Classic manga thread

[CromagnonMan]

I just wanted to start this thread to see if there any fans of classic manga on the forum, stuff from the 80's to mid-90's like Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Dragon Ball etc. Post your thoughts and opinions about these series and any others deserving of the classic status, as i would like to know more!

[CromagnonMan]

well, looks like i will be diving into these series blind then. I will shortly be acquiring the following books to read:



Urusei Yatsura Perfect Collection - i have yet to hear a bad word about this series

[

Ranma 1/2 Vol 1

[Inkthinker]

Ranma was pretty sweet, if somewhat repetitive, and I found the ending spoilers:

a bit of a letdown, since it doesn't really end conclusively

end of spoilers, but for all that I would still consider it a classic and well worth checking out.

I loves me some Dragonball, though I felt a lot of the magic was lost when he switched from the adventure-serial theme to the battle-manga theme with DBZ. I really feel like it just sort of ran down and ended with a whimper rather than a bang, it's a classic-case of power-creep and how that can affect a story badly. Still fun to the end, but not as much as when he first started it. I loved Dr. Slump, silly as it was, and I'm kinda sorry he never really went back to that sort of material.

Osamu Tezuka is the titular "God of Manga", but I find his work to be hit or miss for me, though I liked Dororo quite a bit.

Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira is a must-read, though getting the whole 6-volume series can be a little expensive. I think perhaps his psychic-horror book Domu is less well-known, yet arguably equally as good or better (and certainly a damn sight more affordable, as it's a one-volume book).

Kenichi Sonoda's Gunsmith Cats was great, even if Sonoda's penchant for pushing the loli envelope with Minnie May makes some of the content a bit off-putting. I loved the exploration behind the characters of Riding Bean and he was one of the very first comics artists (manga or otherwise) to put a thrill into car chases and gunfights that matches film.

There's good old classic Masamune Shirow. When, oh when, will we ever see another volume of Appleseed? I guess it's okay for it to end as it did with the half-volume stories in Hypernotes and the ID book, and he moved on with similar themes in Ghost in the Shell and its sequels, but I miss Briareos and Deunan. I was pissed that they made Bri into a Caucasian/Asian character for the most recent CGI film version, when he was originally of African descent (not that it was particularly evident as he was a full-conversion cyborg with five eyes and bunny-ear sensors, but Shirow made his race quite clear towards the end) and I thought that little tidbit made his character more interesting. I also enjoyed the hell out of Orion and Dominion: Tank Police, though since they were effectively self-contained I don't mind them being left alone.

And of course, some of my favorite currently-running series started in the mid-90's, like Battle Angel Alita and Berserk. I loooooves both of those, and while they've both slowed to a snail's-pace on releases, they're both still so much fun.

[CromagnonMan]

Thanks - Classic manga is brilliant, stuff like Fist of the North Star. I also have a soft spot for Akira. I have never read any Tezuka, but his Budhha stuff is on my radar, as is Dragon Ball. Will get to Appleseed someday too i hope.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Well Rumiko Takahashi's always a good bet, and I'd also recommend the Mermaid Scar and Maison Ikkoku series. The former is only 4 books long and didn't ever get a real ending, but I guess that it didn't really need one after a certain character's introduction. The latter is much longer and probably has the best ending Takahashi ever wrote. It's basically Love Hina - the supernatural + 500 metric kilotons of jackassery.

[CromagnonMan]

Well Rumiko Takahashi's always a good bet, and I'd also recommend the Mermaid Scar and Maison Ikkoku series. The former is only 4 books long and didn't ever get a real ending, but I guess that it didn't really need one after a certain character's introduction. The latter is much longer and probably has the best ending Takahashi ever wrote. It's basically Love Hina - the supernatural + 500 metric kilotons of jackassery.

Maison Ikkoku is definately one im going to get to. Id never heard of Mermaid's Scar until now so thanks for that as well:



Is it all in this single volume as i cant find any others.

[sun tzu]

I'm currently reading Dream Warrior Wingman, which came out in 1983. Nice, self-aware take on the tokusatsu genre.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Maison Ikkoku is definately one im going to get to. Id never heard of Mermaid's Scar until now so thanks for that as well:



Is it all in this single volume as i cant find any others.

It's possible that Viz packaged them all into one volume (mine have light blue covers), but there are normally 4 volumes. Now that I look it up again, I'm reminded that its actually the Mermaid's Saga series.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Some favs of mine

[Johnny P. Sartre]

[The Drunkard Kid]

Some of the older JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series would probably count as classics. Its basically what would happen if backup dancers for Madonna, Lady Gaga and Weird Al Yankovic took up bodybuilding and went to save the world from vampires and/or psychics. Its even more awesome than it sounds.

[Nik Hasta]

Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira is a must-read, though getting the whole 6-volume series can be a little expensive. I think perhaps his psychic-horror book Domu is less well-known, yet arguably equally as good or better (and certainly a damn sight more affordable, as it's a one-volume book).

I don't like to condemn people for not having seen/read things because it's kind of rude.

But...

If you haven't read AKIRA or at least seen the film, you need to do this right now because it is one of the defining pieces of manga. The hype is deserved because it is just a phenomenal piece of work.

Also, I second Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star which is much deeper and meaningful than the simple premise of "Martial arts super badass wanders a post-apocalyptic wasteland dispensing explosive fist justice," would have you believe.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Re: Urusei Yatsura.

If you liked To Love Ru or Ninja High School, but wanted better comedy and an interesting male lead, this is the manga for you.