Recommended Anime/Manga?

[JBC]

Regarding Golgo, that'd be quite the project. I'd love to see it happen too, but as a fan typesetter that'd be a huge ordeal that I can't imagine many would touch.

I've been working through the early stuff lately & my God, it's so good. It's so good. It's 007 & The Punisher in one, but with that classy classic manga art style. It's a crime that almost no one knows about this.

[theclaw]

They're my babes of all babes.

They're also my ultimate babes. As well as my ultimate Girls With Guns

Misty introduced me to the personality traits I like, but for babe looks it's all about Lum's era.

[GaijinPunch]

Regarding Golgo, that'd be quite the project. I'd love to see it happen too, but as a fan typesetter that'd be a huge ordeal that I can't imagine many would touch.

I've been working through the early stuff lately & my God, it's so good. It's so good. It's 007 & The Punisher in one, but with that classy classic manga art style. It's a crime that almost no one knows about this.

I have actually read a few chapters of the first book -- good stuff indeed. He punches a woman in the face in the first few pages... holy shit. God bless the 60's.

Anyway, that is something I would do in retirement to keep busy... not necessarily at a time when I have literally no time.

[GaijinPunch]

Just finished the Maison Ikkoku original manga (wide versions). Having seen the show too many times I was curious about the differences, and most of them are pretty well documented (even mentioned by me a few pages ago). The manga is definitely a bit racier. Not overly so, but there's an episode or two when Godai's mate takes him out to a soapland (definitely no mention of that in the TV show), and he also bangs Kyoko in a love hotel but "can't quite get there" in his typical awkward fashion. I suppose these were all too graphic for prime time TV.

Definitely glad I went through it, as it holds the same charm the TV show did. Very satisfying at the end, even though a bit sad (even more so now that I realize the age I was when I first watched it). Wish there was more like this.

Considering going through Urusei Yatsura. Tried he TV show a few times... it never clicked. Maybe I did it wrong? I know it's considered pretty good shit, but totally different.

Shorter ones of an era gone by that I might try to blow through for shits & giggles:
- Cobra
- Patlabor
- City Hunter
- Not against trying Orange Road but I remember the TV show being a bit cheesy.

[Randorama]

GP: Maison Ikkoku belongs to a bygone era together with the other series you mention.
You might find the odd adult (seinen and Josei) series that tries to engage with real life even during these times, but that would be the exception rather than the rule.

I generally think that authors below a certain age/generation simply lack the cultural awareness to address any issues in a non-trivial way.
I am reading a manga called Rainbow, which focuses on the lives of kids getting into juvenile prison right after the war, surviving it and trying to get a life afterwards.
It turns out that the author is in his '60s, case in point.

Said that, as we said a while ago Urusei Yatsura is a sexy comedy with 1-dimensional characters and '80s escapism; conceptually, the opposite of Ikkoku and one of the starting points of the many dumb tropes that you may hate in current anime/manga.

City Hunter is brilliant, manga and anime. It is "just" entertainment, but it has that suave '80s feeling (think Miami Vice) coupled with great stories, charming characters and so on.

by the way...

You still haven't read Akira, have you? Or are you waiting retirement, so that I come to your place and lend you my printed (!) version?

[drauch]

Reading Ikkoku as well, but taking it slow since each chapter is essential a vignette. But it's also weird that I become overwhelmed because I love the story so much I don't want it to end or something, so I go through stretches where I don't touch it for months. Dunno, it makes me all emotional and shit or something. But yeah, it's nice to see the small differences so far. The sex appeal for Kyoko seems to be slimmed down a bit in the anime, which I prefer (for this story, at least), but nothing too much so far.

I've only read the first volume of Golgo as well, and ha, yeah, hard to forget him punching the woman in the face. Maybe this is our calling for retirement. I'll typeset it .

Trying to translate the Explorer Woman Ray manga in my free time, but it'll take forever because I suck. It's a pretty throwaway story and someone translated the OVA years back, but it's kinda fun if you dig the pulpy Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider scenario. Waiting to get a scanner so I can hopefully work on some really nasty rare-ish stuff that sicko rancor helped me nab off of Amazon.jp. Pretty cool article here http://www.ceiling-gallery.com/blog/2015/goblin about the dude's stuff. If you like Iron Maiden, horror, hentai, and action, it's a dream cum true.

And hopefully getting started this morning (currently 2AM) typsetting Kujaku-Oh, aka Spirit Warrior/Peacock King). I know in the Mega-Drive thread we've talked about the groovy game, so I'm pretty excited to get started on this. Wish I was always this ambitious.

[Steamflogger Boss]

GP: Maison Ikkoku belongs to a bygone era together with the other series you mention.
You might find the odd adult (seinen and Josei) series that tries to engage with real life even during these times, but that would be the exception rather than the rule.

I generally think that authors below a certain age/generation simply lack the cultural awareness to address any issues in a non-trivial way.
I am reading a manga called Rainbow, which focuses on the lives of kids getting into juvenile prison right after the war, surviving it and trying to get a life afterwards.
It turns out that the author is in his '60s, case in point.

Said that, as we said a while ago Urusei Yatsura is a sexy comedy with 1-dimensional characters and '80s escapism; conceptually, the opposite of Ikkoku and one of the starting points of the many dumb tropes that you may hate in current anime/manga.

City Hunter is brilliant, manga and anime. It is "just" entertainment, but it has that suave '80s feeling (think Miami Vice) coupled with great stories, charming characters and so on.

by the way...

You still haven't read Akira, have you? Or are you waiting retirement, so that I come to your place and lend you my printed (!) version?

I picked up City Hunter awhile back not sure what to expect, but it's definitely very watchable.

[GaijinPunch]

GP: Maison Ikkoku belongs to a bygone era together with the other series you mention.
You might find the odd adult (seinen and Josei) series that tries to engage with real life even during these times, but that would be the exception rather than the rule.

This I am quite aware of, unfortunately. I mean looking at the overall arc of MI, it is quite ridiculous (even then). 6 frustrating years for any of the characters to really get anywhere romantically. But again, I do believe it was meant to be quite the caricature.

City Hunter is brilliant, manga and anime. It is "just" entertainment, but it has that suave '80s feeling (think Miami Vice) coupled with great stories, charming characters and so on.

This I was hoping. It was one of the ones I skipped ages ago. I went through the whole Cobra TV show recently and was quite pleased. Gritty... ridiculous... 80's...

by the way...

You still haven't read Akira, have you? Or are you waiting retirement, so that I come to your place and lend you my printed (!) version?

Yes, I have. I read it one summer... maybe 5 years ago? I waited until I could handle it in it's original form. I'm a default whore, so the colorized version just wasn't going to fly. It probably deserves a second go through sometime soon. However, I have read close to zero manga. Just didn't have the time in my nerdier days. So, I feel there's way more stuff I could go through for the first time which pushes re-reads back quite a bit.

[BIL]

And hopefully getting started this morning (currently 2AM) typsetting Kujaku-Oh, aka Spirit Warrior/Peacock King). I know in the Mega-Drive thread we've talked about the groovy game, so I'm pretty excited to get started on this. Wish I was always this ambitious.

Nice. :O Always looked some pretty rugged 80s action from my brief glimpses. The MD game's creepy locales, horrendous biomonstrosities and liberal use of nudity bode well!



"I shall meditate and then destroy you!"

[Randorama]

GP:

I know, but here we have the medium to dictate the form, so to speak. For many series outside the usual shonen stuff, what counts is the contract that authors have. Many of these 150 issues series (6 years of fortnight issues, roughly)/25 tankobon (or whatever number they choose) are usually based on stories that can be cut to half or a quarter of it if sales are not good enough. When series become a mess, it is usually when editors say that they should go beyond 6 years (Berserk, Vagabond).

The usual trick is...write a 1.5 years story, add a first cycle of fillers if it works for 3 years, add a second cycle if everything works fine (Monster comes to mind). After reading quite a few of them, it becomes obvious which parts form the original story and which ones are fillers/extensions. Sanctuary is a great series that comes to mind, but in which the filler parts looked more or less obvious.

For City Hunter: the anime is sillier, but still, both are refreshing. It also captures the glimmering Tokyo of the '80s, which must have been the most interesting place on Earth. I remember this being so popular that they would have reruns for ages, on minor Italian channels...

BTW, Otomo itself said that Pat Oliffe's colouring vastly improved the original work. Now, western comics (US and French bande desinees in particular) simply display a superior understanding of colour, and the master himself said that...

I would actually say that you can simply take it slowly and then start checking any works that followed the gekiga movement/tenets/whatever. Golgo 13, again, is a perfect example. Personally I have checked a few more stories and I liked what I read. It slightly mellows out over the years (OK, no punches to women, only slaps), but some of the stories clearly show that the author (OK, the assistants) spent serious time researching the topic(s) and using it as narrative material. Some stories are so accurate that they have been banned in some countries.

At this age (personal) and time (i.e. the '10s of the Trump millennium), I would say that catching up with a backlog of 70 years of manga and 40 of anime is possible only if you narrowly focus on the excellent stuff. It may be a bless that 99% of these media is crap, after all

[Udderdude]

Assemble Insert: It's another comedic parody of powered armor/suit anime with lots of ridiculous crap thrown in. They also manage to tie in making fun of idol/otaku culture at the same time.

Goddamn: It's a two part OVA based on rally sport racing. The main character yells, "Goddamn!" a lot, usually right before he's about to total his car for the 17th time. I thought it was pretty good.

Geobreeders: Completely over the top action/comedy about a group of freelance security agents facing off against some sort of weird digital/cat/humanoid hybrid creatures that are captured using talismans that connect to a small laptop. There's so much ridiculous action, you can't help but laugh.

Hyper Dolls: Parody of magical girl/superpower genre. The two "heroines" are lazy and don't really give a crap about their jobs as protectors of the peace. They fight and bicker among each-other almost as much as they attack the bad guys. As expected, there's a ton of unnecessary collateral damage along the way.

Cleopatra D.C.: Three part OVA, starring Cleopatra, who runs some huge mega conglomerate with her friends. It's just an excuse to have all sorts of action set pieces play out. The final OVA is almost an hour long and probably the best out of the three stories, as they're all self-contained.

[GaijinPunch]

GP:

I know, but here we have the medium to dictate the form, so to speak. For many series outside the usual shonen stuff, what counts is the contract that authors have. Many of these 150 issues series (6 years of fortnight issues, roughly)/25 tankobon (or whatever number they choose) are usually based on stories that can be cut to half or a quarter of it if sales are not good enough. When series become a mess, it is usually when editors say that they should go beyond 6 years (Berserk, Vagabond).

The usual trick is...write a 1.5 years story, add a first cycle of fillers if it works for 3 years, add a second cycle if everything works fine (Monster comes to mind). After reading quite a few of them, it becomes obvious which parts form the original story and which ones are fillers/extensions. Sanctuary is a great series that comes to mind, but in which the filler parts looked more or less obvious.

For City Hunter: the anime is sillier, but still, both are refreshing. It also captures the glimmering Tokyo of the '80s, which must have been the most interesting place on Earth. I remember this being so popular that they would have reruns for ages, on minor Italian channels...

BTW, Otomo itself said that Pat Oliffe's colouring vastly improved the original work. Now, western comics (US and French bande desinees in particular) simply display a superior understanding of colour, and the master himself said that...

I would actually say that you can simply take it slowly and then start checking any works that followed the gekiga movement/tenets/whatever. Golgo 13, again, is a perfect example. Personally I have checked a few more stories and I liked what I read. It slightly mellows out over the years (OK, no punches to women, only slaps), but some of the stories clearly show that the author (OK, the assistants) spent serious time researching the topic(s) and using it as narrative material. Some stories are so accurate that they have been banned in some countries.

At this age (personal) and time (i.e. the '10s of the Trump millennium), I would say that catching up with a backlog of 70 years of manga and 40 of anime is possible only if you narrowly focus on the excellent stuff. It may be a bless that 99% of these media is crap, after all

I should probably know more how the contracts work between the authors and the publishers. For MI, I feel it was very typical of the 80's: the two people don't get together until the end. Cheers, which was crazy popular, was like this to an extent. Sam and Diane eventually got together... and then broke up. These days they seem to take a more pragmatic approach and have characters get together briefly, break up, etc. etc. What I thought was kind of ridiculous was that two men were after the same hot widow... one even had another girl on the side (sort of) but he hadn't kissed her after dating for a few years. #weird.

Re: Tokyo of the 80s being the most amazing place on Earth . I can only imagine, and this topic comes up quite a bit amongst expats that were not there, even if they aren't into anime and games. Japan's rag to riches story is quite amazing... massive deflation to what it is now in just 20 years is as well. I got to catch the second half of the 90s, but the 70's and 80's are a Japan I never experienced, which I find quite fascinating (nerdy hobbies aside, even). Unfortunately I've only found a handful of street photography books worth the effort set in these times. Many of them are fucking pricey, too.

Re: Akira in color: Okay, I won't argue that. but, you do know I use b&w film for 95% of my film shooting, and my film shooting is 95% of my photography.

[FinalBaton]

I personally prefer Akira manga in black and white. Seeing Otomo's "naked" line art really makes me appreciate the architecture design/backgrounds' crazy level of detail more. It's kind of highlighted that way. The amount of splashes of black ink is just right too(very important for b&w). My copies of volume 1 and 2 are very dear to me, and have influenced me so much as an artist. I'll be taking them to the grave. I really need to get volumes 3-4-5-6 at some point

City Hunters has always been on my radar, now I definitely will check it out

And hey : I checked 2 episodes of orange road (I had forgotten that I have an O.R. tape in that big VHS anime lot I bought last year) and I quite liked it. It's so different in tone than M.I. though, from what little I've seen of both shows. M.I. is raunchy to the max, while O.R. is more innocent and cute(although Kyosuke's guy buddies do provide some "TIME TO GO HUNTING FOR SOME PUSSY BROSEF!!!!!!!!!!" moments). It is heartwarming however. The girl secondary characters are pretty funny, they really have personality and feel believable and relatable. Some more serious drama in there too, like Madoka's dad bit for example. Which is well pulled off

On my watch list : there are 2 samurai anime I want to watch : one got recommended to me by someone on here (can't quite remember. I think it was welsh?) and it's Yotoden. The other, I've seen in trailers at the beggining of some of my ADV tapes, and it's Cursed of the Undead : Yoma. Anyone watched that last one?

[Udderdude]

I kind of mentioned Yoma in passing in one of my posts (I only listed it as "Blood Reign"). Honestly it didn't leave that big of an impression on me. Maybe it was because I was constantly comparing it to Ninja Scroll, but it just seemed average at best. Not terrible, not amazing either. All it really did was make me wish that at some point, CAVE had made an OVA based on Guwange. lol

[FinalBaton]

Thanks for your input Udderdude! Yeah it's hard not to compare samurai anime stuff with mid-bosses, to Ninja Scroll indeed. I know I would

[evil_ash_xero]

Is there a thread like this about Western comics? Just wondering, as I'm thinking about starting one.

[BryanM]

Yep, there is. Some dweeb pointdexter tried to start one, and it died immediately. We're too weeaby here for that.

It's also the reason why I'll talk about those Korean RPG deathgame webnovels that I like in this thread and no where else, since I'm the only person on this forum who cares about them. There's not enough people here to keep every topic going.

[evil_ash_xero]

Oh OK. That's a shame.

Comics are a fucking wasteland right now, but I've been reading some back issues that I was really blown away by (mainly Jonathan Hickman stuff).

Anyone here read Nausicaa Valley of the Wind? I started on it, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's pretty old.
But it doesn't read like Western comics of the time, which instantly makes it hold up tons better.

[drauch]

On my watch list : there are 2 samurai anime I want to watch : one got recommended to me by someone on here (can't quite remember. I think it was welsh?) and it's Yotoden. The other, I've seen in trailers at the beggining of some of my ADV tapes, and it's Cursed of the Undead : Yoma. Anyone watched that last one?

Yeah, Yoma is just okay, but it's short and worth watching. Yotoden is great, but don't watch the movie. Be sure to get the OVA version as the movie just bunches everything together. I'd also recommend the Dagger of Kamui movie for something similar.

Anyone here read Nausicaa Valley of the Wind? I started on it, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's pretty old.
But it doesn't read like Western comics of the time, which instantly makes it hold up tons better.

Haha, it ain't that old! It's my favorite manga and I've got a tattoo of it 'cause I'm a sicko. It's an excellent sci-fi tale that does the post-apocalyptic scenario a good deal differently. Really heavy on gaian philosophy and does a pretty good job on the dynamics of the heroine and villainess of sorts. Which he kinda touched again with Mononoke. But yeah, the Nausicaa film basically covers the first book and a half. Good in its own right, but doesn't have the depth of the books.

Also yeah, please revitalize the comic thread. I think most modern comics suck eggs and find digital art and coloring pretty gross, but I'd love to talk Euro comics and other stuff from the 60s-90s.

[GaijinPunch]

I'd also recommend the Dagger of Kamui movie for something similar.

I think I would enjoy this now more than I did 20 years ago (which was still quite enjoyable). Some fucking crazy visuals in it... holy shit. Weird. And let's be honest...

Spoiler

Mark Fucking Twain

So, anyone got any hidden gems from late 70's through 80's that were either didn't get the anime-treatment, or got a very small one (Appleseed, Domion), and also maybe a mention if they got zero or only partial westernizations (Golgo 13). There's gotta be swaths of stuff I've missed. Speaking of Appleseed... how well are the official translations rated? I read them in a previous life but can hardly remember them.

[drauch]

I'll think of some stuff later. Way too hungover atm and feeling retarded.

[BIL]

I was recently pondering bumping the newest comics thread I found, because I've been enjoying the Eclipse Book adaptations of Clive Barker's Rawhead Rex and other Books of Blood favourites. They're pretty good! Rex in particular really captures its titular despicable fiend.

Spoiler

Even though its film adaptation Hellraiser was nowhere as compromised, I wish they'd done The Hellbound Heart too. Super Fun Fact, Rex's movie producers treating him like shit was what motivated Barker to take stronger control of Hellraiser!

But yeah I don't know jack about shit with the comics, so it'd be an awkward bump!

[drauch]

^Whoa, that looks pretty rad. I'll check that out. Actually just started the first Book of Blood the other week. I've only seen the Rex adaptation, so that'll be nice reading about him in all his frumpy glory.

[evil_ash_xero]

Anyone here read Nausicaa Valley of the Wind? I started on it, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. It's pretty old.
But it doesn't read like Western comics of the time, which instantly makes it hold up tons better.

Haha, it ain't that old! It's my favorite manga and I've got a tattoo of it 'cause I'm a sicko. It's an excellent sci-fi tale that does the post-apocalyptic scenario a good deal differently. Really heavy on gaian philosophy and does a pretty good job on the dynamics of the heroine and villainess of sorts. Which he kinda touched again with Mononoke. But yeah, the Nausicaa film basically covers the first book and a half. Good in its own right, but doesn't have the depth of the books.

Also yeah, please revitalize the comic thread. I think most modern comics suck eggs and find digital art and coloring pretty gross, but I'd love to talk Euro comics and other stuff from the 60s-90s.

Well, I will keep reading that manga. I'm saddened that the digital scans on the net are so shoddy, compared to most. I usually like to read a good bit of it, before I buy the physical.

Anyone have a link to that comics thread? I could toss a few things in there.

[Ji-L87]

Assemble Insert: It's another comedic parody of powered armor/suit anime with lots of ridiculous crap thrown in. They also manage to tie in making fun of idol/otaku culture at the same time.

Wow, someone else actually watched this? That makes me happy It's basically just Masami Yuuki being a silly. The anime is charming and a good adaption of the original short manga. This kind of work just makes me all fuzzy inside. Just watching the opening puts a smile on my face about a mile wide.

[FinalBaton]

WOW! Assemble Insert looks really fun, haha. Made by the guy who did the Patlabor manga huh? neat


Also, forgot to ask earlier : what are people's thoughts on GenoCyber? From the trailers I've seen(it's in like all Manga Corp trailers from the mid '90s), the themes and visuals look cool.

btw thanks for your take on Cyber City Oedo 808 and A.D. Police earlier, Udderdude. I'll definitely be watching those now.

[BryanM]

Crap, I thought it was me who started one of them but I was wroooong.

Comic books you just read. (2015)

Comics that don't suck. (2010)

One of the reasons I think a lot of people get attached to stuff that came out when they were teenagers is because there's really nothing new under the sun. Once you have stuff like Hellraiser, Hellblazer, Watchmen, Preacher, there's just diminishing returns on the seeing the same thing again.

During the early 2000's, there was a popular fad with using public domain characters, as in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Fables. But there's really no new centralizing idea or high level concept that pervades everything - stuff about emerging technology like Black Mirror would be interesting to nerds, but it isn't gonna sell like The Walking Dead does/did.

(Ugh, and this reminds me that there's a live action Preacher tv series coming out. Talk about being decades late to the scene. I just had to check wikipedia to see if the HOBO series POWERS ever got made finally, and yep it did. Two seasons, come and gone already. And it didn't end up getting produced by HOBO, but by SONY.)

POWERS was actually pretty remarkable for being able to do the entire modernizing thing somewhat correctly. Most comics you're lucky if you can read the first issue online legally - with POWERS Bendis had nearly the entire damn thing up on his website.

Maybe it's not (completely) that nerds are especially weeaby, but that this stuff is just more accessible. Western corporate overlords are just terrible at creating and fostering a market that could be here.

[BIL]

Also, forgot to ask earlier : what are people's thoughts on GenoCyber? From the trailers I've seen(it's in like all Manga Corp trailers from the mid '90s), the themes and visuals look cool.

Watched it years ago for precisely the same motivation, man those trailers were rad. Evil if ultimately disposable biopunk fun. The writing is nothing special, but its monstrosities of bioengineering are as heinous as they are lovingly-animated. Driven by a gigafuckton of ultraviolence, I had to rewind Part 1 at one point to confirm what in god's name I'd just witnessed.

btw thanks for your take on Cyber City Oedo 808 and A.D. Police earlier, Udderdude. I'll definitely be watching those now.

Oedo is a must-see for any Kawajiri fan and lovers of 80s cyberpunk action anime in general, shit be hawt! "It's way past your bedtime motherfucker!"

[Udderdude]

Genocyber is so edgy it makes other 90's OVAs look tame by comparison. Such was the level of gratuitious violence, I recall there was some controversy over the opening scene in the second OVA .. where some kids get mowed down by a helicopter, and it's obvious they put a lot of "care" and "detail" into it.

Madara: Pretty good fantasy OVA, about 2 hrs long. It's pretty generic but well-done and kept me entertained the entire way through.

3x3 Eyes: Somehow managed to avoid watching this despite that it was also everywhere back in the day. The main character is granted immortality, but this really just gives an excuse to have him constantly maimed in all manner of awful ways over and over. He's paired up with a girl who has some split personality issues and a third eye.

Otaku no Video: Ganiax's obscurity of obscurities, it's an exploration of otaku culture that follows one man's path, or maybe downfall, into the depths of otaku-dom. After that it gets a little silly (as you might expect) but it's still good fun. Also worth noting are the live action "otaku expose" where what are obviously Ganiax employees privately talk about their otaku-ness, complete with voice changing and mosaic censorship on their faces. :lol:

[FinalBaton]

Thanks for the replies you two

man those trailers were rad.

So much this.
Btw, I might digitise/upload some anime VHS trailers at some point, If I have some in my possession that aren't already on YT. Stay tuned...



Udderdude : did ya know Otaku No Video got the re-scan/remaster treatment by AnimEigo? YOu probably do, but just in case.