The plot, hands down.

If it was about the artwork for me, I wouldn't read shoujo at all since I greatly prefer dynamic shonen-style art over the typical wispy shoujo style. Not to mention, there are only so many ways "wide-eyed, innocent school girl" and "dark haired, popular bishonen" can be drawn, so it's often a matter of degrees when distinguishing between the styles of even my most favorite shoujo mangakas--oh this one prefers more rounded faces and longer limbs, that one tends to use heavier lines, and whatnot. (Even worse when the art style is indicative of what magazine the manga appears in--i.e., anything that gets published in Ribon vaguely looks like TANEMURA Arina or one of her relatives drew it.)

Having said that, if the art is great, it'll make me like a manga a little more than I might have if it was only so-so, and conversely, if the art is bad, it'll make me like a mediocre manga less than I might have otherwise. But in the end, the story and characters are what makes or breaks a manga for me, not the art.

Looking at all the negative reviews for Vampire Knight, the majority of which say something like, "the art is great, but the plot, on the other hand..." provides a good demonstration of the fact that, even appealing art isn't always a solid guarantee of keeping a reader.

I for one think looking at the art of it is painful. Like I said above, Honey and Clover's art has a huge drawback, but not as bad as VK and similar shoujo art (Minami Kanan and those under the same publisher, and most of those in Lala and Hana to Yume are pretty similar and just as medicore). Not sure whether it's surprising or not, most of those plots don't appeal to me. Again, a lot of shoujo readers think such art is appealing and are used to it. So it is mass-produced.

Last edited by base_coat at 2:11 am, Sep 8 2009

I guess plot for me. I try not to judge any manga I read based on the art alone, but that inevitably happens. I like eccentric styles (in every genre). Sometimes, the more unusual the better because I feel like I've stumbled upon untouched treasures. It's even more gratifying when it comes with an equally unique plot.

I try to appreciate every style. I don't really believe in "bad art," as I think that it's a very subjective topic, but everyone is entitled to their tastes/opinions.

nice phrase.

For me, i read shoujo if they have pretty n beautiful arts.. yep, bcoz it's shoujo so I won't expect the story would be 'wow'
It's for eyes service.
But if the story doesn' t have any interesting idea and i don't like the 1st ch. i'll drop it.

For other genres, story goes first, i tolerate mediocre art... as long as it's unique or have strong characteristics. But i don't like if it's too simple. For me, simple arts would be incuded in doraemon-sailormoon category. Manga I'll read if i am back to be a 9 years old girl.
what turns me off to drop the story, if the main char's personality is way too white.. too pure... too insulting!
And also i don't like undeveloped plot, static..
And repeated story.




Last edited by comel at 9:17 am, Sep 8 2009

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That's very, very true about how "mass produced" shoujo art is. I used Ribon as an example in my original post, but to me that's sorta forgivable since the magazine is being marketed to the under-12 crowd--I would guess "branding" and having a more uniform look to the art would be important to distinguish it as being "kiddy." But the stuff being sold to older girls? Why do Lala artists have to draw similarly to one another? While there's a definite preferred style to shonen art as well, you can't say all the artists publishing in Shonen Jump draw as similarly to the artists publishing in Sho-Comi or wherever.

As a personal aside, I also dislike the art for Vampire Knight. The mangaka can draw lots of silky hair and cosplay-worthy clothes, but she can't do anything else, unfortunately. The characters' expressions rarely convey any actual emotion (only what rabid fans want to read into a blank stare) and watching the characters in action is painful. It's clear the mangaka has never stepped foot a figure drawing class when people doing simple actions like walking and sitting look stiff and cardboard-like. Not to mention, the fight with Rido has to be one of the worst things I've ever seen in a published manga. To indicate lots of action, what did Hino do? She cluttered her panels with so many lines that I couldn't even tell what was supposed to be happening under the lines! It was just sad. Hino couldn't convincingly draw a Yuuki who looked like she'd just blocked an attack (or whatever), so she put her in one of her usual stiff poses then drew a bunch of lines over her: Look! Lots of fast movement has just happened! These lines prove it!

Anyway, back on topic: plot > art. I'd hate to miss out on the works of a great mangaka like MIDORIKAWA Yuki just because her artwork isn't conventionally pretty!

both
but if the art is good but the story is crappy i won't read it
if the story is really good even though the art is crappy maybe i''ll read it maybe....

I decide by the plot; the art can't stand on its own in a manga like the plot. If the art was better quality than the plot, then you're just basically looking at pictures.

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For me, it's art>plot.
Of course, there were a few exceptions, like Gokusen. I got put off by the art but tried it anyways since the reviews were good, though I didn't like the plot based on the summary (I guess I was bored and wanted something new to read).

As many have said, the art is like the "hook" that grabs your attention. If I don't like the art, then I don't read it. If the plot is interesting enough, regardless of the art, I will try it. But, if I do try it and can't stand the art, no matter how good the plot is, I'll drop it.

And if the plot sucks but the art is godly, then I'll still read it.

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Definitely the plot first... and it so happens that it's impossible to determine what "bad" art is, since if you're reading it it's probably done by a professional and even if it doesn't appeal to you, it probably appeals to other people nonetheless. I get the "the art sucks but XXX's works are really good!!" thing when I try to ask for recs, then I go take a look and to me it's always PERFECTLY FINE. :\

A lot of those who draw manga are not really that professional, esp. in the shoujo and yaoi manga scenes. Their art doesn't usually have much personality and they don't make efforts in drawing at all. What's more, they make manga with messy panels, user-unfriendly and inconsistent drawings. But they still sell because their works are just like junk fast food.

Plot is very important, but it's art first for me. I don't care how good the story is, if I don't like the art I can't stand it, but I can tolerate an ok plot with brilliant art.

The only thing that the art should do is enhance the storyline by depicting the scenes; so, if a manga series has a crippled story line, it can NOT rely on the art to help it limp along to completion.

If the story line is good, the art can show an emotion... not by tears or smiles but by drawing the characters themselves and the style that they utilize to convey the feelings and thoughts of the character.
If the story isn't there (or it just plan sucks), you can't believe the drawings... they become pretty pictures that mean nothing more than that.

The only series I have not picked up based on art are One Piece and Fairy Tail... maybe it's because I am still not comfortable with it... but I think it might also skepticism with having Stretch Armstrong as the main character... and because the art is so very similar that the other loses out by association.

Other than that, I kind of like the quirky... not all the time maybe, but it's very refreshing to come across a series that doesn't look like it came from an assembly line.

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and I don't know you. Make sure it doesn't leave the building."

plot... ill read anything, even if the art is junk, if the plot is good

e.g. Usagi Drop

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I wouldn't say Usagi Drop's art is junk at all. It has no problem of presentation and inconsistency, and has a style of its own. It's far better than a lot of generic shoujo and shounen out there.

plot is much more important than the art, and i agree with the people who said dat the art should be there to enhance the manga/story. For example i mean the writer says "this girl is good-looking", if the art sukz and aktuli on da drawing that supposedly gud lukn character lukz bad then like wouldn't that put off some of the readers? So art is quite important but definetly not as important as plot.

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