Some people are surprised by the complete exclusion of comics from Japan from the A.V. Club’s list of the best comics of the ’00s. In the midst of all of the semantic discussion of when decades begin and end in the comments over at The Beat, the Club’s Noel Murray explains:
“There’s no manga largely because most of us only dabble in manga (at best), and if we even tried to acknowledge it we’d likely come off underinformed. (I did consider DRIFTING LIFE, though.)”
…
Moving on.
So for fun, why not pick five manga titles you think merit inclusion in such a list? Don’t overthink it. Just toss out the first five that pop into your head. I’ll start:
One Piece, (Eiichiro Oda, Viz) Pluto & Monster (Naoki Urasawa, Viz), Vagabond (Takehiko Inoue, Viz), Yotsuba&! (Azuma Kiyohiko, ADV/Yen Press).
I guess I’m a Viz fan?
Nothing wrong with that!
Flower of Life (Fumi Yoshinaga).
Paradise Kiss (Ai Yazawa).
Pluto (Naoki Urasawa).
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (Fumiyo Kouno).
Emma (Kaoru Mori).
Wow, asking me not to overthink something is like asking me not to breathe, but here it goes:
Pluto, by Naoki Urasawa, VIZ
After School Nightmare, by Setona Mizushiro, GoComi
Tekkon Kinkreet, by Taiyo Matsumoto, VIZ
Flower of Life, by Fumi Yoshinaga, DMP
Fruits Basket, by Natsuki Takaya, Tokyopop
From your inclusion of Swan and MW, I’m guessing that you mean “translated in the 00s” rather than “originally published in the 00s”. Therefore:
Tekkonkinkreet, Uzumaki, The Times of Botchan, Ouran High School Host Club, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.
(Would you say that MW is better than Ode to Kirihito and/or Apollo’s Song? I’ve read the latter two but not the former, and the description of the former has made me leery.)
Katherine, I was just going with books translated in that period.
Honestly, you should be totally leery of MW, but it made such a vivid and lasting impression on me that it popped immediately to mind. I don’t know that it’s better than other Tezuka titles that have been published, but it’s the one that made the most noise in my head at that moment.
And because I can’t help myself my “favorite” 5 that aren’t necessarily the titles I consider the best of the decade:
Skip Beat (Yoshiki Nakamura)
NANA (Ai Yazawa)
xxxholic (Clamp)
From Eroica with Love (Yasuko Aoike)
Junjo Romantica (Shungiku Nakamura)
Pluto
20th Century Boys
Astro Boy
Buddha
xxxHolic
Those are the five that come to mind first.
(Thanks for you’re patience.)
This is what I came up with:
Dororo (Osamu Tezuka)
Antique Bakery (Fumi Yoshinaga)
NANA (Ai Yazawa)
Emma (Kaoru Mori)
Tekkon Kinkreet (Taiyo Matsumoto)
Nice mix of styles and genres, I think.
Hmmm…
Emma
Mars
A Drifting Life
Parasyte (Del Rey)
Drifting Classroom
Oh, my two loves, Shojo and horror manga, right on display.
And I could have added “Mail” to that list, too.
You know, I think I’ll drop the vote for Ouran and replace it with one for Junjo Romantica. (Thanks for reminding me, Danielle!)
Cardcaptor Sakura
Her Majesty’s Dog
Fullmetal Alchemist
From Far Away
Venus In Love
Emma
Pluto
Crimson Hero
After School Nightmare
Planetes
Pluto
Fullmetal Alchemist
Dororo
Saiyuki
Dragonball
Good-Bye, Pluto, 20th Century Boys, Monster Men, Drifting Classroom
Pulling out favorites in story, characterization, reach, and enjoyment, I offer:
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fruits Basket
Black Jack
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
Yotsuba&!
Bit too sleepy to think it fully through but I would say:
XXXholic
Fruits Basket
Genshiken
Nana
Sand Chronicles
Times of Botchan (Tanuguchi)
Phoenix (Tezuka)
Blue (Nananan)
Yokahama Kaidashi Kikou (Ashinano)
Lone Wolf & Cub
Phoenix
Pluto
Red Snow
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
To Terra
Pluto
Saint Young Man
Yotsuba&
Scott Pilgrim
Panorama-to kitan
Yotsuba&!
The Walking Man
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
Planetes
New Engineering
Crap, Uzumaki too; but that’s 6…
Youstuba&!
Pluto
Vagabond
Detroit Metal City
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
[...] the manga gap is glaring. David Welsh suggests folks naming their five favorite manga of the ten years past, and I’ll endorse that [...]
Buddha
Pluto
Real
Apollo’s Song
Yotsuba
Akira (Dark Horse release)
Blade of the Immortal
Eden
Vagabond
Berserk
Aaaaaaah, this is impossible!
Uzumaki
Planetes
Sexy Voice and Robo
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
Disappearance Diary
But my list doesn’t have any Tezuka on it (Ode to Kirohito I think), any shonen comics (Eyeshield21, Hikaru no Go, Naruto, Bleach), Yotsuba&!, Drifting Classroom (vol 10!!!!!) or any of the other stuff I’ve sure I’ve forgotten as I didn’t even go look up other books just chose five from the lists other people made. Barefoot Gen! The last of the flipped manga.
[...] Manga | In response to the exclusion of manga from The A.V. Club's best comics of the decade, blogger David Welsh puts out the call for five Japanese comics that merit inclusion on the list. [Precocious Curmudgeon] [...]
I will just second the motion on the previous manga mentioned:
One Piece
Swan
Detroit Metal City
and add my own:
Nodame Cantabile
Tsubasa RC (the story pretended to be nothing but froth until the plot just kept spilling out suspense and heart-wrenching moments from then on)
Almost every person here lists Yotsuba&!, maybe I should get going on it.
Parasyte
Cardcaptor Sakura (or maybe Wish)
Fullmetal Alchemist
Antique Bakery
Pluto
Going with some personal favorites:
Black Jack
Oishinbo
Yotsuba&!
School Rumble
Ouran High School Host Club
Fullmetal Alchemist
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
Penguin Revolution
Tramps Like Us
REAL
I could add another five easily, these are the ones that just leaped at me from the bookshelf
NANA
Fruits Basket
Honey and Clover
Solanin
Skip Beat
Pluto
Buddha
20th Century Boys
Black Jack
Astroboy
Kare Kano
Tramps Like Us
Fruits Basket
Nodame Cantabile
Solanin
I pick Kare Kano because it’s such a different kind of shojo, yet it’s entirely easy to read if you’re a teenager. The others are pretty obvious choices…
NANA
+Anima
Ode To Kirihito
20th Century Boys
Sand Chronicals
But that barely scratches the surface!
[...] learn or hire someone. David Welsh takes steps to remedy this at Precocious Curmudgeon, where he nominates his top manga for the decade and invites others to join [...]
This was harder than I thought to just name five, but I decided to focus on titles not mentioned yet.
Maison Ikkoku
Petshop of Horrors
Baby & Me
Dance till Tomorrow
Club 9
It’s just so sad to only list five, there are easily so many more.
Monster, by Naoki Urasawa
Ode to Kirihito, by Osamu Tezuka
Tekkon Kinkreet, by Taiyo Matsumoto
Real, by Takehiko Inoue
Nana, by Ai Yazawa
There, that’s my five, written without looking at any of the other comments, pretty much off the top of my head.
I’m not up on what’s being translated (I read in the original Japanese), but five of my own top manga that first appeared after January 2000 would be:
Nodame Cantabile, by Tomoko Ninomiya
Wandering Son (Hourou musuko), by Takako Shimura
Pluto, by Naoki Urasawa
Otherworld Barbara (Barubara ikai), by Moto Hagio
With Or Without Me (Watashi ga itemo inakutemo), by Ryo Ikeumi
From Far Away
Azumanga Daioh
Monster
Kindaichi Case Files
Aqua/Aria (Technically 2 titles, but it’s all one story)
Matt: Only two of those (Pluto and Nodame) are licensed. I’m dying for someone to pick up the Moto Hagio book, and I’m sure after some research, I’ll desperately want the other two as well.
What’s awesome is that there’s entirely too many choices, I think. Here’s the ones that jump to mind for me (though they’re obviously weighted toward the more recent releases)–
-Fluffy Gigolo Pelu (I think Mizuno’s fantastic and totally unique. This is the volume where all her talents sync up like magic)
-Ode to Kirihito (Honestly, this could be “what’s the top 5 Tezuka releases of the decade” and you’d still fall short)
-20th Century Boys (Urasawa is such a discovery)
-Blue (I have this in Japanese and loved it despite not knowing what was going on at all. The translation only made me love it more)
-Eagle (this early decade release really opened my eyes to what manga could be)
Or maybe Swan? Or Antique Bakery? Or Tekkon Kinkrete? How do you pick?
[...] I know Friday is usually license request day, but when Matt Thorn stops by to list his five favorite manga of the current decade, you make an exception. Two are already being [...]
[...] or whenever), and the breadth and depth of Shogakukan’s catalog, and even Thorn’s own list of the best manga of the early 2000s, the possibilities seem satisfyingly vast. And while Gary Groth may not be the cuddliest messenger [...]