Well said.

I would suppose for the same reasons as western comic books and editorial cartoons have remained popular and relevant. We have been expressing ourselves in this way since cave paintings. I think it feels a need in us. Anias Nin one said "Dreams are necessary for life." I would expand it to say the expresion of dreams is needed for life and Manga is a very experessive means of expressing ones dreams and nightmares onto the page.

I actually prefer reading manga than watching anime.

Manga is usually farther along in the story where anime is behind and has filler episodes.

That, and unless you're watching anime in your own language, you have to read the translation subs anyway.

because it shows lots of emotions, and nicely drawn i think x3

Because people like us obsess over it.

Manga = different from a book and shows...it is a combination because books, they leave it to your imagination with no images while shows leave out certain details and don't let you think for yourself really, or such as comic books are just mainly all about the images. Manga combines it all perfectly.

Well I can't really answer that question in terms of the manga market in other countries but in Japan, it's popular based on certain events and factors that I won't mention here since it may take awhile to explain. Although I can tell you that one of the reasons why manga became popular was due it being the cheapest medium to get after WWII. One book I reccomend reading is called Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics by Frederik L. Schodt. It goes over the history of manga as well as goes over certain subject matters or genres (e.g. shojo, sports, war, office, etc).

If you're also asking why so many people read it, then I can't really give you a straight answer. Personally, one of the reasons why I like reading manga because of the variety of artistic styles there is compared to anime (along with story methods, maturity, etc), especially in today's market where anime studios or producers may feel safer working on titles that are likely to garintee some form of success. It's kind of similar to how in the video game industry, most companies are trying to create TPS/FPS titles since that's the current popular thing that's garinteed to sell like hotcakes.

I think...that it might be popular because they tend to be short and the stories are entertaining. There's a wide range of genres, so there's usually something for everyone. It's easy to pick one up and go, and with all of the images, it's easy to get taken away to a different place everytime you open one. At least, that's why I like it...

I just do I enjoy watching anime more but Manga is great

Manga is just another medium used to tell stories. Stories are what are awesome.
Probably the biggest advantage manga has over anime is that manga is a LOT cheaper.
Anime are a costly production which is probably why they almost never live up to
our expectations. Of course manga has it's own costs but not quite like anime does.

Manga is the seed, and anime is the flower

I'm glad that many oversea people read manga nowadays, other wise, I remember that when manga hadn't been known outside of Japan few years ago -before 2000s'- we were often criticized by foreign medias or people that since grown-up people in Japan read comics we were so immatur, or even those Japanese bisinessmen read comics in the trains, it's so childish, bla bla. We just thought that they don't know any better that manga is not like what they think it's more like reading books for us,ha ha.

so beautiful

Because manga (like books) can often tell a deeper story and allow the reader to imagine the world. In an Anime, you are told what everything is, looks like, and allows little interpretation. That said, I enjoy both and I often read both the manga and watch the anime of a series ~~