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Easy-to-Read Manga

Ryan-

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I'm not really into manga but it seems to be a good source of reading practice for many students so I'm looking to get into it. What are some titles that aren't too complicated to start with? I'm not talking about story/character complication, just language level.

There's a huge bookstore here with used manga for $1 each so I thought I could abuse it for some reading practice.
 
The thing is though most Manga are fairly complicated, even those for kids are hard, so whether you find any use of them will depend on your ability. That being said I recommend Doraemon, I still find it hard but it's the most common Manga for Japanese beginners.
 
Um, rather than Japanese level, you should be concerned with your personal interests:if you could not enjoy reading Managa, it won't help at all.

The reason Manga is good for language may partially be accounted for ease of deduction of meanings of words from pictorial representation of context, but predominantly it is because reading Manga is relatively stress-free compared to other activities: You could read novels but it will be slow and you are certain to get bored, while with Manga, at least you can deduce the plots etc from pictures and that relieves the stress akin to watching slow motion movie for days(My personal experience reading English Novels).

There are ridiculous numbers of Manga out there, so you may ask people around or post your preference here and I could tell you something that might attract your attention.

Doraemon probably is not too bad, as it is very simple Manga directed for 6 to 9 years old children but, because of that simplicity and low informational contents, having to read it would almost be like a torture.
 
You need to start reading better novels.

Doraemon probably is not too bad, as it is very simple Manga directed for 6 to 9 years old children but, because of that simplicity and low informational contents, having to read it would almost be like a torture.
Excuuuuse meee!? Reading Doraemon is like a torture!? Ohhhhh~ those are fighting words, Buddy! Dora-chan is full of "informational contents"!

What I mean is that it has everyday characters in everyday settings (save for that Robo-cat from the future with a pocket full of fantastic gadgets bit...lol) speaking everyday language. I think it is great for a student of Japanese to watch/read the grammars s/he has learned from textbooks being used in conversations.

In fact, I still read Doraemon, usually when I am in the bathroom. I think every bathroom should have a copy.
 
The lady at Shirokiya suggested Naruto and One Piece but those seemed kind of..... lame? I'll check out Dora-chan, he amuses me somewhat.
 

My apologies if you feel insulted, it was not my intention.

Maybe at the beginning of learning stages, Doraemon is acceptable.
I did not mean to deny that it can be enjoyable but because I have a painful experience of forcing myself to read introductory materials for English learners in vain, I just wanted to warn him that he does not need to stick to what he does not like.

Anyway, how many volumes of Doraemon have you read so far? I think when I was a kid, I read up to volume 40 or so but that was my limit...and I think there is over 100 volumes now?

You need to start reading better novels.
I agree, do you have a suggestion for a good book to read? Being such a slow reader who scans through the lines even slower than a snail might creep, it is not easy to find a good book myself.

I have tried:
David Eddings(all series)
Author C. Clark(Majority of)
Harry Potter series
Steven King(Dark Towers and a sort stories)
Ray Bradbury(reading now)
J.Tolkien (Hobbit and the famous one)
Lewis Carroll
J. M. Coetzee(Disgrace)
And few other writers

I just scanned through without checking grammars and vocubs because I had a lot of other things to do and I was reading for fun.

In conclusion, I just could not love them much, Mr Clerk was nice but too inorganic.
The great Tolkein, very organic but with my poor language skill, I just could stop pleading him to leave off describing the wonders of the world and to move on with the story.
Dark Tower and David Eddings were slightly easier to read but I think it was cultural thing(like attitude towards religion, how a good man should behave etc) that got on with my nerve so much that I could not read them in peace.
Ray Bradbury, currently I am reading Dandelion Wine, writes beautiful lines and I appreciate it but his characters do not say anything that sounds clever to me and I cannot stop retorting back to the book...

Um, I am obviously bit sick but anyway, would there be any salvation for me somewhere?

p.s
Keroro gunson should be another good one to check out, slightly harder than dora-chan but, from what I felt from reading English Translation, should not be too hard.

p.p.s
I know it is strongly against the moral sense of quite few people but for your benefit.
There are some people scanlating Japanese Manga on the web, so may be you should check them out to see what sort you can bear reading.

Try searching "Manga Helper" on google.

And well, if you actually use it for studying and if your finances allow , please buy a copy from book store or from amazon because sharing these images is still controversial thing and reading stuff on PC screen is bad for your eyes.
 
My apologies if you feel insulted, it was not my intention.

Oh, no, no apologies necessary! I was just being silly. lol

::OFF TOPIC::
As for novels written in English, I am a huge fan of John Irving. I recommend any of his books. My favorites are "The Cider House Rules" and "Widow For One Year".
 
Oh, no, no apologies necessary! I was just being silly. lol
::OFF TOPIC::
As for novels written in English, I am a huge fan of John Irving. I recommend any of his books. My favorites are "The Cider House Rules" and "Widow For One Year".


::OFF TOPIC::
As for novels written in English, I am a huge fan of John Irving. I recommend any of his books. My favorites are "The Cider House Rules" and "Widow For One Year".

Thank you, ASHIKAGA.
I will check them out
 
And well, if you actually use it for studying and if your finances allow , please buy a copy from book store or from amazon because sharing these images is still controversial thing and reading stuff on PC screen is bad for your eyes.

Finances aren't an issue. Not because I'm rich, quite the contrary actually, but because I have a Shirokiya near my house with a huge used book section with manga for $1 each. The selection is just too big and I'm too unfamiliar with the genre to pick something suitable.
 

hmm, it depends on the genre of movie, books etc that you generally watch/read.

Maybe it is not good to post these links here but well, searching for materials do take lot of time when we do not know what we are searching for so here...

List of something I personally liked rescently:
Comedy
聖おにーさん(Some religious people find this absolutely unforgivable but well, Japanese people are not into religions much so you have to get used to it if you ever plan to come over)
Amazon product ASIN 4063726622荒川アンダーザブリッジ
http://mangahelpers.com/s/angry-candy/readonline/30170/7?t=1253094853
kerorogunsou
http://mangahelpers.com/s/raitoryuulk/details/39349

Action
Not quite good for studying a language but if you like something violent and bit offensive
ブラック・ラグーン
http://mangahelpers.com/s/anonymousspore/readonline/3530/1
HELLSING
Hellsing Chapters

pseudo-Fantasy
landreaall (probably less offensive and easier to read)
Amazon product ASIN 4758050260エビアンワンダー
Amazon product ASIN 4758051941
sci fi?
機動警察パトレイバー
Mobile Police Patlabor Raws
鉄腕バーディー
Birdy the Mighty Evolution Raws
Dora-chan
Doraemon

Also, Osamu Tezuka is almost a legendary artist who left many works: I am not a big fan or him though, for me his works are too classic already.

There are well over a thousand of Manga artists drawing for all sorts of people, genre, so unless you don't like fictions, you should find something that you do not feel so stressed reading.
 
"Japanese The Manga Way: An Illustrated Guide To Grammar And Structure (ペーパーバック)" ISBN-10: 1880656906 or ISBN-13: 978-1880656907.

"Yotsubato" (よつばと) for simple, heartwarming beginner manga (with furigana). I think all shonen manga have furigana. Or "Crayon Shinchan" easy reading for, uh,... humor only adults can get. ;-)
 
If you want something easier, then maybe you should consider picture book too.

At the beginning anything can be pretty hard but for studying any language, we just have to chew up concepts and new vocabularies till they are soft enough to swallow.
It takes time and patience: Lately I have to re-read a book 3 or 4 times to make sure I will not forget or have not overlook anything.


Slightly more costly and maybe harder to come by, but children's book often contain something not covered in Language texts and something very essential. So it might be worth to study one or two a word by word: it is quite stressful process and might cost your sanity though.

I have searched for ones with good reputations.

年齢別おすすめ絵本 大人も楽しめる絵本
グッズトップ | 絵本ナビ

アフリカの音 (大型本)
Amazon product ASIN 4062076810
白猫亭 追憶の多い料理店
Amazon product ASIN 4093874905Amazon.co.jp
 
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Start reading fantasy shounen manga. You'll learn hell loads of vocabulary that is used in other genres and demograhpics less frequently, buty its still there. Anything above shounen and shoujo will be a torture to start with, because of the lack of furigana. Kodomo, well, its plain shite, so why bother?

If you want novels, you could go for most light novels.

And I really mean that you should use fantasy, to avoid the foreign katakana equivalents of Japanese words.
 

Ya, hurigana is one important thing to consider. But can you think of an example of good fantasy Shonen Manga?
I mean majority of them have more than an element of action Manga.

I think Tegamibachi;Tegami Bachi , goes into that category and artwork is nice but it has bad and obscure plots that I can't personally enjoy.

Or fullmetal Alchemist; Fullmetal Alchemist. But both are not really fantasy Manga
 
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