Rec Request: Manga

[forestofglory]

I've been reading a lot of manga and comics lately. I want to read more manga but I don't really know what's out there, since its been such a long time since I really paid attention manga. So please tell me about manga you like. I'm up for trying anything, though please warn me if something is gory or dark or there is a dead mom. Here's some thoughts on some things I've read recently to give you an idea of where I'm at.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon v1 by Naoko Takeuchi I've never read or watch any Sailor Moon before so I thought it was high time I tried some. This was cute but confusing in places. Also transformation sequences are much less awesome in comics than in anime.

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 1 by Kiyohiko Azuma Cute slice of life manga about toddler who moves to a new town. I thought it did a good job of portraying what's awesome about little kids -- and why they are exhausting.

A Bride's Story, Vol. 1 by Kaoru Mori I liked all the historical detail but I couldn't get past the child marriage that's central to the plot. It's just not ok!

Cross Game vol. 1-3 by Mitsuru Adachi I read the 1st omnibus. I really liked the art in this. The faces are very expressive. But I was upset by the fact that child character dies suddenly. I was not expecting that. Its most a sports manga about baseball which is fine but wasn't really grabbing me.

Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya I got up to volume 10 in the collectors edition and someone else at the library has checked out the last two volumes -- and they are now two and half weeks over due. I have ordered a different edition ILL because I really want to finish this and find out how it all works out.

Golden Kamuy vol 1 by Satoru Noda Well this really gory and thus not my usual fair at all. But I've got the next volume form the library and am enjoying it. It historical fiction set in early 20th century after Russo-Japanese War on Hokkaido Island, and I'm loving all the details of the setting and the art. There's a lot of wilderness survival (including eating squirrel brains and other gross things) and I'm especially enjoying those bits.

Anyways I'd love some more recs for manga to try out!

Comments

[forestofglory]

I will have to check out the Sliver Spoon anime at some point.

I'm jealous of your weekly anime group even if your consumption has shrunk at lot. Back when I was first reading Fruits Basket I had group of friends who where reading it and other manga with me, and watching anime together. But I moved away and lost touch with those people. Anyways I miss having local friends to share media with.

I haven't watched much amine since then. The thing I remember the most fondly is Revolutionary Girl Utena. I thought about rewatching it recently but it seemed hard to find. The only recent anime I've watch was Yuri!!! on Ice which I did really like. Oh and saw the movie Your Name recently too -- that was good. I especially liked all the landscape bits. And I watch a bunch of Studio Ghibli stuff with my kid. My Neighbor Totoro is one of the few DVDs we own. Sorry if this isn't much to go on -- I've been out of the loop for a while.

Both 'charming slice of life stories' and "highly dramatic queer feminist trope-exploding" sound good to me.

[alchimie]

I agree, having local friends to share media with is marvelous; I am always on the search for more. I hope you may find some soon, if your life has room for them.

Revolutionary Girl Utena is hands down my favourite anime of all-time -- I have seen it all the way through 3 times, I think, and then most of the way through a few more. They were rereleased a while back but they can be expensive on DVD -- oh, but they are available streaming on Amazon, if you do streaming?

As for recommendations... Princess Tutu is somewhat in the same vein as Utena, except where Utena starts with shoujo tropes using fairy-tale icing, Tutu is really more about fairy tales and also about ballet. I did not fall in love with it the way I did Utena, but I liked it very much and although it pushes the edges, I feel like it is more gentle. It is on Amazon and Hulu.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is another one akin to Utena, it is magical girls a la Sailor Moon except turned inside-out; I do not want to say too much because of spoilers, but it is harrowing in the ways it takes the genre furniture and considers what else might be done with it. I loved the craft of it; the story is perfectly put together so that all the pieces fit, and the animation is stunning -- there are different styles for different parts of the world and they worked really, really well for me. I am less certain what I think of the ending, but I am very, very glad I watched it, and writing about it now I am feeling the urge to go dip back into it, just because it was so good -- but good as art more than entertainment, if that makes any sense? It raises a lot of questions and I am not certain I agree with some of them, or with some of the answers, but I liked the experience of it.

Oh and finally, did you hear about the new Fruits Basket anime? I saw the first two episodes this past weekend and I am so, so pleased with them. I did not watch the original anime, long ago, I had heard it was too different from the manga, so I am excited it is getting a treatment that the author likes.

If you do watch (or rewatch) any of these, I hope you write about them here.

(It occurs to me that if you were at FogCon, we must be semi-demi-hemi-local to one another?)

[forestofglory]

Hmm... I remembered Revolutionary Girl Utena as not being on Amazon streaming but looking it to it again it seems that its there just not free with prime. So maybe I will spend money to rewatch it. I have awfully found memories of it.

Thanks for the recs -- I will try to write something here if I watch any of them. (Or any other anime)

I decided to read and finish Fruits Basket because someone in my DW circle was very excited about the new anime. I'm not sure if I'm going to watch it though -- but I have heard quite good things so I will probably watch it at some point.

(You are somewhere in the Greater Bay Area? I'm in the East Bay)

[alchimie]

I had not meant to watch the new Fruits Basket right away but since others in our small anime group wanted to I was amenable, and then I had many feelings and have spent the entire week wanting to hunt down reviews and reread the manga and write thoughts and so forth. Alas, the week was not so organised, but I think I will see more tomorrow night, so perhaps the next week will have more time.

I am in the southest bit of the Bay Area, where it is still malls and houses and things but about to suddenly become ever-larger parks as one keeps going southwest.

[forestofglory]

Well then; adding the new Fruits Basket to my lists of things to watch. I might wait until the whole season is out though I prefer having smaller waits between installments.

That's such good description of where you live! Sounds like it would be a bit of trip if we wanted to try to met up.