First off, I just want to get some opinions from people about what gets lost in a manga or anime when it is translated from Japanese to English. I personally feel that you lose some of the humor in the jokes that are made. The jokes are funny to Japanese people who read it before it is translated, but after it had been translated to English, I just don't seem to get the joke. It seems that this is because of 1 of 2 things. Either I don't have as great of a sense of humor as I think I do and I just don't get why the Japanese find something funny, or the joke made more sense before translation. Am I the only one that feels this way? This is one of the reasons I tend to enjoy American graphic novels more than their Japanese counterparts. Nothing has been translated so I don't have to wonder what's funny when a joke is made.
This is how I feel sometimes when reading manga.
There is one American graphic novel that is a perfect example of this. It's called MegaTokyo. It's drawn to look like a Japanese manga, but the artist/writer, Fred Gallagher, is an American. Originally, MegaTokyo was just a web comic, but was eventually published into books. (Review on MegaTokyo to come later.)
This is not to say that I don't like Japanese manga, quite the contrary. Some of my favorite graphic novels are Japanese. But, as an american, I like to support "local" artists. (Local meaning American.) My Manga Monday recommendation for this week is a great example of why American graphic novels are just as good as the Japanese Manga. Johnny The Homicidal Maniac is a wonderfully captivating story with an amazing art style.
A prime example of anime being too realistic.
There are cases when a cartoon becomes too un-realistic, though. You tend to see this more in American TV shows rather than Japanese anime. (Although the japanese have come out with some animes that fit into this category, I'm sure.)
A prime example of a cartoon that is just poorly animated.
What does everyone else think? Do you prefer realistic looking animes or do you prefer to have your anime maintain the "cartoony" look? What about translation? Do you find that something is lost when an anime or manga is translated to English? Share your thoughts with us.
My recommendation for today is not what most people would consider a manga, since it isn't from Japan. But, if you know what the word "manga" translates to, you'll agree that this counts. Today I am recommending Johnny The Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. You may recognize that name if you've ever watched Invader Zim. Johnny The Homicidal Maniac (JTHM) is another brilliant creation by Jhonen. I guess I should put a warning up here. In case you can't tell by the title, JTHM is not for young readers... or readers who get queasy at the sight of blood... or readers that are opposed to strong language. JTHM is one of the bloodiest graphic novels I've ever read. I don't think there's a single page in the whole book that doesn't have some kind of blood in one of the frames. 
But, if you can look past the extremely violent surface of the book, you'll find a great story underneath with many, many amazing insights into the human psyche. In JTHM Jhonen disects a lot of the little quirks of the human mind. As violent and, well, psychopathic as Johnny is, he really is a very intelligent person with questions about the world that he wants answered.
The story is really quite serious, which is funny when you think about how funny some of Jhonen's other creations are, but it also has some... humor in it. Every so often in the book there is a Happy Noodle Boy comic thrown among the pages. Happy Noodle Boy is the comic drawn by Johnny and is funny, but in a very twisted, morbid sense.
I definitely recommend JTHM for people who think they are able to handle the graphic nature of this graphic novel.
The one manga series that I love which is still rather unknown would have to be: Junk Force. It's only 3 books long, but has a great, gripping story that pulled me in from the start. It's really pretty hard to find now, but if you can, I'd definitely pick it up. (Again, a review will come later.)
Discussion Time Again!