An Introduction to Manga
What is manga?
Well, my friend, "manga" is how the Japanese say "comic book," technically it could even apply to D.C. Comics (the American producers who publish Superman and such) but in America, it is used by fans to refer to Japanese comic books. It is pronounced "mahngah" (or if you read hiragana, まんが... ^^), but I often chose to say it incorrectly using long "a" sounds instead of the "ah" as is used in the Japanese language. Mostly out of habit, but if oyu run into any おたく (otaku, obsessed fans) or fangirls/boys, beware of you pronunciation!! They tend to be a bit picky about that stuff.... >> Manga is also often the mother of アニメ (anime)! [manga= comic, anime= animated] The word "anime" can also be applied to all cartoons but, once again it is often used selectively by American fans to refer to animated shows out of Japan, there are other terms also such as Japanamation, but I dislike them, so アニメ it is! Shogakukan Online (a Japanese publisher) has a lovely article about manga concerning some history and the like, here.
Which came first manga, or anime?
I began to babble about this in the last question, but this deserves it's own heading.... anyway, manga is often the sprout of a series! Often, an artist or まんがか (mangaka, a person who creates manga ^^) will sell their stories to 漫画 雑誌 (manga zasshi [magazines] in English they may also be referred to as manga "anthologies"). These magazines range from being weekly to monthly publications, often they are rather large and can contain about 15 series in one issue. Chapters of the series are printed, sometimes running 20-45 pages each, often a series has a longer spot if it has the cover of that issue. ^^ So, assuming our said mangaka gets their manga published in one of these magazines, the next thing to happen is for it to gain popularity. This A) keeps it running the magazine, and B) offers further successes. The series is then serialized in it's own graphic novels, averaging around 100 pages. After this can lead to an OAV or OVA (they are the same thing, just different order of words, original animated video, or original video animation). These videos are anime movies based off the manga series. ^^ Theeeeeen, finally comes the anime series which will run on television and be sold on DVD (or VHS) eventually. ^^ This, of course, is not the EXACT set way things are done, but it is the basic structure of things to come for a popular manga. On example of this is X/1999 by CLAMP. The series began running in a 漫画ざっし called Asuka in 1992, in august of 1992 it began to be serialized in it's own novels, of which there are 17. In 1996 the X OVA was released and the series began running on WOWOW (a Japanese TV channel) in 2001. Things released stateside, however, often do not follow the order of which they were released in Japan. ^^ The X OVA (published by Manga Entertainment) and the TV series (released by Geneon Entertainment) are available in English and the manga is being translated (by VIZ up to 13-ish now).
Why manga (instead of anime)?
It just so happens that overall, I prefer manga over anime. Much of that has to do with cost (三十ドルぐらい for アニメ VS. 十ドル for まんが...^^), but there are many other issues involved!! One of which deals with quality. With manga the artist has more of an opportunity to create detail and elaborate on their art. For the most part, it is due to time constraints that anime by default loses some quality. To be completed and successfully animated it is impossible for the anime to retain all of the detail that was intended by the artist. That brings up another point, more of the artist's original intention is kept in tact, the storyline isn't clipped and compacted for TV, the art retains it's original style, and overall, one gets better understanding of Japan through the door of manga. It also seems to be a more... Japanese art form than anime. Although certainly not the same, in America we have cartoons that have similar ingredients as do anime. But it has taken a long time for American comic books to catch on to the cinematic storylines of manga. Manga also has more emotion and feelings emphasized than your normal American comic book. This is well explained in a small note in Gilles Poitras' The Anime Companion. There he explains that Japan views themselves as "wet" and America as "dry," meaning that Japanese put a larger emphasis on emotion as opposed the Americans who put emphasis on reason. This related back to our respective comic books work, classic American comics are ones about heroes saving the day, while in Japan, the stories may be about heroes but still reflect their feeling about being a hero and their inner turmoil and what-not. Getting away from that, reading manga is a bit more involving than passively staring at a TV screen for 4 half hour episodes. While it is true that one can turn on the subtitles and read, I like that all I need is the book to enjoy the story. That's why manga magazines are a popular read on bullet trains in Japan, they are inexpensive and it gives one something to do for those somewhat lengthy commutes, no equipment necessary! So to sum it all up, I prefer manga over anime because it's less expensive, is more reflective of Japan and the artist's intentions, and it's more fun.
What's up with the big eyes?
See the page on Osamu Tezuka for this answer. ^^