Postby ich1990 » Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:38 pm
Hunter x Hunter volumes 1-2
HxH seems to be of very high quality. The characters are interesting, the fighting is thoughtful and strategic, and the storyline makes up for its generic premise by being well planned and executed. Unfortunately, the dismemberment level is little high for my tastes.
Teppu chapters 1-4
Seems to be stereotypical sports/fighting manga. It was listed as Seinen, but based on the first four chapters it seems to be more accurately described as Shounen.
Psyren recent chapters
An increasing amount of fanservice is making its way into this series, which is quite a pity considering the first half dozen volumes were clean enough to recommend to almost anybody. Still, the plot is still chugging onward at a brisk pace, which is something that one truly appreciates after reading Bleach.
20th Century Boys volumes 3-22
21st Century Boys volumes 1-2
This is the best manga I have ever read. Here are a few reasons why:
1) The narrative structure is in medias res on drugs. There are flashbacks, flashforwards, and multiple linear narratives all mixing together in a crazy fashion. It is not unusual for there to be several time jumps each chapter. Heck, sometimes there are several time jumps on a single page. What is most amazing about this is that barring the first two volumes (it took me a bit to try to get all the different plot lines and relationships sorted out in my head) the story is easy to follow and makes complete sense. Further, this sort of hopscotch timeline allows an incredible amount of mystery and drama to be squeezed from relatively few events, some of which are revisited multiple times from multiple perspectives, each going a small way towards unraveling the story. From a writing standpoint, 20th CB is pure genius.
2) All of the main characters and most of the side characters are awesome. I do not know if I have seen a manga series with so many likable characters in it. The stand out, though, is Shogun, if you read the series you will know why. Also, thanks to the wonderful narration style, the reader is able to watch these characters develop over decades, rather than a few months or years. Thus, 20th CB succeeds not only as a "coming of age story" but also a "coming of old age story".
3) The villains were superb. In my opinion, Friend has even Monster beat when it comes to pure creepiness, especially later in the series.
4) The plot may seem to be a simple premise of "childhood fantasy becomes reality" but it becomes much, much more as the series progresses. The science fiction elements are done quite tastefully as well; rather outlandish things like laser guns and giant mechs are incorporated, but in a way that is, well, rather believable.
5) The art was incredible. It is very refreshing to see mostly ugly people, you know, just like in real life.
If I had one complaint about the manga, it would be the nudity. Considering that almost all the violence and gory deaths were off-screen or otherwise had their offensiveness mitigated, that the the sexual content was limited to a few references scattered throughout the series, and that the language was fairly tame (at least in the translation I read), the level of nudity was surprising high and did a lot to hurt my ability to recommend this manga to others. If a handful of frames had been left out of the series, this would be the perfect "first manga" to give to new readers. As it stands, this is the closest thing to a perfect series that I have ever read and is highly recommended, if you can get past the content.
Where an
Eidolon, named night, on a black throne reigns upright.