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Why do you collect Japanese manga if you can't read it?

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Dec 8, 2015 2:21 PM
#1

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I don't, but I'm curious why some do! That is all. Perhaps, you like the art, or you just want to support the mangaka?

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Dec 8, 2015 2:26 PM
#2

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I get help most of the time to read them.


Dec 8, 2015 2:26 PM
#3

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I can read it now, but I bought a few when I was a beginner and couldn't understand nothing.
But I guess most people buy it to support, since some series is really hard to come in their language.
Dec 8, 2015 3:53 PM
#4

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Manga aren't expensive in Japan, it's just that shipping is.

I've bought a few, yes, to support the authors and since I like the art; these were very niche, yuri manga and doujinshi. They did have scanlations, so I could understand them, and I've also contributed toward others' purchases of manga to be scanlated.

In addition, I have several wordless (or SFX-only) manga I'm planning to buy, and I'll probably eventually buy more as I'm very slowly learning japanese.
Dec 8, 2015 4:11 PM
#5
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They're just cool to own.
Dec 8, 2015 10:35 PM
#6
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Weeping_Oshino said:
They're just cool to own.
Dec 9, 2015 3:41 AM
#7

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Weeping_Oshino said:
They're just cool to own.
Cool? You like spending money on something to feel cool?
Dec 9, 2015 11:19 AM
#8

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Because it's funny and cool
Dec 9, 2015 11:24 AM
#9

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I dont have japanese manga and i've never had the need to buy japanese manga but...I would totally buy doujinshis in japanese, why?
1- I've read it online and i totally loved it.
2- Like you said i liked the artwork.
3.- I want to support the artist.

Dec 9, 2015 4:27 PM

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I don't collect Japanese manga .

Dec 9, 2015 10:21 PM

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I personally have a couple of Japanese Manga in my possession.
I think of it as paying the artist for what I read online for free. They deserve the money especially if I enjoy the series greatly.
Dec 10, 2015 3:40 PM

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because you can
Dec 10, 2015 3:59 PM

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Aren't Japanese version better quality? I can read Japanese, so yea. But if can't, then i probably would not buy Japanese version.
Dec 10, 2015 4:22 PM

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I can read it though, I'm not an expert but I can understand basically everything, otherwise I wouldn't buy them
Dec 10, 2015 5:37 PM

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superlink1205 said:
Aren't Japanese version better quality? I can read Japanese, so yea. But if can't, then i probably would not buy Japanese version.
Uh, the quality is around the same... From the ones I have seen. I live near a J-Town kind of place so I've seen raw manga IRL.
Dec 10, 2015 11:48 PM

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mayukachan said:
superlink1205 said:
Aren't Japanese version better quality? I can read Japanese, so yea. But if can't, then i probably would not buy Japanese version.
Uh, the quality is around the same... From the ones I have seen. I live near a J-Town kind of place so I've seen raw manga IRL.

Hmm i see. Maybe i was thinking about Light Novels. I remember the book being bigger and the paper used being worse in quality compared to the Japanese ones.
Dec 10, 2015 11:57 PM
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I plan to buy the japanese volumes of the corpse party manga because I've already read it in English and Spanish so I thought getting it in Japanese would be fine.
Dec 11, 2015 12:33 AM

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superlink1205 said:
mayukachan said:
Uh, the quality is around the same... From the ones I have seen. I live near a J-Town kind of place so I've seen raw manga IRL.

Hmm i see. Maybe i was thinking about Light Novels. I remember the book being bigger and the paper used being worse in quality compared to the Japanese ones.


With regards to size, light novels are larger in English release than the Japanese ones out of necessity - writing in English takes up a lot more space than it does in Japanese. Paper quality is about the same.

With manga, some publishers will resize certain series but it's not all that noticeable unless you have both to compare. Page quality is a lot more variable in Japanese tankobon releases to English ones, though, with the latter being at the lower end of the range of the former so yes on average the paper quality is better with Japanese releases - but the things that get releases in English are for the most part from magazines that give relatively low paper quality tankobon releases.
There is no such thing as shit taste. Only idiots who think everyone should have the same taste as they do.
Dec 11, 2015 4:26 AM

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^what I can tell you is that for manga, french edition are usually easily topping the japanese edition as far as printing quality and paper quality goes. And that's very, very obvious.
I don't know about english releases. I think it's not as good as the French ones?

For LN/novels , it really heavily depends of the label. Some label increased the quality after a while too, like sneaker bunko for example. The difference of paper quality before and after the change is huge. AFAIK tankoubon LN have usually a very nice paper quality though, so the difference is huge maibnly on the bunkobon format.
Dec 11, 2015 12:59 PM

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Zefyris said:
I don't know about english releases. I think it's not as good as the French ones?
It depends on which publishing group (Yen Press, Viz, etc.) prints it, of course.
Dec 11, 2015 1:05 PM
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because english versions haven't or won't come out so why not learn kanji then read your favorite mango :L seriously though some of my faves are only in japaneseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee which sucks ass
Dec 11, 2015 1:06 PM

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Veneficia said:
because english versions haven't or won't come out so why not learn kanji then read your favorite mango :L seriously though some of my faves are only in japaneseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee which sucks ass
worst situation is if your fave has only 16 volumes in english and discontinued from the publishing company when it has 5 volumes left
Dec 15, 2015 2:44 PM
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Weeping_Oshino said:
They're just cool to own.


At least you're honest
Dec 16, 2015 6:56 AM

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My guess is to show support most of the time, or to practice reading on.

My moms best friend actually gave be some of the original dragon ball volumes she had growing up to practice on, and it definitely helps in memorizing hirgana and katakana, as well as vocab expansion (if you are looking up the words that is. If not you can still practice reading without knowing what it says).

It's not the best way to go about learning, and I see it more as a tool to help one along.

I wouldn't own any Japanese volumes if they weren't given to me though... I am broke enough buying the little amount of english manga I get when I am paid... no money for stuff I can't enjoy as much.
Dec 16, 2015 7:55 PM

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because i like looking at them, and i hope to learn Japanese one day
Dec 16, 2015 8:48 PM

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Because I appreciate the author's work.

I own volumes 1-11 of AgK that I bought from my trip to Japan this summer because the English releases wern't fast enough and I can read basic Japanese and it helps that most manga have furigana.

As for light novels, I have Mushoku Tensei vol 1-6 because I am a huge fan of the series and I don't care if I can't read the kanji. I want to give the author my appreciation for his great work and I plan to collect all future 24 volumes plus any after stories that come forth. If they ever get an english release, I would buy the english version as well.

For my other novels though, I just buy them in Korean because most light novels are localized in that language so I can read it.
Dec 17, 2015 6:29 PM

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I believe I own a grand total of 7 Japanese manga maybe?

Black Jack 3-it was $1! And I adore Tezuka. I actually think it might be fun to own a volume of Tezuka in every language it's been published in (not counting English, where I already own all them. I do own a copy of v1 of Adolf in German too, though I can sort of read a bit of German and wanted to try to get better at it)

Some 70s shojo goodness by a 49er-I was ordering a bunch of Japanese art books on eBay. With art books, there's usually minimal words anyway, I want it for the art. Anyway, I needed a little bit more to get free shipping and I like 49er art

Klonoa 1 + 2- in addition to adoring the Klonoa games, my friend basically gave it to me as a gift.

Outlaw Star 1-3-really cheap and I do also adore Outlaw Star. So, mostly for art purposes (though I've seen the series so much, I could probably follow the manga alright just by looking at the art)

I also own a lot of Japanese art books. Mostly because almost everything gets an art book over there, and only uber popular things get their books brought over here. And most art books are 90-95% pictures anyway, even if I can't read 5-10% of it, I'm still getting what I want out of it. But seriously, they were never going to bring over a Basara, Kanata Kara, or VOTOMs mecha art book stateside! But I always check the pictures online to try and make sure I'm getting a book of mostly art, and not mostly character info with lots of writing.
Dec 17, 2015 6:48 PM

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listbot said:
The best scan is 'often' in Chinese though 1.6K - 2K pixel height, cleaned and from tankoubon. It's comfortable to read with a vertical screen, just to appreciate the drawings.
Very true! The Chinese scans I've cleaned for various series were so high quality. Wow.
Dec 18, 2015 12:35 PM
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Mayuka said:
Weeping_Oshino said:
They're just cool to own.
Cool? You like spending money on something to feel cool?


Well I only own manga in English, but I think it could be cool to have the Japanese version.
Dec 18, 2015 12:38 PM

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Actually I buy the english releases of some series that I like... that's about it. Would I like to own a manga that's in japanese? Sure something like the first volume of something, or the last one. But if I can't read it, I wouldn't really buy the whole thing just for the heck of it. Supporting the official english releases it's also a good thing to do.
Dec 19, 2015 2:51 PM

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Weeping_Oshino said:
Mayuka said:
Cool? You like spending money on something to feel cool?


Well I only own manga in English, but I think it could be cool to have the Japanese version.


It's like someone who collects, I don't know....stamps? They enjoy looking at them. It doesn't do anything for me, but if it makes you happy who are we to judge? Enjoy your manga!
Dec 19, 2015 4:20 PM

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GoSaiyan said:
It's like someone who collects, I don't know....stamps? They enjoy looking at them. It doesn't do anything for me, but if it makes you happy who are we to judge? Enjoy your manga!
except stamps are just pictures with no languages/text/dialogue on them. it's more like collecting art if anything

manga has a story, characters, etc.
thats like me buying books in spanish

and im not judging lol
im just curious
Dec 19, 2015 5:49 PM

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To support the Mangaka and studios mostly, I also have a little collection, but hopefully ill be able to read them eventually.
Dec 22, 2015 3:38 AM

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GoldenGuard said:
To support the Mangaka and studios mostly, I also have a little collection, but hopefully ill be able to read them eventually.
Studios? You mean publishing companies right?
Dec 23, 2015 10:21 PM

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Mayuka said:
GoldenGuard said:
To support the Mangaka and studios mostly, I also have a little collection, but hopefully ill be able to read them eventually.
Studios? You mean publishing companies right?

Yes that. ;)
Dec 23, 2015 10:24 PM

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Full Weaboos.

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