rakugaki ippatsu: June 2010

Ok, I realised that I missed a few mangas that I really like in the last post. It was really hard to judge the shounen mangas and against the shoujos, so I decided that I would do one separately. So first up is shounen.

SHOUNEN MANGA TOP 10

10. Konjiki no Gash! by Raiku Makoto
The story follows Takamine Kiyomaro, a very intelligent, but anti-social and lonely junior high student. His archaeology professor father sends him a seemingly normal child, with a book that he can't decode. Hoping that Kiyomaro's brains will be able to decode the unknown language, and also for GashBell, the child with the book, to be Kiyomaro's friend. It soon becomes evident that little Gash Bell is no normal child. He is a mamono, that can use his lightening magic powers through his red book, and owner, which turns out to be Kiyomaro. Gash Bell is one of the 100 mamono chosen to participate in the fight to choose the king of the mamono, in the human world.
This is an awesome story, beautifully concluded too, unlike a lot of other shounen mangas out there. The mamono characters are all so cute, with great background and design. It also has some comical chapters amongst the serious fighting scenes. It follows the mental growth of Kiyomaro and Gashbell, who initially have no interest in becoming the king (fighting purely for self defence in the first parts), to finding their goal to become a "caring king". My favourite character is Burago of the black book♥ I recommend this to shonen manga lovers who liked mangas like "shaman king" or "yuyu hakusho"

9. Fullmetal Alchemist by Arakawa Hiromu
well, need I explain this one?
A story of the "fullmetal alchemist" Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse Elric, searching for the philosopher's stone to recover the body parts that they have lost, when trying to bring their mother back to life with alchemy. Although the story starts simple, it slowly becomes larger in scale with homunculi, an artificial lifeform with the philosopher's stone hidden in their bodies, planning to dominate the world under their "father’s" instructions; and "the flame alchemist" Roy Mustang and his comrades, seeking revenge of the homunculi following the murder of his best friend, who also has ambitions to become the head of state in the messed up country.
This story fuels thought on ethics, and includes many social and political issues arising in the world today. However, it's not all dark and serious, it has some kind of comical element in most chapters, and the “short” and "useless" jokes and quotes are quite useful in real life. Recommended for those that need food for thought, and seek more than just fight scenes and pretty girls.

8. Kuroko no Basuke by Fujimaki Tadatoshi
Riko Aida, the basketball coach of Seirin High, gets very excited when she gets two entry form to the basket ball club, Kagami Taiga, a gifted basketball player that grew up in the USA, and also from a from Kuroko Tetsuya, a graduate of Teikou middle high. Teikou middle high basketball team was unbeatable, and demolished all competition in middle school basketball in the past three years with 5 players dubbed the "miracle generation", who all split up to enter separate high schools. But to Riko's, surprise kuroko was short and petite, and very easy to miss. No one usually notices him until he comes right in front of them, with an almost non-existent presence. But with this ability, Kuroko was the 6th phantom member of the Teikou team, and the key player to ensure victory at their every game. The two freshmans team up to compete in the national high school basketball competition, and beat the teams that the “miracle generation” have joined.
Ok, as a reader that likes the more thought provoking mangas, and character design, it takes a VERY good sports manga to catch my radar. This one is excellent! Probably the best basketball manga since “Slam Dunk”! The plot sounds quite average (who hasn’t heard of a team of genius players?), but the characters bring this manga to life, both within the Seirin team and the boys from the miracle generation. Oh, and for all you girls out there, Kuroko is one cute boy, and Kise and Aomine are hot! Recommended for sports manga lovers.

7. Beelzebub by Tamura Ryuhei
Oga Tatsumi, a extremely strong delinquent, finds himself to be the human father figure of Beelzebub, the youngest son of the king of hell. He was picked to become Beelzebub's father because he possessed the qualities of the ideal parent for the future king: strong, arrogant, and heartless. He along with Hilda, beelzebub’s baby sitter, Oga is expected to help Beelzebub grow nice and strong so that Beelzebub can destroy the Earth. For these reasons, Oga tries not to fight, fearing danger of the earth, but the other delinquents at his school won’t leave him alone.
This series is just hilarious and cute at the same time. Baby Bel, is gorgeous, and would cry and throw tantrums (which usually involves the electrocution of Oga) if daddy moves too far away from him. Oga’s best friend Furuichi is a great character too. Recommended to people who liked “Rookies”, and gag mangas.

6. Rising Impact by Suzuki Nakaba
A very sweet golf manga, by an artist that drew mostly fantasy set mangas until this series. It shows the growth of Gawain Nanaumi, as he moves from his home up in the Fukui mountains, to the city to play golf, and enters the prestigious Camelot golf school. Gawain’s dream is to become the world’s longest hitter, but soon realises that golf isn’t just about hitting the most yards, as he encounters his to-be rival Lancelot Norman, a genius at putting, and loses matches against him. He grows friendships with his team mates from the Camelot school, including people from the English campus and USA campus, and is devastated, and fights back, when Arthur Phoenix plans to virtually destroy the school, by removing students from Camelot to enter the Grail Kingdom golf club.
This is a beautiful manga, and easy to forget that it is a sports manga. The characters are gorgeous, and Suzuki-sensei’s ability to truly tell the story focussing on the character’s thoughts and mental state is amazing! The only reason that it wasn’t in my top 3 mangas is the ending. Well, I guess the final chapter of Harry Potter is the easiest to compare too (they all hook up with one another, and have children, and their children all play golf as well), which I find very disappointing. But ignoring the last chapter, the rest of the manga is excellent, funny and exciting. Characters like Tristan Lionall, and Liebel Lingwood, are illustrated so well, that they truly come alive. Recommended to readers that like reading about growing friendship and rivalry, which is more the main focus, rather than the golf skills.

5. Katekyo Hitman reborn! by Amano Akira
Another well known manga, not in need of my summary.
Tsunayoshi ”Tsuna” Sawada is nicknamed “dame-tsuna (translated to good for nothing)” who doesn’t do well academically or physically. One day a cute looking baby with a gun enters his house, as a tutor that his mother hired for him. This sadistic little baby is not at all what he appears to be, and he is here to train Tsuna to become the heir of the famous Italian mafia family “the Vongola Famiglia”. With the help of the baby, Reborn, and the dying will bullet, Tsuna creates his own family with his six guardians, and fights off the enemies that are after him, due to being the next in line of the largest mafiaso organisation.
Well, at first, I thought this was just another shounen jump series that was going to be on the magazine for a couple of years and disappear, but how wrong I was! Amano-sensei’s graphics have improved so much since the first chapter, and is just breathtakingly beautiful! The story line leaves you guessing at the end of each chapter, and is really quite an energy filled series! Oh, and btw, the characters are hot, and very good looking, and the little animals are so cute! Really, a feast for the eyes. Also, Hibari is so sexy.

4. One Piece by Oda Eiichiro
As the manga with most sales in Japan, I really don’t need to explain this, but here goes.
One Piece follows a boy named Luffy, who’s dream is to find the treasure of the late pirate king captain Gol.D.Roger, named the “one piece” treasure. He recruits his crew from all different specialties, his pirate gang named ”the straw hat pirates” by the marines. The crew become target of the marines as their bounty increases, and become more powerful. As this once simple story progresses, we see more depth into the plot. The world government is discovered to have completely erased the dark history before their domination by power, and aren’t really the good guys. The revolutionary gang make a move to overturn the government, and Luffy gets involved in the battle for power, as he attempts to save his brother Ace(also a pirate), from public pocecution.
This manga ticks all the boxes for a good manga, and is no wonder that it is so popular. I have read the series since I was 9 years old, and I am still able to follow the manga today, which shows the versatility of the manga with the growing audience, and it’s appeal towards a wide range of readers. Artist Yanase Takashi praised Oda-sensei’s artistic imagination that he has designed some of the settings of One Piece on (he especially praised the design of the restaurant baratie and water 7), and compared that to a child’s wildest dreams. The manga is paced well, is very imaginative and overall, a complete package of what we all want in a shounen manga. However, some of the negatives would be the lack of the illustration of the effort the characters put into becoming stronger. Zoro seems to be the only one that trains on the ship, while the others have a good time, but miraculously, all the characters improve in between each fight. Also the official English translation seems to be very poor too. I find fan translations to be more accurate in this instance.

3. level E by Togashi Yoshihiro
An omnibus series of the genius mischief loving alien prince “prince Baka (yes, that’s his name)” coming to Earth, and playing all kinds of practical jokes on humans, his reasoning being to protect humans from the potential dangerous other species of aliens. This often violates the law of the universe which causes headaches for his body guards and Tsutsui Yukitaka (the first human Baka makes friends with) who usually end up making amends.
Ok, so the summary of the plot sounds like something that we’ve all heard before, but the genius Togashi-sensei adds all kinds of tricks and twists, that makes it an excellent concise little series (only 3 volumes long). If it went on for another few volumes (maybe 10vols?) I think it would have been one of the biggest hits in the manga world. I can’t explain all that well, but try it, and you’ll get what I am saying. This is arguably the best graphics that you will get from a Togashi manga, and I have a feeling that prince Baka’s character is a prototype of a lot of the characters of Hunter X Hunter (you know, the kind of characters that were never there in YuYu Hakusho). I recommend it to a more grown up audience, or those who like reading one-shots.

2. Gintama by Sorachi Hideaki
Gintama is mainly a gag manga, set in a bit of a hybrid of the Edo era and modern day Japan, with Aliens entering Japan during the Bakumatsu instead of the western forces. The story follows Yorozuya (handy man/odd jobs) Sakata Gintoki (aka Gin-san/Gin-chan) an ex-samurai warrior from the Joui war (fought by the samurai, as aliens invaded the country), and the people in Kabukichou surrounding him.
Sorachi sensei once said in an interview that, it is easy for people to have pride and look good when they have everything, but he wanted to draw people who’ve lost everything, and really in no state to do this, but still hold some form of pride in themselves. This is illustrated in manga through the characters like Madao (Hasegawa Taizou) who has lost his job, home and wife, but still shows respect to himself, or Otose who has lost her husband years ago, but still pays respect to him, by not being with Jirochou, whom she likes. All the female charcters are very inspirational too, they are all very strong ladies who don’t rely on their men. On a less serious note, this manga is bloody hilarious! You will literally roll on the floor laughing in the gag episodes! And the anime captures this too! Recommended to people with a thorough knowledge of Japan (from history, politics to comedians and tvshows), especially culture in the early 1990’s (this is where most of sorachi sensei’s comedic references are from), and the Bakumatsu era and shinsengumi. Well, you don’t really need to know all this, but it makes it a lot more enjoyable when you know where the references are from!

1. Hunter X Hunter by Togashi Yoshihiro
Follows a 12 year old boy, Gon Freeks searching for his father, who is a legendary hunter. A professional hunter is a title that only a handful of people can hold. They are the most skilled at hunting, collecting and fighting, among other skills, and therefore are the hardest people to find. Gon decides to follow his father’s footsteps and become a Hunter by taking the hunter exam. Here, he grows friendships and discovers his potential to be a hunter. After becoming a hunter, he faces more challenges in learning nen, a power using your own aura, helping his friend Kurapika take revenge on the A list criminals, the genei ryodan (phantom brigade/spiders), obtaining and playing a game his father created, and later fighting the chimera ants with the Hunter committee.
I can write a hundred pages on the summary of this manga! This is not enough to express my love for it. Gon and his friends face many challenges, and are often questioned on what is right and wrong. There is no clear image of good and evil in this manga, and the characters are forced to find out for themselves, if what they are doing is right or wrong. Kurapika’s entire clan was a subject of genocide by the genei ryodan, and naturally seeks revenge on them, but Kurapika ends up killing some of the members, and questions his actions. Killua, an ex-assassin, quotes that he may not deserve to be healed because he has killed more than the enemy in the past, during the Greed Island arc. This manga leaves you thinking about the consequences of your actions and where evil really resides. All the characters have a background that explains their personality. The plot is amazing, and it’s just so addictive. Recommended to Togashi fans, and people who don’t mind a bit of blood.

Here we are!! done :)
well, this wore me out more than I thought, so I'll do the shoujo reviews a bit later!