Manga recommendations reference list
Originally posted here at my lovely librarian artemidora's call for manga series to build a core collection at her library.
Just a looooong ramble about various manga series that I loved and that I think would make a great starter collection for a library, and perhaps y'all out in LJ-land might appreciate it. And please please please feel free to babble back at me (and artemidora too) about manga series. I love sharing squee. ^_^ <3
For the core classic stuff, I would definitely include Fruits Basket. It's one of my favorites, and I aspire to own it all some day. Complete in 23 volumes (it just finished early this year), it's about a girl named Tohru who loses her single mother in an accident, and comes to live with another family, the Sohmas. The trick? Twelve of this clan are cursed to become animals of the Chinese zodiac when hugged by a member of the opposite sex. There's some high school drama, great treatment/exploration of family, love in all its flavors, friendship, gender issues. It's got a good balance of crack, humor and is occasionally a tear-jerker, with good rounded characters.
Revolutionary Girl Utena is awesome, and short, only 4 volumes. Kinda mind bendy, with Utena who's a girl who aspires to be a Prince, and she attends a school where certain people duel to revolutionize the world. There's floating castles, potential girl/girl stuff, and high school drama. XD
Harlem Beat/Rebound is my vote for the shonen("boys") manga, it was published by two groups I think so it's all one series, but the first eight?nine? volumes were published under the name Harlem Beat, and the next sixteen as a 'sequel' under the name Rebound, ongoing. About a boy named Naruse Tohru (family name/given) or Nate Torres, who's been the kind of kid who joins sports and quits when he stays on the bench, until high school. He discovers street basketball, and then the school team. It's a great story with friendship, loyalty, well-drawn games and goofy characters. Kinda cliche with Nate being the kid with a hidden talent for one aspect of basketball, but we follow him as he learns the basics, so it's educational too! XD It's at my library, which is how I know it.
For other short manga, I'm fond of Azumanga Daioh, I don't remember if you saw some of the anime with me frosh year? Four volumes, they're more in the four-panel style, like newspaper comics. High school antics with competitive girls, cats that chomp hands, a ten-year-old prodigy, crazy teachers, etc.
My public library also has a couple volumes of Short Program, basically the manga version of a volume of short stories.
My brother would also like to recommend FLCL, aka Fooly Cooly, 2 volumes. There's an anime based on it. Boy meets girl, girl is from outer space and beats boy over the head with an electric guitar. Strange growths, robots and coming-of-age story ensues. XD I think it would be rated PG-13 for some sensuality, whatever. Also, it's very much full of crack. XDDD
On the CLAMP side of things, there's another short series that isn't spectacular, but fairly solid and I liked it when I read it in high school, called Magic Knights Rayearth, complete in six volumes. Three different girls end up at Tokyo Tower as part of various field trips, and then get swooped away to another reality/world. It's kinda a variation on the quest story, they need to save this world and there's angst, treatment of issues of duty, love, friendship, liberally peppered with insanity. ^_^Also the art is REALLY REALLY PRETTY.
Next are all longer series that I think are worth investing in.
Nodame Cantabile is my new love. It's currently being translated, so up to 10 volumes are out. It's about a guy at a music university in Tokyo, who dreams of being a conductor but due to childhood trauma can't go on a plane or boat over to, say, Europe, where all the major conservatories, conductors, orchestras etc. are. The story gets going once he meets Nodame, who's a definitely my-pace kinda girl in the piano program. There's a timpanist who's gay for Chiaki (the conductor wannabe), an orchestra of misfits, a pervy conductor...come on! A manga about music and temperamental/crazy musicians! ^__^ (there's an anime and a live action jdrama for it, for the jdrama the theme is *Rhapsody in Blue* and the guy who plays Chiaki is v.v. hot XD)
One Piece is a series I bet you've heard at least a teeny bit of. It's long, I know (45 volumes and counting, released in Japan, I think they're up to the 30s in the US), but COMPLETELY WORTH IT, once you get past the first two volumes with the evil pirate clown. <.< There's Luffy, a boy who dreams of being the Pirate King, and he amasses a crew of not-quite-piratical pirates. Oh, and he ate a Devil Fruit so he's become a rubber man. XD There's kickass female characters, crazy awesome character design (it might be a bit hard to get used to if you're accustomed to pretty shojo manga styles), serious fights liberally mixed with insane antics, drama, backstory, and heart-warming stories. This is a series that's made me giggle out loud and start crying, usually all in one arc. It's a series where the SHIP is a character. I know for you, SGA was all about TEAM, and let me tell you, OP is the same way. In fic I'm used to the term "nakama", which is friend, crew, family, all that rolled into one. It's a story about following your dreams, and supporting your friends' dreams. I love this manga so much, it's the first fandom that made me want to start producing fanwork, which I'm sure you've noticed in my posting, hehe.
Hana Yori Dango, aka Boys Over Flowers in the US version, has my favorite kind of girl character. She's spunky, and real, and while she gets beaten down she's still, if not completely positive, then stubborn enough to damn well get back up. Makino Tsukushi is a lower middle class girl attending a super rich school on scholarship, and the manga chronicles her adventures trying to first fit in, and then dealing with (aka declaring war on) the ruling cadre of students, four super rich heirs to different corporations. It's a case of two different worlds colliding with hilarious results. High school drama, coming of age, and a funny look at class differences (not sure how realistic the ultra-rich stuff is. ^^) Complete in 36 volumes, I think, though only 25 are out in the US so far. I am diligently waiting for volume 26, heheh.
I learned about Ouran High School Host Club in college (I think yxonomei showed it to me first), and it's hilarious. 9 volumes and counting. You know how I said Tsukushi above was my favorite archetype for a female character? Well Haruhi here is a variation on that, stubborn and deadpan and hilariously practical. Haruhi's another poor student on scholarship at the ultra rich Ouran high school, who gets conned (sort of) into being part of a 'host club', where guys entertain girls, for a fee. Like a male version of geisha? So there's interesting genderbending issues, fun characters who play with manga archetypes, and watching the crazy rich guy Tamaki flail joyfully over learning about 'commoner coffee' and things like that. XDD I own the 9 volumes out so far, and I'm glad I splurged on them.
Ahahahaha, speaking of gender-bending issues, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, aka Hana-Kimi, aka For You in Full Blossom, is another great one, complete in 23 volumes. Ashiya Mizuki, a Japanese-American girl, becomes a high school exchange student in Japan to follow her hero, a high-jumper named Sano Izumi. The catch? It's an all-boys school. So she pretends to be a boy, and ends up rooming with her hero. Coming of age, some gender issues, my favorite character Nakatsu falls in love with her thinking she's a boy so he's got sexuality angst, and there's boys boarding school hijinks galore. Also there's the hot Doctor Umeda who's snarky, gay and entertainingly merciless to the boys.
My brother would also like to recommend Gravitation to you. Complete in 12 volumes, though I think there's a sequel series coming out. Follows the adventures of Shindou Shuuichi, who's in a rock band. So band and label-type craziness, plus the addition of Yuki Eiri, a novelist who meets Shindou one night in the park and criticizes his song lyrics. So add in gay themes as Shindou pursues Yuki. I've only seen the anime, but my brother really likes the manga and says it's funnier. (He also blames me for introducing him to slash/yaoi, because now it's mostly all he reads. Hey, I can't help it that most of the *good* fanficcers are writing slash! *shrugs, grins*)
I'll finish up with a tentative recommendation for Yu Yu Hakusho, tentative because I'm only on the first three volumes from my library but it looks good so far. It's been around a while, complete in 19 volumes according to wikipedia. It's an interesting read, not the least of which is the main character kicks it in the first chapter. XD Fantasy/ghost type story, and the main chara Urameshi Yusuke is a 14-year-old delinquent. Think coming of age with the underworld involved, so far I'm getting good friendship and adult/child relationships (not sexual, relationships in general I mean) exploration vibes.
I can recommend a few more, but those aren't quite in keeping with the idea of a core set of manga yet, they're just manga that I really like and I think you might like, so I'll save that for another time. I think this is enough to be going on with for now, don't you think? ^_~
Oh oops, I forgot one! For the kids, sort of. Dr. Slump, by Akira Toriyama, aka the guy who did Dragonball and Dragonball Z, etcetc. It's about a scientist who creates a robot girl named Arale. There's adventures as she goes about town, and learns about being a girl, there's kiddie potty humor and the art style is cute. I'm not entirely certain whether it's still in print, but my brother says so, anyhow. He likes it a lot. Most of the kids comics that I know seem to involve potty humor somehow....^^;;;
Just a looooong ramble about various manga series that I loved and that I think would make a great starter collection for a library, and perhaps y'all out in LJ-land might appreciate it. And please please please feel free to babble back at me (and artemidora too) about manga series. I love sharing squee. ^_^ <3
For the core classic stuff, I would definitely include Fruits Basket. It's one of my favorites, and I aspire to own it all some day. Complete in 23 volumes (it just finished early this year), it's about a girl named Tohru who loses her single mother in an accident, and comes to live with another family, the Sohmas. The trick? Twelve of this clan are cursed to become animals of the Chinese zodiac when hugged by a member of the opposite sex. There's some high school drama, great treatment/exploration of family, love in all its flavors, friendship, gender issues. It's got a good balance of crack, humor and is occasionally a tear-jerker, with good rounded characters.
Revolutionary Girl Utena is awesome, and short, only 4 volumes. Kinda mind bendy, with Utena who's a girl who aspires to be a Prince, and she attends a school where certain people duel to revolutionize the world. There's floating castles, potential girl/girl stuff, and high school drama. XD
Harlem Beat/Rebound is my vote for the shonen("boys") manga, it was published by two groups I think so it's all one series, but the first eight?nine? volumes were published under the name Harlem Beat, and the next sixteen as a 'sequel' under the name Rebound, ongoing. About a boy named Naruse Tohru (family name/given) or Nate Torres, who's been the kind of kid who joins sports and quits when he stays on the bench, until high school. He discovers street basketball, and then the school team. It's a great story with friendship, loyalty, well-drawn games and goofy characters. Kinda cliche with Nate being the kid with a hidden talent for one aspect of basketball, but we follow him as he learns the basics, so it's educational too! XD It's at my library, which is how I know it.
For other short manga, I'm fond of Azumanga Daioh, I don't remember if you saw some of the anime with me frosh year? Four volumes, they're more in the four-panel style, like newspaper comics. High school antics with competitive girls, cats that chomp hands, a ten-year-old prodigy, crazy teachers, etc.
My public library also has a couple volumes of Short Program, basically the manga version of a volume of short stories.
My brother would also like to recommend FLCL, aka Fooly Cooly, 2 volumes. There's an anime based on it. Boy meets girl, girl is from outer space and beats boy over the head with an electric guitar. Strange growths, robots and coming-of-age story ensues. XD I think it would be rated PG-13 for some sensuality, whatever. Also, it's very much full of crack. XDDD
On the CLAMP side of things, there's another short series that isn't spectacular, but fairly solid and I liked it when I read it in high school, called Magic Knights Rayearth, complete in six volumes. Three different girls end up at Tokyo Tower as part of various field trips, and then get swooped away to another reality/world. It's kinda a variation on the quest story, they need to save this world and there's angst, treatment of issues of duty, love, friendship, liberally peppered with insanity. ^_^Also the art is REALLY REALLY PRETTY.
Next are all longer series that I think are worth investing in.
Nodame Cantabile is my new love. It's currently being translated, so up to 10 volumes are out. It's about a guy at a music university in Tokyo, who dreams of being a conductor but due to childhood trauma can't go on a plane or boat over to, say, Europe, where all the major conservatories, conductors, orchestras etc. are. The story gets going once he meets Nodame, who's a definitely my-pace kinda girl in the piano program. There's a timpanist who's gay for Chiaki (the conductor wannabe), an orchestra of misfits, a pervy conductor...come on! A manga about music and temperamental/crazy musicians! ^__^ (there's an anime and a live action jdrama for it, for the jdrama the theme is *Rhapsody in Blue* and the guy who plays Chiaki is v.v. hot XD)
One Piece is a series I bet you've heard at least a teeny bit of. It's long, I know (45 volumes and counting, released in Japan, I think they're up to the 30s in the US), but COMPLETELY WORTH IT, once you get past the first two volumes with the evil pirate clown. <.< There's Luffy, a boy who dreams of being the Pirate King, and he amasses a crew of not-quite-piratical pirates. Oh, and he ate a Devil Fruit so he's become a rubber man. XD There's kickass female characters, crazy awesome character design (it might be a bit hard to get used to if you're accustomed to pretty shojo manga styles), serious fights liberally mixed with insane antics, drama, backstory, and heart-warming stories. This is a series that's made me giggle out loud and start crying, usually all in one arc. It's a series where the SHIP is a character. I know for you, SGA was all about TEAM, and let me tell you, OP is the same way. In fic I'm used to the term "nakama", which is friend, crew, family, all that rolled into one. It's a story about following your dreams, and supporting your friends' dreams. I love this manga so much, it's the first fandom that made me want to start producing fanwork, which I'm sure you've noticed in my posting, hehe.
Hana Yori Dango, aka Boys Over Flowers in the US version, has my favorite kind of girl character. She's spunky, and real, and while she gets beaten down she's still, if not completely positive, then stubborn enough to damn well get back up. Makino Tsukushi is a lower middle class girl attending a super rich school on scholarship, and the manga chronicles her adventures trying to first fit in, and then dealing with (aka declaring war on) the ruling cadre of students, four super rich heirs to different corporations. It's a case of two different worlds colliding with hilarious results. High school drama, coming of age, and a funny look at class differences (not sure how realistic the ultra-rich stuff is. ^^) Complete in 36 volumes, I think, though only 25 are out in the US so far. I am diligently waiting for volume 26, heheh.
I learned about Ouran High School Host Club in college (I think yxonomei showed it to me first), and it's hilarious. 9 volumes and counting. You know how I said Tsukushi above was my favorite archetype for a female character? Well Haruhi here is a variation on that, stubborn and deadpan and hilariously practical. Haruhi's another poor student on scholarship at the ultra rich Ouran high school, who gets conned (sort of) into being part of a 'host club', where guys entertain girls, for a fee. Like a male version of geisha? So there's interesting genderbending issues, fun characters who play with manga archetypes, and watching the crazy rich guy Tamaki flail joyfully over learning about 'commoner coffee' and things like that. XDD I own the 9 volumes out so far, and I'm glad I splurged on them.
Ahahahaha, speaking of gender-bending issues, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, aka Hana-Kimi, aka For You in Full Blossom, is another great one, complete in 23 volumes. Ashiya Mizuki, a Japanese-American girl, becomes a high school exchange student in Japan to follow her hero, a high-jumper named Sano Izumi. The catch? It's an all-boys school. So she pretends to be a boy, and ends up rooming with her hero. Coming of age, some gender issues, my favorite character Nakatsu falls in love with her thinking she's a boy so he's got sexuality angst, and there's boys boarding school hijinks galore. Also there's the hot Doctor Umeda who's snarky, gay and entertainingly merciless to the boys.
My brother would also like to recommend Gravitation to you. Complete in 12 volumes, though I think there's a sequel series coming out. Follows the adventures of Shindou Shuuichi, who's in a rock band. So band and label-type craziness, plus the addition of Yuki Eiri, a novelist who meets Shindou one night in the park and criticizes his song lyrics. So add in gay themes as Shindou pursues Yuki. I've only seen the anime, but my brother really likes the manga and says it's funnier. (He also blames me for introducing him to slash/yaoi, because now it's mostly all he reads. Hey, I can't help it that most of the *good* fanficcers are writing slash! *shrugs, grins*)
I'll finish up with a tentative recommendation for Yu Yu Hakusho, tentative because I'm only on the first three volumes from my library but it looks good so far. It's been around a while, complete in 19 volumes according to wikipedia. It's an interesting read, not the least of which is the main character kicks it in the first chapter. XD Fantasy/ghost type story, and the main chara Urameshi Yusuke is a 14-year-old delinquent. Think coming of age with the underworld involved, so far I'm getting good friendship and adult/child relationships (not sexual, relationships in general I mean) exploration vibes.
I can recommend a few more, but those aren't quite in keeping with the idea of a core set of manga yet, they're just manga that I really like and I think you might like, so I'll save that for another time. I think this is enough to be going on with for now, don't you think? ^_~
Oh oops, I forgot one! For the kids, sort of. Dr. Slump, by Akira Toriyama, aka the guy who did Dragonball and Dragonball Z, etcetc. It's about a scientist who creates a robot girl named Arale. There's adventures as she goes about town, and learns about being a girl, there's kiddie potty humor and the art style is cute. I'm not entirely certain whether it's still in print, but my brother says so, anyhow. He likes it a lot. Most of the kids comics that I know seem to involve potty humor somehow....^^;;;