Why Manga is so Popular

As of late, I have been reading manga and, for those of you who don't know, Manga is a Japanese picture book (like comic books, but not necessarily about super heros). I have found that these stories are more thrilling, and the relationships between the characters, as well as the connection between the reader and the characters, is greater. I think this is because American authors all seem to follow the rules that it has to be a happy ending in every respect, and the main characters have to make perfect decisions every time. While faced with a difficult decision, the hero always makes the right choice, no matter what, or if he does make the wrong choice, an option always opens up that makes up for this wrong choice. However in manga, this is not necessarily the case. From what I've read so far, nearly every story has had a character face a difficult decision that even the reader finds hard to figure out what the right choice is, and always at least once, the main character makes the wrong choice and finds that he has to live with this sin and regret for the rest of his journey. As we make these mistakes all the time, it makes it seem as though these characters are more realistic, and you connect with them much easier. Another thing is that manga authors aren't afraid of killing off their beloved main characters. This makes everything that the character is going through more thrilling and whenever there is a battle, you almost want to stop reading because you really have no idea who is actually going to win. Whereas with an American story, you can read it and say, "oh, the main character always wins, no big deal." It kind of kills the suspense. Manga is so popular because people can see themselves in the characters, and they never know if it will actually be a happy ending or not. However, there is very little depth to their stories. Why this is the case, I have yet to find out. Perhaps it is because there is no deeper hidden meaning and it's just a bunch of characters running around making mistakes all the time. I will let you know if I ever figure it out.