Monday, December 27, 2004
You're all I need to get by.
Hello! In case you doubted me when I said I am addicted to manga, here is a photo of my manga collection. Pretty nice little collection I have going... I think it was just over a year ago that my friend Yuki (from Singapore) sort of reignited my love for manga. Having sold/lost/gave away almost all elements of my pre-married life, I pretty much started from scratch.
Manga are basically Japanese comic books, only the image that the term "comic" conjures is pretty much worthless in regards to these. The stories and art are more often than not aimed at adults with tastes for sophisticated and deep stories. In Japan, manga are popular with all age groups, and you may see a business man reading one on the train. Piles of telephone-book sized manga magazines adorn rubbish heaps, as most manga are serialized, only later to be compiled in the volumes we here in the USA are used to.
I get pretty sad that I haven't anyone to talk to about manga. I have tried to get a couple friends into it, and they enjoyed the reads, but didn't get passionate about the hobby. I also get sad that I spend so much money on them! But I learned a valuable lesson from my friend Yuki (again, my friend Yuki!), and that is to wait until an entire series is out before you buy it. Or at least don't read it until it is complete! For a few of my favorite series, it is too late. Rurouni Kenshin, my favorite, is now being printed monthly (which is unusual for US publishers). This means I run into the store at the first of the month, and keep going until the new issue is out. The series is on volume 10 (of 28 I believe), so this is going to be a long ride. I greedily speed-read the volume, then go back and reread it... only to be at once thrilled by the fantastic plot and art, and disappointed that I have to wait a whole month to see wait happens next!
In the picture, which unfortunately is too small to do any justice to the grand scale of these stacks, are the books that make up my entire manga collection. Here are some highlights... from left to right...
Left: my favorite two series. Rurouni Kenshin (on vol. 10 of 28) and Pita Ten (on vol. 6 of 8). Ruroken is a historical fiction about good and evil samurai warriors trying to cope with the new world of Japan's Meiji Era. Pita Ten is a love story about a boy who is forcibly befriended by an angel, only to get mixed up in never ending mysteries and love stories.
2nd from Left: Some odds and ends. I tend to make dumb decisions and buy volume one of new series that look good, only to find out that I have desire to collect them. Sometimes I abandon a decent series (like Shaman King) because there are so many better ones out there begging for my dollars. I wish I knew more people who collected so I could trade these off... I hate selling on Ebay. The top half of the pile is made of three great series; Evangelion (yes, like the anime. I hate calling it by its US title "Neon Genesis Evangelion" because it was a mistranslation that was never fixed... sort of like Donkey Kong. It should be Neo-Genesis.), Fushigi Yugi, and Immortal Rain. Immortal Rain is known in Japan as Meteor Methusela. I think it is probably (along with Gunslinger Girl) the most underrated and overlooked manga series of all time. Fushigi Yugi is a classic, about a normal girl who gets whisked away into a fantastic version of ancient China, and is adored as a magical princess sent to save their world.
3rd from Left: The almighty Inuyasha. There are very few manga-ka (manga artists and writers) that have the sort of constant quality and staying power of Rumiko Takahashi. She, along with the studio CLAMP, and Yu Watase make up my favorite manga-ka, and they are all women! Also in this pile is Alice 19th, in my top 5 series of all time, the US version of Gunslinger Girl vol.1 (it is a year old, and no 2nd volume yet... Japan is on #4), and Ranma 1/2 (also by Takahashi-sensei).
Center: More odds and ends. Hack//Twilight is a great chibi version of the Hack universe, and it inspired the anime series. FLCL is a classic wacky comedy, also inspired a great anime series. Prince of Tennis is a sports manga, and while is is very good, it is in no way ground breaking or deep. Trigun is a great story, but the art is sort of convoluted sometimes... the anime is far better. Below that are all sorts of Gundam manga (Gundam, along with Robotech/Macross, sort of allowed my entry into Japanese pop-culture in the 80's. I do love giant robots).
3rd from Right: Dragonball. It is good, fun, and has great art. As a country, I think we have overdosed on Dragonball, but I keep the series for sentimental reasons. The books are nowhere are drawn out as the anime series. There are 42 volumes in all, I have 31 so far.
2nd from Right: Ah, CLAMP. An all-girl studio that crosses genres constantly, and has some of the best stories and art that exist. They can tend to lack in the character development of Takahashi-sensei, but they always tell concise and fantastic stories. Magic Knight Rayearth is like Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings... but with girls. A great series that seems way bigger than the 6 volumes it takes to tell it. Cardcaptor Sakura was a brief hit at the same time Sailor Moon was big in the US, and it pains me to say it, but Sakura is far better than Sailor Moon. XXXHolic is one of their newest series, and it has nothing to do with what you usually think of when you see XXX. It is about a medium that grants wishes, but at the cost of some sort of sacrifice... and how people are so often unwilling to heed warnings, or deal with consequences of their actions. There are also two traditional fiction collections by CLAMP, one about Japanese fables, and one about a Korean folk hero. Both are beautiful in many ways. Big O is in this pile, which isn't CLAMP, but is a giant robot story that is told and drawn by the same team that brought us the first few episodes of Batman the Animated Series... a cartoon that was so mature and well done that the US wasn't quite sure what to do with it (the end of this story is, they dumbed it down so they could mass market it to kids, since adults in the US are still squeamish about watching cartoons). There is a second series, but they will never bring it to the US now, because the interest in Big O ended when Cartoon Network's Adult Swim took it off the air.
Right: All CLAMP. WISH in also in my top 5 series of all time. My friend Phuong liked this series too, which made me very happy. Another story involving angels and love. Tokyo Babylon is almost too old-school for me, but it is good... and the series sets up the next big title, X/1999... as story about the end of the world. X/1999 is still being published, and us fans are getting frustrated! Send us the end already! :) It is a sweeping and semi-contrived story about forces of good and evil that are battling for the souls of man at the time of the Apocalypse. It is probably a close kin to the Sandman series of comics that adults found themselves enjoying here in the US, but it is not their best work. Still, bad CLAMP is better than the best US superhero comic these days.
Front: Bottom row is my Oh! My Goddess! collection. Dark Horse is a company that sort of realized the value of manga early on, and brought it over here. Because it was so niche, it was very expensive. Dark Horse has never adjusted its prices or it formats, as other publishers have done. So I only have a few volumes... for example, DH charges $18 a volume for the US copies of Aa! Megami-sama (Oh My Goddess). Viz charges just $8 for Rurouni Kenshin. Neither include the Japanese full-color pages. Anyway, it is a great series, I highly recommend reading it at the store! :) Far right is my Ghost in the Shell book. I have a love/hate relationship with the works of Masumune Shirow, but I won't ramble about that. GITS is a great sci-story that really gets you thinking... somewhere between the movie and the manga is a perfect product (sort of the Blade Runner or 2001 of its medium, but misses on both counts by just a hair). The upper row is my prized Japanese vol. 1 of Evangelion, my Gunslinger Girl collection (I just ordered #4, I hope it comes soon... I have just started translating #2), and Ragnarok vol.1, sent to me as a gift by Yuki. I love the book, the art is so cool... also, the Singapore editions are either in English or Chinese, she sent me the English edition... so I was able to read it without translating! So cool! Ragnarok is about Norse legends (i.e. Loki), with a sort of modern twist. I compared vol. 1 to the vol. 1 in the store here in the US, and the translations are slightly different, but not enough to change the story at all. Someday I may finish this series... Thanks Yuki! :)
There you have it. A short (well, short for how much I want to go on and on about these) guided tour of my collection. Please email me if you want to get into manga, talk about it, or trade/buy/sell books. I don't mind swapping at all! My wish list includes CLAMP's four volume Clover series, the six volume Akira series, more Oh My Goddess, anything from the Ragnarok series, and Japanese curiosities and such.
Next time I get the camera out, I will show you my toy collection. Horns up!
Manga are basically Japanese comic books, only the image that the term "comic" conjures is pretty much worthless in regards to these. The stories and art are more often than not aimed at adults with tastes for sophisticated and deep stories. In Japan, manga are popular with all age groups, and you may see a business man reading one on the train. Piles of telephone-book sized manga magazines adorn rubbish heaps, as most manga are serialized, only later to be compiled in the volumes we here in the USA are used to.
I get pretty sad that I haven't anyone to talk to about manga. I have tried to get a couple friends into it, and they enjoyed the reads, but didn't get passionate about the hobby. I also get sad that I spend so much money on them! But I learned a valuable lesson from my friend Yuki (again, my friend Yuki!), and that is to wait until an entire series is out before you buy it. Or at least don't read it until it is complete! For a few of my favorite series, it is too late. Rurouni Kenshin, my favorite, is now being printed monthly (which is unusual for US publishers). This means I run into the store at the first of the month, and keep going until the new issue is out. The series is on volume 10 (of 28 I believe), so this is going to be a long ride. I greedily speed-read the volume, then go back and reread it... only to be at once thrilled by the fantastic plot and art, and disappointed that I have to wait a whole month to see wait happens next!
In the picture, which unfortunately is too small to do any justice to the grand scale of these stacks, are the books that make up my entire manga collection. Here are some highlights... from left to right...
Left: my favorite two series. Rurouni Kenshin (on vol. 10 of 28) and Pita Ten (on vol. 6 of 8). Ruroken is a historical fiction about good and evil samurai warriors trying to cope with the new world of Japan's Meiji Era. Pita Ten is a love story about a boy who is forcibly befriended by an angel, only to get mixed up in never ending mysteries and love stories.
2nd from Left: Some odds and ends. I tend to make dumb decisions and buy volume one of new series that look good, only to find out that I have desire to collect them. Sometimes I abandon a decent series (like Shaman King) because there are so many better ones out there begging for my dollars. I wish I knew more people who collected so I could trade these off... I hate selling on Ebay. The top half of the pile is made of three great series; Evangelion (yes, like the anime. I hate calling it by its US title "Neon Genesis Evangelion" because it was a mistranslation that was never fixed... sort of like Donkey Kong. It should be Neo-Genesis.), Fushigi Yugi, and Immortal Rain. Immortal Rain is known in Japan as Meteor Methusela. I think it is probably (along with Gunslinger Girl) the most underrated and overlooked manga series of all time. Fushigi Yugi is a classic, about a normal girl who gets whisked away into a fantastic version of ancient China, and is adored as a magical princess sent to save their world.
3rd from Left: The almighty Inuyasha. There are very few manga-ka (manga artists and writers) that have the sort of constant quality and staying power of Rumiko Takahashi. She, along with the studio CLAMP, and Yu Watase make up my favorite manga-ka, and they are all women! Also in this pile is Alice 19th, in my top 5 series of all time, the US version of Gunslinger Girl vol.1 (it is a year old, and no 2nd volume yet... Japan is on #4), and Ranma 1/2 (also by Takahashi-sensei).
Center: More odds and ends. Hack//Twilight is a great chibi version of the Hack universe, and it inspired the anime series. FLCL is a classic wacky comedy, also inspired a great anime series. Prince of Tennis is a sports manga, and while is is very good, it is in no way ground breaking or deep. Trigun is a great story, but the art is sort of convoluted sometimes... the anime is far better. Below that are all sorts of Gundam manga (Gundam, along with Robotech/Macross, sort of allowed my entry into Japanese pop-culture in the 80's. I do love giant robots).
3rd from Right: Dragonball. It is good, fun, and has great art. As a country, I think we have overdosed on Dragonball, but I keep the series for sentimental reasons. The books are nowhere are drawn out as the anime series. There are 42 volumes in all, I have 31 so far.
2nd from Right: Ah, CLAMP. An all-girl studio that crosses genres constantly, and has some of the best stories and art that exist. They can tend to lack in the character development of Takahashi-sensei, but they always tell concise and fantastic stories. Magic Knight Rayearth is like Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings... but with girls. A great series that seems way bigger than the 6 volumes it takes to tell it. Cardcaptor Sakura was a brief hit at the same time Sailor Moon was big in the US, and it pains me to say it, but Sakura is far better than Sailor Moon. XXXHolic is one of their newest series, and it has nothing to do with what you usually think of when you see XXX. It is about a medium that grants wishes, but at the cost of some sort of sacrifice... and how people are so often unwilling to heed warnings, or deal with consequences of their actions. There are also two traditional fiction collections by CLAMP, one about Japanese fables, and one about a Korean folk hero. Both are beautiful in many ways. Big O is in this pile, which isn't CLAMP, but is a giant robot story that is told and drawn by the same team that brought us the first few episodes of Batman the Animated Series... a cartoon that was so mature and well done that the US wasn't quite sure what to do with it (the end of this story is, they dumbed it down so they could mass market it to kids, since adults in the US are still squeamish about watching cartoons). There is a second series, but they will never bring it to the US now, because the interest in Big O ended when Cartoon Network's Adult Swim took it off the air.
Right: All CLAMP. WISH in also in my top 5 series of all time. My friend Phuong liked this series too, which made me very happy. Another story involving angels and love. Tokyo Babylon is almost too old-school for me, but it is good... and the series sets up the next big title, X/1999... as story about the end of the world. X/1999 is still being published, and us fans are getting frustrated! Send us the end already! :) It is a sweeping and semi-contrived story about forces of good and evil that are battling for the souls of man at the time of the Apocalypse. It is probably a close kin to the Sandman series of comics that adults found themselves enjoying here in the US, but it is not their best work. Still, bad CLAMP is better than the best US superhero comic these days.
Front: Bottom row is my Oh! My Goddess! collection. Dark Horse is a company that sort of realized the value of manga early on, and brought it over here. Because it was so niche, it was very expensive. Dark Horse has never adjusted its prices or it formats, as other publishers have done. So I only have a few volumes... for example, DH charges $18 a volume for the US copies of Aa! Megami-sama (Oh My Goddess). Viz charges just $8 for Rurouni Kenshin. Neither include the Japanese full-color pages. Anyway, it is a great series, I highly recommend reading it at the store! :) Far right is my Ghost in the Shell book. I have a love/hate relationship with the works of Masumune Shirow, but I won't ramble about that. GITS is a great sci-story that really gets you thinking... somewhere between the movie and the manga is a perfect product (sort of the Blade Runner or 2001 of its medium, but misses on both counts by just a hair). The upper row is my prized Japanese vol. 1 of Evangelion, my Gunslinger Girl collection (I just ordered #4, I hope it comes soon... I have just started translating #2), and Ragnarok vol.1, sent to me as a gift by Yuki. I love the book, the art is so cool... also, the Singapore editions are either in English or Chinese, she sent me the English edition... so I was able to read it without translating! So cool! Ragnarok is about Norse legends (i.e. Loki), with a sort of modern twist. I compared vol. 1 to the vol. 1 in the store here in the US, and the translations are slightly different, but not enough to change the story at all. Someday I may finish this series... Thanks Yuki! :)
There you have it. A short (well, short for how much I want to go on and on about these) guided tour of my collection. Please email me if you want to get into manga, talk about it, or trade/buy/sell books. I don't mind swapping at all! My wish list includes CLAMP's four volume Clover series, the six volume Akira series, more Oh My Goddess, anything from the Ragnarok series, and Japanese curiosities and such.
Next time I get the camera out, I will show you my toy collection. Horns up!
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