Manga Reccomendations (Part One)
Jul. 11th, 2004 11:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ikyrianEveryone who knows me knows that I love anime. Though, for awhile there, it seemed that my passion for such things was waning (while my mother rejoiced). Now, however, it is back with a flaming passion. It probably has something to do with the fact that I found very good friends at RMWC who shared my passion for things anime and manga and made me want to get in touch with my inner anime fan all over again. Thanks you guys! (My mother weeps, of course.)
At the end of the month I will be going to Otakon with my good friends Brandy and Denise for the very first time. As I kept mentioning to Brandy, she's popping my con cherry. W00t! In honor of this event, I wanted to share with you all some of my favorite manga/online web comics, some that I've enjoyed for years and others that I've just now picked up. Some of them I will say are spectacular, some not so much, but all are enjoyable for some reason.
Now, on with the reccomendations!
Manga
When I first got into "all things Japanese" as my dad likes to say, I wasn't really into manga that much. Except for Sailor Moon, but then, most anime fen started out with that. Now, however, I find that I tend to enjoy the manga more than the anime that is spawned from it. It's a new take on the whole movie vs. book argument. Heeeh.
Hikaru no Go (Story by Hotta Yumi, Art by Takeshi Obata, Supervies by Umezawa Yukari [5 Dan])
"Who knew a manga about Go could be so interesting?" ~Travis H.
Hikaru no Go or HikaGo as it's shortened to, is an absolutely spectacular manga. Not only is it well written, but the art is absolutely AMAZING. It's about a young boy, Shindo Hikaru, who has a Go Master from the Heian period thrust into his consciousness when he touches a cursed Go board. This ghost, whose name is Fujiwara no Sai, has come back from the dead because of his all consuming desire to play Go and learn the Hand of God (translated in the Shonen Jump version as "The Divine Move" which irks me to NO END). Hikaru, of course, knows nothing of Go, as he only touched the board in the first place to see if he could sell it. Nor does he even want to learn to play Go. It all goes downhill from there.
This manga has it all: a great story, beautiful art, well defined and engaging characters, and to top it off, a solid background in Go. I dare anyone who reads this manga to walk away without a passing interest in at least trying to play Go. Because not only does it talk about Go, it also teaches you a little bit of Go as you read along. And it gives you just enough information to whet the apetite, but it's up to the reader to continue the interest. (If you watch the anime, there's little lessons at the end of each episode that teaches Go, that's how popular the game became with it's readership.) Even if all you ever do is borrow it from a library, you should definately try to find some time to read this manga.
Available by Shonen Jump, $7.95)
D.N.Angel (Story and Art by Sugisaki Yukiru)
D.N.Angel has been one of my favorites for a very long time. I originally got into this comic by it's fandom (which is pretty rare for me...heheheh). This was back when it was *hard* to find anything really decent in America. Though I doubt this manga will ever win any awards, it does have a fairly unique story with some really pretty art.
DNAngel is about a boy named Niwa Daisuke, who, on his fourteenth birthday tries to tell a girl, Harada Riku, that he "likes" her "in that way." She immediately rejects him, breaking the poor boy's heart. Fastforward a couple of hours as he returns home, where, after finally managing to get into the house, where he goes upstairs to mope in his room. While there, he thinks on Riku a little too long, and suddenly, he's completely transformed! Wha~?! Who's this really hot guy? When he rushes downstairs to tell his mother and grandfather, they inform him of his birthright. Every male Niwa will turn into the Phantom Thief Dark whenever he gets too excited when either looking or thinking about a crush and steal the Hikari family's cursed artwork! WHA~?!
Ok, it sounds a kinda dumb, but it's not. The story is well told, so that you really feel for Daisuke (even though, he *is* a bit of a whimp), and later, Dark. Plus, you've got all of these really cute guys running around (and girls, if you so desire.) Of course, the art is so pretty that even the grandfather looks adorable. On the plus side, it's really funny, because Daisuke can change into Dark just by looking at Riku too long. If you want a romantic comedy about unrequited love and hot thieves, this is the one for you.
Tokyo Pop, $9.95
Your and My Secret (Story and Art by Morinaga Ai)
"No, that is NOT a TYPO!"
Your and My Secret is something that I picked up on a whim along with another manga R^2 (which I can't figure out the plot for, but at least the art is pretty!). Now, I don't normally go in for het romances unless I can slash characters within the work itself, which makes this one reeeeaaaallly out in left field for me. And what totally blows it out of the ball park is the very obvious "I am a shoujo mangaka" art. And here's the weirdest thing: I liked it the moment I read the first page; it was Fushigi Yuugi all over again. But I digress.
Now, this manga is not, by any stretch of the imagination, up to par with, say, HikaGo. But that doesn't mean it's not really thought provoking. Of course, my biggest thought is, "What if they were switched back? Would Senbongi still like "Nanako" if "she" turned back into "Akira"? And would they have hot gay sex?" Of course, now you're all scratching your head and going "WTF, mate?" But truly, it makes sense.
The basic storyline of the manga is this: Uehara Akira has a really huge crush on Momoi Nanako. There's just one problem: Nanako is a raging, violent, masculine bitch, while Akira can't even find the spine to say stand up to...anyone, really. Nanako's grandfather is a scientist and is conducting research on Nanako when Akira, deciding to "save" her, gets tested on instead. Well, and accident occures and suddenly, they've switched bodies! Nanako is now in Akira's body while Akira is now in Nanako's! Quel horreur! (Monique, is that right?) To make matters worse, Nanako (now Akira, remember) destroys the machine that switched them! What to do what to do. Well, for "Akira", it's pretty simple: let's masturbate (not shown, just hinted at) and figure out this male body! It only gets worse as Nanako decides she likes being a boy and stomps all over Akira's dreams and says she doesn't want to switch back just yet, she's dating a girl named Shiina. Not only that, but Senbongi has taken quite a liking to the "new" Nanako, which really freaks Akira out!
But that's just a drop in the bucket of the problems that Akira now faces. Like...her period. And her new grandfather.
There is, however, something that I really dislike about the manga: the Grandfather. Every scene with him just seems so...rushed and forced. Like Morinaga is trying for funny but it's just too gross to actually make it there. Plus, all of the panels then are cramped and full of kana. They're not good moments in the book. But don't let that deter you! It really is funny, full of sweet moments and gut wrenchingly angsty moments. A good read whenever you're feeling blue.
ADVManga, $9.99
I'm going to stop there for now. I've got a few more, and then it's onto the online webcomics! Whee!
At the end of the month I will be going to Otakon with my good friends Brandy and Denise for the very first time. As I kept mentioning to Brandy, she's popping my con cherry. W00t! In honor of this event, I wanted to share with you all some of my favorite manga/online web comics, some that I've enjoyed for years and others that I've just now picked up. Some of them I will say are spectacular, some not so much, but all are enjoyable for some reason.
Now, on with the reccomendations!
Manga
When I first got into "all things Japanese" as my dad likes to say, I wasn't really into manga that much. Except for Sailor Moon, but then, most anime fen started out with that. Now, however, I find that I tend to enjoy the manga more than the anime that is spawned from it. It's a new take on the whole movie vs. book argument. Heeeh.
Hikaru no Go (Story by Hotta Yumi, Art by Takeshi Obata, Supervies by Umezawa Yukari [5 Dan])
"Who knew a manga about Go could be so interesting?" ~Travis H.
Hikaru no Go or HikaGo as it's shortened to, is an absolutely spectacular manga. Not only is it well written, but the art is absolutely AMAZING. It's about a young boy, Shindo Hikaru, who has a Go Master from the Heian period thrust into his consciousness when he touches a cursed Go board. This ghost, whose name is Fujiwara no Sai, has come back from the dead because of his all consuming desire to play Go and learn the Hand of God (translated in the Shonen Jump version as "The Divine Move" which irks me to NO END). Hikaru, of course, knows nothing of Go, as he only touched the board in the first place to see if he could sell it. Nor does he even want to learn to play Go. It all goes downhill from there.
This manga has it all: a great story, beautiful art, well defined and engaging characters, and to top it off, a solid background in Go. I dare anyone who reads this manga to walk away without a passing interest in at least trying to play Go. Because not only does it talk about Go, it also teaches you a little bit of Go as you read along. And it gives you just enough information to whet the apetite, but it's up to the reader to continue the interest. (If you watch the anime, there's little lessons at the end of each episode that teaches Go, that's how popular the game became with it's readership.) Even if all you ever do is borrow it from a library, you should definately try to find some time to read this manga.
Available by Shonen Jump, $7.95)
D.N.Angel (Story and Art by Sugisaki Yukiru)
D.N.Angel has been one of my favorites for a very long time. I originally got into this comic by it's fandom (which is pretty rare for me...heheheh). This was back when it was *hard* to find anything really decent in America. Though I doubt this manga will ever win any awards, it does have a fairly unique story with some really pretty art.
DNAngel is about a boy named Niwa Daisuke, who, on his fourteenth birthday tries to tell a girl, Harada Riku, that he "likes" her "in that way." She immediately rejects him, breaking the poor boy's heart. Fastforward a couple of hours as he returns home, where, after finally managing to get into the house, where he goes upstairs to mope in his room. While there, he thinks on Riku a little too long, and suddenly, he's completely transformed! Wha~?! Who's this really hot guy? When he rushes downstairs to tell his mother and grandfather, they inform him of his birthright. Every male Niwa will turn into the Phantom Thief Dark whenever he gets too excited when either looking or thinking about a crush and steal the Hikari family's cursed artwork! WHA~?!
Ok, it sounds a kinda dumb, but it's not. The story is well told, so that you really feel for Daisuke (even though, he *is* a bit of a whimp), and later, Dark. Plus, you've got all of these really cute guys running around (and girls, if you so desire.) Of course, the art is so pretty that even the grandfather looks adorable. On the plus side, it's really funny, because Daisuke can change into Dark just by looking at Riku too long. If you want a romantic comedy about unrequited love and hot thieves, this is the one for you.
Tokyo Pop, $9.95
Your and My Secret (Story and Art by Morinaga Ai)
"No, that is NOT a TYPO!"
Your and My Secret is something that I picked up on a whim along with another manga R^2 (which I can't figure out the plot for, but at least the art is pretty!). Now, I don't normally go in for het romances unless I can slash characters within the work itself, which makes this one reeeeaaaallly out in left field for me. And what totally blows it out of the ball park is the very obvious "I am a shoujo mangaka" art. And here's the weirdest thing: I liked it the moment I read the first page; it was Fushigi Yuugi all over again. But I digress.
Now, this manga is not, by any stretch of the imagination, up to par with, say, HikaGo. But that doesn't mean it's not really thought provoking. Of course, my biggest thought is, "What if they were switched back? Would Senbongi still like "Nanako" if "she" turned back into "Akira"? And would they have hot gay sex?" Of course, now you're all scratching your head and going "WTF, mate?" But truly, it makes sense.
The basic storyline of the manga is this: Uehara Akira has a really huge crush on Momoi Nanako. There's just one problem: Nanako is a raging, violent, masculine bitch, while Akira can't even find the spine to say stand up to...anyone, really. Nanako's grandfather is a scientist and is conducting research on Nanako when Akira, deciding to "save" her, gets tested on instead. Well, and accident occures and suddenly, they've switched bodies! Nanako is now in Akira's body while Akira is now in Nanako's! Quel horreur! (Monique, is that right?) To make matters worse, Nanako (now Akira, remember) destroys the machine that switched them! What to do what to do. Well, for "Akira", it's pretty simple: let's masturbate (not shown, just hinted at) and figure out this male body! It only gets worse as Nanako decides she likes being a boy and stomps all over Akira's dreams and says she doesn't want to switch back just yet, she's dating a girl named Shiina. Not only that, but Senbongi has taken quite a liking to the "new" Nanako, which really freaks Akira out!
But that's just a drop in the bucket of the problems that Akira now faces. Like...her period. And her new grandfather.
There is, however, something that I really dislike about the manga: the Grandfather. Every scene with him just seems so...rushed and forced. Like Morinaga is trying for funny but it's just too gross to actually make it there. Plus, all of the panels then are cramped and full of kana. They're not good moments in the book. But don't let that deter you! It really is funny, full of sweet moments and gut wrenchingly angsty moments. A good read whenever you're feeling blue.
ADVManga, $9.99
I'm going to stop there for now. I've got a few more, and then it's onto the online webcomics! Whee!
