Poll: Do you watch anime and/or read manga?

[AmaterasuGrim]

Been reading manga & watching anime since was a kid not something i plan on giving up anytime soon ^.^

 

[Catchy Slogan]

I used to watch anime, but I prefered manga, but then I kinda got bored of it eventually, and when onemanga was esentially shut down, I couldn't be bothered.

 

[w00tage]

Although 90% of everything is crap, including anime and manga, I find that the best anime and manga has better stories than the best of Western media, so yeah. I really believe that this is because a lot of anime comes from manga, and most manga comes from independent artists, not shake'n'bake McStudios like in the West. The stories are more complex and the characters deeper and more developed, I think because an independent artist has more respect for an audience's ability to follow a story than McStudio writers are allowed to exhibit. All of their work must pass an executive's review, after all, and you know what those people are like :\

And the animation / artwork is a big bonus for me. Since I can't draw a straight line myself, I am in awe by those who can not only draw and animate well, but crank it out on a production basis. So it adds an extra level of enjoyment to the media for me.

 

[w00tage]

Yeah, i do both. watching and reading.
but the industry is sustaining itself on the "lonely pervert otaku"-Yen, so all we get every season (be it spring, summer, fall or winter) is atleast half a lineup of moe/harem BS.

I like the medium, but i have a heavy dislike for a large part of the western fan community. the "I AM OTAKU" "KAWAII DESUDESU" "^____^" crowd.
The "who would win, Naruto or Sasuke" crowd is also facepalmworthy.
People who read shonen and dislike characters, no matter how they're characterized, on the basis how many fights they've won.
The fanfiction crowd, especially the weird fujoshi.
The 2D-love crowd.
And so on.

Currently i'm only actively reading&watching gintama.
i have a high standard for manga, so i don't want to read any shonen nonsense(besides gintama). i need seinen to keep me entertained.

For the most part I share your feelings on all of these. But I have found a notable exception for fanfiction which I'll share with you. I check it EVERY DAY for an update, and that says a lot for something that's updated every few months. I generally reread at least some chapters before I get into the update, I enjoy it that much.

You do need to be familiar with the characters of the Bleach anime though. The more so you are, the more you are likely to enjoy this.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3505858/1/Uninvited_Guests

 

[thylasos]

Occasionally.I don't buy manga any more, but occasionally I'll re-watch anime series which I enjoyed when I was younger. Nowadays, it's a rare thing.

I enjoy it, but I don't enjoy trawling through identical series after identical series, so I've basically stopped researching new stuff to watch.

 

[AdamRBi]

Yeah I watch and read. It's just like any other comic or cartoon. I watch and read the French stuff too. It's great stuff.

If you only read and watch stuff from Japan then you're really closing yourself off to some great stuff.