Anime (Manga)

[oceanflower]

The bookstores in my area all have lareg selections of anime books. Does anyone here read them? Which are your favorites?

[superlovezapper]

I have friends who read them. One mistake I made was trying to read them front to back. you have to read them back to front. The spine is on the opposite side! It's crazy. I couldn't really get into anime, because they are almost like comic books, only a larger range of topics. But my friends love them, even go to the conventions. I could ask them. Do you like a specific theme- drama, comedy, action?

[oceanflower]

I don't read them myself, but my daughter and twin sons (ages 13 and 15) both like them.

Some of the titles are Ranma 1/2; Dragonball Z; Rouani Kenshin; Helsing. (not sure of those spellings.

[KaBaNa]

To be quite honest, most anime is garbage. The best anime out their are Ghost in The Shell and .hack//SIGN as they are actually intelligent and have awesome character development.

[oceanflower]

To be quite honest, most anime is garbage. The best anime out their are Ghost in The Shell and .hack//SIGN as they are actually intelligent and have awesome character development.

Are they appropriate for 13-yr.-olds? If mine are going to read anime, I may as well try to push the "higher end" stuff. ;)

[KaBaNa]

Are they appropriate for 13-yr.-olds? If mine are going to read anime, I may as well try to push the "higher end" stuff. ;)

Haha, I guess I can sort of field those questions... I am old enough to discuss mature things but still young enough to be part of Gen X.

Well, I think that 13 year olds may find .hack//SIGN and Ghost In The Shell rather boring.

[fiveyearwinter]

I like a single anime comic series. Megatokyo. Written by an American. :) It's got lots of computer hacker humor.

I also like a few anime cartoon series, like Fullmetal Alchemist and Evangelion. But I don't consider myself an anime kid at all. I don't know anything about it, and I think the story's what grabs me, not the animation.

[superlovezapper]

Spirited Away

[KaBaNa]

Spirited Away

Yeah, I bought that recently. What a fantastic film!

[superlovezapper]

I thought it was interesting. Unlike anything I'd seen before, really.

[KaBaNa]

I loved the imagery and the animation.

[musi]

i never saw anime books here, i only saw a lot of cartoons or, correctly, animes..
there are a few stupid ones, like Sailormoon (horrible!!! :) ) or the one with this weird Pikachu and other strange animals..
however, there are some animes that have a very deep meaning in them. though they are drawn almost the same way (i especially like the eyes of all characters), the sujet is all different with no kicking and screaming, but with interesting things creators had to say.
Spirited Away is a perfect example of it..

[blp]

Can you or anyone clarify terminology? I've always assumed that anime referred to animation and manga was the term for the comic strips.

As an aside, it's true that there seems to be a lot of genre variation even within the rather conventional big eyes drawing style. But I've also seen underground comics from Japan that don't follow the manga style at all. Does anyone know about these? Are there any English translations?

[oceanflower]

Can you or anyone clarify terminology? I've always assumed that anime referred to animation and manga was the term for the comic strips.



Yes, you are correct. But most people don't know that the books are called manga, so that's why we're calling it anime in this thread. But you may use he correct terminology, of course. :)

[oceanflower]

I've gone ahead and re-named the thread "Anime (Manga)"

[majime_na_yuki]

Oh, I love anime/manga, preferably in the original Japanese. Right now, I'm most interested in 'Fruits Basket,' as you can see from my avatar. :) It's a very charming story. I recommend it. The anime series is slightly different from the manga, and only covers a small portion of it. Overall, I'd say the manga is superior to the anime in this case.
If you're looking for good character development and an engaging plot, Miyazaki Hayao is your best bet. My favourite films of his: 'Spirited Away';'Mononoke Hime';'Castle in the Sky';'Kiki's Delivery Service';'Tonari no Totoro'; and many more.
'Escaflowne' is also a great series, and fairly brief, too. It only contains 26 episodes, thankfully. My main complaint with manga and anime is that I feel they are dragged out longer than need be in most cases. There is also a movie which condenses the 'Escaflowne' plot while making a few alterations. However, the movie is not enjoyable without having seen the series - it leaves too much unsaid.
'Inuyasha' is fairly entertaining, but it's one of those series that suffers from the aforementioned long-windedness.
'Metropolis' is also a good anime film.
And if you like ninjas, 'Naruto' should be of great interest. :)
Believe it or not, I'm not an otaku.

[TariNumenesse]

I read a Cardcaptors book once. It was horrid.
And I always liked Sailor Moon, Musi! :p
Yu-Gi-Oh just makes me laugh.
I read a really good series called 'The Courageous Princess'. I love them. They are not traditional Japanese (at least I don't think that they are) but they fit into the category. I'm waiting for the fourth one currently...

[FreakPower70]

Oceanflower, if you are concerned about the appropriate content for your children most manga should list somewhere on the back the general ages they are intended for. It is a good thing to note as some of them are written for those being the age of 18 or older. They ussually say things like 10+ or 13+ and if they don't say anything I would think they are appropriate for most ages.

As for me I like Trigun, a couple of Friends and I got into anime video and Trigun was really talked about though very inaccesable to us (as it remains to be) but when I was in a chapters I say the mangas and picked them up. I haven't read them completely yet. Ghost in the shell is good to but I dunno if that if a manga graphic novel or just a movie, though I don't much like the TV show as much as I enjoyed the first film.

[oceanflower]

Oceanflower, if you are concerned about the appropriate content for your children most manga should list somewhere on the back the general ages they are intended for. It is a good thing to note as some of them are written for those being the age of 18 or older. They ussually say things like 10+ or 13+ and if they don't say anything I would think they are appropriate for most ages.


Thanks for that tip, F.P.! :good:

[JECompton]

One of my good friends would die if she visited this thread! She'd have 100 recommendations.

Majime, are you from Japan? Correct me if I'm wrong on my next points.

I once heard that the visual medium is more respected there. I was there for a few short days and was amazed to find that the bookstores seemed to be 60% manga. I mean just replace all the escape lit sections (sci-fi, romance, horror, true crime, western) with graphic versions of the same and you get the idea...

I liked GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka, a motorcycle gangster and martial arts brawler turns teacher--great for anyone who has a bad day teaching), Neon Genesis Evangelion (starts out as a sci-fi battle-of-the-monsters/Transformers ends up as a strange mixture of Christian mythology apocalypse), Boogie Pop Phantom (don't laugh--despite the name, it's a very surreal exploration of the metaphysical), Serial Project Lain (excellent story on Virtual Reality, but that doesn't begin to describe the depth of theme and artistry), and Revolutionary Girl Utena (by the makers of Neon Genesis, but nothing like it. It's almost a pure allegory about love, childhood, and leaving childhood according to the makers). Just for fun, I liked Vampire Hunter D (and the sequel), Fist of the North Star (bloody though), and Appleseed.

I also liked Ghost in the Shell (seemed like gratuitous language though--cussing just to cuss) and Spirited Away.

Unfortunately, I haven't read much of the manga--like most here, I've seen mostly anime, and have just flipped through a few of the mangas of the animes I've seen.

[Wirhe]

Ghost in the Shell isn't the only good manga (and anime!) out there. If you love darkly themed entertainment, then you really, really should see Battle Angel Alita, Haibane Renmei, GITS: Innocence, and Angel Sanctuary (if you can forgive the gayish art). Then there are, of course, more jovial gems like Oh! My Goddess!, Ranma ½ (first season), Azumanga Daioh, and Tenchi Muyo. It's entertainment like all others, except that the style is different and there is no Hollywood garbage. A lot of mediocre stuff, yes, but at least you can still run across some really good works.

[Winifred]

majime_na_yuki wrote:


If you're looking for good character development and an engaging plot, Miyazaki Hayao is your best bet. My favourite films of his: 'Spirited Away';'Mononoke Hime';'Castle in the Sky';'Kiki's Delivery Service';'Tonari no Totoro';

Our family loves Miyazaki's movies.

I just picked up Osamu Tezuka's Buddha, Volume I. Has anyone read/seen much of his work?

[Ayreon]

Some of my friends are very much into manga and anime. I didn't pay specifically attention to it at first and had a very neutral relationship with it - I didn't hate nor like it. I had seen some random anime before but it was just one genre in the middle of others.

One day my boyfriend (who is an expert concerning this) just asked me to read one manga book and I did. It seemed good stuff to read when you're not in a mood to read a heavy book. Now I have read some manga more (not much still) and it's great for "lighter reading hunger".

My boyfriend and I also have watched some anime together what is nice too. I'm interested in different movie genres and anime itself has many so I think I just should be open and get to know them more.

[ionford]

I've devoted a great deal of my last 9 years to anime and manga (less so lately as I've tried to get more into reading literature and about literature), and there's a good deal to be said about both. Here are some general responses and thoughts, along with a few personal favorites.

I've seen lots of anime (though not much newer stuff, ie within the last four years), but other than Akira and Memories, both of which I recommend to everyone on visual merits alone, don't bother with anime. There are a few others that I'd recommend to diehard fans, and a few borderline interesting titles, but none that come across as rewarding on their own terms; anime can be pretty addicting but is ultimately slim pickin's once the novelty wears off.

I do, on the other hand, suggest looking into manga; there's more than enough variety and artistry, even amongst the relatively narrow sample that gets picked up for release in the States, to sustain a healthy interest. About visual mediums and Japan, there are a number of interesting arguments to be made about why manga is so big relative to American comics. Much is often made about the history of graphic story media such as ukiyo-e woodblock prints of the 18th century, to show that Japan has a special cultural proclivity towards comics and comic-like forms. While I can't claim a vast knowledge of ukiyo-e, I lean more towards the camp that looks at manga as a vast commercial and creative phenomenon of the twentieth century (particularly post WWII). Anyone who is interested manga culture in the last century should definitely check out Adult Manga: Culture & Power in Contemporary Japanese Society (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0824823184/sr=8-1/qid=1155599088/ref=pd_b
bs_1/102-6199376-4461763?ie=UTF8) by Sharon Kinsella. This is the only in depth english-language look at all of the cultural, creative, social, commercial and political aspects of manga production and distribution that I've seen. While this book is generally accessible and copiously illustrated with stories and artwork, it is not a representation of all the manga styles and content (nor is it intended to be). There are a number of books to look to for that sort of overview, the best of which are Frederick L. Schodt's two books: Dreamland Japan (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188065623X/sr=1-1/qid=1155599737/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-6199376-4461763?ie=UTF8&s=books) and Manga! Manga! (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0870117521/ref=pd_bxgy_text_b/102-6199376-4461763?ie=UTF8[/url) (Dreamland is more detailed and up-to-date but the latter is still of some interest in that appended to the text are a number of good, translated manga stories by canonical artists). Pretty much every other book about manga I've seen is just a less detailed and thorough restatement of Schodt's points.

In the west, manga is pretty synonomous with anime, and western manga fans seem to be first anime fans who suplement their favorite show with the comic it was based on (this was how I started out too, as a teenager seeking out the Akira manga to better understand the movie). This has the twin effects of making manga appear derivative of anime while also skewing the selection of manga titles available to western readers in favor of manga that can be tied in with an existent anime. Comics readers don't seem to be big readers of manga (in fact, there was a big debate amongst comic-fan web communities last year about whether or not manga could even be considered comics); it's kids and teens who watch cartoon network who read it. Even amongst many of the non-superhero comics fans (the ones who call their hobby "graphic novels") there seems to be a reluctance to looking at manga, possibly out of misconceptions derived from the two effects I described above. In spite of this there is still some great variety in the manga that gets translated available to those who are willing to look a little; now I'll describe some examples. (it said the text I entered was too long, so I'll do the examples as a separate post).

[ionford]

There are a few obvious epics that are worth mentioning: Akira, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, and Dragonball are my favorites.

Akira. (6 volumes) The story of this is engaging but rather ordinary. Katsuhiro isn't known for his storytelling but rather for his amazing graphic intuition. Normally this means style, but here it's a matter of organization, juxtaposition and framing. This is definitely a highpoint of manga and of graphic media in general. Also see Domu (1 vol.), a compact thriller about a series of murders in a massive Tokyo housing projects.

Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind. Miyazaki is famous for his movies but this is by far his most satisfying story. Not terribly original but a very competent sci-fi epic in the vein of Dune or West of Eden with excellent Moebius-inspired draughtsmanship.

Dragonball. Akira Toriyama's famous humor/fight manga for kids. In America this has been conveniently split up into two series: Dragonball and Dragonball Z. Don't bother with DBZ. Dragonball originally started as a humor manga with fighting, where the fights were all humorous (think Jackie Chan) but gradually shifted to a fighting manga with some jokes squeezed in between the epic posing. Toriyama's Dr. Slump is also really good, but not as accessible as the jokes rely more heavilly on Japanese pop culture references.

No. 5. (ongoing in Japan, but seemingly discontinued after 2 volumes in America. Poor sales?). An ongoing adventure epic where art and mood take precedence over character and plot. Some of the most original and langorously detailed action sequences in manga. Two other of Taiyo Matsumoto's manga are available in English (and one more in fan translation on the web), Black and White, and Blue Spring. While those are just as unique, I think he works better when he has the scafolding of a genre to hang his meditations on. They're a bit more satisfying and he always rearranges the genre in interesting ways. In No. 5 Matsumoto does for Sci-fi what he did previously for sports.

Legend of Kamui (2 vol.) Sampei Shirato's continuation of his classic ninja series Kamui Den. Unfortunately Kamui Den hasn't been translated but you don't need to read that to enjoy this. It's the story of reformed ninja assassins, with some amazing brushwork. Not a style most associate with anime, but it looks great. Similar to Lone Wolf and Cub but better. Don't bother with Hiraoki Samura's Blade of the Immortal, which has some pleasant artwork but the story and localization are so innept it hurts.

Sexy Voice and Robo (1 vol.) by Iou Kuroda. A series of loosely connected short stories about a teen girl who has a talent for conversation and seduces men via a phone dating service. Episodes range from capriciously orchestrated chaos, to helping folks, playing detective, to simply reorganizing the mundane into an entertaining situation, all all through the medium of her subtly manipulating dopy men. Told playfully but there's a very apt reference to Orson Welles set in an Aquarium (Kuroda has also done illustrated movie reviews for a Japanese newspaper).

There are also a number of oddities that have been brought over. Foremost among these are two anthologies of underground manga: Comics Underground Japan and Secret Comics Japan. These contain short stories and gag strips by a number of artists; these range from grotesque phantasmagorias to subdued and painterly mood pieces to cute and weird tales to the just plain bizarre. Pretty amazing range of styles and subjects represented. There are a couple others that come to mind in connection to the horror genre:

Panorama of Hell (1 vol.) by Hideshi Hino. An over the top collection of horrifying stories of cruelty, domestic torture, dementia, and abuse presented as an autobiographical exhibition by an artist in hell. Hino has had a lot of other manga translated into English in recent years, but this is the best.

Gyo (2 vol.) by Junji Ito. By the artist of Uzumaki, the bizarre and deliberately hilarious horror manga about a small town at the mercy of spirals. This manga, about Fish with Legs running amok in a beach resort, is even better than that one, partly because the resolution is both more satisfying and weird.

Tomie also by Junji Ito. a collection of short stories about a girl (Tomie) who always drives men crazy, always winds up getting dismembered, and always comes back as sinister (and insipid) as ever. My favorite is one in which Tomie's dismembered head browbeats a spineless lover into taking her on fancy shopping trips (the head hidden in a bag of course), cooking her fancy meals (which are never good enough), and murdering jellous rivals for her affection (who are exactly like him).

There are a few good humor/funny book manga available in English. The best of these is Miki Tori's Anywhere But Here, which you can sample on it's Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560976306/sr=8-1/qid=1155613392/ref=sr_1_1/102-6199376-4461763?ie=UTF8) page.

The other is Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga by Koji Aihara and Kentaro Takekuma. This is an excellent parody-guide to Manga techniques and genres, in other words a "how to be a successful hack" with some great examples. Some favorites breakdown-comparrisons of the standard boys and girls manga formulas, their portrayal of adult womens' manga as Tetris, and their guide to putting subliminal messages into comics by screen-tone.

There are also a few decent biographical/historic manga Englished, but my very favorite one is The Times of Botchan (2 volumes right now, with more on the way) by Jiro Taniguchi and Natsuo Sekikawa. This is about the Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki (Kokoro, And Then...). You can see sample pages of both volumes at the Publisher's web page (http://www.ponentmon.com/new_pages/english/princ.html).

Since one very visible gap between Japanese and western sensibilities is in sexual norms, you would expect to see strong reactions to sexual and romantic images in manga. Oddly enough, while there are a surprising amount of popular manga with strange twists on romantic relationships (from girl/boy metamorphoses in Ranma 1/2 to boy/boy romance in Banana Fish), sophisticated erotic comics are perhaps one of the most under-represented varieties of manga in translation. It's pretty much reduced to either porn, porn dressed in a genre, or kids comics. The two notable exceptions are Naoki Yamamoto's Dance till Tomorrow (7 volumes) and Kiriko Nananan's Blue (1 volume).

Dance' is about a college boy's various relationships and sexual misadventures (with varying degrees of likelihood). While this is ostenisbly a by-the-books romance comic for men, Yamamoto's writing and illustration are clever, original and unpretentious (he's also a professed fan of R. Crumb, Gary Panter and Henry Darger, for which I give bonus points). Moreover, you can see some inkling of the structural experimentation and complexity Yamamoto would later push to the front of his mature non-genre work (such as Believers and Arigatou, not available legally but you can find English fan-translations on the web) in the story and style: the hero's role as treasurer for an avant-garde theatre troupe often bleeds into his romance and dreams (relationships as performance and as economic transaction), one of the characters spins his pathetic yearnings into a successful novel. While this is not the best Yamamoto that I've read, it is the single most read on my shelf (not just for the sex scenes).

Blue is Kiriko Nananan's only longform comic currently available in English (a couple unexceptional short manga were translated in the anthology Secret Comics Japan), in which a complicated friendship and one-way romance develops between two high school girls. A tasteful and original depiction of Japanese teenagers, drawn minimalistically but with surprising realism and detail.

My hands are cramping from writing these, so I'll take a break and offer more some other time.

Also, keep in mind that unless I state otherwise, none of the ones I mentioned are intended for kids. I leave their appropriateness up to any parents reading this.

[Gizmo]

Has anyone ever seen the anime Death Note?
Those who haven't: http://deathnote.viz.com/

[TariNumenesse]

I thought I'd give this thread a boost to see if anyone wants to discuss some manga.

It's funny looking back over this thread. Since I last posted in it, I have studied Japanese art, become completely obsessed with it, and along the way become an avid fan of manga.

At the same time, there is a lot of manga that I don't like, mainly because of excessive violence and graphic sex. (Which is a concern working in the library where children as young as seven or eight are coming in and borrowing the novels, not realising what they are.) I like the lighter fantasy romance and a good historical series. A lot of the time I'll only read the first volume as a sample and put it done. (I like to check out the artwork!)

My favourite series are Fushigi Yugi, both The Mysterious Play and Genbu Kaiden by Yuu Watase, Emma by Kaoru Mori and Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori.

But as regards my feelings three years ago, Yu-Gi-Oh still makes me laugh. The manga is even better than the anime.

[Winifred]

I'd like someone to explain the difference between manga, anime and graphic novels, please.

[Moony]

Manga is the Japanese word for comics, so it is the same thing as graphic novels.

Anime is the term for animation, the cartoons in other words, often based upon manga series. Which makes me wonder why there's an animation thread in a book forum? What?

[margaine]

Manga is the Japanese word for comics, so it is the same thing as graphic novels.

Anime is the term for animation, the cartoons in other words, often based upon manga series. Which makes me wonder why there's an animation thread in a book forum? What?

I think we can consider the thread to be about manga for the purposes of categorization.

If we were talking only about the anime series on tv or film, that could go in the tv/movies section. Obviously there is going to be some spillover or crossover and such, but we have to start somewhere. (I haven't read older posts in this thread, it is before my time, so I really just mean what we are currently talking about)

As mentioned elsewhere, I like Fullmetal Alchemist and have read much of the manga as well as watched the series. My library has a bunch of manga on the shelves (indeed, in the teen section Tari), but I wouldn't know where to start. If I like Fullmetal Alchemist, anyone have any suggestions? I like it's quasi-historical feel more than anything else. I don't think I'd enjoy something if it were set in the present or future. I'd want something with a feel similar to Fullmetal Alchemist, even if there wasn't any alchemy. ;)

[Gizmo]

margaine, if you think you would like something set in Medieval Europe, I suggest Berserk, both the anime and manga are great.

I personally like the anime Code Geass and, as mentioned before, the anime/manga Death Note.

[margaine]

margaine, if you think you would like something set in Medieval Europe, I suggest Berserk, both the anime and manga are great.



Thank you, I'll keep it in mind! I would definitely be interested in manga set in Medieval Europe. :)

[s.gal83]

I love to read manga. My current favourite manga is one piece.

[TariNumenesse]

In a little update, I recently discovered Fruits Basket (Furuba), a manga that is apparently much more successful overseas than it is in Japan. Loved it so much that I went and bought all 23 volumes at once...(my end of financial year gift to myself, there's always an excuse!)

I wonder if the 'exotic' nature of the story, ie. the use of the Chinese Zodiac, appealed to Western readers?