Ask John: Why Do People Read the Manga and Watch the Anime of the Same Story?

Question:
Some of the most popular anime are closely based off of their manga: Dragon Ball, One Piece, Naruto, etc. Why do people that read the manga even bother to watch the anime adaptation? They already know exactly how the story plays out.

Answer:
I relate with your confusion because I personally find that I’m usually not interested in reading the manga version of an anime that I’ve already watched, but there clearly are very many people who do enjoy watching anime versions of manga they like, and people inspired by anime to read the original manga. There are two reasons for consuming both an anime and manga version of a title. First, there are always differences between the manga and anime mediums. Apart from obvious differences like alterations to the story or a manga continuing while an anime ends, manga has a different sense of rhythm and timing than anime. Manga allows for imagination to fill in details like voices and colors. Art styles like character design will also be different between an original manga and its anime adaptation. Fans may be interested in both the manga version and anime version of a particular title in order to appreciate the nuances of each. Second, the reason why readers already familiar with a manga version may choose to watch its anime adaptation is similar to the principle of why viewers remain interested in Shakespearean plays. We already know that Romeo & Juliet will die in the end, yet we still watch because it’s the performance that’s interesting. The story itself may not be the primary interesting thing. What’s interesting is the interpretation. And, of course, it’s novel to see colorful, animation locations and characters that have previously only been monochrome and static.