Plot!!! \[ ^ O ^ ]/ Plot! Plot! Plot! //staph

I don't really care how the artwork since I'm an-all-art-eater. Be it rough or fragile, 90 style or below, I'll appreciate it because each mangaka have their own style. But plot!! It's something that definetly must-catching-and-brilliant. Most of time I read because of plot and other's review. If the plot is irritating, even if the art is so marvelous beautiful, I'll stop it.

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I'm that type who buy after I read it first

I'm also an artist so the art style does rank high with me, but occasionally I appreciate less mainstream or under appreciated art styles (Basara and 7 Seeds, Sugar Sugar Rune, Hana Yori Dango--which did get better and grew on me a lot). All those series also had really great characters and story though.

If characters look really disproportionate or odd to me sometimes I'm more likely to give up on the series. There has to be something that attracts me to the style and characters. It's also a big let down to see amazing art but little substance.



I'd agree with the manga for Itazura na Kiss, I couldn't get passed the art. I'd actually recommend the anime. It really is a good series, even my ex watched it with me and liked it (and he was picky when I got him to watch a shoujo title lol). The Korean Drama playful kiss was also good. And he was very much a pretty boy (still prefer the Korean to the Japanese drama).


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http://starmasayume.devianart.com

Being a guy, shoujo art is not something that bothers me too much.
Art
I would say that the only art that annoys me with in shoujo is the fact that the male main characters in the majority of shoujo are over extravagant. Even the supposed nerd guys are somewhat attractive. I know it directed to girls but I feel it pulls more into fantasy genre when every guy is like that.
I also like art that have the girls that are not always cute or always hot. Like sometimes the art changes and they have a dull look or a pissed off look. It's hard to explain properly but when characters are always shown to look perfect it's a put off.
Plot
As I said I'm a guy so I don't read shoujo too much because it usually follows the generic plot of:
fall in love - fall in love with other guy/start dating first guy - romantic rivals - Marriage/graduate from school. Typically I tend to like the romance of side characters as in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
The shoujo manga that have a defined plot point or comedic element are good read for me. Though the generic romance type I tend to read when I'm in the mood for it and usually they are oneshots.

Currently ongoing shoujo I really like and recommend and want scanlated faster is:
Gakkou e Ikou

I often find that they go together. Of course, nobody really wants to have one without the other. I'd say that I usually use art as a screening factor, and then look at the story descriptions of those that seem decent. In shoujo, it's much easier to find a mediocre story with awesome art than a great story with horrible art.

Btw, if you dropped Hana Yori Dango after the first chapter, I'd recommend taking another look. It's a classic for a reason, and the art gets much better later on.

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fiveblithebells.com

Plot definitely. If the plot looks very, very interesting, then no matter how unappealing the art is I still go for it. Still, there's hope that the art gets better as the series goes. Just like with Tokyo Crazy Paradise.

I can't take reading a boring and pointless manga no matter how it looks. I try to look for balance most of the time.

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Thanks to blueangel06661 for the stock!

PLOT. If the summary promises a great story with mediocre art I'll go for it. Another important aspect I consider is originality. There are only so many ways you can make a high school setting love story interesting. Art can be a great hook for me as well but if after the first few chapters it doesn't get any interesting plot-wise then I leave.

Regarding art, I do have limits. Since beauty is subjective and all that I guess that the ugly thing for me is the perfect, sugary depiction of some shoujo manga. I tend to go for shoujo mangas that aren't that flowery. Hahaha! I guess art does play an important role after all.

Ah this old question. It is obviously advised to have quality in both departments as this is a visual medium BUT I will take plot over art every day of the week and am willing to read a manga with stick figures like HxH had for a while (i know it´s shonen) as longs as the narrative is there to back it up.
I can look at a series for let´s say a volume (there is some beautiful smut out there) if it is not too abhorrently written if the art is of exceptional quality but that is usually it.
What i like though if the artist or the team actuality take their time and deliver less pages or go on a strict hiatus (this happens regularly in comics but "filler art" is the name of the game these days) to keep the quality strong or prevent burnout.

Edit: I actually though of a shoujo on my list with Hatsu Haru that has somewhat better art then story. I am not saying it is lame as i bother to read it but the side characters have more life then the leading couple. Sailor Moon has better art then writing too but it is a classic (and better then the first anime) so i finished it. A 6/10 seems right here and i factor the story way heavier into my scores/reviews then the art unless the art aspect is exceptionally good or bad then it can move the score by let´s say 2 points up or down.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 7:11 am, Mar 16 2015

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I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

I guess I can endure horrible art if the plot is really that oh so amazing. But it's art all the way for me!

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I think therefore I err.

Plot over art in most cases, unless it's shoujo, then I won't mind just looking at the scenery and not its likely to be cliched plot. I try not to read shoujo for its plot.

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Nulla in mundo pax sincera
"Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth." - Albert Camus

I've read the web comics Order of the Stick and anti-HEROES, both of which involve stick people. There's another one I've read called 8-Bit Theater, which recreates the blocky look of old 8-bit video games. My point being is that if there's a good plot or at least one that I find entertaining, I'll overlook questionable artwork.

The plot is what is going to keep me going.

However sometimes even a good plot isn't going to be able to surpass bad art where the author probably expects me to think this is really good art (especially when they release art books) but there's clearly a clone army going on where if you seriously look at the character, everyone looks like the same person with a different hairstyle. If you're lucky they'll have different eyes also. Some examples of what I mean here include Hana Kimi and Finder.

Well in my case the art is what inspires me to peer into a manga/anime—I wouldn't try a manga with a really good-sounding plot if it didn't have acceptable art to back it up.

However..no matter how good the art is, it can't save me from degrading the story overall if the plot is bad. But still, i go for Art.

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"No single raindrop thinks it is responsible for the flood." Implying that every time you repeat a habit, it's another .001 figure added to your risk of suffering finite oblivion.

They're equal.