Ok I know a lot of people will question why I'm putting this here in the comics book forum, so I want to address that first. This thread is mainly to address misconceptions that American comic book fans have about manga/anime. The first portion will be mainly informational, but later on I hope to post suggestions members who are thinking of getting into manga. For example if someone say likes the punisher, then I would recommend a series such as Berserk.
In Japan 1/3rd of all printed materials are manga, and because of this you can find a huge variety of stories and genres
The Genre's and terms of Manga/Anime:
Manga: In Japan this term refers to any comic book whether it is produced in Japan or the U.S. , however for convenience for the rest of the thread I will us the general english definition of the world which is used to refer to Japanese cartoons.
Manwha: Comics produced in Korea. There are a couple of good ones out there, although not quite the same number as Japan. They can mainly be distinguished by the fact that they usually have far more assertive and strongwilled female characters and their drawing styles tend to be far less cartoony than mainstream Japanese or American comics.
Shoujo: Mainly romance stories aimed at younger teen girls between the ages of 8-14.
Shonen:
You know all those action manga that everyone knows about. DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, etc? That would be this category. Ever wondered why those plotlines seemed so simple and repetitive? That's because the target audience is 8-14 year old males.
Seinen:Manga aimed at male readers between the ages of 18-30, this genre tends to have the best plots of most manga and is the most widely read by adults in Japan.
Josei: Manga aimed at females readers between the ages of 18-30. They tend to be romances, but with more developed plots and characters.
Be Careful of:
Yaoi/Shonen Ai: This genre can basically be summed up as guy on guy.
Hentai: Basically cartoon porn.
Yuri: Lesbian manga
Hey we have some female readers on this forum as well.
As for the cartoony comment, the main thing I was trying to get across is that Manwha wends to have a style with a lot of pencilling and shading in. Maybe later I'll post up a some pics of manwha to show you what I mean.
Just to let you know guys, Yuri doesn't necessarily mean pornographic.
Anyways after this point, I'm planning on giving some examples of good jumping off points for people based on what type of comics they like. Got any suggestions on comics to mention?
If you're giving advice based on reader preferences, you may want to do so based on each 'level' people enjoy.
Most will enjoy (more often than not) a certain tier of power.
Some prefer realistic, gritty heroes that are as human as they are - the Punisher, for example. Some people prefer the 'perfect human' type - Batman or Captain America. Some prefer people that are plainly a cut above that - Iron Fist or Spiderman. Some like the kind that can pretty much take on an army and come out of it - Iron Man. Some like the kind that could eradicate the world with a mere thought - a Green Lantern or the Silver Surfer.
Anyways here's the part of thread where I'd like to start recommending series based on what type of comics you read.
I'll start off with one of the big ones, Batman. If you happen to be a fan of the darker portions of the Batman series then I have several suggestions for you.
1. Berserk: Whenever there's a poll about the best manga series ever created, this one almost always ends up on top. The art is amazing, the main character makes the goddamn batman look like a wimp, and despite all of the action the story is incredibly well plotted. With that said I need to make a few caveats here. First there are many highly disturbing scenes in this manga, and more than one rape of major characters. however they are not gratuitous and always serve to move along the story and better develop the characters.
For more information about the series follow this link: http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=88
2. If you happen to prefer the detective aspect with psycho killers involved then I suggest you investigate the series
Monster: Here's a plot summary, When a Doctor makes the highly controversial decision to save a boy's life over the mayor's, it leads to the loss of almost everything he holds dear. His fiance, his career, his social standing. The only thing he keeps is his own feeling of self worth, knowing that he did the right thing in saving the boy, who came in first. Yet even that is threatened when he begins to learn that nothing is as it originally appeared. A trail of bloodshed pointing to the seemingly innocent child who in act turns out to be one of the worst serial killers. Believe me, once you've seen this guy in action, the Joker's going to seem tame.
Link: http://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=127
KMC Community Forums
Sep 28th, 2007 03:14 AM
Just to let you know guys, Yuri doesn't necessarily mean pornographic. 
