TFARCHIVE FORUMS

I've been shuffling through my standard internet haunts looks for new manga scans to read through, but I'm having trouble finding one that really catches my interest. Mostly everything is getting a little cliche and when I do find one I like, it's brand new, so I'll have to wait for updates. My tastes are pretty varied. I love slightly more mature stuff, like Samurai Executioner, Monster, and 21st Century Boy, but I'll also read more 'main stream' like School Rumble and Ino Neko Jump. So, any suggestions?

My favorite manga would be Battle Angel Alita aka Gunnm, Tomie, and Uzumaki. The latter two were quite limited in run, and a little hard to find, but well worth the effort. Both have been released in the US, but are not mainstream. Bar none the best horror manga I've ever come across, and very intellectual. Both Tomie and Uzumaki were written and illustrated by Junji Ito, who is highly regarded in his native country as a master of surreal horror. There have been film versions of both titles as well (8 Tomie movies to be exact), with Uzumaki being the best to hunt down and watch if you dig the manga.

Battle Angel is a little easier to find, and quite expansive, but extremely cool cyberpunk style story and art. There was also an anime made in 1993 that was an adaptation of the first 2 volumes of the manga. It is very good and highly recommended (my own daughter is named after the Japanese name of the main character, Gally). There is also a supposed live action/CGI hybrid movie being made by James Cameron, but it has been in production hell for years now.

Thanks, Ackula. I'm going to go out and hunt down Battle Angel Alita, considering how much I love the Japanese cyberpunk them of Blame! Tomie also sounds really interesting, as I've read Mr. Ito's incredibly odd Gyo. I'd post you a link to the scans but the site it's hosted on has been having some trouble with viruses.

Yeah, I've heard of Gyo, but never gotten around to reading it. If you don't mind, PM me the link when you can. I think Gyo, Uzumaki, and Tomie are the only things of his to get a proper English translation. The guy has a huge list of manga he has released in Japan, but sadly its useless here, unless you read kanji.

You'll like Battle Angel, I promise! It amazes me how it has never achieved widespread recognition or success outside of Japan. I know there are small pockets of fans out there, but its not as well known as most anime/manga, which is a shame as it is very well written and illustrated.

Gantz. Get it, one way or another. One Piece is also highly, highly addictive.

I have to second Knightdramon. Gantz is pretty good, and One Piece is smart, funny, and addictive.

I've recently started reading a manga called Claymore, which has been decent. Though it is fairly new, and somewhat slow-paced.

I also second the Battle Angle Alita OVA as being awesome. The manga has eluded all my efforts to find it so far.

If you are looking for something fun I highly recommend Sgt. Frog. A book guaranteed to make me smile.

Andy

Transformer Kamen wrote:I also second the Battle Angle Alita OVA as being awesome. The manga has eluded all my efforts to find it so far.

It does seem a little hard to find outside of using something like eBay. I got lucky, my wife has tons of the comics and manga, she turned me onto the series when we first met. I'm usually not much of an anime/manga person outside of some of the old school stuff I was into back in high school, but Battle Angel really grabbed my attention, I can't really stress how good it is. Truthfully the OVA is nowhere as deep and philosophical as the manga/comics, but it gives a really good taste of what happens with the series.

I recommend the Ocarina of Time manga, and, if you're an Eva fan, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days. It's a rather neat twist on the story that focuses on the school life of the three protagonists.

Transformer Kamen wrote:One Piece is smart, funny, and addictive.

Hands down my favourite. Touching emotional moments, great humour, and good action.

Transformer Kamen wrote:I've recently started reading a manga called Claymore, which has been decent. Though it is fairly new, and somewhat slow-paced.

Heard good things about that one but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Also, recommendations depend on the translations as much as anything. I love the Dragonball manga in Japanese, but the official translation isn't anywhere near as entertaining.

Bleach is well worth a look as well. Fairytale, the new manga by the creator of Monster Hunter has been good so far.

*Battle Angel is good. not sure how that will work as a live action movie, but is a good manga series, maybe not so much the second series, but the first is real nice. Funny seeing James Cameron in pics from the set of avatar with battle angel shirt on. I spose its never to early to plug your products.

Cowboy Bebop,the non 'Shooting Star' version, is real good, but only 3 volumes.

D.M.C. aka Detriot Metal City -funny in a metalocalypse / spinal tap ,way but different.

Gundam:Lost War & Gundam: Ecole de ciel - both are good, Lost war has classic old school mech adventure feel while E.C.D. is more intimate with the main charecter and her struggles.

My-Hime , the first series isn't bad, I couldn't stop reading till it was done.
*and then I watched the anime the following week.hehe. Manga are usually better then the anime, like Princess ressurection, Negima and Naruto, but i like animated versions of BWII, Elfin Lied, more then there mangas. and Some Like Cowboy Bebop, are supporting material or addendums, and dont effect a stories start or end, but add to the whole.

I read alot of manga and these are the most recent that really grabbed me.. Some stuff I buy the book of because its the only way, other stuff I check out at Onemanga.com

Cheetor looked like crap in Henkei#8 kinda sad.he had one good scene tho. ravage & hound looked damn good. starscream looked akward.

Couple others I read that no-one's mentioned:

Full-Metal Alchemist: A pretty interesting series that's well-written and has some nice quasi-religious/philosophical underpinnings. The chapters are pretty long too.

Zatch (Gash) Bell: Well-written thought with a somewhat cliche shonen storyline. But! The characters and enemies are actually intelligent use (shock!) actual strategy in battle. It also has an interesting Highlander-esque plot (There can be only one), only without the decapitations.

YuYu Hakasho: An interesting plot with interesting characters. Also includes the Toguro brothers, the younger of whom is one of my all-time favorite villains.

Ruroni Kenshin: Set in a the Meji period of ancient Japan, it's a samurai story. Rather compelling in its own way, though the last story arc isn't quite as good as the rest.

poyguimogul wrote:D.M.C. aka Detriot Metal City

One of the funniest one-trick horses I've seen in a while, although I admit that I tend to flip through until krauser turns up. Nonsense for people who find swear words funny, like me. The anime seems better done than the manga however.

Otherwise, there's Cat Shit One, which is vietnam with bunnies, or Fist of the Blue Sky, which is fist of the north star in 1930s Shanghai... plus I'll add another vote for One Piece, which is non-stop awesome.

I found some amazing ideas in a series called My Street too, not sure what it's worth as a whole. In general I tend to only buy issue #1s for my reference library so story often takes back seat compared to artwork.


Sorry for the patchwork post.

Oh, also I really enjoyed Lone Wolf and Cub. I read the Dark Horse releases and they were well entertaining start to end.