Ok, thanks to you guys I’ve started watching more anime. I’m watching Cowboy Bebop and Inu-Yasha regularly, and a few other things sporadically. I have purchased Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Princess Mononoke, and Vampire Hunter D is waiting in the DVD player for me to watch as soon as I finish posting.
Now I want to know what folks recommend as far as the printed versions go. I’ve been looking over the selection at Borders, but there’s so much stuff there, and so little I know anything about.
What’s good? I like fantasy and science fiction especially. Some fighting is ok, but I tend to get bored with too much action for the sake of action.
No Need For Tenchi is a really fun series. Lots of humor. Most fights last only a few panels. Nudity. Lot of wacky stuff going on what with Washu being a super genius and all. It does pick up after the OAV which may leave you slightly lost if you’ve never seen it but it’s pretty easy to pick up the story line. You can probably rent the OAV which is lots of fun.
Kodocha (Not fantasy, but funny as hell), Sorcerer Hunters, Ah! My Goddess (and You’re Under Arrest, from the same creator)…
Shonen Jump magazine is good, if you want something monthly, rather than, say, collected paperbacks. Also probably the easiest manga to get. Has several titles in it - Naruto, Shaman King, YuYu Hakusho, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sandland, Dragonball Z, and One Peice.
Oh, and while many of the SJ titles have fighting, DBZ is currently the only one that overloads on it. SH also has some big fights in it, but mostly isn’t hugely fighty.
Ruoni Kenshin is pretty good, with some real Japanese history interwoven into the story, and lots of good characters. Lots of fighting too, but not just for fighting’s sake. And you can find and download translated chapters online.
I believe it’s stands for Original Video Release. How I’m not sure. I believe that in Japan they make a small amount of episodes and sell it on VHS and DVD to gauge response and then expand from there. For instant for Tenchi they made 13 episodes. They then made a longer 20 something series Tenchi Universe which restarted the story differently. Then they made yet another 20 something episode series Tenchi in Tokyo with yet another restart. Along they way they made 3 movies and a special all following the canon of the OAV. And the manga also continues that storyline. In fact the first movie Tenchi in Love is serialized in one of the early books of No need for Tenchi.
Ranma 1/2 for spetacular and funny fighting and non-fighting scenes; Urusei Yatsura for sci-fiction AND fantasy, Maison Ikkoku for straight-up romance.
Rumiko Takahashi knows how to write and draw. In a world where people would kill to have one successful serial, she has three major ones. I think each of them have are least 150 issues. Maison I think is finished.
Was Rumiko Takahashi the creator of Inuyasha as well? I can never remember the people’s names.
X/1999 is good too. I’m still waiting for the rest of the series to be released. And of course, how could I forget to mention the Evangelion manga? :smack: The printed version seems to be sadder and more melancholy. I actually like the manga more then the original.
Anything by Ozamu Tazuka is good as well. The drawing style is a little old (after all, he did start anime) but rarely have I seen such great storytelling.
For fighting/science fiction, Battle Angel Alita aka Gunnm? It’s about a female cyborg salvaged by an eccentric doctor from a trash heap. Unable to remember her past but skilled in deadly martial arts, she goes on a journey of self-discovery…
For science fiction opera, Five Star Stories. It’s pretty complex, with a setting and style that combines elements of feudal Japan and Europe. This site gives a good overview.
For pure fantasy, the guilty pleasure Mysterious Play aka Fushigi Yuugi; good for its lovely character designs and fascinating tidbits about Chinese folklore. WARNING!: This is a “girl’s comic” similar to Sailor Moon. This means that it’s full of calculated teen romantic angst and the “heroine” is a gluttonous wimpy self-centered little crybaby bubblehead whose white-pantied butt you’d want to kick to the far end of the universe if you ever met her. People do not read this series for her. They read it for the other characters, including the bad guys.
Basically two girls find an enchanted book that sucks them into the story, which is set in fictional ancient China. It turns out that whomever the book draws in becomes one of four priestesses of one of four kingdoms, and is granted the power to summon the totem divinity of that kingdom for prosperity and protection. Each priestess is given seven warriors; each warrior is named after a Chinese constellation and possesses distinctive powers. It is these “star warriors” who make the fans flock to the series, because nearly all of them are great-looking guys. The plot takes an interesting twist when the heroine’s friend, through unfortunate events, becomes the priestess of a rival kingdom. Plus the heroine naturally falls in love with the one of her warriors, who is technically just a character in a book…
Nitpick. The two “specials” sort of dealt with the OVA. One was in the OVA timeline, but was more or less one character telling some others a story, which happened to use the OVA’s characters.
The other had nothing really to do with the OVA at all, though it used the same characters.
The movies didn’t exactly make much sense at all, in terms of continuity. One of them may have been in the OVA. However, it wasn’t clear and the inclusion of Kiyone made that improbable. The other two were certainly NOT in the OVA at all.
If you are for some more serious minded modern Manga you can check out Hikaru No Go for free at Toriyama’s world. It is a bit of a grey market where the fans translate unlicensed Manga. They are also really good at taking everything down once the Manga’s become licensed so take a look while you can. They are consistently good translations with several other Manga to choose from.