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Post by kanshu on Sept 9, 2004 2:31:15 GMT -5
Since they are books, but not books at the same time, I thought they would deserve their own thread.  Please include the information below in your recommendations. It makes it much easier to look into a new manga / comic. Name: Author: Genre: Summary: Warnings: Why you Love it: |
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Post by Me-Nuriko on Sept 9, 2004 10:00:12 GMT -5
All right. This isn't manga, but it's still a comic, and it's influenced by manga.
Name: Elfquest
Author: Wendy and Richard Pini
Genre: Adventure
Summary: The elves live on the planet, but they are few, and hunted by the humans. Why are they hunted? Where did the elves come from? Are there any more elves somewhere? What roll has the trolls? That and many more questions are answered when the elf chief Cutter and his best friend Skywise starts their quest. The answer is bigger than any of them would have known.
Why you love it: It's exciting with a well developed plot. The friendship between Cutter and Skywise is just wonderful, and it's not cut of when Cutter meets her lifemate Leetah. It's one of few stories where there are true equality between men and women, and everybody is treated with the same respect whether they are warriors, hunters, tailors, gardener or anything else of their choice.
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Post by Salmastryon on Sept 9, 2004 10:17:19 GMT -5
Me-Nuriko: I'm a big ElfQuest fan!! Unfortunately, my color version of the graphic novels are starting to fall apar from reading them too much, and the republished versions that are in greyscale just don't have the same impact. While I could rave about the plot and the attention to details paid to the societies, Wendy's art is just as instramental to why I love this series. The color choices are beautiful and vibrant. Her backgrounds more often then not tell part of the story and, the body language and expressions of her characters often tell more of the story then the dialogue. I've laughed myself silly over the antics of some characters in the background more than once. .... Okay, I'll admit it. I picked it up in the first place because it had wolves and elves in it.  |
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Post by Me-Nuriko on Sept 9, 2004 10:40:48 GMT -5
Yes, my first graphic novels are falling apart, too.  And I agree, Wendy's art is absolutely wonderful. |
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Post by kanshu on Sept 9, 2004 15:39:55 GMT -5
Name: Demon Diary
Author: Kara / Lee Yun Hee
Genre: Fantasy / Adventure
Summary: Demon Lord Raenef the Fourth is dead. Usually, a Demon Lord selects an heir and grooms him or her for the new role, but, if tragedy should befall the Demon Lord before a heir has been appointed, other measures must be taken. In every generation, there is one amongst the mortals who bears the name of a Demon Lord... and the one who bears it is the deceased Demon Lord's successor.
Enter Raenef, an orphaned street urchin, and unbeknownst to him, the heir to Demon Royalty.
Unfortunately, with a personality that is incredibly sweet, nice and friendly. Raenef couldn't be further away from Demon Lord material.
Assigned by the gods to be Raenef's tutor, Eclipse is a wise and noble demon faced with the seemingly impossible task of molding Raenef into a proper Demon Lord.
Warnings: Demons. Plenty of them. Religious topics.
Why you Love it: This is a Korean manga, and it's quite different from a lot of stuff I've read. The story in itself has a lot of potential, BUT it's more on the humourous side of the topic. I love the character interactions - and the many tongue-in-cheek situations (like the one female character who wants to pair up the two male leads at any costs... though the leads have a different idea about it *snickers*)... It's a fun little series of seven mangas, and if you want some relaxing fun time, a good laugh and plenty of ideas for more serious fics, this is just the thing to read.
Tokyopop has it in its program, don't know about other countries.
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Post by iapetus on Sept 9, 2004 17:40:22 GMT -5
Name: Bakuretsu Hunters (released as Sorcerer Hunters in the US)
Author: Satoru Akahori, with illustrations by Rei Omishi
Genre: Shounen, Action/Adventure
Summary: It is a meriless world where sorcerers weilding magic are in complete control. In the Spooner Continent, powerless Parsoners spend each day tyrannized by these Sorcerers. To put an end to the never-ending series of malevolence, Big Momma sends out an elite group of warriors - the Sorcerer Hunters.
Warnings: NOT for little kids. Heavy violence, a good deal of female nudity, swearing, suggestive dialouge, blatant shounen ai (although one sided for those particular characters). If you wish to read the fan fiction also be warned - it has a HUGE yaoi fandom.
Why you Love it: Sorcerer Hunters is my favorite manga series of all time, and has been for several years. I found it by chance one day while I was still getting into more anime and manga, and for some odd reason I thought it was a magical girl series. O.o Anyways, the story is told in a fashion that few can pull off - it is a series compiled of smaller stories. The serious ones average from between two to four chapters in length, with a few exceptions. Usually a small one-chapter story of a very non-serious and funny nature can be found between them- rarely will two serious stories coincide with each other (unless they are some of the longer ones).
Satoru Akahori is a master storyteller, and everytime I go to read the series over again I am still awed at how he is able to keep me so enthralled as he seamlessly goes from serious to comedy and back again. Even his serious stories are splashed with comic relief, but it is still tastefully done.
Please take note - while SH can be incredibly funny at moments, it is mostly a very serious series. I get mad when people classify SH as a comedy - heck, even Romeo and Juliet had comedy in it, and it was a tradegy. The plot is very serious - the Sorcerers are not nice, and the things they do are not nice. Even some of the Parsoners are not the greatest. Humans are not perfect, and Akahori does not try to portray one side as such. Evil can take on a variety of forms.
However, I can't reccomend this series enough. I love it to death, and as I said before, it is my favorite. It is lisensed by Tokyopop, and they will soon be re-relasing it in right-to-left format. It is also 13 volumes long.
A note to those who are concerned about the shounen-ai: I got into this series long before I got into shounen ai/yaoi. Back then I was actually very much opposed to it, but there is never any actual male/male relationships portrayed. Now the fan fiction takes on a different approach, but like with all fan fiction, that is purely based upon interpretation.
*grins* Here's to hoping that more people will check out this wonderful series. <3
-Iapetus
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Post by Me-Nuriko on Sept 27, 2004 11:26:59 GMT -5
Time for a little canon Boy's Love.  Name: FAKE Author: Samah Matoh Genre: Police action Summary: Ryo starts his new job at the 27th precinct in New York. He get partnered with Dee, a cop who is not very good at following orders. Dee is also openly bisexual, and he starts immediately flirting with Ryo. Ryo is not willing to admit he have feelings for Dee, though. The story is a story about how their relationship develops, but it has a lot of police action, too. Warnings: Boy's love with a lot of kissing, and a little more in the last volume. Murders with a lot of blood. Why I love it: It's a good mix of action and sweet stuff. There are some incredibly sweet scenes between Dee and Ryo, that can make any fangirl go to pieces (and it doesn't have to involve kisses in those scenes). The manga has seven volumes, and for those who have seen the anime but not read the manga, I can tell that the anime is only half the second book. One more thing. It's refreshening with characters that are over 25 years old. Dee is 27 and Ryo is 28. |
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Post by kanshu on Sept 28, 2004 5:18:43 GMT -5
Name: Rebirth
Author: Woo
Genre: Vampire/Fantasy
Summary:
Warnings: Vampires, blood, character death
Why you Love it: Despite the absurdity of the situation, this story has a lot of thoughtful moments and great character portrayal. While the artworkl sometimes is a bit bulky, the characters come across realistic with the right sense of humor.
It's a Korean production, btw. - Tokyopop has licensed it in the USA
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Post by Otaku_princess on Nov 4, 2004 19:32:51 GMT -5
Name: Pet Shop of Horrors
Author: Matsuri Akino
Genre: Horror
Summary: The story revolves around the mysterious and enigmatic Count D and his pet shop in Chinatown. The Count claims that all he sells are "love and dreams," but the overly suspicious Detective Leon Orcot swears that the Count is hiding something more sinister within the bowels of the pet shop. References are made to Count D's father, who is the actual owner of the shop. The Count is just watching over the shop for his father while he's away. Each tale is filled with intrigue, suspense and the macabre, but still has a strong plot line that is weaved into each story. I can't say how it ends because the last and tenth volume of the manga comes out in January *sniff* I do, however, have high hopes for the last volume though.
Warnings: As the name implies, this manga does have obvious horror motifs, and carries an OT (older teen) rating. This one may be a little too much for younger readers to stomach.
Why You Love It: I first became introduced to Pet Shop of Horrors when a friend lent me the DVD (available in stores) which features four stories from the manga; Daugther, Delicious, Despair and Dual (All of the manga's stories, coincidentally enough, begin with the letter D). The DVD intrigued me, and when I heard it was based on a manga, I knew that I had to get it. This is one of those mangas that grabs you by the jugular and doesn't let go. The characters are very believable, and Count D is especially interestring, albiet a little odd. Pet Shop of Horrors is one of my favorite mangas and highly recommended for those who don't mind a little gore.
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Post by Otaku_princess on Nov 18, 2004 19:21:20 GMT -5
Name: Gravitation
Author: Maki Murakami
Genre: Romantic comedy
Summary: The story revolves around Shuichi Shindo's drive to become a rock star just like his idol, Ryuichi Sakuma. Just when Shuichi thought everything was going according to plan, life throws him a curveball in the form of Eiri Yuki, a popular romance author and total heart throb among his female readers. Before Shuichi realizes what's happening, he finds himself falling in love with Eiri. Eiri, on the other hand, is very reluctant with his feelings towards Shuichi but you can tell deep down he really does care about Shuichi.
Warnings: This is a shonen ai (boy's love) manga so readers take caution. There is a fair amount of kissing, and other stuff is alluded to. Nothing too graphic.
Why You Love It: When I first heard about Gravitation I will admit I was a little bit skeptical as to whether or not it would be worth watching. I saw the Gravitation series before reading the manga, but I will admit that the manga is a lot better. Not to discredit the series because it was really good, but you miss a lot of the story. The manga also makes Shuichi a lot more believable as a character. I feel that the series effeminates him a little bit too much. The manga is not complete yet but I can't wait to read more and hopefully the ending will be satisfying.
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Post by Me-Nuriko on Nov 19, 2004 6:16:30 GMT -5
I agree full heartedly that the Gravitation manga is so much better than the anime. If I had seen the anime first I wouldn't have read the manga. I don't like the characterisation of Shuichi in the anime. Unfortunately he's more like the anime-Shuichi in the later manga books.
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Post by Blood_Debt on Nov 27, 2004 3:56:52 GMT -5
Name: WITCH
Author: Umm... I don't know him/her. Originated in Italy
Genre: Sci/fi, fantasy, magic
Summary: Five girls suddenly find themselves the gaurdians of a barrier between two worlds. Problem is, people from one keep trying to break in.
Warnings: Kids comic. Disney. Rumours are that its gonna be a T.V. series
Why you love it: It's cute, but not too cute. And for older people, nostalgic? Dunno, really
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Post by slizziechan on Jan 31, 2005 0:02:15 GMT -5
Blood_Debt: did you mean WITCH as in like W.I.T.C.H.?
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Post by Blood_Debt on Jan 31, 2005 6:55:11 GMT -5
Yup. Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin. (That's where the title comes from - the first letter from each of their names)
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Post by slizziechan on Jan 31, 2005 17:28:58 GMT -5
Okay, I thought so, I've watched the cartoon, also am in the process to get some of the books.
Kinda interesting, but wried too.
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