This week's poll is from our member icassop. Has anything that you read in a manga ever noticeably influenced you in some way such that you actually acted upon it? Comment below with your stories!

You can submit poll ideas here (and try to keep them manga/anime-related)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Do you read any of the translated web comics listed on MU?
Choices:
Lots! - votes: 1311 (26.5%)
Several - votes: 1778 (35.9%)
Haven't yet, probably would try - votes: 666 (13.4%)
Used to, but not anymore - votes: 299 (6%)
Never have, probably never will - votes: 902 (18.2%)
There were 4956 total votes.
The poll ended: November 7th 2015

Not too many voters compared to our usual polls, but I'm surprised that many of you do read web comics. I guess it's a rising form of entertainment.

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

That's a tricky question, for me. I wouldn't say I've "acted upon" something I learned from a manga, but I would say that it's influenced my views of the world quite a bit -- especially the more mature and complex titles.

For example, up until 4 or 5 years ago I sincerely believed that all victims of bullying were great people; that the fact that they were misunderstood and the society which made them targets was twisted and narrow-minded made them some kind of saint. But then I read a manga where the victim habitually tortures his little brother, who in turn rapes his female classmate, who goes home and drowns her cat. It was then that I came to realise that in many ways, there's a bully in everyone. And a line from another manga really struck me then: "The only real difference between bullies and their victims is the balance of power." Afterwards, monitoring real-life examples confirmed this for me. That's not to say the first bully isn't an a**h*le nor that the victims shouldn't be helped, of course, but...

There are lots of other life lessons like that I've noticed over my 6-7 years as a manga fan. But I guess it depends mostly on the kind of series you read. I read everything save for a few genres, so I've seen all types: out-of-this-world fantasies, semi-realistic half-fantasies, and the kind that are pretty blasé and down-to-earth about the ways of the world. All very lovely in their own different ways, of course.

Last edited by calstine at 1:27 am, Nov 7 2015

No, but it made me think about it is my ticket as buying merchandising sounds neither good nor bad to me. Enough biographical/socio critical manga, or works about themes as WW2 and so on exist after all but deep meanings aren´t a driving force of the Asian comics industry (the main demographic are children after all) and the European comic industry should be the winner here.
A Spring of Chernobyl, Maus (the most famous real would topic comic ever?) or Hadashi no Gen were highly educative but i didn´t change, truly grow or did something afterwards besides gaining knowledge. I don´t think that i should have either and please don´t educate yourselves through children´s comic books without fact checking first.

Calstine. You takeaway regarding bullying is kind of horrible... I will note though that Japan has a very strong bulling/shaming culture deeply ingrained in their society.

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

Absolutely. My opinion on politics and politicians have been greatly influenced by "Akumetsu".

Also, stories like "No Mercy" from Kiyoshirou Inoue changed my view on the blackness of the world - news and films are depicting far too bright picture of the world, there is so much horror in the world you can't do anything about!

Last edited by SinsI at 3:05 am, Nov 7 2015

That's not a bad question, but I'm not sure how to answer it.

Naturally, I read what interests me.
Call it confirmation bias, but I don't think I've been exposed to views in manga that contradict mine in such a way that would alter my opinion.

I've had some of my views challenged and changed by watching documentaries and certain films, but I'm not sure about manga. Maybe it's all been mushed together.

I can certainly say though, that over the years I've learned not to be judgmental towards what society considers taboo. Again, I can't say it was manga that got me there, but I think it might have been a part of it.

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Hrodulf and Bjornolfr, you will not be forgotten.

And if the world were black and white,
you would be my rainbow in shades of grey.

Click 'n Play!

If I had a fantasy self, it'd be a tentacle monster.

I can't recall anything, really!
^It is my actual answer. But, as you have not added it or something similar I choose " No, but it made me think about it ", which was somewhat close enough.

P.S. Add ^^it next time btw.

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[img]https://i.imgur.com/ERg8slD.gif[/img
[img]https://i.imgur.com/HphHlPh.gif[/img]
Tv Tokyo - Anime & Manga ~ MinatoAce

As ridiculous as it may sound to some, manga was what rid me of homophobia. After strict religious schooling, I was conditioned to condemn people like that, and after reading a BL manga that one of my Asian friends insisted that I read, it totally gave me a new perspective on the struggles LGBT people experience. The antagonists of the story were people who shared my former views, and it made me realized how wrong I was.

Everything I experience makes me change a bit, and manga is part of what I experience.
In particular, manga helped me accept the idea that there are values in this world which can be really different from mines, and I've learned not to judge straight away based on my own values. Also thanks to this I was able to interact better with people coming from different cultures. So I selected the "Yes, in a positive way" option. But to be honest not everything that I experienced on manga had a positive influence on me. I'd say I can't tell myself whether I'm positively or negatively influenced, or if I can make this clear distinction to begin with. Talking in a larger perspective, years of interactions about manga on the web have made me much more intolerant towards some kind of people (and in this case manga fans) than I was at the beginning. But I think this is mainly because of Internet in general. It should be used with moderation.

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My current top 3:
Fullmetal Alchemist
Pandora Hearts
3-gatsu no Lion

Unhappiness comes from focusing/living for the future and in the past. Happiness is in the present; live in it.

That is the most memorable life principle (can't remember the exact quote) that I read from a manga. Actually manhwa. I was probably about 13 years old when I read that (or 12). A very impressionable age. There are others that have no doubt influenced me without my conscious awareness and my conscious recall but this is one that has always stayed with me consciously....Nevertheless, it is difficult to do

Ghost in the Shell was my first show as a child where concept of humanity was discussed. It was what later fascinated me about human interactions, the elements of thought, and humanity (although I ended up not following up that interest in University because the people who taught those courses.... Well, let's just say they thought the sun shone out of their arse.)

I think it made me more pessimistic and cynical. Especially regarding what is the worth of human life.

Another one is morality in justice in reference to Death Note's struggle between L and Light (I had stopped reading the manga after L died because it didn't seem to care much for that intellectual element anymore). It added another dimension to my own opinions on the role of mercy, justice, and ethics.

Edit: fixed a spelling mistake.

I voted "No, but it made me think about it" but now that I think about it that is incorrect. After reading Hikaru no Go I learnt to play Go and read up about it. I still have that knowledge even if I didn't take to the game after trying it out. Other factoids add up over time as well even if it is hard to see

There are also other series that can change my mindset just by thinking about them. YKK almost always brings a small smile to my face just by thinking about it. It means I have another trick to get through a burdensome time (which are few and far between). I feel that the central view is that time moves on and the small everyday stuff is what you should focus on now and then.

Might not be exactly the poll question but on the same theme.

I wish there was another option combining points A and B. For me, manga has been an outlet for my free time for around 7 years now. Since I have some issues regarding social everything (Aspergers) manga has helped introduce a lot of ideas and scenarios that, regardless of their realistic or unrealistic nature, helped me understand the world around me a bit more. I also tried out various ideas and such from mangas in social whateverness.

On the other hand, recently I had an epiphany regarding beliefs, ideals and convictions (that I couldn't explain if I could) the made me realize that I was upholding those MC's (who won't change their convictions no matter what happens to them or others) view towards convictions, ideals and beliefs a little too strongly. Thus, for better or worse, I have realized something new or that I had forgotten. Regardless of that and of how it was my personality that draws these kinds of problems unto myself, manga had definitely shown me a idea that did not benefit me but did hinder. Surely now I realize it is fine to admire those with such conviction but now I know that life is not for me. (at least for now)

tldr; Manga has helped me learn social interactions but had also implanted an idea I saw as having a negative impact on me.

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I care waaaaay too much...