Opinions welcome

antique bakeryLet’s start off with a question for you: MangaBlog reader David Hearst recently asked me to recommend some manga. Here’s what he likes:

I’ve found that I really enjoy “slice of life” stories like Yotsubato and Azumanga Daioh. I just started reading Aria today and am enjoying it for it’s simplicity.

I suggested Emma, Tokyo Is My Garden, The Walking Man, Antique Bakery, and Cafe Kichijoji de. Readers, do you have any other ideas?

Along the same lines, The Comic Book Bin has a new reviewer, Andy Doan, who freely confesses that vol. 26 of Iron Wok Jan, the book he is reviewing, is the first manga he has ever read. He proposes to critique it as he would any other graphic novel, which I think is a legitimate approach, as it’s pretty much the one I use myself. However, after reading the review I strongly suspect he picked the wrong book to start with. So, again, can anyone recommend some starter manga that are free of the conventions that bug newcomers (i.e. characters that look the same, endless recaps of what just happened)?

OK, on to the news. Over at Comicsnob, Matt Blind looks at Japanese sales figures, with the help of Google translation, and concludes that manga sales are down to $4.5 billion, still a respectable figure, even as it gains significance as a diplomatic tool. Click for some interesting meandering. Matt also provides us with online sales numbers for last week and his manga watch list for the week to come.

Katherine Dacey presents the week’s new releases and short takes on a few likely titles in her Weekly Recon at PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog.

And at The Yaoi Review, Sakura Kiss looks at some May releases.

Lissa Pattillo is making her plans for summer reviews; she plans to review some older series and she welcomes guest reviews from fellow Canadians.

There’s a preview up at MySpace of a new Tokyopop global title, Bad Kitty!

At the MangaCast, Ed looks at the weekly manga sales rankings from Taiyosha, doujinshi rankings from Toranoana, and has a group discussion on a mysterious message from a reader.

Reviews: Over at Good Comics for Kids, Kate Dacey reviews Spy Goddess: The Chase for the Chalice. Dave White reviews vols. 1-6 of Skip Beat, with plenty of scans and some insightful comments about the art. Matthew Brady critiques vol. 7 of Monster at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Michelle reads vol. 2 of 7SEEDS (in Japanese) at Soliloquy in Blue. Julie reviews vol. 5 of Nosatsu Junkie at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Okazu, Erica Friedman goes for the less than profound with a look at vol. 2 of Battle Club. Julie Rosato checks out vol. 1 of Nephilim, Greg Hackmann reviews vol. 1 of The Third, and Sakura Eries takes a quick look at vol. 8 of School Rumble at Anime on DVD. Dave Ferraro reviews vol. 1 of Dororo at Comics-and-More. Tiamat’s Disciple takes a look at vols. 1-5 of Rose Hip Zero and vols. 1-7 of Enchanter. Deb Aoki reviews vol. 1 of Kieli at About.com

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Comments

  1. Planetes is a beautifully drawn, character-driven series that, at five volumes, is a newbie-friendly length. I might also recommend a short story collection like Snow Goddess Tales (Shirahime-Syo) or Japan As Viewed by 17 Creators to someone who’s just beginning to read manga.

  2. If it wasn’t already sixteen voluems long, and no end in sight, I’d recomend the Fullmetal Alchemist manga. Actually, I’d probably recomend it anyway.

    Either that or Death Note. Everyone loves Death Note.

    What about the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. It’s a great horror(?) series, and doesn’t have many ‘manga-isms’.

  3. Off my head ~ Voices of a Distant Star; Running Through the City in the Sunset (Korean); Words of Devotion (shounen-ai); Real; Boys from Our Town; Young Guns (Korean) … perhaps, Solanin and Genshiken.

    For something a bit quirky: BECK (I think it’s called ‘Mongolian Chop Squad’ in the US?).

    Not slice of life but notable manga: In the Hour of the Mouse; Confession; Monster; Goth; 20th Century Boys; Concrete Garden (shounen-ai); Kwaïdan (legendary ghost stories) – ugh, I’d better stop.

    Miyamoto Kano’s ‘Say Please’, maybe? It’s yaoi, but not so much.

  4. Oh, must suggest almost anything by Yumeka Sumono, too.

  5. David Hearst says

    Thank you Brigid for all your suggestions, I’ll be sure to check them out! I’m actually reading some of the manga that your readers have suggested (Death Note and Monster…not really ‘slice of life’ but good none the less) but, there are a lot of titles suggested here that I’ve never heard of. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone and keep em coming. ^_^

  6. lol anything but death note!!!

    *cough* okay, some of the ones i’d reccomend.

    Ah My Goddess of course, thats a must!!
    Line by Kotegawa Yua
    Anne Freaks by Kotegawa Yua
    Ai Yori Aoshi by Fumuzuki Kou
    Shirley by Mori Kaoru (not released till december sadly)
    Emma by Mori Kaoru
    xXx Holic by Clamp (A must have!!!)
    Lament of the Lamb by Touma Kei (another must have!!!)
    Monster Collection by Sei Itoh (heavy fanservice true, but bloody funny)

    I can post more lol, i have an entire house made from manga now hehe

  7. I’d suggest Flower of Life and Love Roma, two quirky yet sweet high school comedies with great characters and plenty of laughs. And I think they both have enough observational humor about everyday events to qualify as “slice of life.”

  8. danielle leigh says

    I just did a rec of xxxholic for new manga readers here at Comics Should Be Good — Question of the Month Column:
    http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2008/05/12/comics-should-be-goods-question-of-the-month/

    The other guys on the blog answer with suggestions for U.S. comics as well.

  9. David Hearst says

    Let me ask you all a question about xxxHolic. Does it get better after the first volume? xxxHolic is one of those series that is recommended by a lot of people. I picked it up a few months ago and was very unimpressed. I found the main character, Watanuki, very annoying which may have tainted my overall opinion of the manga. However, if the series gets better in later volumes I may try reading once again.

    Thanks for the additional suggestions!

  10. badtzphoto says

    I’d recommend “Someday’s dreamers” Written by Norie Yamada and illustrated by Kumichi Yoshizuki. It’s about a girl learning to use her magic and take an exam to be come a magic user. There are 2 books in this series.
    The authors have another one also called “Someday’s dreamers: Spellbound” 5 volumes, I think, about a reluctant magic user. These 2 series are independent from each other.

  11. Major kudos to John Jakala for rec’ing two of my favorite manga!!!! XD

  12. I ditto the slice-of-life recs for Flower of Life and Yumeka Sumomo, both of which I love. I’d also add Honey and Clover, although it takes a while for it to get to the good parts, but when it does, it’s excellent.

    xxxHolic starts very slowly and gets much, much better later. Watanuki in particular develops more depth as the series goes on and stops spazzing out as much, and once the series gets past the wish-of-the-week syndrome, the main story arc is great. I think it starts picking up around v. 4 or 5?

  13. For something atmospheric in a bit of the same way as “Aria” and “Yotsuba&!”, although it’s a bit older, I might recommend “Spirit of Wonder.” I wouldn’t call it a great series, it’s just one volume and pretty insubstantial, but it has a bit of that same “love of life’s wonder” flavor, and some nice, super-detailed art.

  14. Re: xxxHolic. It gets loads better (although I confess, I liked it to begin with…) with the introduction of some juicy plot to string along around the later volumes.

    Slice of life? Hn..second the “Love Roma” rec, and would of course counsel you to pick up Aqua, since it, well, is Aria. To that I would add Honey and Clover, Hotel Africa, perhaps Kare Kano and the ever lovely Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms.

  15. Anonymous says

    Sunshine Sketch, as soon as it comes out this June. A 4koma series a lot like Azumanga Daioh.

  16. Too many good recommendations to list in here, though I’ll really strongly second or third Love Roma, Flower of Life, Japan, Honey and Clover, and everything Brigid suggested initially, and add 10, 20 and 30, Sand Chronicles, Translucent, and Suppli, which are each lovely in their own ways.

  17. I think XXX Holix is like Tsubasa Chronicles, it sucks at first but before you know it it’s hooked you. I hated both Holic and Tsubasa at first, but by the time i’d read three vols of holic i was hooked

  18. I would suggest:

    Honey & Clover
    Me2
    Strawberry Marshmellow
    Voice of a Distant Star
    Love Roma

    Out of those books, I love honey&Clover. It may take some time to get used to the art and story flow (sometimes the pages are overflowing with dialogue) but its a really good read after a few chapters. Strawberry Marshmello is a pretty funny one. Theres no big plot, just funny stories between the characters, sometimes heartwarming. I havent read Love Roma (i have skimmed a few pages) but I heard its pretty good and i might check it out myself. I own Voice of a Distant star and its a fabulous short story.

  19. For slice of life comics — hm. Yotsuba&!, Aqua/Aria, Walking Man would top my list too. It’s probably out of print, but Short Program by Mitsuru Adachi has a similar, wistful mood — and as a single volume of short stories, it doesn’t require a long-term commitment.

    I also tend to push Mushishi on friends who are more into indie comics than manga and got good responses from that. I also like Nodame Cantabile and Vagabond — tho I’ll admit it took me a bit to get used to Nodame’s loose, quirky style. Vagabond, at 27 volumes — well, it’s gorgeous and fascinating — but it’s a commitment to read all of them. Still, I think they’re well worth reading for their artistry and originality.

  20. After thinking this over, I’d have to second David’s suggestions of Suppli and Sand Chronicles, as well as second (or perhaps third?) the suggestion of Honey and Clover.

    I’d also add Maison Ikkaku, an oldie but goodie I recently got into thanks to my local library, and Nana, which has recently gotten quite good and is proving addictive, especially since I was a huge punk rock fan back in high school.

  21. Slice of life? TRANSLUCENT all the way. The most realistic, funny and moving supporting character in a manga I have seen in a long time.

  22. No “Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou”? I’m not 100% sure if it’s released in English yet, though.

  23. Iron Wok Jan # 26 was hard to read, #27 on the other hand was pure pleasure.

Trackbacks

  1. […] Filed under: Linkblogging — davidpwelsh @ 8:06 am I can’t resist list-making. Over at MangaBlog, Brigid Alverson shares a request from a reader for “slice-of-life” manga. Excellent […]