ZERO maternal instincts, and I adore the series -- and so does my boyfriend. The joy of Furuba lies in the relationships between the characters, as they struggle to overcome the difficulties set before them. I am not a shoujo fan in general, I prefer josei and seinen over most fluffy bishie-laden girly titles, but Furuba is so engaging and such fun, and if you only glance at it superficially you will miss out on something truly special. To dismiss it as 'taking care of good looking gays' is doing a disservice to the manga and all its fans, especially older ones like me, who see so much more than just the pretty protagonists. It's a melodrama, to be sure, but a thoroughly engrossing one. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Aylinn
Posts: 1684 |
|
|||||
I never said that every women that read FB would like to take care of good looking guys. But how many girls after reading wouldn't like to do exactly the same thing as Toru did? take care of guys that need them, especially if they are attractive. I also never said it's bad that FB arouse maternal feelings in readers.
and is good at showing relationships, it's another reason why it's popular I forgot to mention. edited You right CloverKuroba I mean guys  Sorry english isn't my first language and I forgot that this one letter change meaning. 
Last edited by Aylinn on Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:46 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||||
|
||||||
CloverKuroba
 Posts: 506 |
|
|||||
|
Umm...Aylinn, do you mean gays or guys? Because you keep typing gays, and I don't think any of the guys are homosexuals.
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
Patachu
Past ANN Contributor
 Posts: 1325 Location: San Diego |
|
|||||
Dozens of doujinshi artists would beg to differ! 
To answer marie-antoinette's earlier question about Naruto and its ilk: it's because it's a large world with a self-sufficient geography and history, filled with dozens of characters, all of whom are connected in some way. As the characters face tougher and tougher challenges, they learn to fight in new ways, and the results of these fights have implications in the characters' evolving relationships with each other. As you can see, the "villain of the week, doing same stuff over and over" oversimplification just doesn't hold.* Maybe that's true if it's, like, Beyblade or Pokemon, but a top Shounen Jump series offers plenty of complexity as far as fictional worlds go. Do I think every SJ series is an artistic masterpiece? No. But I think something like Naruto is good genre entertainment that just happens to use "ninjas battling other ninjas" as a mechanic for advancing the plot. Naturally, this concept does not appeal to everyone. *Heck, if I were feeling really mean, I could do the same to NANA and call it a boyfriend-of-the-week soap opera where a scrappy young girl goes out with increasingly flaky guys. But that wouldn't be fair either. The one kind of popular manga that really tees me off? Men's/boys' "romantic comedies." I don't know how people can stand up for the Suzukas, Pastels and Gacha Gachas of the world. I appreciate the T&A, but the characters always act too stupid to be believable. |
||||||
|
||||||
HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
|
|||||
I'm still trying to figure out how I got through I"s. I ditched Suzuka and Pastel after volumes 2 and 1 respectively. |
||||||
|
||||||
kizzmequik_74
 Posts: 302 Location: QC, Philippines |
|
|||||
Ufufufufu... And that's why gross oversimplifications should be mostly avoided. It may be accurate to a point, but it's unfair, as it glosses over some of the stuff that make a manga interesting. Anyway, I just grew out of Naruto, and its SJ ilk, mainly because I ran out of patience to wait and read volume 5000 or so, but I still understand what makes it so attractive to readers. The same can be said about NANA, but my problem is that it's gradually gotten TOO soap-operatic, and it's began to hurt my brain. Meh. 
Well, to be fair, a lot of shoujo manga characters also act far too stupid. But my real problem with this genre of manga is not that the characters act too dumb to live (I have a good tolerance to stupidity, I suppose ), but that I'd like to set fire to most of them if I met them on the street. The genuinely likable male harem lead is, unfortunately a very rare species, in either manga or anime.
Though, when I first ran across that kind of stuff a while back, I liked it for the ecchi content  . But I really don't read that stuff nowadays, as I now look for something beyond pantsu in my manga these days.. Ah, the ravages of getting a bit older. 
|
||||||
|
||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group