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I'd like to draw some attention to Naoki Urasawa's mystery/suspense works. His three big ones, in my opinion, are: Monster (Guillermo del Toro is a fan!), 20th Century Boys (spins into 21st Century Boys towards the end), and Pluto, with a fourth currently ongoing (Billy Bat). I've read them all, but Pluto is probably my favorite (very narrowly edging out Boys), and I think it serves as a good introduction to Urasawa as well. For one thing, it's tidily contained in eight volumes, unlike the much-longer running Monster or Boys, and even though it's technically adapted from an Astro Boy plotline, I'd say it does a good job of showcasing Urasawa's strengths as a creator in his own right. If you like intrigue, suspense, and smart, compelling characters, one of these could be the manga for you!
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Sep 7, 2013 04:09
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 11:33 |
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Comedy anime and manga can be pretty hard to get into. A lot of them rely on undercutting societal norms that we just aren't familiar with, horrifically dense language puns, incestuous references and genre parody, or just a few too many non-sequiturs for the distinguished goon's refined palate. Thankfully, I don't believe you need a battery of cultural inoculations to appreciate Hinamatsuri:  Nitta is a Yakuza gangster working as midlevel muscle at his crime family's shady loan agency. The boss seems to like him despite his lackluster performance, so he's done rather well for himself and enjoys carousing at night and admiring his collection of expensive pottery. Not such a bad guy, for a gangster.  The eponymous Hina is a psychic-powered preteen flung to our time from a dystopian future. She is ignorant of the conventions of our time... But she wasn't very bright to begin with, honestly. A chow hound without a taste for the finer things. Especially fond of salmon roe on rice.  As it so happens, she lands in Nitta's living room and makes herself right at home, despite his protests. The pottery does not fare well. The author, Masao Ohtake, has an excellent command of comedic timing and works a lot of his magic playing off characters interacting with Hina's naivete, lack of common sense, and childish personality. As the cast of characters grows and becomes more developed(between Hina's classmates and Nitta's friends and coworkers), some really excellent character-based humor helps freshen things up between gags. Despite what you might fear, the potential angst of ~child soldier from a war-torn future~ takes a backseat to comedic and heartwarming misadventures as Hina adapts to life in her new home, and spends time at school with her new classmates or at home with Nitta (who grows into his role as an adoptive father as well), learning how to be a person again.  If you're on the fence, I suggest you try a one-off that Ohtake also drew a few years into Hinamatsuri's serialization: The Last Supper. It does a great job of showing off Ohtake's comedic talents, but lacks the buildup of his characters from Hinamatsuri, so if you get a chuckle out of it I highly suggest you give Hina a try as well. The art and the humor both improve over time, as the avid readers in the ADTRW thread (the OP is worth a look) will happily attest.
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Oct 23, 2013 06:16
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DaveKap posted:So here are the things I want to talk about regarding I Am A Hero (Sperging ahead, also spoilers for the twist) This is just a cultural thing that I've seen very consistently in Japanese comics or movies; I equate it with the kind of movie shot where Jason slices some dude's throat or sticks a fence post in their guts and there's that moment of disbelief where they gasp and gape at their own grievous wounds, or gargle up some blood while the rest of their pals look on. Then one of the chicks screams and cries, which snaps people out of it, while the quarterback goes all "it's too late we gotta go!!". You know the scene. It just seems to be some kind of cultural meme that "oh god it hurts" is how to represent that moment of disconnect between "normal" and "being mauled", and that its all going down so fast that by the time they realize the situation they literally can't do much but scream for help. There's quite a few zombie/monster manga out there, and the same reaction is a pretty universal constant. The other part of it is normal translation woes, as I can all but guarantee that the majority of those cries are one word, itai, which literally means "pain." It can take on a lot more nuance, however, and its just not always easy to decide if you want to read it "that hurts, please stop" or "someone help me, it hurts" or "what's happening it hurts", etc. it's a concise, but vague way to indicate some serious distress, probably in the hopes that your girlfriend will come to her senses, or some brave soul will come pry her from your jugular.
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Dec 31, 2013 03:10
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I read all of monster and 20th century, and I agree Pluto is probably the best way to introduce Urusawa. I'm enjoying billy bat for the most part but I like the focus of Pluto a little than the multi-generation ensemble cast. It doesn't hurt that Pluto is a much more manageable length to boot.
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Feb 1, 2015 08:07
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Hideout's artist is really really cool and his big stylish spreads with the spatters and scribbles blow me away. He has also done:   Green Blood, a good old fashioned revenge western (please overlook the anime knife-gun)     Rainbow, a collaboration with another author, and the story of a crew of juvie inmates just after WWII who find strength in each other, refuse to lose to a lovely system, and struggle to reclaim their lives 
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Feb 2, 2015 06:32
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Plethora posted:Edit: I'm craving some Tezuka. That man was a mad genius and needs no introduction. I've only read one volume of Black Jack, the first three Buddha volumes, MW, and Ayoko. I'll need to dig something good up for you guys. I've been enjoying The Tree in the Sunlight (ongoing unofficial translation), looks at a couple of very different fellows around the time of the opening of Japan's ports, and the country trying to deal with foreign cultural imports. There's a lot of focus on the doctor character trying to spread the benefits of western medicine over the opposition of the nepotistic old guard (a few of tezuka's favorite drums to beat) but there's plenty of political maneuvering as well, involving the samurai character and his masters.
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May 1, 2015 22:56
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Some stuff I like about Bride's Story: Changes to focus on multiple protagonists with different situations over the course of the story to date, which keeps things fresh, but never fully abandons the "main" pair. Sweet but rarely saccharine, very honest and frank interactions. Historical facts and settings that don't (always) wind up explained in hamfisted narration boxes, but are presented naturally through the view of the characters and the realities of how they go about their day. Artwork is: Expressive, shows without telling. Strong command of anatomy and motion, really sells the actions and emotions of characters without going way cartoony. PRETTY PRETTY SHINY Stuff I don't like is pretty much centered around specific story arcs, like the one major drama arc so far which I felt neutered the tension way too soon, and a few of the contained character arcs feel like they were stretched further than need be, but those are all in the neighborhood of 7-10 chapters so it's not like it's a crazy slog. There isn't a lot of high-stakes drama and excitement in general, which might be boring for some, but I think it does a good job of roping you in to whatever does happen by way of the characters; It matters to them, which makes it matter to you. The North American version volumes from Yen Press are also pretty swanky for the price. Slightly oversized hardcovers with original illustrations wrapped on the dustjackets, thick sturdy nongloss pages, quality print job. And the afterwords are funny  In conclusion,  
Epoxy Bulletin fucked around with this message at 10:05 on Mar 19, 2016 |
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Mar 19, 2016 09:26
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Househusband is screamingly funny and yes, just took an Eisner award. You'll get a little more out of it if you're familiar with the manga street punk / yakuza tropes, but if you post here you'll probably recognize enough. The wordplay, visual gags, and drummed-up dramatic tension is clear enough to carry it though, even if you don't catch all the little things.
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Jul 29, 2020 05:00
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 11:33 |
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I still haven't read the last volume of Kasane but I thought it was pretty good suspense-drama. Some of the bundle is more cheesy than creepy, and some more splattery than suspenseful, but I think it's a pretty well curated collection overall. And as usual, can't beat that price (unless you read the fan versions for free  )
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Oct 9, 2020 16:24
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