Reading manga can seem confusing at first, especially if you're used to Western comic book styles. The reason speech bubbles don't always point directly at the character speaking is that manga follows a different visual convention. Here's an explanation:
1. Manga panels are read from right to left, top to bottom. This is the opposite of how Western comics are read, and it takes some adjustment.
2. Speech bubbles are placed close to the character speaking, but not necessarily pointing at them with a tail. The expectation is that the reader will follow the flow of panels and dialogue to discern who is speaking.
3. This convention allows for more dynamic panel layouts and compositions that wouldn't work as well if speech bubbles had to point at every speaker.
4. There are sometimes visual cues like mouth shapes or facing directions that indicate who is talking in a given panel.
While it can be frustrating initially, once you get accustomed to the right-to-left reading order and start recognizing the narrative flow, speech bubbles in manga start to make more sense. It's a style choice that prioritizes visual storytelling in a different way than Western comics. With practice, it becomes more natural to follow. The manga format is just utilizing a different set of visual conventions that take some getting used to. Giving it more time may help it "click" for your reading preferences.
1. Manga panels are read from right to left, top to bottom. This is the opposite of how Western comics are read, and it takes some adjustment.
2. Speech bubbles are placed close to the character speaking, but not necessarily pointing at them with a tail. The expectation is that the reader will follow the flow of panels and dialogue to discern who is speaking.
3. This convention allows for more dynamic panel layouts and compositions that wouldn't work as well if speech bubbles had to point at every speaker.
4. There are sometimes visual cues like mouth shapes or facing directions that indicate who is talking in a given panel.
While it can be frustrating initially, once you get accustomed to the right-to-left reading order and start recognizing the narrative flow, speech bubbles in manga start to make more sense. It's a style choice that prioritizes visual storytelling in a different way than Western comics. With practice, it becomes more natural to follow. The manga format is just utilizing a different set of visual conventions that take some getting used to. Giving it more time may help it "click" for your reading preferences.
Statistics: Posted by Kinra54 — Yesterday, 23:57