Ramblings of a Crowe

Recommended Manga

Eli asked me the other day what manga I would recommend. Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to answering the question, but I wanted to make a blog about it first and take some time to gather up some links and what not. I also wanted to add some novels as well, for those book nerds out there.

These are my personal preferences. Save the "OMG! That Sux!12one133t!!! UR DuM!" or any of that other otaku fanboi/gurl drivel. Have some pride, man.

I will be leaving out the obvious choices of Bleach and Naruto. Those who lurk around here know I am a fan of these series. No need to be redundant. Also, I'm not going to go into depth on these series either. I'll give you a link to their info and after that, it's all up to you. Those who want more links please feel free to email me at:

charmin22 at hotmail dot com

PLEASE put in a header along the lines of 'manga links' or 'zoso' or something like that because my email will dump you into my junkbox by default. I check it everyday (almost), but if you just write "Hi" or something along those lines, I won't even bother to open it up. To those who hate me, feel free to sign me up for as much porn and spam as necessary. This isn't my main email account. Really, do you think I'd be that stupid?

That said, here we go!

First up:

D. Gray-Man
I had heard that this story was really good, but after looking at it a few times I decided it wasn't something I would enjoy. One day, bored for something new to read, I happened upon it in the bookstore and decided, "What the hell." After taking the first novel home and reading it, I promptly went to Amazon.com and picked up the next one. I've been a fan ever since. The anime is OK. It doesn't follow the books, which is a shame. But it is still entertaining and worth watching.

One Piece
This is another hugely popular series I passed over a long time ago. I bought the first couple of novels, then donated them to library to make room for my growing collection of books and other crap. Stupid me. One Piece is a ton of fun. I can't believe I stopped reading it. Playing catch up is hard to do with this series, as it is hella long. After catching the Crocodile Arc on the Cartoon Network a few weeks in a row (and suffering through that horrible dub), I started to get interested in it again. Luffy just kicks ass. No two ways about it. And this series is damn funny. Who can go wrong with Pirates?

Air Gear
Oh Great is an aquired taste. His art work is stunning, but his stories tend to be border-line asinine. I mean that in a good way, though. They are seriously over the top, but somehow he makes them work and suck people in. I got hooked on Air Gear by watching the Anime (which rocks). There's just something super cool about high powered inline skates and explosive battles in the sky. Oh, did I mention the art work is stunning?

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo
STOP! If you do not like stupid, ridiculous, sophomoric humor, just skip this section completely. This manga is sheer nonsense. And that, my friends, is the beauty of it. It aims to poke fun at pretty much everything in the entire world, including itself. No one is safe from ridicule--especially other manga and anime. I laugh my ass off every time I read it.

Oh, and the show on TV is pretty funny too...especially if you can read the Japanese. God, it kills me.

Skip Beat
Most of your Shojo manga is all the same. Wash, rinse, repeat. It gets a little old after awhile. But there are several gems that shine a little brighter than all the rest. Skip Beat is one of them. The main character, a girl hell bent on getting revenge against her childhood friend for using her and making a fool out of her, is halarious. She isn't the typical wishy washy helpless girl pining over her man. No, she wants to destroy him and anyone who gets in the way of her ambition to do so. It makes for some pretty funny scenes.

Mars
This manga made me cry. It's a beautifully done story that is actually very realistic. It has little humor and is very dark--but the ending is a surprise. I can't stress enough that this is one of the best shojo manga I've ever read.

Blade of the Immortal
Samura's art work is breathtaking. This manga isn't drawn in your conventional way. It's rough, jagged, violent, and beautiful. The pictures mirror the story that is being told. BotIM is a masterpiece that combines incredible art with a samurai story that includes old history and almost punkish gangster newness. And it doesn't come off as ridiculous. The novels are expensive, but they are worth every.single.penny.

I love this picture of Manji and Rin.

Full Metal Alchemist
We all know the anime, which was really good. Probably one of the best. But the manga completely destroys it. Read the manga. The anime only told part of the story and left out some MAJOR players.

Beck
I don't know why I like this manga so much. I really don't. But it's like crack. Once you start reading it, you can't stop. Maybe because it has a lot of guitars in it. I'm a sucker for guitars...

I've run out of steam, so I'll have to save the book list for later--because I'm a lazy slob like that. I hope this list gives those of you looking for something to read some hope. There's a ton of other great stories out there, but these are the ones that stand out the most to me. Good luck!

Posted by Zoso at May 31, 2007 07:25 PM