Lel
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2007
- Messages
- 3,314
- Reaction score
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Having an abundance of time over the summer, I figured I would get back into one of my more time wasting hobbies, anime/manga. Besides, given' all the Japanophiles/closet nerds on the forum, I figured it'd be interesting to see what SFers are interested in manga wise. I eventually found myself taking a break because after a while the cliches get to you, nothing exciting seems to come up, and no innovative series seem to spark interest. I'm more into manga because I find the overall quality a bit better, as more things can go wrong with anime. I've seen/read most of the major ongoing/finished series, and I'm looking for something new. Is there anything out there that's worth picking up? I'm looking for something that's actually quality, and I don't mean in terms of just the manga/anime world but overall. I am getting really sick of shounen because it seems to feel like once you've seen one, you've seen them all. I'd also gladly love to discuss or recommend any series I've already watched/read/finished
Here's just some that have personally stood out to me and proven memorable (I have read and watched a LOT more than this, FYI). Finished: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Some hate it, some love it. Either way, it's a classic and has proved to be a huge influence in anime IMO. I loved it, and it was one of the first series I watched. Yes, there's a lot of psycho-babble but I still think it's miles above the majority of works (recent and past) in terms of quality. Houshin Engi (Manga) - A great, underrated series. An actual shounen series I truly like, with a good cast of characters (protagnist and antagonist are among my favorites) along with, IMO, a good story. All the elements of great shounen (battles, adventures, character development, story, supporting cast) without the stupidity, a little slapstick sometimes but nothing compared to most shounen. This was one of the few times that, when I was finished, I had a mixture of both sadness that it was over yet a good sense of closure to the storyline, IMO a good thing. Monster (Manga) - Great series, would love to finish 20th Century Boys but I dropped it a while ago. Will probably look into watching the anime. I'm sure many people, even ones that aren't normally a fan of manga/anime, would enjoy this read. It's worth it, trust me. Naoki Urasawa is a great manga artist. Fruits Basket - It's rare that I like Shoujo, especially considering the stereotypical one is, IMO, worse than Shounen, but I thought this was a good series, both anime and manga. Manga dragged for a bit towards the end, but overall I liked the series and I have trouble thinking of other shoujo ones I like. Gunbuster 2/Die Buster - Awesome short OAV series but Gainax that is everything Gainax is: great animation quality, quirky characters, ridiculous story and even more ridiculous scale of epicness. Loved it. If you like the funkier side of Gainax (FLCL) you'll like this. Unfinished/Ongoing Berserk (Manga) - One of my favorite manga series of all time. It's painful how slow new chapters come out, but it's also incredible how epic the story is turning out to be. In my opinion, it really begins to pick up after the anime ended (if you know, you know). Good art, storytelling, a scope of maturity that's beyond normal works (not that it's a high standard anyways...). HunterXHunter (Manga) - So sad that the quality took such a dive, it was another shounen series I rather liked a bit. But as the story went on it seemed to drag, artwork quality took a dive, and it felt like it was going nowhere. Still pretty good up until the Greed Island arc. I could go on for a while, but I'd like to hear what others think/see if anyone has any new interesting and GOOD series to offer (manga or anime).
