Anime and comics (Improved*)

Ive read a few of the Mangas listed, but I found it interesting Scott Pilgrim was on the list, when i view that as more of an American adaptation of a manga. The story revolves around Scott Pilgrim, and his new girlfriend. When he starts dating her he has to go through seven evil ex's and unless he can beat all of them, he can't be with her. The style has had many influences on others today, it feels like a more bold version of the early dragon ball series, but with more static and simple shapes.

However it is clear where the anime influences come in, with the almost power level video game like strengths specific ex's have. As well as the ridiculous exaggeration that is thrown into what would normally feel like a natural event. music in the series is used as weapons, and overall it feels like an RPG mixed into a comic.

The reason i say its not so much of a manga and more like an american graphic novel, is how Brian Lee O'Mally tends to shift some aspects of Japanese culture. T
here is very much an Americanized sense of humor that occurs at specific moments, and it is based on much more of an american lifestyle than a Japanese one. However with that said I definitely think he was inspired by Mangas alike, and that it was very much one of the beginning shifts into a modern blend of Eastern/ Western culture.

One of the mangas on the list, Death Note, has a huge fan base and following, and I have to say It's still one of my least favorite manga/ anime today. I can understand where its a little innovative and has interesting turn of events, but overall no matter how unpredictable the entire series tried to be, it felt very much predictable. some of the characters deaths felt forced, and just unnecessary.

SPOILER ALERT Don't read this if you intend on watching/ reading the manga* Overall I just wanted the main character to die the entire time, and when it actually happens it felt like a giant waste of time.

That's not to say its not an interesting read, because strangely it is. I just found that by the end, I wanted a different turn of events, and not the one that felt most predictable, when the entire story tries to feel unpredictable.

Overall I can see why the manga is so highly regarded among many people, the pacing is really well established, but by the end It felt lacking, and took away what was built the entire time. It was disappointing for me the reader.

Expanding upon Anime and Manga today :These two mediums today come typically hand in hand, if there's a successful version of one, the other will most likely be made. This is a very interesting business scheme, and really opens up how much you can give in one version compared to the other. If the manga comes first the writer can be free to take/ add anything they want in the anime, and vice versa. It allows a story to be more open and diverse, but also continuous and the same. It's pleasantly unpredictable.

One of the Anime's i grew up with was dragon ball, not dragon ball z but the first beginnings of it. Where a child rises to the top, with good moral and spirit. It's a story that still motivates a lot of my work today.  When I was younger, and stumbled across the manga version, it immediately caught my attention. I started flipping through pages, and once I understood they went from right to left, I didn't want to stop. It felt like the same story to me, but as if I were reliving it in a different way. and it felt refreshing to see some of the different monsters, and changes Akira Toriyama made. it felt like an expansion to what I already loved. It was satisfying to have and be a part of.