The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Manga?
Firebrand
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I realized I'm a bit odd in that I enjoy art and I take Japanese classes, yet I'm not really into manga or anime. I thought I'd fix that by picking up some manga (in English, my Japanese in not quite that good yet for most stuff). However... I walked into the sci-fi/manga book store here and was greeted by row after row of ultra-generic-looking cutesy, robot and ninja manga, as well as an high amount of pretty boys holding eachother. I started browsing through the shelves but soon gave up as it didn't seem to be organized into categories.
So what I'd like are some recommendations on manga you've enjoyed. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to genre and setting, but I'd like to avoid action and overly pretentious, philosophical stuff. I recently enjoyed the Phoenix Wright games, which featured mystery, spirits, drama and comedy, if that's any help. I also like horror / haunting stuff in my movies and books.
So far I've been recommended Uzumaki and Monster which I'll order when I get around to it. Anything else you'd recommend?
And oh, the artwork is pretty important to me as well, otherwise I'd just be reading books.
So what I'd like are some recommendations on manga you've enjoyed. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to genre and setting, but I'd like to avoid action and overly pretentious, philosophical stuff. I recently enjoyed the Phoenix Wright games, which featured mystery, spirits, drama and comedy, if that's any help. I also like horror / haunting stuff in my movies and books.
So far I've been recommended Uzumaki and Monster which I'll order when I get around to it. Anything else you'd recommend?
And oh, the artwork is pretty important to me as well, otherwise I'd just be reading books.
Firebrand on
0
Posts
See, you're trying to fix something that wasn't broken.
Monster is pretty good.
I don't really remember much manga from when I was into it.
Oh, Planetes
that shit is excellent, regardless of having been made in Japan
But hey, there are still a few series that I enjoy and would whole-heartedly recommend to you:
Great Teacher Onizuka - Unique art, hilarious and often moving stories, GTO really does have it all as far as manga is concerned.
Neon Genesis Evangelion - This is the big one that, for better or worse, everyone thinks of when they hear "anime" or "manga." Giant robots and teen angst abound!
FLCL - The anime's better, but I also like the manga. Again, unique, interesting artwork and a crazy story that defies explanation. It's only two books long, too, which is nice.
Death Note - Unfortunately, the series is now succumbing to the all-too typical transformation into a cash cow common in popular shounen series. It had an amazingly strong start, though, and as an artist, you'll probably appreciate its stylistic merit.
Yotsuba&! - Cheerful and nostalgic! Definately worth checking out, along with its predecessor, Azumanga Daioh.
Akira - This is probably kind of self-explanatory.
To clarify, I'm not being all "lol wapanese" on you. You said you're not really into it, but you think you should read it because you're learning Japanese.
If it doesn't interest you, then don't go forcing it on yourself.
This is also a good point. Your money would be better spent on other comics, especially from an artistic standpoint! :P
Maybe that's just me being slightly bitter. I also think that the manga market is entirely flooded, which probably contributes to the overall feeling of disdain.
As I said in my above post, though, there definitely are some things worth checking out.
Manga is just like American comics in a lot of ways. It's dominated by noisy, loud action stories for boys like Naruto or Bleach. One thing I really like about manga is that when you pick up a ten dollar trade you're usually getting a nice satisfying bit of story, whereas I find most single issues of american comics to be less and less satisfying as stand-alone issues.
I hardly read any manga myself. I do really like the digest format though. It makes for perfect little pocket-sized pop objects. Scott Pilgrim is like my favorite thing ever.
It's actually a "books I've finished reading recently" list :razz:
I guess homepage links didn't get transferred in the move to vBulletin.
Here it is:
http://jsilver42.googlepages.com/lastten.html
Oh, I'm reading Flight vol. 2 right now. (The library didn't have Vol. 1.) I'm enjoying most of it, though I really don't understand why there's a stick-figure comic in it.
Good point. It's less about fitting in with the guys I go to class with though, more about not wanting to dismiss it altogether without sampling it. Also, I'm a bit dry on inspiration at the moment when it comes to making art besides practicing, and I thought getting into comics would be a good source for some.
Ah yes, I'd like stories that get a satisfying ending within a few volumes. Funny you should mention Scott Pilgrim, I added it to my shopping list just last night after seeing somebody's SP sig and being intrigued by the artwork. I don't know all that much about the actual plot, I'll just have to see for myself.
And oh, if you're more into American comics, by all means, recommend away. It's just that most of what I get in contact with is the old superhero / "I shoot your face" stuff I don't care very much for. "The Sandman" (Neil Gaiman, writer), any good?
That said, you might want some names to look out for whilst you do so, Im just saying don't part with cash until you have a look and decide you're interested. My picks:
Naruto
Bleach
Hellsing
Trigun
Deathnote
Ghost in the Shell
Akira
Nausicca
Lone Wolf and Cub
Slam Dunk
Vagabond
Blade of the Immortal
Sanctuary
Berserk
Battle Angel Alita
Great Teacher Onizuka
That's about all I can think of, off the top of my head that's significantly different from the generic manga art style.
I will vouche for Buddha. Picked it up at random, and I can say it's awesome. Like, for instance
Trigun, Hellsing, and Ghost in the Shell are good picks. I'd be wary of Naruto and Bleach, because while they have their moments, they're extremely long and padded so as to maximize their profit. Death Note is similar, but at least it does have an ending.
Also, I think the OP would really dig Robot. It's pretty, in color, large, and has some really bizarre sci-fi stories, some lighthearted, some morbid, and all vaguely disturbing! Good stuff.
Also, Yotsuba&! is seconded.
Battle Angel Alita and Bleach are my two current favorites in the art department alone. also, generally CLAMP's stuff is always visually amazing.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
http://www.amazon.com/Push-Man-Other-Stories/dp/1896597858/sr=8-1/qid=1171890061/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5242938-2193646?ie=UTF8&s=books
Berserk
Blade of the Immortal
MPD Psycho (if you can find it)
Battle Angel Alita
Ghost In the Shell
Akira
Battle Royale
Berserk and Blade are still ongoing so you won't be able to finish them.
The rest are short enough that they don't drag on and generally have an interesting theme IMO
I would recommend staying far away from Shonen manga as they run long and follow similar patterns to each other.
Most of what is recommended in this thread are Seinen manga so you look up more titles on wikipedia.
I have been sorely disappointed with everything else I read because of this.
The art in GTO really is unique and separate. The artist plays with the usual comic/shonen/anime look, but also cements the series in reality with tons of what look like photographs, essentially high-detail sketches, that he just shoves in there to take the the place of a crudely drawn picture. Also, the facial expressions for the main character, Onizuka, are some of the most over the top, hilarious stuff ever.
There were points reading it where I would just bust out laughing, and have to put the book down and stifle myself because of it. DO NOT read this at a church camp, or in church, or probably in a public school, because there's mad amounts of underage fan service (but nothing to the extent of Love Hina).
Oh, that's a good one. Love Hina. Heh, two opposite sides of the track, but they're both great.
XBL: Torn Hoodie
@hoodiethirteen
Planetes is wonderful though.
I was with you until you mentioned Love Hina.
That is honestly the worst manga I've ever read. I had all 14 volumes and had to sell them on ebay. Absolutely dreadful.
He was going to have Keitaro be an asshole and keep the girls in line with the threat of eviction since he was innkeeper.
I thought that a male lead in a harem series with a set of balls was far more interesting and was dissapointed that the mangaka went in a different direction.
Let's just say that its entertaining. Its probably incredibly against the grain for most of the people in GV, but if you don't mind a pretty predictable plot, the characters are amusing and the situations are hilarious.
Also: Kitsune :winky:
XBL: Torn Hoodie
@hoodiethirteen
I didn't think it was particularly entertaining, either. Of course, by then I had already read a few romantic comedy mangas with the exact same plot (and with far better execution), so maybe someone completely new to the genre would appreciate it. I'd recommend Tenchi over it, though; it has pretty much the same romantic comedy structure, but with some sci-fi action mixed in. :P
Also, Aunt Haruka > Kitsune > everyone else.
Hellsing - Vampires, Werewolves, Nazis, hard to go wrong here
Battle Angel Alita/Battle Angel Alita: Last Order - The guy who does these books does action better then just about any manga or american comic, very cool.
Welcome to the NHK - Fairly new manga, tells a good story, seems a bit disjointed at first but stick with it
Bleach and Naruto - They're mindless enjoyment really, basically the current generation DBZ
I have to admit I adore Love Hina as well but it's not really something I'd recommend to folks. It's fun, but not for everyone.
I don't think Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad has been mentioned.
From wikipedia:
It's really, really funny. Bryan O'Malley lists it as an influence on Scott Pilgrim, and the influence is very noticeable when you read Beck.
The art is great too. It looks a lot more like Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) than the usual manga fare.
XBL |Steam | PSN | last.fm
Edit: Stay the hell away from the american dub though; they gut what, sixty percent of the show before ceasing production?
The only things I can think of recommending are Galaxy Express 999, anything by Hideshi Hino (horror manga), and at least looking into some of Shiro Masamune's works (His stuff is getting redundant though).
Berserk - IMHO the best thing out there
Trigun/Trigun Maximum
Bleach
Naruto
Megaman NT Warrior - its kiddie but good. I love Bass in this.
Basilisk - ninjas kicking the everliving shit out each other whats not to love
I don't think it's some flaw of manga specifically. When I look at, say, Civil War, 52 or Infinite Crisis I see the same thing. I think we'd all be better off if people didn't set up some sort of barrier between manga and american comics in the first place. They're all comics, and there are good and bad works in both.
Prince of Tennis
Real Bout Highschool
The appropriately high mentioning of Great Teacher Onizuka however, gets you all of the hook. Hooray!
On a further out on a limb note:
Oruchuban Ebichu (has this even been translated? maybe you'd be better off watching the anime)
A-fucking-men.
I love (in the most sarcastic of ways) when people get a general "hate on" for manga, like it's all actually the same.
Hey, guess what? It works like everything else: There's a ton of it out there, and a lot of it is generic, mediocre, or just downright bad. But there's always stuff worth checking out. Look at how many western comics are released every week, and how many of those are on your pull-list at your local shop?
The biggest problem with Manga right now is that it's only been "big" for a relatively short amount of time, so you've got a huge glut of titles that are being released en masse years after the fact, because companies can make bucks by pumping out translated reprints of old material. Just experiment, and see what you like. Skim through the book, read the synopsis, check out some reviews, ask people at the shop you're buying from...
Right now, I read:
Blade of the Immortal - Hands down, my favorite manga, and one of my favorite of anything I buy
Berserk
Fullmetal Alchemist
Bleach
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - A little cheesy and dated, but I've always had a twisted love for this series
sketchyblargh / Steam! / Tumblr Prime
Read Book #1 of the manga, then watch the movie (easy enough to get, got a western release on DVD)
Follow that up with Books 2 and 3 for answers.
I've got a couple volumes and they're really fun. Every volume is a self-contained mystery, and there's very little in the way of continuity between them. So, like, you can pick up an issue about a haunted island and get a fun little story and mystery and not have to really care about much backstory. Plus the mysteries are designed so that you can try to solve them before Kindaichi does.
They're really fun little books, sort of the perfect example of pop comics done right. A $10 manga that gets you an entire mystery, usually involving like ghosts and demons and stuff, only it's really a cranky old janitor or something, scooby-doo style.
It's kind of difficult to get ahold of the books, though, and they're still really expensive. It was released before Tokyopop started releasing $9.99 books, and every other company followed suit. Still, at $18 bucks a book, it's worth it.
It's probably a good segue manga from American comics to manga, too, because of Ryuichi Ikegami's more realistic style (the man even did Spider-man manga in the 80s. I think it was the 80s... ah, whatever. He did a Spider-man manga) coupled with Buronson/Sho Fumimura's more realistic writing. Actually, some of Bendis's Daredevil issues with the Yakuza really reminded me of Sanctuary. It's a seinen manga, too (as opposed to, say, shonen), so it's actually intended for people 18 and up. Oh Mr. Tokai.
Anyway, it's totally awesome. It's about two friends who decide to take over Japan to make it into their "sanctuary." One takes the high road and becomes a politician, and the other takes the low road to try to become a yakuza boss. The characters are genuine and relatable and the plot is engaging to the max.
I just wish they'd stop defining LDP*.
*Liberal Democratic Party.