I've read my fair share of great comics, and today we'll be talking about Manga, or Japanese comics. Japanese comics are widely accepted in Japanese society, unlike American comics, which are only appreciated by a certain section of the population. Japanese comics basically talk about anything - the heroes can be the ultramuscular strongmen we're used to, or they can be antiheroes with fractured psyches and absurd personalities. Plot ideas can range from the daily life of chefs with supernatural powers to a club obsessed with olfactory pleasures.
Anyway, here are a few manga I've read or want to read. I just want to share them with ya...
Manga I've Read
Blade of the Immortal
Still, after five or so years, one of the best Manga I've ever read. Manji is a samurai who was once a bad, bad man, wanted for killing 100 people. One day this old nun gives him worms that make him virtually immortal - a state that he doesn't want to experience. In addition for death, he vows to kill a thousand evil men. Nice premise, huh? In his quest to kill a thousand people, he meets up with Rin, a vengeance-obsessed girl out to kill the guys who killed her parents. Manji, perhaps out of remembrance of his dead sister, becomes her yojimbo. It just turns out that the guys who killed Rin's parents are members of the most powerful and radical sword school in all Japan...
I love Hiroaki Samura's rough, pencil drawing style. It gives the characters a strange life that I don't think can be achieved through animation. The characters and settings are interesting too, since even the antagonists are not unlikeable at all - everybody has their own agenda, their own motivations for doing the things they do. Anotsu Kagehisa is someone you would assume is the bad guy earlier on, but as the story progresses, he's treated almost as another protagonist. The action is also great when it happpens - limbs fly in this manga, and not in moderate amounts. Motion dissolves into lines and shadows and it is pulled off with relative amounts of style.
The series in Japan is around two to three years ahead of the great American translation from Dark Horse comics, which is currently at material for volume 15. The series is still ongoing.
Mars
Kira is a shy student who is execptionally gifted at drawing. In school she is categorically ignored by her classmates, and she doesn't mind - she likes the loneliness. One day she meets brash, unhinged pretty boy Rei, who is pretty much her opposite. Strangely enough, Rei falls for Kira and a relationship begins...
Mars is your basic Shoujo manga. It shines mainly because of its great characterization that manages to draw you in, volume after volume. Being a basic Shoujo manga, Mars has your compulsory cast of supporting characters, your basic pretty boy male protagonist, the works. What makes it so interesting to read is finding out about the pasts of the two leads, and how those potentially devastating revelations will affect their lovelife.
The series has ended its run at volume 15 and an extra omake volume with sidestories for your pleasure. It has been adapted into a chinovela with two of the stars from another Manga-adapted chinovela, Meteor Garden.
I"s
I"s (pronounced "Eyes") is the brainchild of Masakazu Katsura, known for the Video Girl Ai series. It reads like a shoujo manga, but it is told in the male perspective, and is told with lots of fan service, which would serve the male crowd. It tells the story of Ichitaka, a highschool student who has a crush on one of his classmates Iori Yoshizuki. Iori is a beautiful girl, having appeared in various gravure photoshoots, which really does happen for pretty teens in Japan. Obviously, basically everyone else has a crush on Iori. This leads Ichitaka into various dilemmas that threaten his future together with Iori. This exerts itself in full force when a girl from Ichitaka's past comes to haunt him...I"s sees our protagonists grow and mature. It's kind of like one of those teen dramas you see on TV, Dawson's Creek and stuff. Characters come and go, Iori and Ichitaka eventually graduate from highschool, relationships form and break, etc. You feel for Ichitaka's character - at times there are scenes where he really isn't at fault, just misunderstood (a theme that reappears in Video Girl Ai) and ends up being a tragic victim. He goes through a lot of emotions and they translate to the printed page rather nicely. The story is accentuated by Katsura's absolutely gorgeous drawing style, which brings his characters to life. There are two versions to the ending- the one that ends up in the graphic novel collection is the better one.
I"s has been adapted into an OVA, which really isn't that good. The series has finished after 15 volumes.
eh- that's it for today! stay tuned (hopefully not too long) for more Comics Talk!
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