Best Manga You're Not Reading

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Best Manga You're Not Reading

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1PhoenixTerran
Editado: Jul 13, 2010, 8:30 am

While at the American Library Association conference this past June in Washington, D.C. I was able to attend a marvelous panel called "The Best Manga You're Not Reading" which focused on less well-known manga. I thought I'd post the list here (the first volume in the case of series) for anyone interested. I'll also include links to the panelist's write-ups for further information. It was a great panel with a good variety of manga mentioned--something for everyone. Enjoy!

Brigid Alverson (http://www.mangablog.net/)
Cat Paradise
ES: Eternal Sabbath
Me and the Devil Blues
Suppli
Twin Spica

Robin Brenner (http://www.noflyingnotights.com/)
Age Called Blue
Flower of Life
Ristorante Paradiso
20th Century Boys
Wild Adapter

Martha Cornog (http://www.libraryjournal.com/csp/cms/sites/LJ/Reviews/GraphicNovels/index.csp)
Cinderalla
Lady Snowblood

Katherine Dacey (http://mangacritic.com/)
The Four Immigrants Manga
Parasyte
Phoenix: Civil War
Satsuma Gishiden
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms

Write-ups
Brigid Alverson-- http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2010/07/ala-the-best-manga-youre-not-readin...
Robin Brenner-- http://www.earlyword.com/2010/07/06/the-best-manga-youve-overlooked/
Katherine Dacey-- http://mangacritic.com/?p=5585

2Helcura
Jul 13, 2010, 4:28 pm

Oooh, thanks!

3purpledragon42
Jul 13, 2010, 4:59 pm

Awesome! I'm familiar with a lot of these...but there's a few that are new to me. Thanks for the suggestions! ^_^

4HatsumiShinogu
Jul 13, 2010, 11:22 pm

I totally agree with 20th Century Boys. It is a gem but I know not many people are interested in this genre. Heck, it seems Naoki Urasawa is not that appreciated in the U.S.

Wild Adapter is good too. I am a fan of Kazuya Minekura.

5PhoenixTerran
Jul 14, 2010, 12:12 pm

Glad others are finding it useful!

4> I think you're right about Urasawa, but he's gaining ground--he was nominated for several Eisners this year. He also happens to be one of my favorites. I was very happy to see Wild Adapter added to the list although it wasn't mentioned during the panel itself.

6novelandmangacrazy
Ago 11, 2010, 5:01 pm

thanks for the list. I'll have to check what my library has.

From the list I only recognize 2 of the titles, one of which is on my tbr list.

ES: Eternal Sabbath (I love this authors other series Mars)
20th Century Boys

7Shiva
Oct 3, 2010, 5:56 pm

lol, let me randomly pick 4 titles out of that line up to see if I can get more people interested.

ES: Eternal Sabbath is a shoujo Sci-fi romance story. It's not an typical shoujo romance type of drama. There is no saccharin type of sweetness or any of the typical romantic formulaic dance patterns between the couple. It's also not a nice story, since the mangaka tried to depict realistic consequences of what happens to people in various situations. It's probably not for the under 18 crowd, since it depicts realistic violence(rape, murder, etc). The Art is quite beautiful, and none of the sloppiness that might be present in some other shoujo mangas. It maybe a shoujo romance manga that even guys can get into. It's a romance story that I actually wished for a happy ending. So, what happens to a boy that can read minds meets a girl whose mind he can't read?

20th Century Boys. This is one of the best sci-fi manga series out there. The premise of the story is simple, if you don't have any super power at ALL, how would you save the world from a megalomaniac dictator whom has taken over the world? I won't give away too much spoilers here. The beauty of this work is that it's completely realistic. There are no faeries, katana wielding sailor suit girls, robot cat from the 24th century, or any of the usual preternatural element associated with the usual sci manga series. In a way, it's similar to another excellent series called Sanctuary, where 2 guys tried to change the current Japan for the better in a current modern day setting with no super powers involved. It has some of the best and the most well established characters seen in manga, but of course, you can't expect anything less from a student of the Godfather of Manga, Osamu Tezuka. In the end, you will probably really feel for Kanna and Kenji and their struggles against tyranny and oppression. If you need to put 20th Century Boys into perspective, just imagine a guy with no super powers, no military forces, no money, and nothing noteworthy except a love for Rock-a-Roll, tried to take on someone like Hitler who has taken over the world. If you are a sci-fi fan, you can't miss it.

Lady Snowblood, or Shura Yuki is a great series of yore. This one is definitely for the 18 and over. If it's a movie, it will be like a James Bond movie. It's a none stop ride of mystery, sex, violence and great characters. A girl who decides to avenge her father's death and her mother's sham by taking the most solemn vow, becoming a shura who will never reach nirvana and burn forever in hell for all the sins she commits in her path to vengeance! There are disguises, sword fights, chase scenes, deceptions, money, and all the making of a great action movie. It's also done is a lovely calligraphy art style that most artists aren't able to do today. The only modern artist that I've seen that does something similar would be Blade of the Immortal, another excellent seinen series. Most of the shonen series these days can't hold a candle to it.

Parasyte is another interesting and realistic Sci-Fi manga series that depicts what happens when X-files were true? What if the aliens are really invading earth, and are taking over people one by one like body Snatchers? The story starts off with a bumbling alien who failed to "take over" our main character and they are both forced to live a symbiotic life while fighting off other aliens because it's survival of the fittest. Our typical high school boy then goes on trying to live a normal life but he is eventually dragged into the whole thing. He tries to protect his loved ones, but fails again and again. His trauma, guilt, and heartache is decently depicted. I was actually ticked when one of the female characters that I really liked was killed off. A good series for the alien fans.

lol, This probably wasn't necessary, and I am sure there are a lot of glowing descriptions about said series online. But I felt that since this thread has such limited replies, these are probably not very popular series. For those getting a bit older and a bit tired of the same old, same ole formulaic shonen and shoujo, I hope they can find these series to be their liking.

8PhoenixTerran
Oct 3, 2010, 8:23 pm

Thanks for the great write-ups, Shiva!

9novelandmangacrazy
Oct 23, 2010, 9:38 pm

> 7 & 8

Have both of you read many of the series on the list?

10PhoenixTerran
Oct 23, 2010, 9:43 pm

9> I've read at least some of a good majority of them and am slowly making my way through those I haven't as my budget permits. It's a really interesting range of materials. :)

11novelandmangacrazy
Oct 23, 2010, 10:21 pm

>10 PhoenixTerran:
good to know :)

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