Manga Talk

[Max Aero]

You should check out Urasawa's other works if you haven't already.

I've read Pluto, Master Keaton and parts of 20th C Boys. It's nice finding something new (to me) from him to read.

[John Venus]

I've read FMA, Akira, and Monster.

Could probably use some recommendations, I've gotten a bit bored with US comics.

The only manga I am currently reading is Takehiko Inoue's Vagabond which I highly recommend. I've been looking forward to adding something new to my pull list but I'm not sure what yet. Ideally I'd like something finite as no to have to follow another title with over 300 chapters. I'd also like to get around to reading Naoki Urasawa's Monster because I thoroughly enjoyed the anime.

For Mr. Holmes:

Vagabond: The story is a fictionalized take on the life of Miyamoto Musahsi. This series defines artgasm and the characterization is done well. The series really delves into the minds of the characters.

One Piece: The premise:

The series begins with the execution of Gol D. Roger, a man known as the King of the Pirates (海賊王 Kaizokuō?). Just before his death, Roger announces that his treasure, the One Piece (ひとつなぎの大秘宝 (ワンピース) Wan Pīsu?), will be available to anyone who finds it, causing the Great Pirate Era (大海賊時代 Dai Kaizoku Jidai?) to begin. As a result, countless pirates set out to the Grand Line to look for the treasure.

Twenty-two years have passed since Roger's execution, and Monkey D. Luffy, a young boy inspired by his Childhood idol and powerful pirate Red Haired Shanks, sets off on a journey from the East Blue Sea to find the One Piece and become King of the Pirates

This is one of the longest running Shonen mangas with more than 700 chapters under it's belt. The general rule is that if you don't like the first 100 chapters then this series is not for you. However, you can slim it down to the first 50 chapters.

The series starts off small, light hearted and humorous and slowly builds up to the larger world. It's gets darker with more gray and black morality as it goes on but retains the humor for the most part.

The art work changes as well.

It goes from this:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hCQoAzGaAq...pg?imgmax=3000

To this:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sH410BI2o_...HY/s1600/2.png

For Both Of You:

Hellsing: This series can be boiled down to 'Dracula fights Nazis'. It's incredibly dark, gory with occasional philosophical bits and some awesome female characters in it. During the height of the Twilight craze, this was our antidote to the sparkly vampire craze. The series has an anime but it goes off to do it's own thing after a while. The OVA's are more faithful to the manga and both of the Japanese and English VA's are awesome.

The series ran for about a 100 chapters before it ended and there are about 10 OVA's. The art is horrible for the first few chapters but it gets better as the story progressed. The story is more enjoyable when it's animated with actual voices and everything. So I would recommend watching the OVA's over the manga but it's cool if you want to check out the manga first.

Drifters: From the same author as Hellsing. The series is about famous historical figures being transported to another world during the recorded times of their death. In the strange new world, they meet elves, dwarfs and various other mythological creatures and humans native to that world. The series revolves around the war between the 'Drifters' and 'Offscourings', both of them are made up of famous historical figures with allies made up of the mythical creatures inhabiting the world. There are no real good guys in the series.

Shin Angyo Onshi: (trsn: 'Blade of the Phantom Master')

I'll set someone else describe it:

Jushin, which is modelled after feudal Korea. In Jushin, there once lived secret government agents called angyo onshi, who traveled the countryside in disguise. They were charged by the king to find and punish corrupt government officials, and bring justice to the country's citizens. Jushin has been destroyed, fractured into numerous fiefdoms and kingdoms, many of which are ruled by corrupt and tyrannical warlords. Shin Angyo Onshi follows the adventures of one of the remaining angyo onshi, as they continue to wander the countryside and deals with the chaos caused by Jushin's fall.

This series is one of the best examples of a man fighting a god. It's very dark and.....if you like Cowboy Bebop, you'll like this.

It ran for about 75 chapters.

Until Death Do Us Part: It's not a romance manga-there is barely any romance in it-it's a story about a modern day blind samurai who meets a girl with precognitive powers. She asks him to protect her from those who want to use her powers for their own purposes. When he asks for how long, she replies 'Until death do us part'. It fuses both manga and American comics. The titular samurai (Hijikata Mamoru) is basically Daredevil meets Batman. The series crosses over with two other series's like Yami No Aegis and Jesus but the author handles it with care so you are not at loss with what's happening and you are just seeing the events from different perspectives, basically.

Currently it's at 172 chapters and nearing the climax. My buddies and I consider this series to be part of the JAM verse (Jesus-Aegis-Mamoru). Dark Horse recently picked this up for translation.

Yami No Aegis: Set in the same verse as UDDUP (but by a different author and this one also handled Jesus) but a few years in the past. The series follows ex-cop Tate Karito who lost his arm in an accident and has it replaced with a cybernetic one. He currently works as a 'protector-for-hire' with his partner who is a young girl named Anna. She is far more intelligent for her age and vets his clients whilst he does all the physical work while working through his PTSD.

The series is made up of short story arcs and one shots occasionally with elements that build up to a larger arc. The series hasn't been updated in forever but hopefully it is one day. It is complete in Japan but the translations are stuck at around chapter 53. There is a follow up series called Akatsuki No Aegis that hasn't been translated yet.

Jesus: The series follows a hit man whose real name is unknown but goes by the name of Jesus because people proclaim 'Jesus!' before he kills them. After a life as a mercenary and fed up with too many people out to kill him, he decides to retire. However, circumstances force him to go undercover as a school teacher to recover a chalk board hiding his valuable drug stash, which he was going to use to retire for good before it accidentally ended up in the school. The series can be hilarious but also incredibly dark at times.

Tokyo ESP: Mysterious flying fish grants a young Tokyo girl the ability to phase through objects and she meets a young man who can teleport and wants them to become superheroes. This series is light hearted and fun with various pop culture references but it can also be fun.

Ga-Rei: From the same author as Tokyo ESP. The premise is basically ripped off from Bleach: a young spiritually aware boy who has been seeing ghosts for all his life meets a young girl who exterminates and he gets drafted into her world. However, the plot, the characters, powers and the settings are completely different from Bleach and I would argue that Ga-Rei is superior to Bleach in many ways. The only thing I don't like about the series is the resident pervert, everything else is awesome. It can also get really dark at some points. There are consequences to all actions and unlike Bleach, the main character doesn't become a super special protagonist with a special destiny, in fact he doesn't surpass his female friend in power but that's not what's important in their relationship. The art can get a little fan service-y but it's good and gets better as the series progresses.

The series only has one volume so it didn't ran for long and can be broken down to 4 major arcs.

[Reverse Happy]

FYI, I've created a thread for Naruto on the Independents board.

Might make a Bleach one too. (If someone else wants to do it first, they're welcome to. Originally I wanted to leave the thread-making fun to others, but now I'm worried people are just disbanding to other anime forums as the weeks quietly go by.)

Ga-Rei: From the same author as Tokyo ESP. The premise is basically ripped off from Bleach: a young spiritually aware boy who has been seeing ghosts for all his life meets a young girl who exterminates and he gets drafted into her world. However, the plot, the characters, powers and the settings are completely different from Bleach and I would argue that Ga-Rei is superior to Bleach in many ways. The only thing I don't like about the series is the resident pervert, everything else is awesome. It can also get really dark at some points. There are consequences to all actions and unlike Bleach, the main character doesn't become a super special protagonist with a special destiny, in fact he doesn't surpass his female friend in power but that's not what's important in their relationship. The art can get a little fan service-y but it's good and gets better as the series progresses.

The series only has one volume so it didn't ran for long and can be broken down to 4 major arcs.

Did Ga-Rei really only last 1 volume? I could've sworn it was a lot longer. (Wikipedia says 12.)

The prequel anime Ga-Rei Zero is very good, if depressing.

[John Venus]

Did Ga-Rei really only last 1 volume? I could've sworn it was a lot longer. (Wikipedia says 12.)

The prequel anime Ga-Rei Zero is very good, if depressing.

It's going to be a bitch finding the threads every week. We really need a new Anime/Manga section.

Ga Rei ran for 12 volumes and 52.2 chapters. My bad. It was listed wrong elsewhere.

[pearlofthepacific]

We really need a new Anime/Manga section.

Yes.

Where do you read/buy your manga? What kind of stuff is easiest to get hold of? I'm just curious, because I　live in Japan, so I have no clue where they're available in other countries. I do get the impression that my image of what's in my local bookshops (e.g. lots of "slice of life" sagas, some gag stuff) is different from the manga available outside Japan.

[Reverse Happy]

Yes.

Where do you read/buy your manga? What kind of stuff is easiest to get hold of? I'm just curious, because I　live in Japan, so I have no clue where they're available in other countries. I do get the impression that my image of what's in my local bookshops (e.g. lots of "slice of life" sagas, some gag stuff) is different from the manga available outside Japan.

Well, here are a couple of 2010 photos of manga sections at Barnes & Noble (the largest physical bookstore chain in the US):

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...Tanforan_3.JPG
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...ble,_Colma.JPG

(You can click on the images to expand them further.)

Or there's Amazon.com for online ordering.

For legitimate online reading, there's Crunchyroll Manga, Kadokawa's Comic Walker, and probably others. As of Dec 2012, Viz offered free ad-supported simultaneous-release chapters of Shounen Jump titles on Android, but I don't know if that's still active.

[pearlofthepacific]

Thank you! Gosh, it's funny to zoom up on those shelves and see English on the book spines!

[Prince Disarming]

Where does one start with Osamu Tezuka? He is pronounced as the god of manga, but he has such a wide catalog that I am uncertain where the best starting point is. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.

[Billy Batson]

Where does one start with Osamu Tezuka? He is pronounced as the god of manga, but he has such a wide catalog that I am uncertain where the best starting point is. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.

You can pretty much start anywhere. It's all good. It probably would be easier to start which his short work such as Book of Human Insects, Mysterious Underground Men, Ode to Kirihito or slightly longer works such as Buddha and Adolf.

[Prince Disarming]

Good to know. Thank You.

[Enigmatic Undead]

Read the first three chapters of Kiseijuu (Parasyte) after watching the trailer for the anime. It is gruesome and bizarre and has some good laughs. Glad I finally got around to checking this out.

[GOLGO 13]

The artwork for Attack On Titan was a big turn off so I dismissed it. Then I caught the first show on Cartoon Network and oh boy, there's a hellacious story here. Now I'm pretty much caught up & current with the manga.

Wow, am I ever so glad to be wrong about a series. I'm thinking now that the author meant to make the Titans look...distrubing was a good move.

Also a huge fan of horror master Junji Ito's work. Anything of his is an insta-buy for me.

[Angilasman]

Would anyone, by chance, know how the Harper Collins' English translation of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha done in the UK stacks up against the US. one by Vertical?

The Harper Collins version is cheaper and comes in a nifty box set!