Anime and Manga as a learning tool

[MistressPookyChan]

topic of debate:

Is it good to use anime and manga as a study tool when learning Japanese? If so, under what circumstances?

[MistaCloudStrife]

Umm... I'm guessing it would be alright if you've learned or are currently learning Japanese.

I don't think it would be a great idea to learn by reading subtitles because alot of words can have several different meanings. One translation would be stated in the subtitle so the meaning could be lost and the reader wouldn't know the difference.

As for manga, I would say it would be good to learn from just to get you used to reading at a steady pace. It could also help with things that they wouldn't normally teach you in learning books like what the Japanese would use for certain sounds and such.

And from what i've heard, the best way to learn would just to talk and learn from someone who was born and raised in Japan.

If you were to just learn from anime and manga I'm sure that if that person would talk to people in Japan they would either embarrass themselves greatly or offend alot of the people s/he talked to.

I myself, know almost no Japanese. =) Probably only the most simplest of words.

[LavaBug]

If you already learn japanese, watching anime and manga can actually help you get a feeling for the language, as kind of listening comprehension, depending on the anime you watch.
Anime i like for having a rather realistic (or less 'articifial') way the actors speak are ergo proxy, and you're under arrest...not recommenable are cute anime, where sentences tend to end with 'nyo' or the like ^^°
manga are useful for practising kanji comprehension,without being overwhelmed by their number plus many have furigana on them, making it even easier if you don't know a kanji.
Subtitles are a matter on their own...
It's not always easy to find ones that are actually correct to learn from, and even official ones can tend to be too 'freely' translated, at least for my taste.
(It's also possible that they are 'dubtitles' , strongly adapted to local speech habit, or,if your country is not english speaking, translated from english or another language, increasing the odds that they are incorrent or too freely translated.)
Fansubs are not necessarily better, depening on the skill of the translator and the editor to make them correct AND readable. Plus the people who make them are usually no professionals, making it hard to decide for the unknowing otaku of a translation is actually good or not.
In general, i think one needs proper lessons, by a native speaker who is able to teach colloquial japanese as well as grammar and kanji, giving proper explanations/examples. Anime and Manga, can help to strenghten ones abilities in listening and reading comprehesion, but should not be used as only medium to learn japanese from.