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Do you enjoy graphic novels/comic books/manga?
Mr_Serenity
Veteran
So this might be a long shot, but I'm curious to see if Buddhist minded people are actually into this stuff. Because on one hand Buddhist philosophy tends to be very anti-violence. Graphic novels on the other hand flourish on that. They tend to be very stylish and some don't pull any punches what so ever. Usually there will be conflict in almost every issue. So it can be argued that stylized violence and Buddhism are opposite.
But to me there is beauty in both. I think when people repress themselves too much that is when things can eventually get ugly. But to see these thoughts illustrated and written out in a graphic novel can be a beautiful thing. Things happen in graphic novels that would not be shown in most movies (maybe animated).
It is not just about the blood shed or to shock the reader. It is about making the story thick with conflict that all flows naturally and makes things more interesting. So I'm curious to see if Buddhist minded people dig that, and what type of books are you guys into.
I've been reading Berserk lately. It's a classic Japanese manga that is set in a Medieval war torn Europe with supernatural themes and very heavy psychological tones that show the best and worst of human nature. It's extremely graphic, but to me it is beautifully written and even more impressive artistically. It's ranked as the top 5 manga of all time on most major lists.
Along side that I've also been reading "Civil War". Which is a big event that affects all the Marvel universe, this one is American based. Artistically it seems like the highest budget comic book art around, so it's beautiful to look at, and fun for me to catch up with all these Marvel superheroes I grew up with. But for sure it is "rated PG-13" rather than the no pulling punches style that I love from Berserk.
So it's interesting to me to read both styles from two different cultures. I notice a lot of people prefer to read only American comic books or only Japanese manga. But I have always loved reading both. Anyways discuss what you think of graphic novels here, and if you read any!
But to me there is beauty in both. I think when people repress themselves too much that is when things can eventually get ugly. But to see these thoughts illustrated and written out in a graphic novel can be a beautiful thing. Things happen in graphic novels that would not be shown in most movies (maybe animated).
It is not just about the blood shed or to shock the reader. It is about making the story thick with conflict that all flows naturally and makes things more interesting. So I'm curious to see if Buddhist minded people dig that, and what type of books are you guys into.
I've been reading Berserk lately. It's a classic Japanese manga that is set in a Medieval war torn Europe with supernatural themes and very heavy psychological tones that show the best and worst of human nature. It's extremely graphic, but to me it is beautifully written and even more impressive artistically. It's ranked as the top 5 manga of all time on most major lists.
Along side that I've also been reading "Civil War". Which is a big event that affects all the Marvel universe, this one is American based. Artistically it seems like the highest budget comic book art around, so it's beautiful to look at, and fun for me to catch up with all these Marvel superheroes I grew up with. But for sure it is "rated PG-13" rather than the no pulling punches style that I love from Berserk.
So it's interesting to me to read both styles from two different cultures. I notice a lot of people prefer to read only American comic books or only Japanese manga. But I have always loved reading both. Anyways discuss what you think of graphic novels here, and if you read any!
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Comments
"Yeah that was cool!"
Same feeling I get when playing some video games. Or when I watch two Kendo Yudansha fight it out in suits of black armor. It might be a generational thing lol.
That I can relate to. Part of this dichotomy comes from craving on both sides. Craving for bliss and peace and being above it all. And then craving for the wonder and joy of violent power and fantasy. Its a fantasy all around. Fantasy about buddha or fantasy about powerful shadow warrior. Buddhism is about waking up to reality. Fact is one of the beautiful things about humans is that we Do have fantasy. Whats important is what you do with it. You can do evil or good, which of course is a matter of awareness and love rather than aversion (evil) or craving (good).. its just different words but the important point is to take care of your mind and not get too carried away. To remain present.
as far as the violence topic, i dig a lot of violent video games, but i only seem to be able to stomach the ones that involve zombies. not sure why, call of duty and halo and the like bother me too much. perhaps it is the story that makes violence feel okay to me. for example, in a zombie game, you don't need to tell me the back story... i already know this thing trying to attack me is a brainless, walking dead who is no long aware of his/her actions. in a comic book, you know the back story of why the bad guys are bad and that makes you feel justified. it's just like how i really enjoyed watching Kill Bill. why? it was a revenge flick, but they told you the story of how she was wronged by all of the characters, so that you actually do root for her. (well, i have to admit, i did feel some sympathy towards the end.) on a side note, to bring this back to comics, kill bill was heavily inspired by the movie Lady Snowblood which was based upon the manga by the same name, which is definitely worth a look.
The zombies were fun to fight I learned an awesome tactic of aming for their head and chopping it off and then they would wander around while I picked off their cohorts. Good memories. When the insanity meter got too high you would see all this freaky stuff. It was awesome.
It was surprising to me that when I took a class on how to design graphic novels and comic books most of the guys dropped out. And in the end it was me and 5 other women in that class. It was really something I didn't expect to see in a comic book creation course, but it was refreshing to know there are comic books now days that girls like too.
About the comment about the comparison to American comics to Japanese ones, I totally prefer Japanese ones. I can't get over, what I feel, is much poorer art in American comics. I tried to get into "Fables", but found that some of the content was pretty iffy for me.
http://www.mangareader.net/
or
www.mangafox.com
American comics are harder to come by online because they do a better job at cracking down on that. But you can still find them just by typing in google the comic name and "torrent".
Rurouni Kenshin was one of my favorites and the first manga I collected. I collected all of the Kyoto arc and the Jinchuu arc. It's still one of the best. The anime Samurai X that was adapted from RK is still revered as one of the best anime films of all time. Definitely worth a watch for anyone who hasn't seen it.
Kenshin is pretty awesome! I never made it through the whole series though, unfortunately. Samurai X made my husband appreciate anime. He never really liked any of it before, but he loved that one!
I don't know if any of you have watched "Haibane Renmei" but it's my favorite anime of all time. It's older and I'd say more obscure, but worth the 12 episodes. If people get into it, I definitely recommend Murakami's "Hard Boiled Wonderland At the End of the World" just for the interconnected themes.
some of you guys mentioned the price of manga, you can find a lot of unlicensed stuff online for free at places like mangafox. there are a lot of scanlation companies that will translate it to english until the works become licensed, then they remove it. this is how i read most of my shoujo manga because, go figure, there isn't a huge audience for lesbian romance in the states. most of the stuff i like never even gets translated.