With good anime, like a film, they plan out everything before making it and structure is a main part of it. Because of the way manga runs over years and years, the writing quality doesn't feel very consistent.
Depends. A lot of manga greats are simple graphic novels and not made for magazines as far as I know. That is the one downside to manga, though: the length of the stories. But I think the more accomplished authors can pull it off. Oda certainly has proved that much, same for Tezuka and a bunch of other authors.
Otoh with anime every year there's always something on par with the best films each year. Baccano, Tatami Galaxy, Sword of the Stranger, Eva 2.22; It's seems like you don't get manga of that quality, at least not anymore.
This...I disagree with. Even if these are good anime, I wouldn't say they're nearly on par with the best films of each year. What are you comparing them to anyways, stuff like The Dark Knight? I wouldn't even compare them to the best live action tv series on an annual basis either, in terms of storytelling and writing. I find the crap:quality ratio is higher in anime compared to film, tv, music and comics, but in general I think just about any form of entertainment or art has a high crap:quality ratio. But I still wouldn't compare let's say, the best anime of 2009 (whatever the fuck
that was) to Moon or A Serious Man or Inglorious Basterds.
Himuro, what are some manga you'd recommend with great stories and writing?
Some good ones off the top of my head.
Licensed (you should be able to find some of these at a local comic shop or a Barnes and Noble):
Adolf - Osamu Tezuka (drama, historical)
Lone Wolf and Cub - Kazuo Koike (drama, historical)
The Push Man and Other Stories - Yoshihiro Tatsumi (short stories)
Abandon the Old in Tokyo - Yoshihiro Tatsumi (short stories)
Good-Bye - Yoshihiro Tatsumi (short stories)
Real - Takehiko Inoue (sports, drama)
MW - Osamu Tezuka (drama, psychological)
Solanin - Inio Asano (drama, slice of life)
Uzumaki - Junji Itou (horror, psychological)
What a Wonderful World - Inio Asano (drama, slice of life)
Buddha - Osamu Tezuka (shounen, adventure)
A Drifting Life - Yoshihiro Tatsami (autobiography)
And you have read Vagabond and Blade the Immortal, correct?
And if you're interested in non-licensed manga, I think I could certainly suggest Vinland Saga and Sanctuary. All of which are highly suggested.