Which Should You Do: Read Manga or Watch Anime
The anime creators are outdoing themselves every year with great mangas being adapted into anime with flawless animations, so, one might wonder, Why should I read manga when I can just watch anime? Well, reading manga and watching anime both have their own pros and cons, and just because the anime creators are doing so great doesn’t mean the manga artists are doing any less.
Whether to watch anime or read the manga depends really on your personal preference, because the anime vs manga debate is an old one with no definitive answer and you should just enjoy whichever one you prefer. But, if you’re confused about which one you should choose, this article would help you.
Reading Manga vs Watching Anime
| Manga | Anime |
|---|---|
| The Story in the manga would always be ahead of its anime adaptation, so read manga if you want a bigger chunk of the story. | Anime adaptations are usually released in seasons of 12 or 24 episodes and the next season might not come out for years. |
| You would need a good imagination to imagine the characters moving, talking, and fighting. | The animation and the voice acting make it much more enjoyable to watch anime rather than reading manga. |
| Manga don’t have fillers. | Many anime have fillers. For example, Naruto has a filler percentage of 41%. |
| If you’re not Japanese, then you would, of course, need an English-translated version of the manga, and English-translated ones are usually behind the Japanese ones in terms of chapters. | You can watch the subbed version on the same day or the next day after its release and don’t have to wait for the Dubbed version. |
| It takes less time to read the manga then to watch the anime. | Takes more time to finish. |
| Action scenes can be a bit boring because you’re just looking at a bunch of drawings without any movement. | Action scenes are much more enjoyable when animated. |
| No Censoring of gore scenes | Censoring of extremely gritty and bloody scenes is done. |
If the anime is really well animated and faithful to the source material, then, of course watching the anime is a better option but still reading the manga could be a great experience and there are also moments in the manga that are changed when adapted into the anime.
For Example, the One Piece manga has some great moments that are impactfully brutal but were either completely censored or toned down a bit. For instance when Whitebeard had a piece of his face blown off in the manga but in the anime it was only his mustache. Anime also usually censors blood to make the scenes less brutal and gory.
Should You Read Manga or Wait For Its Anime Adaptation
You should go ahead with the manga instead of waiting for the anime as you don’t know when the manga will get an anime adaptation or even if it does, whether it would be good or not.
After its serialization begins, it can take a manga years before it gets adapted into an anime. Demon Slayer manga began in February 2016 and it wasn’t until 2019 that its anime aired on TV. Years after the anime’s first seasons aired, it’s still going on while the manga already ended in 2020. So, if you’re really eager to enjoy the story, you can just start reading the manga and finish it much earlier than the anime ends.
Plus, who’s to say that the anime adaptation would be good? Most of the adaptations are great but there are also a lot of them which are not. Look at the Record of Ragnarok anime. The adaptation was so horrible I couldn’t bring myself to finish even 2 episodes and just read the manga.
Another example of a bad adaptation is Berserk 2016 anime. The CGI is shit and the creators cut a big chunk of the story trying to cover 2 manga arcs in just one season. The Berserk manga is so high quality that it’s better to just read it than to watch the anime. (Though the 1997 one is good)
So, I recommend reading the manga instead of waiting for the anime but if you want to wait, it’s your decision.
Is It Worth Watching Anime After Reading Manga
If you do decide to read the manga instead of watching the anime, you might be wondering if it’s worth watching the anime as well.
If it’s well-animated then it’s definitely worth watching your favorite manga as an anime. The animation, the soundtracks, and the voice acting give a great experience that the manga couldn’t provide plus it would be really cool to see your favorite characters come to life as an anime.
But, there might be instances where you notice the changes done to the story by the animation studio, and if the changes don’t do justice to the story, it would just ruin the experience.
If you’re worried it’s going to be boring to watch the anime when you already know the story, then just give it a try, watch a couple of episodes, and see if you want to watch more. And the anime might even have some original arcs or episodes like Naruto and One Piece which have a bunch of fillers that are really good.
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