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Manga-what do you like?
MikeGallagher
Posts: 547
So what are some of your favorite manga?
We rarely talk about it on the show and I think I'm the only one of the Geeks that's reads it regularly. I want to start a discussion about it.
I have three immediate favorites:
Nausicaa of the valley of wind, akira, and Appleseed.
Has anyone read them?
We rarely talk about it on the show and I think I'm the only one of the Geeks that's reads it regularly. I want to start a discussion about it.
I have three immediate favorites:
Nausicaa of the valley of wind, akira, and Appleseed.
Has anyone read them?
Comments
The one exception I've found is Vagabond. Maybe because of the nature of the material (samurai historic fiction) or because there are so many characters or because it's something of a sprawling epic covering most of a lifetime, I don't mind the slower pacing with it. And it doesn't hurt that the artwork is gorgeous. Unfortunately, it's on hiatus so who knows if the story will ever get finished.
About a quarter of my comic collection is manga.
I did read almost all of the Lone Wolf & Cub books that First put out, and really liked that. I didn't realize there was a lot more until recently. This week I started reading the first volume that Dark Horse put out, and am about half way through that.
In Europe the books by Jiro Taniguchi are extremely successful. So much so, that his books reach a wide audience outside of the "comic reading crowd" . His books are displayed in windows of many bookshops and spoken about in literary circles.
Haruka na Machi-E (Distant Neighborhood) was made into a Belgian movie - transfering the Japanese setting to a Belgium one quartierlointain-lefilm.com/
I LOVE Taniguchi's work and have currently 12 of his books on my shelves.
And let's not forget his collaboration with MOEBIUS
Yotsuba&! - joy on paper, that's what this is.
Kindaichi Case Files - Fun teen mystery series, kind of like a really high stakes Encyclopedia Brown
Liked the first volumes of Planetes and Death Note, though I've never read past them.
Enjoyed the first 3 or so of 20th Century Boys, but actually stopped buying them when I learned it was like a 20+ volume series. That's what the library is for. I plan on going back to catch up at some point.
Ordered the first Nausicaa a few months back, but haven't read it yet.
Initial D - I love this.
Tekkonkinkreet - On of my absolute favorite things in the world.
Full Metal Alchemist
Naruto
Death Note
Nausicaa
Ningen (I'm including it even if it isn't technically Manga)
Astroboy
Fist of the Northstar
Mobile Suit Gundam
Akira
Man, I could go on forever as I keep thinking about it. I used to work for a Japanese company and miss having access to so much awesome stuff.
20th Century Boys also by Urasawa
Planetes by Yukimura
If manga, which gundam series?
The first is Dragon Ball.
The second is Battle Royale.
I've also read the ms gundam based on the original 0079 series.
One piece was cool until it got repetitive(something that type of plot does)
I couldn't get into naruto.
I am 3 volumes away from finishing death note. Love it!
I have read a smattering of north star. It is so cool. Wish more people knew it now.
Nausicaa is my favorite manga. I was getting it in Japanese long before it came here and was translated.
I'm reading the German translation of the book - so far 14 volumes available over here.
A book both of my kids love too.
Bakuman
Here's my favorites:
Phoenix - It all comes back to Osamu Tezuka for me. We talk about artists and creators having life's work...the thing they labored on throughout their career. This is Tezuka's. It's sadly an "unfinished" symphony, but the volumes that do exist lay the groundwork for much of the manga we've enjoyed since.
Anything Kiyohiko Azuma puts out - Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba@! should be on everyone's shelves. The first is a fun example of yonkoma (4-panel gag strip) and actually teaches quite a bit on how to "pace" your humor for effect. The latter is, as was mentioned, joy on paper. It's the only manga my wife rips from my hands when it arrives.
Anything Akira Toriyama puts out - I interviewed a number of manga-ka for IGN, and without fail every one of them cited Dragon Ball as the book that made them want to be a comic creator. So I read it, and immediately saw what they saw. Then I read Sandland. Then Cowa! Don't be fooled by the anime of Dragonball Z where it's just two dude shouting at each other...the manga is SO much more than that.
Excel Saga - Love this series. If Monty Python were a manga, this would be it. There's a bit of a learning curve - you have to know your manga and anime tropes to get a lot of the humor, but for the rest of you, there's boobs (creator Koshi Rikdo went on record as saying "I like drawing tits!" in one of his afterwords) and this last volume gave me the phrase I want as the epitaph on my tombstone - "It is my hope that you will all remember the man that you came to love in life...and not the pervert you're going to discover when you look at the hard drive on my laptop!" It's that kind of humor...and I love every minute of it.
Anything Naoki Urasawa puts out - currently for American audiences that's three great titles - Monster, Pluto and 20th Century Boys. If you haven't read at least ONE of these titles, you're seriously missing out on excellence in comics. He's a master of the facial expression and creating compelling characters. 20th Century Boys is one of the few books that made me actually pump my fist in the air and go "yeah!" when a particular event happened. On the bus. With a crowd of people watching. When was the last time a book did that for you?
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service - Scooby Doo with a very morbid turn. A quintet of paranormal investigators help the dead achieve peace by solving the "mysteries" of what killed them and meting out justice where possible. And try to turn a profit in the process. Funny, scary, twisted, and with just enough continuity to keep you reading along. Oh, and there's no giant dog...just a hand puppet that may be from another world.
Dorohedoro - I've gone off on this one enough in other threads. All you women complaining there's no female representation in comics? Go get this book. All you manga-philes who think a female created book means it's another shoujo high school romance? Go get this book. All you people complaining that comics have gotten stale and routine and gosh wouldn't it be great if something totally different were to come out? Go get this book. Top of the stack every time a new volume comes in.
Afterschool Charisma - Now here's a high school story with a twist - it's a school where they clone the great world leaders, artists, scientists, and so on - but what happens when Marie Curie decides she doesn't want to be a scientist, and prefers to learn piano from Mozart? What happens when Hitler (yes, they clone Hitler) turns out to be a nice guy who really really REALLY doesn't want to believe that the clones are destined to follow in the original's footsteps? What happens when Joan of Arc *wants* to embrace her destiny? Much darker and deeper than I'd originally figured it would be.
Battle Angel Alita - How much do I hate Jim Cameron right now? He had plans to bring this story to the big screen (and he's one of the few directors I believe could do it and do it right)...but he'd rather give us more Avatar movies. So no Battle Angel Alita movie...but the manga keeps chugging along. Admittedly it's gotten a bit stale in the last few books, but the first eight or nine are required reading.
And that's just the ones I read currently! Others have been mentioned already - Tekonkinkreet, for example, is also required reading. Then there are series I've completed but still love like Ninja Girls (allow yourself at least ONE harem manga in your life), Kame Kaze, Lady Snowblood, etc.
Im really enjoying Bakuman too. Its an interesting look at how manga gets created (or got created at some point), and I quickly got invested in the characters, and even the extended cast.
@wrecking_crew I agree Planetes is a great 5 volume collection. Sci-Fi and human at the same time.
@Libraryboy I couldnt agree more Yotsuba&! is happiness on the page. Wish more volumes would come out!
Appleseed, Death Note, Excel Saga, Naruto, Bleach, One Peice, Fullmetal Alchemist, Dragonball
Just kidding - I like it as well. It's a well-done take on a fairly overdone storyline. The anime is good as well.
My only issue with Manga is how long the series get to be, most often unnecessarily so IMO. It just becomes tiring and tedious after a point. I tend to gravitate towards complete stories that are contained in a reasonable length or number of volumes. I also tend to wait until a series ends and make sure it ends properly before I even begin.
Also slightly OT but this is a relatively unknown Anime/Manga and I'm sure everyone here would really enjoy it: "Mahojin Guru Guru" It is in my top 10 of all time and virtually no one has seen/read it (including my former Japanese co-workers) but everyone raves about it once they watch or read it.
I'm with you on the length of some manga but I also like the idea that many of them do, in fact, end. Excel Saga is (sadly but finally) coming to a close with volume 27 I believe. Now that's 27 volumes of awesomeness but at the same time it's 27 VOLUMES!!! :) I like the ones that can get the story told within a good 7 or 8 tankobon - with notable exceptions (Azuma can keep publishing Yotsuba until I'm in the grave!) :)
I haven't heard of Mahojin Guru Guru but reading the Wiki on it it sounds like something I'd enjoy.
I know you are all tired of hearing it, but Yotsuba remains my favorite manga to date. It's just innocent fun, of which there isn't a whole lot in comics any more.
Please try something by the master Osamu Tezuka as well. Might I recommend Black Jack or Phoenix as two of my favorites?
I'm also really liking Drops of God right now too. It's all about wine. And the art is exquisite.
I was turned to all these after watching the shows on Toonami (a huge loss for Cartoon Network, don't know what they were thinking getting rid of that eh?)
I was heavily against reading Naruto for no particular reason, but my ex roommate was a HUGE fan and convinced me to give it a read, turns out that I loved it ha
I gotta have me some Chobits too >.<
During their daily commute to work they easily read at least one complete volume. And many times after finishing a book they just throw it into the next trash can - it's crazy.
And still there are collectors......
@Torchsong, ahh, yeah after my time I was in around 1995-2002-ish. I think Snowball Networks was like 2000 IIRC. I ended up in a similar situation with Rottentomatoes, they wanted to do an aggregate video game section like they do with movies but it was ill-fated and killed off and I was getting out of the gaming field around that time anyhow. Sadly, the promo items and press swag and games usually paid better than the work itself when I'd sell them.
Definitely check out Mahojin Guru Guru, seriously it is humorous and fun but really well done and one of my most underrated Anime/Manga loves.
I remember reading Blade of the Immortal years back, and cannot remember enough of it to raise an opinion.
My one concern with Manga, and this is probably a common if not predictable one, is the sheer number of volumes in titles. Unfortunately, there just isn't enough time to start a commitment to 20+ volumes (in some cases) in addition to all other reading/family/work commitments etc.
Nausicaa
Cowboy Bebop
Tekkonkinkreet
Full Metal Alchemist
Deathnote
Come to mind for me, but I'm sure I'm missing some really great ones that fall in this category.