Manga memory problem.

[Monn12]

Hey there!

I have a general question concerning manga memory i.e. General recollection of the manga we read.
To this day i have read 1.3k+(using a library app) mangas,manhwas and manhuas. My question is how often do you need to re-read the whole manga to recollect everything?
It isn't rare for me to stop at chapter 30-40 (since i'm up to date) for example to wait out for 1-2 years just to re-read the whole manga again, because i simply forgot a ton of things about it.

If we compare it to books, I remember a lot more for a much longer time compared to mangas, same goes for animes, movies and TV series.

I would understand if the case was only with mediocre manga it is not rare that i forget a lot even in great titles.

So the question is, is it normal as in a lot of people experience this or is just a local case?

Decided to ask this since i never discussed it with anyone nor do i have any manga enjoyers in my circle.

 

[undeed]

short answer from me:
if you are passionate about something, anything,
it'll be easier to remember that thing


I'm not saying that you don't have any passion for manga,
it's just that everyone has different priorities,
perhaps you just have more important things to prioritize, so other memories are suppressed

edit, forgot to put the actual answer
yeah, I think it is normal

 

[Monn12]

short answer from me:
if you are passionate about something, anything,
it'll be easier to remember that thing


I'm not saying that you don't have any passion for manga,
it's just that everyone has different priorities,
perhaps you just have more important things to prioritize, so other memories are suppressed

Indeed it is a factor. But in general my manga(comics in general maybe) recollection is worse than books and movies.

 

[undeed]

Indeed it is a factor. But in general my manga(comics in general maybe) recollection is worse than books and movies.

well... that's... what I'm saying, right?
maybe your passion for books and movies is a bit higher than for comics
and I think that's perfectly normal

Maybe you are the type who is more interested in things that contain sound, and that's why movies stick with you more?
or maybe you have a very imaginative mind, so reading books gathers more interest in your brain?

 

[solstice258]

You said you've read 1.3k+ comics. Have you seen that many anime / movies or read that many books?
Maybe it's just caused by quantity, like you've read so many comics that you can't distinguish them anymore but if you've watched fewer anime it's easier to remember each one

 

[Monn12]

You said you've read 1.3k+ comics. Have you seen that many anime / movies or read that many books?
Maybe it's just caused by quantity, like you've read so many comics that you can't distinguish them anymore but if you've watched fewer anime it's easier to remember each one

Yeah, i stopped watching anime almost completely once i transitioned to manga (at one point i didn't find any new or interesting anime so decided to delve to a deeper source i.e. manga at one point planning to abandon manga and move to novels).
I isn't rare to read 100+ chapters in 1-2 days or 3-6 mangas a day (those that have 5-15 chapters).
As for anime maybe 1 or 2 per year max. So maybe overstimulation and sameness is the answer (after 1.3k a lot of mangas are the same i.e. Archetypes)

 

[Monn12]

well... that's... what I'm saying, right?
maybe your passion for books and movies is a bit higher than for comics
and I think that's perfectly normal

Maybe you are the type who is more interested in things that contain sound, and that's why movies stick with you more?
or maybe you have a very imaginative mind, so reading books gathers more interest in your brain?

That can be the answer also. In books you have to use your imagination thus you use more brain power in movies you have stimulations and emotions thus you use more brain power. In comics though you have less stimulation and less emotions.
If that were the case i would presume that it applies to many people?
(By brain power i mean that imagination is basically using your brain to generate images that are then saved in your memory and in movies you have sound, visual and stronger emotional stimulation). In comics though you don't have those factors at one side you are given images and at the other you don't have sound and emotional stimulation as strong as in moving pictures

 

[undeed]

In my experience, quantity is not really the main problem
Well, it is a problem,
I mean, if you don't have the passion, then the quantity will surely be a double blow.

One example that I might be able to give is that I often watch Linus Tech Tips,
because I have an interest in computers and technology, but I don't have enough passion to delve deeper into it.
So I often amazed when they sometimes offhandedly mention and explain a type of cpu or component by its serial number/codes just from their memory.
(I know the videos are scripted, but you can sometimes see when the things are ad-libbed, for example when it's a livestream).
And I was like "how can you remember all those stuffs?"
Well... I believe the passion for it helped a lot.

And this also applies to many other people who are very good at certain things that they are very interested in.

that's why for me... well... I generally never have a problem remembering any manga I've ever read
(general plot-wise at least)

Spoiler: ...

but instead, if you ask me "what is the name of this actor/actress?" or "what is the name of their character in this and that movie?"
even if I've watched the movie, chances are, I'll be like "I don't know"

 

[Monn12]

In my experience, quantity is not really the main problem
Well, it is a problem,
I mean, if you don't have the passion, then the quantity will surely be a double blow.

One example that I might be able to give is that I often watch Linus Tech Tips,
because I have an interest in computers and technology, but I don't have enough passion to delve deeper into it.
So I often amazed when they sometimes offhandedly mention and explain a type of cpu or component by its serial number/codes just from their memory.
(I know the videos are scripted, but you can sometimes see when the things are ad-libbed, for example when it's a livestream).
And I was like "how can you remember all those stuffs?"
Well... I believe the passion for it helped a lot.

And this also applies to many other people who are very good at certain things that they are very interested in.

that's why for me... well... I generally never have a problem remembering any manga I've ever read
(general plot-wise at least)

Spoiler: ...

but instead, if you ask me "what is the name of this actor/actress?" or "what is the name of their character in this and that movie?"
even if I've watched the movie, chances are, I'll be like "I don't know"

So in general you don't have problems remembering a lot of animes and mangas that you watched/read? (Like remembering the start, middle point and ending? I'm not saying in detail but the general gist of it)
I'm envious, truly!

 

[undeed]

I'm envious, truly!

well, I don't think you should, tho, really 😅
I don't work in manga industry, so it is useless for most part in real life

 

[Monn12]

well, I don't think you should, tho, really 😅
I don't work in manga industry, so it is useless for most part in real life

Hey, if you can remember that amount i think in general your memory is good.
As for serial numbers and remembering stuff, if you have a system or know the system it isn't hard to remember the names because you don't actually remember it but recreate it. Just like memory systems have 256;512;1028 (the system for remembering would be number X2) or that Nvidias GPU system X500 and above are for gaming and industry use and lover are mostly for office use.(System to remember would be if lower than X500 then office work)
And knowing serial numbers is the same if you heavily involved in the industry and work with it you create a system to remember them(recreate them).
So for example we as humans have problem remembering number sequence above 7 (there are exceptions), but if we change the way how we remember we might remember more numbers one example was creating a story 3 spiders moved 7 bricks to 1 house etc.....

But remembering stories is something completely different it actually involves more heavy duty memory use, so don't sell yourself short on this

 

[Mang-Oh]

I isn't rare to read 100+ chapters in 1-2 days or 3-6 mangas a day (those that have 5-15 chapters).
As for anime maybe 1 or 2 per year max.

Here's your answer. Every chapter is going to have a mini-plot, and having so many crammed into a short period of time is going to lead to it all coalescing together. Contrast that with anime, books, or movies - all of which take leagues longer to reach any particular "checkpoint" (an episode, a chapter, and just the whole movie respectively), and it's obvious that there's going to be more you remember there - you spent more time on it.

Plus, I think the medium might help explain it a bit too, and not just in the "no physical library that takes up space" way. Mangadex is a tool of epic convenience (except library filtering please god), hundreds upon thousands of manga, all at the comfort of your home. But, with it you lose the tactile sensation of it. Instead of feeling the course pages as your fingers glide over them, smelling the soft vanilla of a manga, hearing the soft crease of paper every turn, or tasting the paper, it's the same device, an effortless tap/slide, and completely silent. When only one sense is stimulated, no wonder you remember less!

Plus, you seem to do this pretty much every day, you could say it's beginning to become a habit. Think about it, you can remember the first couple of manga you read pretty well, right? It's like, it's changing from a hobby to a routine. A dopamine ritual rather than "jumping into a world that's so radically different" as every single book lover puts it. I dunno if there's anything to do about this though.

Then, you might also wanna think about the context in which you read them. We remember by making associations. I had never even read/watched Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! until very recently, but I remembered it existed long enough to start watching it because I associated it with Easy Breezy (its op), which I just adore. Connecting parts of your life to particular manga might help - why remember two things when you can remember one and have the other also be there?

And, it's because you read them so quickly! There's no time to process the manga. Take some time in between mangas or big arcs to just think about what happened, and what you thought about it. Do things with it! Talk about it! Write a review! If it has an anime, check out the op/ed and add songs you like! It can even be as simple as commenting on the last chapter or copying pages you like and pasting them somewhere to look back on (Though, even that can fail - where the HELL is this from). If you do something, it'll help!

tl;dr

• you spend little time on any given "checkpoint" and you go through so many
• Digital manga doesn't stimulate any senses
• Manga might be becoming less of a hobby, more of a habit
• Connect manga to concepts
• Do something after reading, something you can look back on, or think back on, at least

There's a couple more things to say, but I can't think of a good way to say em so L bozo figure it out

 

[kohelemon]

When I reread, it's usually not to recollect oddly enough. NEVERTHELESS
1. I don't remember OP's Whole Cake Island Arc 100%, mostly because I ran through it to get to Wano.
2. I'm rereading Baki from the start, because in Rahen recently, a character: Hanada returned and for a moment I was like "What" and then I remembered him. In the end though, I wanted to reread because The Grappler Baki man... THE BEST FIGHTING MANGA.
3. I don't remember Akira at all, but don't wish to reread it. I'll get the big boxed anniversary edition someday, but I don't think I'll read it then either. I loved it as a kid, probably should not have read it either. But, now, 21 I go back and look back and I realized I was reading something incredibly f#%@ed up. I may not like it that much anymore, but I still recognize how it helped me... How it sort of formed the weird writer mind I have.

THOUGH, there was this moment in time where I was rereading the first 40 chapters of "The Ravages of Time" A Beautiful Manwha that just got too weird for me. But, that was more like trying to get myself to open up to other things.
Reminds me of when I tried to read Berserk last year, I am utterly terrified of just the covers to the volumes, I shake when I'm near them. I am horrified by it's name alone, irrationally even. I stumbled upon a volume when I was younger, really young, and though i don't remember what I saw, I ruled it out as the "Most horrifying thing in this world, which should not be". Which is incredibly cruel of course, nowadays, I may still hate it, but Miura's Art is BEAUTIFUL. Nowadays though, I have this disdain for sexual intercourse depictions in any form of media. It doesn't make sense to me. I watch things to be entertained, sex is personal to me it isn't something simple. It's not entertaining, entertaining is a trivial word for something of that intimacy between two people. And even if you're depicting it not for money, IN THE END IT'S SELLING and breaks that... that importance, sort of instills to people that it isn't important at all. It's just something that happens.
Of course, like past the table of contents we see a guy boning a demon. I swear I have not laughed that hard at myself. In the end I was out to prove "You're not wrong", I knew what I'd see, I guess I was trying to ask "How do people get through this?"
Sorry WAY off topic.

 

[Invessed]

Hey there!

I have a general question concerning manga memory i.e. General recollection of the manga we read.
To this day i have read 1.3k+(using a library app) mangas,manhwas and manhuas. My question is how often do you need to re-read the whole manga to recollect everything?
It isn't rare for me to stop at chapter 30-40 (since i'm up to date) for example to wait out for 1-2 years just to re-read the whole manga again, because i simply forgot a ton of things about it.

If we compare it to books, I remember a lot more for a much longer time compared to mangas, same goes for animes, movies and TV series.

I would understand if the case was only with mediocre manga it is not rare that i forget a lot even in great titles.

So the question is, is it normal as in a lot of people experience this or is just a local case?

Decided to ask this since i never discussed it with anyone nor do i have any manga enjoyers in my circle.

Easiest way to remember manga that you stopped reading in order for it to get updated and re-read later is to make a note on your phone or computer. I do it most of the time, just make sure you categorize them as well.

 

[Monn12]

Easiest way to remember manga that you stopped reading in order for it to get updated and re-read later is to make a note on your phone or computer. I do it most of the time, just make sure you categorize them as well.

Yeah tried it actually, but was somewhat overwhelmed since on my days off i can abandon every other hobby and read like 10 mangas. As for categories you are right.....But now i'm too lazy and afraid to do it right (manga, manwa and manhuas should be separate but i lumped them in all together, though genres are separated perfectly).
In any case you are right probably should start doing it again but on massive titles with over 50chapters.

 

[Invessed]

Yeah tried it actually, but was somewhat overwhelmed since on my days off i can abandon every other hobby and read like 10 mangas. As for categories you are right.....But now i'm too lazy and afraid to do it right (manga, manwa and manhuas should be separate but i lumped them in all together, though genres are separated perfectly).
In any case you are right probably should start doing it again but on massive titles with over 50chapters.

Just do it in general, not just for manga and even anime. There can be many things going on at any given time and your mind can only recall so many things.

 

[lordecossais]

Hey there! Totally normal—manga has so many visual and plot details that it’s easy to forget over time, especially with long series or gaps between releases. A lot of people re-read for the same reason! Plus, every re-read reveals new layers, making it even more enjoyable.