Does manga offer any literary merit? I've yet to even

No.

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>>9503675

western underground comics > manga > superhero deconstructions > superheroes

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Read Oyasumi Punpun

>>9503675

If we can assume Sturgeon's law applies to japanese media as well--and I see no reason why it wouldn't--then manga is no worse than american comics; 90% of it is shit, so you must find the 10% cream floating above it. One of my favorites that I heartily recommend is "Battle Angel Alita" ("Gunnm") by Yukito Kishiro, especially if you like futuristic, dystopian cyberpunk.

>>9503675
Manga at its best offers fantastic visual art, well placed scenes and characters. It's different from the literary capable from pure writing itself.

Western stuff is good too. Read Duncan the Wonder Dog (stupid name, but probably one of the greatest American graphic novels, although it's not well known). Here's a link: http://www.geneva-street.com/duncanthewonderdog/book01.html

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>>9503696
>fantastic visual art

>>9503675
>learning japanese without reading a single manga
Might as well learn Attic Greek and skip Plato

Some do in different forms, styles, and themes. It's a deep hobby just like any other so you'd need to familiarize yourself with it in order to find the good stuff, or have a friend curate it for you.
Not all manga is good for learning due to how they might use the language, the grammar, etc.
Most good "serious" themed manga are for adults, and they offer no furigana to help with kanji reading.
Manga aimed at a younger public offers furigana in order to read the kanji, but they tend to be not as deep if that's what you're looking for.
There's of course stuff aimed at kids that's well written from a /lit/ perspective (not necessarily serious), but it's easier to find shit just like with common literature.
Prose, inventive grammar, allegories, and whatever other interesting literary devices are not as common in manga, since the visual part is what tends to carry that part... though there are beauties here and there, but then again, it's not something you'll be reading at first.

Why not just read common novels that offer furigana though? That is, if you're not into manga already, otherwise it's investing time into yet another hobby.

Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Cowboy Bebop and Space battleship Yamato, only read the best or iconic ones.

really, really stupid question, but as someone who is learning Chinese, what are some similar mediums of readings like Japanese manga?
Are there some kinds of Chinese mangas?

Like OP, im just looking for something easy. I figure it'd be more interesting reading "comics" compared to children books

>>9503716
You can read chinese translations of japanese manga.
There is also chinese manga.

The manga you guys recommend is not very good. Some of it was entertaining but not of particularly high quality. Try reading Kokuo no Hito, Innocence, Planetes, Boys on the Run, I am a Hero, Dead Dead Demons Dedededestruction, and Eden: It's an Endless World.

>>9503710
You forgot Vagabond. That manga is incredible. It's a shame that it hasn't been updated in forever. Kingdom is also really great, but for different reasons.

Manga is the definition of style over substance, and also probably the last remnant of auteur vision as a concept in sequential art.

>>9503678
What is Hunter X Hunter

>>9503690

THIS

parasyte is my favorite manga, op. also has an anime adaptation, i assume text coupled with the audio might aid comprehension.

"One night, strange spores fall from the sky onto the earth. Out of them hatch weird little worms that quickly infiltrate human neighborhoods, looking for host bodies. The worms crawl or burrow their way into the head of a human host, transforming it and the brain inside. This effectively kills the victim, replacing the host's personality and intellect with that of the parasite. These parasites have a ravenous appetite for the flesh of the species they take over—in this case, humans."

>>9503690
>western underground comics
But what if I don't wan't to read about some random dudes sad dick

Osamu Tezuka.

I'm far from an expert on manga, but I greatly enjoyed Jiro Taniguchi's works. His art is a bit boring but the stories are excellent.
There's also Nakazawa's "Barefoot Gen", a semi-autobiographical story, defined by the Hiroshima bombing. It was a big influence on Spiegelman's "Maus". I personally found it too cartoony for such a theme, but everyone else praises it, so give it a shot.

>>9503690
>no mention of European comics
>no mention of American pre-superhhero comics
Pleb detected

>>9503675
People here unironically shit on Dostoevsky and you have the balls to ask this? Lurk more.

>>9503690
EuroComics are the best.

no

fpbp

Yokohama Kaidishi Kikou
A Brides Story
Gundam Origin

Just read all of Junji Ito's stuff

>>9505538
this, cant recommend him enough, his horror is so unique and interesting
he also is fantastic at using the page turn of a book to scare the reader

>>9503675
TekkonKinkreet / no5 .
Children of the Sea.
Meet Black Jack.

>>9505522
Forgot to add Lone Wolf and Cub

>>9503675
But the Ghost in the Shell manga is trash.

>>9505707
I was responding to
>>9503710

>>9504785
A manga without literary merit

>>9505787
well not anymore, but it did used to be good

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This

>>9505538
Agree

>>9503675
Berserk is very well regarded.

Junji Ito - Uzumaki is the Lovecraft of the manga world.

Anything by Naoki Urasawa is amazing, but especially check out Monster or 20th Century Boys. He also did Pluto which is a great retelling of the classic Astroboy

>>9506740
What's good about it?

>>9505538
Cat diary is amazing.

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light novels are kino

Japanese cartoons are shit desu