Books vs Manga 

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Manga Nerds: getting back into novels Book Geeks: opening up to trying manga Avatar Merphy: I will be the bridge between our two worlds

I have a friend with aphantasia. He hated books because his mind was literally unable to see what the story described. Then, he discovered manga and Graphic novels, which he had been told were not real books by many-- Literature teachers and the education system, his parents, ect-- and he LOVES them. They are his favorite way to consume media especially when he's on the go.

Manga actually helped me get back into reading novels! I hadn’t read a lot post college until the pandemic hit and reading all of One Piece became my pandemic project. After that I just had such a desire to get into more massive detailed world and now I’m on book 4 of the Stormlight Archive. So in that way, manga was a nice stepping stone to get me to read novels again and now I read both interchangeably.

Reader of both, probably equally. A well told story is a wonderful thing, regardless of medium.

I feel like the art in manga can push me to read a story that I otherwise wouldn't even try, or vice versa, deter me from reading a story I otherwise would read.

Manga reader myself, used to read novels back in the day, the artistry and talent of the mangakas pull me through to become a full time reader of manga.

I’m a traditionally published author who got into writing stories through manga. I always read, even as a kid, but I was inspired to create through manga like One Piece, Berserk, and HxH. After that, I became interested in books like Neuromancer and the Left Hand of Darkness which changed my writing style. I honestly don’t believe there is one that trumps the other, or one is more sophisticated. It really is about what moves you at the end of the day. As you said Merphy, there are good books/manga and bad books/manga.

My manga journey has consisted almost entirely of continuing on from where an anime ended; that's why I read Hunter x Hunter, Attack On Titan (after s2), NANA, Chihayafuru, and Tonikaku Kawaii. One Piece was the first manga I read from the beginning without watching, and I'm starting to read more manga from scratch now. That in turn gave me a desire to read novels again, after I'd fallen off literature years ago.

I love reading the inner thoughts of characters and novels have an easier time doing that. They can also do entire chapters with different POVs and I especially like to read the same event from different POVs, that really highlights the different personalities of the character of those POVs. Manga of course can do those things too, but I think it's harder and not so impactful. What manga excels, IMHO, is making full use of their medium by adding a non-verbal storytelling element to the story. You can have details, emotions and "mini-stories" in the panel's background left completely "untold" by the main narration. It's up to you to pick that up. And, of course, manga being a visual medium doesn't leave much to the imagination, so it's up to the artist's ability to drag you into their world in awe without disappointing ou. I'm sure that many like thr "leave it to their imagination" part of written media, and if an author is good they definitely can make you see what they have imagined, but personally I prefer to actually see it in picture, especially for fantasy stories. I don't want to rely on my imagination, I want to see what the author imagined instead, because if my imagination was enough, I could just daydream on my own. I want to see something that excels my imagination. This is why I personally tend to prefer mangas. I also hope that you are going to pick up Ascendance of a Bookworm. I think it should be already on your reading list, but I think it would be a perfect balance between traditional novels and mangas. I'm also sure that you will love the story since you liked world-building and character-driven stories. It's about a bookworm too!

Maybe this is shallow, but I end up reading books more than manga because manga are more expensive for less content (not talking about quality of story or experience, but I need my media to last a little bit if I’m spending that much money in it so that I can save up in the meantime). Of course this mostly applies to reading physically, but that’s how I prefer reading. Just ordered the Tokyo Ghoul: Re boxset yesterday and I’m looking forward to finishing that story. Boxsets are usually the best way to get a bang for my buck with a complete story.

I was surprised to not hear Junji Ito mentioned. the visual aspect just brings so much to his work, having the choice of manga or novels really lets the author express their story the way they picture it! love it. sidenote: I recommend Bakuman a manga about manga writers working to get an anime made.

I love anything with a fun story-doesn’t matter the medium. I’m a writer at heart and primarily read novels, but I’ve been drawn to video games, movies, and some anime/manga as well, always for their story. And it’s because of these visual mediums that I began to learn to draw. I want to illustrate the worlds in my head. All of it has value and honestly anything involving reading and/or creativity, I’m all for it!

My Manga collection started, and exploded over the last couple years and I couldn't be happier. One thing that people forget about, is a lot of Manga's can start as Light Novels, aka, "real books" and I've got a few that I ahve both the Light Novel and the Manga because the stories are just that good.

I fell out of reading in my teens, but yiur channel helped me rediscover reading scifi/fantasy, and I'll always be grateful! That said, my heart will always be with manga, which I've read for years now. Not only is it able to communicate such deep meaning through both dialogue as well as art, its shown me how the medium can be pushed in ways not possible in ordinary literature. Theres one series (won't spoil which unless ppl want to know) that on top of being well written and drawn, had tarot card numbers as well as other literary references hidden in the work which, if interpreted, could foreshadow the characters future arc. What in literature would have been a potentially quick read for me was instead me spending many minutes scanning manga panels for additional meaning, and finding it. Never had another reading experience like that in another medium.

I am going to recommend The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman. It has literally everything you talk about loving in a series. It's one of my top stories. In regards to your video, I read multiple manga and books and have done so for many years. I don't think I prefer one over the other though. I love stories that have strong character work, beautifully written characterization is what i live for. World building is an aspect that I've grown to enjoy as I got older. Magic system hard or soft just need to be consistent for me.

I've been reading manga for a while and had never really gotten into novels, but watching your channel has made me really want to get in to them! I'm currently reading book 1 of the stormlight archive and really enjoying it!

Hey Merphy glad your enjoying reading manga. I suggest reading Witch Hat Altier because it has the best Hard magic system(yes its better than Nen) also houseki no kuni too thats also a wild ride for the reader and the MC

So when do we introduce Merphy to Japanese Light Novels, the inbetween between manga and books, and really confuse her

As a long time fan of both mediums, I am regularly more impressed by Manga than I am by written books. I think it’s because I’ve read plenty of poor writing in books, but fewer poorly written manga. And I’m always impressed by the artistic skills the Mangaka’s have, and especially when they are able to do visual storytelling, using only the setting or characters and no words to convey something subtle to the audience. I still love Books, but I think I have too high a bar for writing now. Manga I think is a lot easier to start reading, or get others to try. It’s a lot more accessible, and I really appreciate that with my limited free time. Also… it’s a lot easier for me to stop when I binge read Manga, whereas I sometimes find myself up at 3 am, reading a really captivating book. So Manga is better for my health overall. >:\

Loved the video!!! Don’t know if this is the right space to do this but I think you’d really love the book series “cemetery of forgotten books” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón!! It’s set in 1930s Spain but is steeped in a very gothic atmosphere and it talks about young love, the powers stories have and the stories that connect us to one another. It’s truly some of the best books I’ve read in a long time and I think the gothic themes as well as the fact that the books really are a love letter to books would make them right up you alley!

Wow!! I mean wow!! What a great video. I just seriously watched it three times in a row. I loved it! You really captured the feeling of what the power of story has to offer us and how magical it feels to become lost in a story. The way you explained the different aspects of novels and Manga and the artwork... how it grabs the reader and the adventures it takes you on. How you feel yourself walking through the world being created on the page and knowing this is your mind assembling the fantastical place you're now in. I could really connect with your enchantment and recognized that elation you experienced and were describing. I'm like Yes!! She really gets it!! How you can just get lost in a book and escape the reality around yourself, and when you return you feel refreshed and elated. I'd like to add that I am a fellow map-nerd 😄.. I remember one of your earlier videos where you hit that point home and I appreciated it.. I love when there are maps within the book 👍 Wow!! So cool. What a powerful video, Merphy!! I very much enjoyed it. Good stuff!! Thank you!! 😃😃👍👍👏👏👏👏

One thing that I have come to love in my reading, is when the characters are looking back on something in a past book in the series, and you feel like it's not just their memories, but YOUR memories, too.

I genuinely love both. There's something beautiful about getting lost in a book but there's something equally as lovely as the pacing in a manga. There's a genuine skill and art to the "page turner" as you said. For example, Chihayafuru just finished and the author was extremely skilled and this poetic type of pacing to their panels that made every chapter feel like one of the 100 poems on which the series examines. With a book, prose picks up a lot of the weight with pacing. How to end a paragraph, how to begin the next. Again getting sucked into a book's plot or world is like getting pulled into the rhythm of the prose. I guess what I'm trying to say is that good writing works differently for each medium. But when it's done well it always feels like art.

I sometimes have extreme ADHD reading novels. Even if I like the story, I get bored reading and will even page count. Manga is a perfect balance for me. Starting a novel is so daunting because it takes me weeks to get through

I've been wanting to get into manga for a while but have found it quite intimidating honestly and had no idea where to start, but I recently read the first Vinland Saga and loved it! (I was literally reading it while watching your vlog where you were reading it and it was a little spooky 😹) so I'm hoping to carry on with the series and hopefully try some other mangas

I love how this discussion went 😍 I haven’t quite gotten into manga yet but your content has definitely made me realise that there are deeper mangas out there.

Personally I prefer manga for a really simple reason. I love pictures. I really love the intense and detailed art in works such as One Punch Man, Fire Punch, and One Piece. It feels like it's putting the inner depths of my imagination to paper in such a fulfilling and satisfying way. Even when the art style isn't incredible, still being able to see the emotion on a characters face can make me crack up laughing, or have a huge smile, or feel absolutely broken inside. Manga effects me like no other written medium.

Maybe you should try light novel that many mangas are based on. You could do a comparison between them. X) I personally love Ascendance of a bookworm. It might be a slow pace series but the world building and the characters are amazing! I am also starting I'm a villainess so I'll tame the final boss, and that time I got reincarnated as a slime, that all have a manga version. X) You also have Solo Lveling and Mo Xiang Tong Xius books Grandmaster of demonic cultivation and heavens official blessing that has a manhwa. XD

So I've always been a book reader, only got into manga in the past year or so [well i was already an anime fan] but I think one thing about reading manga i love is how the panels are laid out. I think that sometimes for intense scenes or when the mangaka is trying to evoke a particular emotion, the layout of the panels that support the primary focus of the page is super cool. I'm not sure if I'm describing it super well, but that's just my two cents on one thing I think manga can really bring to the table!

Manga and books just make me feel things so I’m here for both but manga got me into reading and served as a gate way in to novels I’ve spent the last year and a half finding new stories to immerse myself into from your channel as well as other book tubers so basically awesome video awesome community

I love both! Manga is great especially with the art and usually faster pace. But books help me build up my imagination and normally have more descriptions in them. That also why I love Japanese light novels it the best of both worlds lol.

A manga I think you would enjoy is Azumanga Daioh. It is a 4 volume series. It is a humorous slice of life story about a group of high school girls and a couple teachers. Most of it reads like an old newspaper comic strip like Peanuts, Garfield, or Calvin & Hobbes.

As someone who always loved both books and manga and got into this channel in 2020 because it talked about books, I was glad to see you getting into manga.

I struggle to read novels. Each page being a wall of text doesn’t get along with my ADHD brain. The pictures of manga and manhwa definitely help with that.

Both mediums have so much to offer! Really love them both, I wish there was less prejudice against comics/mangas/graphic novels and also more appreciation for old classic books

I read both mediums since I was in my teens though I became a TV person since Netflix came. Over the last year I've been falling in love with books and manga. I can now read a book a week (short books or maybe if I have a lot of time) which was a daunting task before. I also noticed a difference on how I consume stories now that there is a community aspect to it which I love.

I prefer manga/graphic literature because I find them so much easier to pick up and put down. Like in-between round of a game, I will read a few pages of a manga but it is impossible for me to read a few lines or a paragraph of a book like that.

Vinland was really hitting different I see

You and I don't even like the same things in books(which is great), but you got me back into reading after 15 years of nothing. I devoured books as a kid, grew up, and stopped making time. Now I'm a regular at the library, and I've enjoyed so many books I never would have heard of if not for your vlogs and rec videos. I've always been a manga reader, and now I have to try One Piece cause of how cool you make it sound. You just really put the wonder back into reading and discussion.

I feel you! I have always been a comic book fan and avid novel reader and recently began reading Berserk and it BLEW ME AWAY! Just loving manga now as well

I personally support books in this whole debate because I seem to be more immersed in the story without illustrations to be fair. But if you love manga, you do you!

I find that Monster is easier to get into than 20th century boys And generally prefer manga and comics though switching from manga to western comics is a pain because of the panel direction switch

The author of the detective manga, Detective Conan, uses its illustrations to hide clues. This technique came across as ingenious and surprising when I read it. It’s something mystery novels can never do. Trying to go back to find clues in a novel is tedious work. Meanwhile, I’ve spent hours trying to find clues in the Detective Conan artwork to solve the murder mysteries in the manga.

I wasn’t a big reader growing up until I started reading manga. After a while I started to read novels and now find my library constantly growing along with my tbr list. Lol since World building and magic is somethin that you’re into, I recommend checking out Made in Abyss (my favorite anime and manga series) and The Ancient Magus Bride (a series where magic feels magical). Dig your content and keep up the awesome work! Cheers!

One of the most interesting aspects of manga as a medium in my opinion is the serialization component. To be able to create a compelling and cohesive story-not just writing but fully illustrating as well-bit by bit over the course of multiple years is such a fascinating talent. Like, imagine how different your favorite novels would have turned out if the author wrote and released it 18-24 pages at a time on a weekly basis?

I really recommend you try Pandora Hearts and D.Gray Man ^^ The storytelling in both is absolutely amazing!

This was really interesting. Growing up, I couldn't read things with panels because my eyes wouldn't go to the right box, but I think I will give manga a fresh try. We're drawn to basically the same aspects of stories. And by basically I mean *exactly* the same. Characters, deep worldbuilding, and themes.

I've always wanted to make a story but I didn't want to write a book, I feel that my story wouldn't convey well with it. But at the same time, drawing takes a lot of work but I really want to make a manga/comic/graphic novel

I used to read all the time in German when I was younger. I’d go to the city’s library weekly and just take as many books as I could, but never reading mangas. After getting into higher schools I had less and less time and barely read any books, and whenever I would start one and couldn’t finish it fast because I had so little time, it was hard to continue picking books up. Later on a friend of mine introduced me to anime, which is also around the time I had started to get better in english. This lead to me reading mangas, absolutely loving it, and starting to read more books again. Learning English had basically opened up a whole new world of books and a community with such a huge variety of everything, that I finally started to pick books up again and just take time off to read them. I’m currently reading one piece and am going to start reading the Mistborn trilogy. One piece is, just like you said, incredible. I completely fell in love with it. The way it combines comedy, goofiness with strong character build and emotionally compact plots is insane. It’s also very nice to see someone who enjoys books AND mangas like I do, because both have such different reputations, and I’ve encountered so people who judge and basically just trash on one medium but not the other. So, I’m very glad that I found your account! As soon as I’m done with one piece (which will probably still take a while) I’ll be exited to watch the videos you did on it and hear your thoughts :)

Whoa Whoa Whoa.... Did you put googly eyes on spensa's face!!!! (I decided to give manga a try for the first time for vinland saga still wating for the delivery)

I’ve always loved to read and when I was in college I discovered manga. Manga has often helped me get out of reading slumps, and is my go-to when I’m not exactly sure what I’m in the mood to read.

Came for the primer into manga, which I’ve never read. Left with a bunch of wine.

I primarily read manga for years until a friend suggested Stormlight. I've since read all of the cosmere and now I'm branching to other authors, currently reading Lightbringer. I'd say I read both equally now. Books are great or their complete story, but manag chapters come out a lot quicker. I'd also like to recommend "Welcome to Demon school Iruma-kun". it's about a boy who gets adopted as the grandson of a powerful demon and its both hilarious but also really sweet as he introduces friendship and love to demons. The characters are amazing and I know you'll fall in love with them. World building is on point too.

I have read novels for years but never really read manga or graphic novels. This month I finally picked up my first manga, Spy Family, and read the first 2 books, and I love it! Today I just started the manga Monster. I have also gotten more into graphic novels in the past year or so, and my 2 daughters (10 & 8) love to read graphic novels so I am always going through the junior graphic novels at the library.

I love both! But as of late I've been really getting into reading manga! Mainly because I can sit down and just read it really easily. Recently, I've been having a hard time getting into books cause everytime I think about reading books, I get tired out just thinking about reading word after word after word lol. For some reason, I can't get myself to re-read novels anymore. It just feels too taxing to me, but with manga I find it really easy to just sit down and get drawn in by the art and illustrations, even if I've already read it before

I want to say that I dig how often The Lies of Locke Lamora shows up in your videos.

I'm and avid reader both novels and manga, but don't really have a preference for one over the other. I've started branching out in terms of genre since finding your channel. I've always loved fantasy in particular, but I've been reading lots of mystery and sci-fi lately. I'm also going to give the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" a try soon. Hope you're having a great day!

For me manga has really helped me continue to read as I’ve been having concentration issues lately trying to keep myself reading traditional novels and even audiobooks, especially after work where sometimes I barely have the energy to do anything. It’s nice to be able to not completely abandon the hobby.

I spent most of my teen years living and breathing both manga and novels. 😌 I’m so glad to hear you’ve gotten into manga bc I feel like it gets such a bad rep amongst “book readers”. I remember being in high school and the comments from teachers and peers were the worst. As you said, they’re just different mediums that can achieve the same effect. ETA: since you mentioned you’re a character-driven reader (like me), you might like to read more shojo manga as I feel they tend to be more character-oriented.

I just wanna point out how good that sponsor segment was. I’m too young to drink right now, but if I wasn’t you would have sold me on that service.

I used to be a massive reader (like 100+ books a year type of massive), but ever since going to college and starting to work and be an adult, I've gone further and further to exclusively manga. I feel like I get more story per time invested, and I'll be honest, a book has NEVER made me cry to the level manga has. That said, there are many novels on my TBR and I really should should start cracking away at that. Currently reading: -Manga - Demon Slayer (Vol. 4) -Novel - The Lies of Locke Lamora

Such a great video. I watched your channel before you even found Manga. I was a big fantasy reader from childhood and had just found the Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson in 2020 when your videos and others on YT put me onto the series. But after reading as far as halfway into the third book my interest began to wane. And I tried some other books and my interest continued to wane even more until my interest in reading was completely eclipsed by other things (like gaming). I lost that spark for reading. Well I'm happy to say now in 2022 my interest has been reinvigorated by manga. I found some series that really spoke to me and drew me in and I realized that manga can do just as much if not more than books and anime to tell amazing stories. And I wish I had started sooner. I remember collecting a couple of random volumes of Naruto and Nausicaa when I was a kid but never continuing because they were too expensive. But now as an adult the hobby of collecting manga is obtainable and has been a blast. And I love now that your channel and many others have begun to bridge that gap as well for these forms of story telling. I really enjoy sharing the love of these stories and mediums with each other.

Two Merphy Videos today what an amazing friday!

I must say that I really enjoy your manga and book reviews, but I absolutely love these types of videos. Hearing a person openly gush about a subject they're this passionate about is beyond refreshing

While I have always loved books, ever since burning out, I have had a much easier time reading manga, and I fell in love with it. The ones I read was able to tell me so much about the characters through their expressions, and simple one-liners hit hard. My favourite story will probably always be Pandora Hearts because of the impact it had on me when I was going through a very difficult time, as well as me still being able to discover details I haven't noticed before when reading through it years later. My love of art is probably a large part of me loving manga as well; there are some gorgeous ones out there. Nonetheless, I also love books, and am still trying my best to be able to read more. This channel has helped a lot with that, as well, so thank you a lot for that.

For some reason I get the feeling you would really like the Owari No Seraph manga, Merphy. Would love to hear your character study of that one, there's so many layers to go through and the art is absolutely gorgeous.. It's been quite unpopular since the anime ended, probably since it's a monthly series. But it has gotten really good recently in the last few chapters and i'm quite excited for where the story is currently heading.

I'm extremely dyslexic and have never been able to read novels as the actual reading is just to demanding for me. Manga has been wonderful as it's allowed me to enjoy deeper stories in a way that I never could before

Amazing topic Merphy. There are two things that came up in me while listening to you. First things first - the view of a reader I started of with Novels as a teenager. I was reading a lot of books in this time. Manga was there, but not that present. Soon enough I found myself in my early 20is earning more than a hunderd Mangas in my bookshelf. In this part of my life I coundn't imagine going back to reading Novels. Somehow I found myself consuming both mediums of storytelling. Sometimes I felt lost in the descriptions of the author and cound't picture a scene or character. Still I have more a feeling and a rough notion of the things being described. With Manga, on the other hand, the scenes past by as a film in my head. A crazy consecutive of pictures in my head building a chain in where I found myself adding vocaly the effects and emotions of the characters. Its as I am a director experiencing the movie with the actress and actors beforhand. Both mediums holds crazy potentials. And as I am pursuing to write my story, I came into a clinch with both mediums. And here comes the 2nd part - the view as a writer I was putting a lot of effort into sketching characters and parts of the world, while writing and building the world. So I started to had a feeling of losing the time and effort I put into it, if I just give the readers a novel, in which there imagination build the world I was crafting. Right now I trailed back to write, but still I find myself taking the pencil and start to sketch my world. Pursuing both and maybe giving the readers a guildbook (of cours if they are intrested in) of the characters and/or the process that went into building and crafting the world. I understand completly that the second part is a more in depth view of going into the process of writing and worldbuilding. But I will ask the queston anyways: What do you think about the mediums from the point of view of a writer? In the end it is a way of expression and of intepretation of the mediums. I LOVE them both and will be keeping bookshelfs of both worlds meeting in my heart. P.S.: Some suggestions for your Love of Manga: BAKUMAN - from the creatos of DEATHNOTE a more realistic Story. A story about Manga itself and how two teenager dream of becoming Mangakas. Full of text and funny moments. Really recommended. I always come back to this series every year that opens my heart of the artist in me. RADIANT - from the French Artist Tony Valente that combines the French way of comicbooks with the Japanese style of storytelling through Manga. Thank you for reading and keep up the good work :)

i find it hard to read manga just b/c I 99% read books on audio, whether it is while driving to work or have a book playing while doing other things. i rarely have time to sit down to read a physical copy- so I have never really gotten into manga

I love both novels and manga, but I do tend to read more manga. My brain memorizes narratives crazy well, so I can remember and review most fiction I've read in my head. I do have difficulty sitting down and focusing on a novel nowadays unless I'm really into it v.s. manga where I can just pick up a chapter and it's very self contained. To me, book chapters are a part of a whole, but a Manga chapter is akin to a book of itself. The story of a singular chapter is ingested into the pool of the series as well as all media I've ingested. This pooling of thought is one reason why I love your videos, along with other media analysis videos. Engaging with the thoughts of others is truly the peak of socialization. Thank you ⭐️

Now that you got into manga, may I recommend checking out light novels? They're seriealised novel series, many times they're adapted versions of web novels by amateur novelists. Their other main characteristic is each individual volume is rather short, about one days worth of concentrated reading. I've only dipped my toe into this, so I only have recommendation, but I think you would REALLY love it! It's called Ascendance of a Bookworm and it's full of fascinating characters, a slowly but surely unveiling mysterious main plot and fascinating world with one of the more unique magic systems I've read. I know this is rather vague, but if I start going into details, I might write a whole ass novel XD. I was hooked by the premise that the main character loves books as much as I do and I have not been dissapointed once, even 20 volumes deep into the series.

I used to read a lot of novels but now I read far more comics/manga. I began reading The Fellowship of The Ring recently and have been loving it so Im hoping to pick up some more novels in the future. Also, if you have any curiosity in checking out some western graphic novels I highly recommend Saga. Its not finished yet, but its absolutely incredible. I think you might love it, depending on how much you can handle some more sexually explicit material, because it can be pretty "adult" at times.

Lifelong novel reader here. I was never really interested in manga/anime, to be honest. But then 3 things happened at the same time: my 9-year-old started watching the One Piece anime, you started making videos about this story and one of my favorite Twitter users was raving about the manga/anime. I was definitely curious and so started watching the anime.. I'm currently at episode 140 and completely addicted to it. I look forward to reading the manga too, I'm just waiting for it to be released in my country, Portugal. So THANK YOU, Merphy, for influencing me to discover this wonderful story ♥

Hi Merphy 👋 you should add the manga Kingdom to your reading list! It's a pseudo historical retelling of the warring states period in Ancient China. It centers around peasant boy Shin who seeks to become the greatest general of the heavens as well as Ei Sei the king of Qin who historically unified China into one nation. It's very much about the art of war and Taoist philosophy! Have a nice day :)

thank you for making this video!! i think it's normal for people to have ideas about manga (and anime) before actually diving into the medium themselves. i truly believe there's a manga series for everyone!

I don't comment often but I have to step in here. Thank you for this!! I teach high school special ed and manga and graphic novels take up a large portion of the shelves in my classroom. They are accessible for my students without making them feel like they are reading books for little kids. AMAZING!!!!! But you would be amazed at how often I hear from coworkers or other adults that I should be encouraging them to read "real books." "Real books" for these students can either be far below age level and there for embarrassing for them to read or so intimidating that they never crack the cover. But graphic novels and Mangas they devour to the point that I have lost more than a few copies to students bringing them home and never bringing them back (and I can't bring myself to be mad about that). So thank you again for this video and if you have any recommendations for my class library I'd love to hear them.

Reader of both manga and novels. What I love about novels is the look into characters’ minds, and the unique language/descriptions that I never would have thought of otherwise. It adds a personality to the work that manga can’t quite capture because of its lack of words. What I love about manga and other visual mediums is the ability to convey emotional beats without any words. Sometimes seeing something happen hits much harder than just imagining it. I also like the visual details that hide in the background but enhance the experience that much more.

I would like to enjoy books but for example when a writer is describing a scene I have a really difficult time imagining and/or comprehending it, maybe because I didn't grow up reading books so I didn't develop that skill or because English is not my first language so I find the English in books much harder or maybe I'm just stupid lol. Mangas on the other hand uses simpler English most of the time (maybe because it's translated) and the fact that it's a visual medium helps a lot. I would really like to read and enjoy books so if you guys and book recommendations that uses simple to medium level English I would really appreciate it.

I used to read a lot of novels, and then when school started picking up I stopped having time to read as much. I switched to manga cause it’s faster read and I’ve always loved comics and stuff. Fast forward like 6 years later and I’m currently working on my own manga. I just love how the paneling of a manga can emphasize certain aspect of a story, and how the art can tell so much without telling u anything. Manga is the epitome of the rule “show don’t tell”. Tho I do miss reading novels and am trying to make time to read them more. Also I’ve recently been reading some American comics, and if your looking for a new series to read try Alan Moore’s Saga of the Swamp Thing. I’m reading it rn, and I’m almost done with it. Oh my goodness it is amazing, I think it’s probably my third favorite comic/manga? (My top 2 being One Piece and Berserk) Saga of the Swamp Thing is a beautiful story about a man turned into a “monster” trying wrestle with his new identity. It does a great job exploring the concept of humanity, tackling environmental issues, and even pondering the true nature of good and evil. I’ve been having a blast with it and I would highly recommend you check it out if you have a chance.

Your video just showed up in my recommendations, and am so happy it did! I've read voraciously my entire life (I'm 50 now), but recently had a massive reading slump where I barely read anything for many months. I'd never read Manga before, until 2020 when I decided during Covid lockdown to try new things - Anime and Manga! I started with Berserk (ongoing) as heard it was a massive inspiration for one of my favourite gaming franchises, Dark Souls, so I picked it up & quickly fell in love with the strong storyline, amazing characters, depth of emotions conveyed purely through minimal words and excellent art...hooked me in! Also reading Junji-Ito, and I would like to try more in the future. I also like to get my stories from video games, and I often get looked down upon when I say that games are also a wonderful source for story-telling, incredible characters & deep emotions. 👍👍

Yesss I've always wanted more content like this on RU-vid in general thank youuu

Merphy all over the RU-vid this morning

Great topic. I've been a book worm and a manga reader since so long, more than 30 years, and this was such a constructive and positive take on both media.

I was looking for fantasy book recommendations when I came across your channel (it was a video with Daniel Greene) and I really liked your „vibe“ so I sticked around. The day you started reading One Piece I couldn’t believe my eyes! I‘m so happy you are mixing the medium and enjoying both. Reading stories is a wonderful experience and we shouldn’t restrict ourself to just one type of storytelling.

I’m glad you made this video! I read both the same way and love going between the two. Sometimes manga is a good quick read for me when I’m too distracted to read longer novels, but I love a good novel too. Fruits Basket was my gateway in sixth grade so I’m glad I’ve enjoyed both so long, but equally glad other people have no matter when they start. It’s sad how mangakas are more under appreciated than authors these days though. Good discussion video.

Novels, like you said, have the power to let your imagination run into whichever direction you want/need. It allows for a certain freedom that manga does not. It also allows for me to dive deep into all the thoughts/feelings of the main character. However, manga has another ability which i think relates to the saying: "A picture is worth a thousand words". I can look at a single frame of a manga, and without even having to read the dialogue, i can feel the characters emotions as if i am reading a very detailed paragraph. Both have its flaws, like for manga, i can sometimes be taken out of the story if the art is not to my liking, and unlike novels, i am often constantly waiting for chapters to update, or even worse, never update. Novels i find i need to really prepare myself for. I need to be in the mood to use my imagination.

It's pretty cool to see both communities connect like this. I'm extremely into manga because of the way it conveys raw, human emotions and how complex it can be. Manga and anime is my all time favorite medium

novels manga vn I always loved finding a good story no matter the medium so I try to get equal dose of all of them your channel helps me find novels to consider reading seeing that we have similar taste in stories and I love listening to your review of hunter x hunter it is my introduction to your channel

Just realized Merphy's header features One Piece, HxH, Spy x Family and other mangas. Love to see it!

Appreciate that Merphy (or Korey?) paused for a moment on the googly eyes on Skyward lol

thank you for introducing me to The Gentleman Bastards, I just finished the first book and I'm really loving it, I'm planning on re-reading the first book before starting the second one

thank you so much for this. i work at an indie bookstore and there is this invisible wall between literature and comics/manga for some of them, so i'll be sharing this video on our slack channel. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Me, unable to focus on the discussion because I just noticed the googly eyes on Spensa on the Skyward novel in your bookshelf. (I started Skyward this month which is why I recognize the title despite the lens flare) Back to the discussion. I have a firm belief that there is no cap on any medium. There is just a difference in tools in the box and how skilled is the author at using those tools. Novels, Manga, TV Shows, Movies, Video Games are all just mediums. They can all reach the same highs based on how good the writing is (whether we see the writing or see the art), and based on how well the tools for the medium are used.

Merphy, I _implore_ you to check out the manga Bungou Stray Dogs; after watching this video I believe more than ever that it's a series you would fall in love with (it's my favorite). The characters in it are all loosely inspired by classic real-life authors and novels, and the series as a whole was written as a love letter to literature and stories in general -- it's so rich in beautiful, nuanced themes, and the characters are all so lovable and relatable, and one big found family 🥺🥲 not to mention that the art is simply breathtaking, _especially_ the facial expressions. Plus, there's also several light novels that are canon to the series as well, a lot of which are some of the best parts of it and have a major impact on the manga's storyline/character development, so you can get your regular book reading with BSD too 💖✨ I'd love to hear you discuss it, because as someone who is so passionate about stories (as am I), I think you would get so much enjoyment out of it too. :') I'm really happy your channel has convinced new people to start seeing the merits of manga, and see it on the same level as novels ❤as for me, I used to read regular books a lot when I was younger, but then manga and ADHD took over once I became a teen and adult 😅so I've only been reading the manga I've already been following for years now; I've been out of the regular book scene for so long that I have no idea what novels I might like to read now lol. But I hope to eventually get back to reading them one day!

I absolutely love this video 🖤 I'm not reading since childhood or something, somehow a new reader. I found reading interesting some years ago but I read a book or two a year. It wasn't untill three-four years ago (something like that) that I actually started to fall in love with reading and I started reading almost every single day and read more and more, and loving so much. I've never thought about the format, if something sounds interesting I want to consume it. I mainly read books and manga now, but I also read comics, webtoons, graphic novels, just everything. I'm reading super slowly (I just physically can not read faster) and I don't always have time, but I read at least a chapter of something a day. I love it so much. It makes me feel stuff, it makes me experience things and I am really happy 🖤

Not experienced with manga, but have read a fair few comics and graphic novels, both are unfortuantely snubbed mediums that are slowly gaining the respect they deserve.

U da best Merph dawg. I read manga more than I read books but i really miss laying jnto a good book. The inheritance cycle is my favorite. Idk if you have read them but Christopher Paolini is awesome

A great book that explains the 'how' of Manga is Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It was informative when I was doing my own comic writing / drawing.

I spent a lot of time in the library as a kid, and I really enjoyed reading. However, I love art, and I was always bad at imagining things from novels. I would tend to get lost in a scene and get confused. So when I started reading manga, it completely changed the game for me. Since then, Ive collected and read tons and tons of manga, and it brings me an amazing amount of joy in my life, and I love seeing other people enjoy it as well. I do still read novels, but sadly not as many as I wish I could.