Manga Manga on Mobile Phones.

[Panda]

Recently TokyoPop and GoComics has announced that they will have 3 manga titles available for mobile phones. You can read more about this [u][URL=http://www.theotaku.com/news/view/manga_on_mobile_phones/108/]here on theOtaku.com front page.[/URL][/u] I was wondering if this is a service you would take advantage of on your own mobile phone? What if there were more titles available?

For me I don't think I would use this service even if there were more titles available since the screen on my phone is so tiny it would be difficult to see what was going on in the manga. I also love being able to hold a manga in my hands, flip though it and take my time reading it. With manga on a cell it just doesn't seem as relaxing to me. Manga for me is a break from technology. It gets me away from the computer, television and the phone. Having it on my phone just doesn't seem right to me.

On the plus side is that you would have manga available where ever you have phone service. On a road trip, vacation...you get a craving for new manga it is as close as your mobile phone. It would also save on paper since it wouldn't be printed out. I suppose if you have a PDA or a phone with a larger screen like those ones made for games it would be better as well. I am sure there are other benefits if I start to think about this service.

What are your opinions on reading manga on your mobile phone?

[Morpheus]

I think it would slow me down. Even when reading something slow like Sand Land, I am only on a frame for a few seconds, and loading the frames would kill me. I doubt that they could show more than 2 frames at a time.

[AzureWolf]

[COLOR=blue]While it is certainly a neat idea, it's my strong opinion that this whole thing is going to die, and die fast. While cellphones are popular things in Japan, they aren't [i]that[/i] integrated here in the US. Yes, everyone has them, but no, most do not use it for everything they do in their lives.

It's also very impractical. How many pixels does the average phone have? Is it going to even be readable without the expense of the picture itself? They might as well have a storybook or something. Also, I hate reading manga on my computer, so why would I want to read it on my cellphone?

Does anyone like reading with their cellphone?[/COLOR]

[Kei]

[quote name='AzureWolf][COLOR=blue']Does anyone like reading with their cellphone?[/COLOR][/quote]

[color=darkblue]Only if you count text messages.

While the whole concept of having manga on cell phones is interesting, I agree with Azure that it may only shoot off in Japan, where cell phones are somewhat a large intregal part of everyday life.

As was said, sure, a more than decent amount of people in the US carry cell phones on them, but I doubt that people would actualy prefer to read manga on them.

As almost everyone has already pointed out, cell phone screens don't provide nearly enough pixels to even see the graphics clearly, which is what manga is all about (well, there's plot of course, but if the art isn't appealing, whose going to want to read it?).

TokyoPop is taking an expensive risk with this, and I have a feeling it's going to come back and bite them--Kujo-style.[/color]

[Twilight_Kioku]

in my opinion, having manga on a phone will be no better than having a book on the phone. most of them have really small screens, excluding the pda phone things, and after you start thinking about it, will you even be able to see the pictures? [i]clearly?[/i] or how about the words? it would give me a headache. me's thinks i agree with lady katana. tokyopop is gonna loose some major money on this deal

[Godelsensei]

This is just a scam on the part of some major eye-glasses company so they can cash in on the sudden jump in the percentage of people who are in dire need of assistance, when it comes to seeing.

Otherwise, it's just kind of dumb...