Today I chatted with my student Aiko K, an apprentice mangaka who works on both shojo and shonen styles of manga but personally prefers doing horror stuff herself.
Somehow we got to talking about a few different tomes I'd read myself over the years, and ended up with this list of 12; we then set about deconstructing each and putting them into some sort of order she felt happy with herself. Half of this ordering I don't agree with; a couple I do.
Aiko based her selection on self-admitted biases like over-saturation here in Japan (Leiji Matsumoto's Galaxy Express 999) and a love for the people involved in the anime versions rather than the original comics (director Mamoru Oshii and musician Yoko Kanno on Ghost in the Shell).
Others Aiko couldn't really explain her affection for, apart from the fact that she grew up with them; she loves CLAMP but considered Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle their weakest effort, while she felt that Doraemon is the best manga (and anime) ever made in Japan.
Anyway, with further ado, here's the list:
1. Doraemon (ドラえもん) by Fujiko F. Fujio (a.k.a Hiroshi Fujimoto) and Fujiko A. Fujio (a.k.a Motō Abiko)
2. 20th Century Boys (20世紀少年 Nijusseiki Shōnen) by Naoki Urasawa
3. Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊 Kōkaku Kidōtai) by Shirow Masamune
4. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ Kaze no Tani no Naushika) by Hayao Miyazaki
5. Tekkonkinkreet (鉄コン筋クリート Tekkon Kinkurīto) by Taiyō Matsumoto
6. Kiki’s Delivery Service (魔女の宅急便 Majo no Takkyūbin) by Eiko Kadono
7. Princess Knight (リボンの騎士 Ribon no Kishi) by Osamu Tezuka
8. Akira (アキラ) by Katsuhiro Otomo
9. One Piece (ワンピース) by Eiichiro Oda
10. Battle Angel Alita (銃夢 Gunnm) by Yukito Kishiro
11. Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (ツバサ Rezaboa Kuronikuru) by CLAMP (Satsuki Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi, Mokona)
12. Galaxy Express 999 (河鉄道999 Ginga Tetsudō Surīnain) by Leiji Matsumoto
4 comments:
Tsubasa starts off as a light adventure comedy, gets good and dark, then gets weirder and weirder as it jumps the shark until it finally ended. *_* Sadly, the tie-overs with xxxHOLiC bring down that manga for a bit but at least xxxHOLiC is rising again now that Tsubasa is over.
I'd think that Fullmetal Alchemist would rate higher than One Piece, but what do I know? My favorite adventure manga is "Negima!" so go figure.
Ha Ha Ha - there's a lot of stuff I'd certainly personally add in there myself; the order would be completely different, and I loved the first 3 volumes of Tsubasa - which is all I actually read. Great to get a young Japanese manga artist's take on these projects, tho'. ;)
:o Battle Angel Alita, although it has its niche following, (and who knows what will happen if James Cameron ever gets around to making it) is to me, really under rated as a series. In terms of art, fan base and many other aspects. My favorite artist and series! Happy to see it made it on the lost though :D
I'm a big Alita fan myself, Jillian - glad you dig it too. ;)
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