Recommend Me Some Manga

DEATH NOTE is pretty good (as current stuff goes), but I can see that it has every chance of going badly awry.

Matt Maxwell - Will get right on it. It's a good thing the titles you mention are fairly common material found at my local used book retailer - my used and abused bank account thanks you.

Amadeo - I do not like being disgusted - my heart goes into palpatations at the sight of blood, even if said blood is merely an ink portrayal in black and white. Nonetheless, I will scan the racks for this UZUMAKI, certain to surreptitiously remove any repulsive content should any unsuspecting reader happen upon it. (If I may DROP MY FACETIOUSNESS, I think I've seen the movie adaption of UZUMAKI - it was like a Douglas Sirk film, if Douglas Sirk ever shot a scene involving a man who's body was mutilated into a spiral in a washing machine.)

I'm not a big fan of manga in general, but I'd recommend Phoenix (it's rather uneven, but the high points are quite high) and the first four volumes Battle Angel Alita (ignore the silly English title, it's really a thoughtful - philosophical even - cyberpunk story). If you're looking for lighter, romantic comedy type of stuff, Oh My Goddess is probably the best choice.

also UZUMAKI is ok but pwned by Katsuhiro Otomo's DOMU, imho, as far as horror goes

Tuomas - I'm always looking for the "great, yet problematic" so PHOENIX sounds like something I'd be interested in. And I've been considering looking into Battle Angel Alita.

Fez - Cool...I've got the first two volumes of NAUSICAA on my hold list at my local library. Plus, I'm pro dinosaur, so GON will certainly get a perusal.

And I'll let the UZUMAKI vs. DOMU debate rage on...

Oh yeah, NAUSICAA is worth checking into, Mr. Original Poster. Totally slipped my mind before.

- Checked out the first two volumes of ADOLF after work the other day, meaning that I'm probably gonna start devouring VERY soon.

- AKIRA also awaits me at my local libary.

- GHOST IN THE SHELL will eventually get a perusal soon.

- BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, ditto.

i like formulaicness! it took me 35 volumes of Dragonball to get fed up with Son Goku getting stronger and stronger and stronger (and then becoming a super saiyajin and thus getting super extra strong++ deluxe supreme--- ok actually thats where i stopped reading)

and the showdown of Domu is perfect as is, anticlimactic but tense. not flat at all if you slow down your reading speed a bit after the 50+ pages of action, gore and exploding housing blocks in the second act.

I didn't have the patience for the first volume of Buddha -- wossitlike, after that, anyone? FP have them on sale at the moment.

I have to warn that the last volumes of BAA are highly uneven - there's still lots of interesting ideas and concepts there, but pacing and other stuff gets kinda weird. Apparently Yukito Kishiro, the guy behind it, was suffering from a long-term illness when he was finishing doing the final issues. Volume four is probably the high point of the series, but it's still worth reading to the very end.

I have been meaning to start reading it again, which is hard because I forget where I left off.

TUOMAS - more "great yet problematic"! cool.

EYEMELT - "You can almost feel the breeze of a blade flying past your head in some of those scenes." Sold - will look for in the coming weeks/months.

c("c) - thanks for the further advice.

Akira (essential)
Ghost in the shell 1
Domu (Lovely art - but overrated)
Memories
Lone Wolf (bast comic ever made IMO)
Samurai Executioner
Lady Snow Blood (pulpier version of the above)
Blade of the Immortal (great - havent read it in a couple of years though)
Ranma (Tuomas is OTM)
LUM (ala Ranma, except funnier and less formulaic)
Maison Ikkoku (Takahashis soap opera. Very funny 0 9 volumes)
Voyeur (pervy psychological thriller - quality though)
Battle Angel Alita 1-9 (great sci-fi adventure - all of its great IMO)
Ashen Victor (more from Alita creator - crossed with Sin City style artwork)
Alita - Last order (follow up to Alita - even more westernised artwork)
2001 nights (Yukinobu Hoshinos sublime tribute to Arthur C Clarke)
Two faces of tomorrow (more from Hoshino - dont know if this is available as TP though)
Icaro (Moebius and Taniguchi - 2 volume loveliness)
Blackjack 1/2 (Tezukas medical masterpiece)
Phoenix
Buddha (meanders a bit, but delivers in the end)
Iron Wok Jan 1-17 (formulaic yet genius cooking manga. must be read to be believed)
Cannon God Exaxxion (PO-mo giant robot adventure manga, funny and violent)
Neon Genesis (better than anime, straight down the line giant robot manga with shades of Akira)
Gunsmith Cats (great dynamic art - stories a bit bland now and then)
Oh/Ah my goddess ( From the guy and 10 girls in one house school of manga. This one has real charm in places though.)
Shadowstar (weird nihilistic horror/adventure)
Galaxy Express 999 (poignant sci-fi drama)
Black and White (strange westernised art in this one. reminds me a bit of something from deadline)
Antique Bakery (fantastically hilarious YAOH manga)
Worst (High school drama/comedy)
Cromartie High School (the funniest comic on earth)
Azumanga daioh 1-4 (2nd funniest)
Hino Horrors 1-16 (Genius - why oh why did they stop??)
Panorma of Hell/Hell Baby - both by Hino. both unavailable - snap them up if you see them)
Blood The last vampire (original version is best)
Scary Books 1/2 (Kazou Umezu - the 'godfather of Horror manga - bit staid, but getting better)
GYO
Uzumaki 1-3
Tomie (the weakest of Ito's horrors)
Parasyte (great horror/sci-fi business Vol. 5 perennially unavailable for some reason though)
Strain (sleazy misogynistic violent pornographic trash)
Sanctuary (as above except about politics)
The first president of Japan (surprisingly entertaining political drama)
Revenge of the Mouflon (9/11 inspired political action adventure)
Banana Fish (francophile shojo epic ala Jacob's ladder)
Barefoot Gen (Firsthand account of the bombing of Hiroshima, kicks the crap out of Maus IMO)
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 1-4 (natch)
Vieo Girl Ai
Cinderella (young girl running a restaurant with her zombie dad)
Dance till Tomorrow (theatre/slacker comedy)
Barbie and her Pink Gun (bit of a weird one this, a Japanese Tank Girl with artwork that looks like it was done by Nick Abadzis)

Theres also stuff thats gone out of print like 'four shojo stories' which features stuff from the brilliant Moto Haigo, anthologies like 'comics underground Japan', and 'Manga Manga Manga' which feature comic strips, plus plenty of other stuff out there that Ive forgotten/havent read.

GON is rubbish btw ;)

Let's not forget that Gunsmith Cats is the favorite manga of ILE Best Poster Ever conner smedley!

Also, Nauikaa absolute ACE. Way better than the anime.

Since I began this thread, I've read the first two volumes of ADOLF (Will Hitler invade Poland???? MUST - READ - ON !!!) and the first volume of LOVE ROMA (which is providing high school dating tips for me roughly seven years too late - I still have every intention of giving them a test drive).

HEY, ANYONE IN THE "MANGA" KNOW:

Should I invest my scarce funds into THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM? I've heard from sources whose names I've forgotten but whose overall impression was "trustworthiness" that it's well worth reading - WHAT TO DO?

ALSO: PARADISE KISS

ONCE AGAIN:

NEW YOTSUBA&! - OUT LATER THIS MONTH - YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!

If youve read any of the 'scary book' series youll know what to expect. Its interesting but not gripping. Bizarre psychological lord of the flies horror done as if for an 80s UK girls comic ala 'Bounty'

havent read Paradise kiss, but it looks like your typical mainstream Shojo fare - seems to be based in the world of fashion which doesnt help...

Save your cash and get the fantastic 'Eden' on Dark Horse. Or any of the Ponent Mon manga - 'Times of Botchan' is good. Also worth a look are 'Satsuma Gishiden'and 'Path of the Assassin' - both in the Samurai mileu. The 'Kurosagi corpse delivery service' is great and Vertical are putting out some good stuff at the moment as well including some nice tezuka Tomes.

The brilliance of Azumanga Diaoh cannot be stressed enough. Along with Cromartie high school its probably one of the funniest comics ever written.

Oh yeah Vol 4 of Yotsuba!& just came out! this comic is amazingly good.

Theres a bit of Uzumaki love going on here, so fans of Ito might be interested in the 3 volume Museum of terror series, which collates all the earlier published tomie stories and adds a bunch of other early short stories.

Thanks for the response! Good to know I'm not the lone soul on ILC who adores Yotsuba&!.

havent read Paradise kiss, but it looks like your typical mainstream Shojo fare - seems to be based in the world of fashion which doesnt help...

Actually, I've read the first two and I get the vaguest impression of Almadovar, which is a very good thing... PLUS: fashion is by no means, a hindrance for me. SIDE NOTE: I'm currently addicted to Yazawa's current ongoing-about-to-end, NANA.

Save your cash and get the fantastic 'Eden' on Dark Horse.

I've read the first three and, while sufficiently impressed (gosh - shiny!), I'm not quite compelled. SUBJECT FOR FURTHER REVIEW, WHEN MY LOCAL LIBRARY GETS VOL. 4 (IF EVER).

Some of the mainstream Shojo stuff is awesome, though.^

"Absolute Boyfriend" is so lol. I love "Otomen," too. I'm such a girl, though!

i've really been enjoying deadman wonderland

Is anyone reading Dorohedoro? Fun, batshit seinen series; the best(okay, not best, "laziest") I can describe it is like Paul Pope drawing a China Mieville story, filtered through the usual action-manga tropes in surprising ways.

At my library it's still all about naruto. Claymore's getting some traction too. What some fun shojo I can introduce for balance? Kitchen princess is cute, but very fluffy.

i wish some of the scanlations for dw were better. sometimes the writing translation is so bad that it's difficult to read. i guess when you're reading something that hasn't been published outside Japan, you take what you can get.

Two unreserved recommendations:
Nonnonba by Shigeru Mizuki
A Drunken Dream by Moto Hagio

Intrigued by Tom E's take on Attack on Titan:

http://tomewing.tumblr.com/post/96494269691/note-on-attack-on-titan

I'm about 3/4 through the first of the current Dark Horse volume of Lone Wolf & Cub. I had read some of the First reprints in the 80s, but that one jumped around in the series. The story where Lone Wolf allows himself to be captured to get thrown in jail and get to the arsonist was bad ass.

I got about 7 volumes into the reprints a decade ago, but dropped it. I think I might just go nuts and buy the entire series when they finish this round.

That story is pretty badass, I remember it!

I love the one where lone wolf is meditating on a desolate mountain full of ravenous wolves so that he can attain a state of nothingness needed to 'kill god'

i have about 80% of the First floppies, much prefer that book in full size than in the pocket edition

also: try DRAGONHEAD

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/terrifying-tales-from-kodansha-books

Of course they put the Junji Ito books in the $20 tier, and I already own Dissolving Classroom. Came here to ask if any of these are worth reading, and lol the last post from 2014 mentions Dragon Head. I think I read the first couple volumes of Inuyashiki, but they're not even offering the entire series here.

BTW I ended up reading all of LW&C on Hoopla, it does indeed rule

I regret it every time I read an Ito book, one of his short stories gave me a panic attack a few months ago! But maybe that's also why they're so good

Check out his nice mangas about cats.

That's in the bundle!

I read part of the first collection of lone wolf and cub, and didn’t really do that much for me. Is it just that everything I’ve read since has stolen from it, or am I missing something?

Like, it’s clear it’s very good, but maybe it’s just not for me

You're probably right that so many things have been stolen from it that its impact may be somewhat diluted. It's also a series that REALLY takes its time for the main plot, the slow pacing remains through it all. That said, it's a journey worth taking, and there are moments of phenomenal art. I'd give it at least a few volumes, they're fast reading.

Can anyone recommend which of the akira translations is better, or are they both quite bad?

It’s certainly going to be easier to track down six in-print paperbacks than 38 Marvel glue-bound floppies from the 1980s, if that makes the decision easier

did that 35th anniversary box set from Kodansha not get a good reception? was thinking about doing that one for a while

I think it’s the same as the dark horse translation, except on better paper and with the original Japanese sfx. But there’s no sfx subtitling, so it’s hard to parse unless you keep looking back at the index. Looks great though!

Been going through some of Kyoko Okazaki's work (thanks to poster gyac). Helter Skelter and Pink. Both are fairly brutal in their depictions of bodies and minds brutalised by a capitalistic logic, especially in terms of gender and its as if the world hasn't moved very far at all in some of the attitudes on display. There was no 'cultural gap' to bridge at all, which was sorta striking.

hm, i have helter skelter digitally and never read it. will give it a try. I think Vertical released it in america.

Pink is great.

Been going through some of Kyoko Okazaki's work (thanks to poster gyac). Helter Skelter and Pink. Both are fairly brutal in their depictions of bodies and minds brutalised by a capitalistic logic, especially in terms of gender and its as if the world hasn't moved very far at all in some of the attitudes on display. There was no 'cultural gap' to bridge at all, which was sorta striking.

I keep meaning to reply to this. Yeah, the cultural gap is maybe minimal because Okazaki tends to address the stuff that cuts deep - as you say, capitalism, and Japan is a brutally capitalistic society. I think maybe Japan has moved on somewhat in some ways, but the beauty standards are still extremely unforgiving, and the deeper analysis in both books is clear about how money and its demands determine everything.

Pink is lighter but I wouldn't say it's a nice book either, she has a very defined worldview and she gives you this wavy carefree looking lineart on one hand and the punch of capitalism on the other. I like Helter Skelter slightly better, but mainly I wish she has more work translated. Can you read French? If you can, I can lend you Tokyo Girls Bravo!

i read helter skelter. it is very fucked up!

Been reading Taiyo Matsumoto's Ping Pong. Old, I know.. but goddamn, absolutely incredible work on the page.
I remember seeing the live action movie nearly 20 years ago, and heard that there was a well regarded anime adaptation more recently. Gonna have to look into that.

I really like Wurdah Itah as a starting point

ahh fuck misread thread title

i cant be the only one that got excited for some zeuhl manga recs for a sec there

I have the vinyl Retrospectiw set and there is a comic book about the band in there. You can call it manga if you like