I adore Manga and Anime.The art is stunning, the storylines are engrossing, and they are always fun (and slightly addictive) to read. I love Japanese culture...sigh...
So here's a list of my top ten favourites, accompanied by a little description of each, obtained and edited from the Anime News Network and One Manga
1. Death Note
Yagami Light is an ace student who one day discovers the "Death Note": a notebook from the realm of the Death Gods, with the power to kill people with only a name and face. With the Death Note in hand, Light decides to create his perfect world, without crime or criminals. However, when criminals start dropping dead one by one, the authorites send the legendary detective L to track down the killer, and a battle of wits, deception and logic ensues...
2. Howl's Moving Castle
A plain young girl's life is changed when an evil witch transforms her into an old woman. Sophie runs away in search of a cure, and along the way, Sophie encounters the moving castle owned by the dreaded wizard Howl. There she befriends Howl's apprentice Markl, Howl's fire demon Calcifer, and eventually, the beautiful Howl himself, who has his own terrible secrets...
3. Naruto
In a world populated by ninjas with amazing powers, Naruto Uzumaki is a boy with dreams of becoming a great ninja himself. Little does Naruto know, an evil demon was placed inside him to protect his village...
4. Fruits Basket
The enigmatic Sohma family shares a great secret; its members are possessed by spirits of the Chinese Zodiac, which appear when they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex.
Tohru Honda, an orphaned high school freshman, is given lodging in the Sohma household in exchange for taking care of household chores, she discovers their secret, and but begins to fall in love...
5. Pokemon
Young Ash Ketchum sets out on a journey to befriend and train Pokemon - creatures of nature that possess amazing abilities.
6. Ouran High School Host Club
Haruhi, a female scholarship student at exclusive Ouran High School, breaks an $80,000 vase that belongs to the "Host Club", a mysterious campus group consisting of six super-rich (and gorgeous) guys. To pay back the damages, she is forced to work for the club, dressed as a guy. It's there that she discovers just how different these boys are, and begins to fall in love...
7. One Piece
Seeking to be the greatest pirate in the world, young Monkey D. Luffy, endowed with stretching powers from the legendary "Gomu Gomu" Devil's fruit, travels towards the Grand Line in search of One Piece, the greatest treasure in the world.
8. Bleach
Ichigo Kurosaki has always been able to see ghosts, but when he encounters Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki.While fighting an evil Hollow spirit, Rukia attempts to lend Ichigo some of her powers so that he can save his family from Hollows; but Ichigo absorbs every last drop of her energy. Now a full-fledged Soul Reaper himself, Ichigo quickly learns that the world he inhabits is one full of dangerous spirits and, along with Rukia, it's Ichigo's job to protect the innocent from Hollows and help the spirits themselves find peace.
9. Her Majesty's Dog
Amane Kamori is a powerful medium, able to control living creatures and things through the use of its real name. Her her guardian demon dog is Hyoue, who she powers up through kissing. Forbidden from revealing her identity, she and Hyoue move to Tokyo, where together, they work to help both the living and the dead.
Amane deals with jealous classmates who don't understand why the handsome Hyoue is so devoted to her, as well as with her own family attempting to force her to come home. The family attempts to break her bond with Hyoue. Hyoue hedevotes himself to his master, while struggling to hide the forbidden feelings he has for her.
10. Chobits
In the future, personal computers have developped into "Persocons", mobile computers that look like human beings. Hideki Motosuwa, a prep school student, recovers an outdated Persocon, who can only say "Chii". Having much better performance, it soon becomes apparent that Chii may be a "Chobit", an advanced Persocon rumoured to have independent thought.
So that's it! There's my top ten. Ahhh...it brings back so many wonderful memories.
Q: Do you or have you, every read/watched manga/anime? If so, do you like it, and what are your favourites? (If you have any)
17 comments:
Thanks to a paper I was working on in my Adv Children's Lit course, I momentarily got a wild hair and thought, "What if I published the series I'm working on as a graphic novel?" I dunno. Something to think about, I guess.
Forgot to answer your question. Yes, I've watched anime: Dragonball, Inuyasha, and Naruto. My hubby was going through a phase and I watched several episodes.
Blog hopping! Thanks for your sweet comments on my site! Have you seen Inuashya? If you haven't you've got to check it out!
Have a great Weekend!
A Cozy Reader's Corner
I LOVE mangas! Just a moment ago I was reading the 34th issue of One Piece! It's probably my favorite manga! haha i just love Luffy and the crew XD I've also read the manga series Fruits Basket. Love Kyo! Also watched the anime but they only have the first few books made into anime. Hmmm, I've watched the anime of The Ouran high School Host Club. I really loved it and thought it was pretty funny!!
I've been meaning to read Bleach for a while now and there are just so many Naruto mangas i don't know if I can handle them all!
One of my other favorites is Vampire Knight! LOVE LOVE the series! It's kind of confusing but very good. I've read a bunch of small series too. There is just something about them that are so addicting! Thanks for sharing your favorites! :D
Thanks for the comments, guys!!
Celise: OMG, that would be so amazing if you wrote a graphic novel - I'd definitely read it!!
Caitlin: (commented on your lovely blog!)
Tiffany: no problem! Your blog is lovely, and yes, I'll check out Inuyasha - I've been meaning to for a while.
I'm a fan of manga and anime too. Though my choice of manga is influenced by the anime I've watched. I enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle, Naruto, Bleach and Chobits too. But the one I really love on your list is One Piece.
Occasionally I do but the only anime I ever developed an obsession with is Nodame Cantabile. I simply love it!
In your list I really liked "Ouran High School Host Club" and "Howl's moving castle"
I got say Ouran, Fruits Basket, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Rurouni Kenshin, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Escaflowne, Gunslinger Girl Tenchi Muyo and Full Metal Alchemist are some of the animes I enjoy just thinking of the top of my head. My mom bought me Chobits for some event and I don't know if she realized how dirty it could be at times. I like Magical shopping arcade and excel saga too. I love anime spoofs.
I think it would be so awesome to write a graphic novel. I'm trying to adapt one of my anime inspired novels into a graphic novel. There are something you can do visually that don't really translate well in text.
I read a loooot of Manga, mostly shoujo (and I confess that some of the best ones don't get licensed). I like Ouran, I hope it ends happily. Have you tried Skip Beat? It's like one of my most favourite manga of all times. I was so not a fan of Fruit Baskets. The heroine drove me nuts with her docility and her entire character.
Here are some good ones you should check out:
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=376 (This one is like number one in Japan.)
http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=3058
Nodame Cantabile, definitely. If you read the manga, you definitely have to check out the live action drama. They translated it over so perfectly well.
Kaichou wa Maid Sama is pretty good too. Have you tried Manhwa (basically manga but written/drawn by Korean artists instead. There's a marked difference in their works.) Try Bride of the Water God. The art in that is out of the world.
I think I sort of wrote an essay. Sorry. I get so excited about manga/manhwa. Hehe.
Hopping over to say have a great weekend! And my favourite anime would have to be:
Golden Boy!!
Don't forget to have a look at my Giveaway if you haven't already!
Lu
I used to be into anime, but the high cost and the huge number of frankly obnoxious fans drove me away. I still get the U.S. version of Shonen Jump, which is a good deal just for the "Big Three" (Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece). Before burning out on it, I also read Death Note and Claymore. The latter was pretty good, the former... kinda uneven.
Oh, and Yotsuba&!. But everyone likes Yotsuba&!. ^_^
Thanks for your comment on my Stolen review, Tina! I quite enjoyed "Choose Your Own Adventure" books at one point, they're lots of fun. Stolen does combine first and second-person narrative (it's basically a really long letter written by the main character to her captor) so I don't think it would come across as too controlling. Hope you enjoy it when you get a chance to read it!
I really love Manga, and Howl's.. is one of my fav movies - I really enjoy all of Miyazaki's movies, anything by studio Ghibli really :)
I haven't seen Bleach, but it is probably on my list - half way thru DeathNote now.
e-Volving Books
Great list! I love Bleach, Death Note, Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Host Club, Naruto, and Howl's Moving Castle too. Monster, Kekkaishi, and Gundam 00 are all really good too.
Have you seen Castle in the Sky and Princess Mononoke? ^_^
Hi Tina,
I love reading manga and watching animes! From your list I like Death Note, Naruto, Fruits Basket, Ouran High School Club and Bleach.
I also love Vampire Knight, Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji), Otomen, Black Bird, Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Magic Knight Rayearth, Escaflowne, Fushigi Yuugi, etc. There are alot more but I think that should be enough for now!
I read Queenie Chan's "The dreaming" and was pleased to learn that she's an Australian author/illustrator, a rare thing.
I prefer graphic novels to manga (maybe it's my age). I think you have to have a particular mind-set to get into manga, and I'm not sure how to do that. My recent favourite graphic novels are "Skim" by Mariko Tamaki, "Fluffy" by Simone Lia and of course the graphic version of "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman. ANYthing by Neil Gaiman. In the past I've really enjoyed "Watchmen" by Alan Moore, although I'd say it's probably more for an adult audience.
Any suggestions about other Australian manga titles?
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