Anyone new to the world of manga may be reading an assortment of titles, and yet, haven’t stumbled across anything that truly catches his or her eye. Or perhaps a new manga addict is sad to find that they have been through several series without finding one that meets up to the high expectations of that very first series read. Is that because the readers in question just do not like the genre, or is there a deeper, underlying problem? It is quite possible that these newcomers to the world of mecha and magical girls may not know the signs of a bad manga. From contrite, over-used plotlines to lazy artwork on the part of the artist, there are four different characteristics that give you the tools to tell whether a manga is worth reading the entire series or not.

1. Storyline Scrap-heaps: The first painfully obvious problem in purely bad manga is a poorly crafted plot, or the lack thereof. The worst manga available on shelves was chosen because it seemed like it might have been the next big thing, but true discerning critics will notice several flaws. The plots may be long and convoluted, but in a bad manga, you will eventually notice that it is just the same plot repeated over and over again. Or perhaps the storyline just commits the cardinal sin of being completely unbelievable even when set in a fantasy world. The manga series without a plot is also painful to read, considering it may just be loosely related scenes of fighting or romance.

2. Character Catastrophes: Everyone wants a great character to root for, be it hero of villain, but a sign of bad manga is a distinct lack of character development what so ever. If every single character in the manga series you are reading is flat, boring, or otherwise just impossible to like, especially if he or she is supposed to be the hero or heroine, you may want to just find something else to read. A manga without characters you can enjoy is like getting food without salt. It could be good in every other way, but something vital is missing.

3. Artistic Atrocities: There is a difference between personal style and pure lazy art. Personal style, while not necessarily the most perfect artwork in the world is far different from being bad and boring. While there may be missing noses, characters that aren’t shaped just right, or thick ink lines, those are all things that define an artists’ personal style. A sign of bad manga is when an artist gets rushed or lazy, and sacrifices quality for quantity. This could come in poorly planned panels filled with sloppy explosions, or just the same background over and over again without any sort of fillers or changes whatsoever. Manga should visually stimulate the reader; such is the nature of the beast. If your series does not do that, it’s quite possibly not the right one for you.

4. Overpowering Overhype: If you think of a time when the mass popular opinion was correct about something…you’d still be thinking about finding more than one idea (aka, war is bad doesn’t count). A sign of a bad manga can be that it is terribly over-hyped by the company that produces it. Banking on the fact that most of the manga audience are not reading manga to be critical of what he or she is reading, the production companies will take the series with a high number of books, but not a high level of content and market it as the next Sailor Moon or Evangelion. Unfortunately, this means that many people will start picking it up just because the publisher says to.

In the end, you will not need clearly defined signs of what makes good and bad manga. You should be able to decide for yourself if the book series is a little too over-publicized, the art too poorly put together, the characters flat and the story shoddy. Everyone will have a different reaction to every series too, whether it is Death Note, or A Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar.