Great Manga Gift Guide!

The manga bloggers around the net are creating manga gift guides. Here is mine, vaguely sorted by initial date of publication in Japan. At the end is also my PIECE OF COAL choice for the worst thing you could ever give.

Black Jack. 17 volumes (8 currently available in English). Published in Japan by Akita Shoten in their magazine Shonen Champion, from 1973 to 1981. Published in North America by Vertical. There's a lot of Tezuka out there to recommend now, thank the Lord, but this is still probably my favorite. The mostly episodic story of a scarred doctor who charges exorbitant fees for his care, it's an examination of ethics and moral dilemmas all over the world. The medical plots range from the outrageous to the even MORE outrageous (after all, if you have a dull normal medical problem, you aren't paying Black Jack 30 million). Black Jack himself is quite an odd duck, being about the polar opposite of the happy-go-lucky all for adventure shonen heroes you see these days. The series can get quite dark, though there is a large helping of morbid humor as well, and there's always Black Jack's "daughter" Pinoko for broad comedy. It's an addicting series, and one every manga lover should read.

Oishinbo. 103 volumes and still running (6 currently available in English as "best ofs", sorted by food). Published in Japan by Shogakukan in their magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1984 to the present. Published in North America by Viz. It seems odd to recommend a series that will likely never be out here in North America completely. Viz's omnibus is scheduled for 1 more volume. And Oishinbo does have fun characters, from the hero Yamaoka, grumpy cuss who knows his food; his grumpy dad who knows his food even better, Yuzan; Yamaoka's partner and later wife, Yuka, who seems to be the only one who can out-manipulate both of them. It would be great to see the development of their story over all 103+ volumes. But this isn't Naruto, folks. Viz was nice just to give us this much. And when you get right down to it, it's irrelevant, as Oishinbo is about the FOOD. There have been various food mangas over here, usually involving either battles or focusing on the owners and waiters of a restaurant, but none devotes such loving care to the preparation and presentation of food as Oishinbo does.

Excel Saga. 23 volumes and still running (19 currently available in North America, the 20th is out in December). Published in Japan by Shonen Gahosha in their magazine Young King OURS from 1996 to the present. Published in North America by Viz. If ever there was a series damaged by its anime counterpart, it's Excel Saga. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love the Excel Saga anime. But the manga, which shares a basic premise and characters with it but not much else, is a much deeper and more interesting kettle of fish. Many who read it wanting the metatextual zaniness of the anime were turned off. Which is a shame, as this is still one of the funniest mangas currently being published. The story of Excel, a lackey at the evil organization ACROSS, and her attempts to take over the world for her master Il Palazzo-sama, Excel Saga starts off as an episodic parody of Japanese corporate culture, with both the heroes and villains functioning very much as salarymen. As the plot thickens, though, and we learn that several of the characters are over 10,000 years old, there's an addicting force that keeps you reading. Excel, while still very genki and strange, is a fantastic deadpan snarker as well. Oh, and it's translated by Carl Horn, with extensive footnotes.

One Piece. 55 volumes and still running (22 currently available in North America, 23 is due out in December). Published in Japan by Shueisha in their magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from 1997 to the present. Published in North America by Viz. Yes, I know, it's hard to recommend 55+ mangas as presents. But better to get it now before the giant blitz of 30 volumes that starts this January! Plus this series, which tends to get regarded as the poor cousin of Naruto and Bleach, is better than both of them. It's about Luffy, a young boy who is determined to be King Of The Pirates. In a fun adventures way, not in a rape and pillage way. He also eats a devil fruit that lets his body stretch like rubber. Gathering his crew one by one, all of whom are fantastic characters with tragic backstories, they sail the Grand Line, getting in huge, well-drawn fights that never confuse the reader, having hilarious conversations with each other that make everyone's face's go insane (except Robin, of course), and having absolutely no romantic shenanigans at all. A combination of a poor anime dub, dislike of the strangeness, and lack of shipping has made this a "failure" in comparison to Naruto. Let's fix that. It's better.

I Hate You More Than Anyone! 13 volumes (8 currently available in English). Published in Japan by Hakusensha in their magazine Hana To Yume from 1997 to 2001. Published in North America by CMX. Some other manga reviewers might be recommending well-written, bittersweet shoujo like Sand Chronicles and We Were There. They're good titles, indeed. But screw that, give me shoujo that's funny. This hideously underrated series is about Kazuha, the oldest of a family of six who is a junior (and later senior) in high school. She has a crush on a young man who runs a daycare, and an angry dislike of the young man's devil-may-care, slightly effeminate friend. Guess who she ends up falling for eventually. Featuring romantic subplots that can make the mood turn on a dime (no serious revelation goes by without being undercut in some way), Wile E. Coyote-like cartoon violence (at one point the heroine shoves her best friend out a 3rd story window), and a hero who is a tease but who isn't a giant jerk (which means this clearly isn't published by Shogakukan, then), I Hate You More Than Anyone! is simply a shoujo romance that is FUN. It also features the best beta couple I've ever read with Kazuha's best friend Senko (grumpy tsundere, emphasis on the tsun) and Maki's best friend Honjo (a deadpan snarker par excellance). And some of the characters also cameo in VB Rose, a series by the same author out from Tokyopop.

Aqua and Aria. 2 + 12 volumes, respectively (2 + 5 currently available in English). Published in Japan by Square Enix (Aqua) and Mag Garden (Aria) in their magazines Stencil (Aqua) and Comic Blade (Aria) from 2001 to 2008. Published in North America by Tokyopop. This series is just relaxing. Some manga I get excited to read, some I get anxious to read, but only Aria gives me a sense of peace. The story of a young woman on Mars (renamed Aqua), which has been terraformed in the 24th century, and her training as a gondolier (undine) in the city of Neo-Venezia, this manga not only deals with Akari and her best friends Aika and Alice coming of age, but is also an excuse to feature some beautiful art. Neo-Venezia is meant to be Venice, only the idealized Venice we always wanted, filled with wide-open spaces, open-air cafes where you can chat with the owner, and creepy underground passages that let you meet with giant cat gods. Not quite science fiction, not really fantasy, Aria probably falls in the genre "slice-of-life". But what a relaxing, pure life it is.

Gatcha Gacha. 8 volumes (7 currently available in English, series is on hiatus). Published in Japan by Hakusensha in their magazine Melody from 2002 to 2008. Published in North America by Tokyopop. Yes, I know. Recommending an abandoned series is intensely cruel. Sales on this were dreadful (possibly as the title is one letter away from a mediocre shonen title from Del Rey), and though it currently only has one volume left, I suspect Tokyopop's fortunes will have to get much better before it comes out. But man, this was awesome. A classic example of josei that's marketed as shoujo over here (and with good reason), this story technically stars Yuri, a happy-go-lucky girl who is intensely into loving her man. So intense, in fact, that she can never keep one - she's broken up with 13 guys as they find her too "heavy". Yuri sometimes angsts, but for the most part is able to move on, and is usually able to stand up for herself. When things get too tough, though, there's Motoko. Motoko is the reason to read this series. Brash and tomboyish, but looking like a beautiful long-haired female, she walks through the series either trying to stare at other women (she's not gay, she just likes looking at other women - uh huh) or getting into fights, she's a fantastic character who won the magazine's character poll running away. The characters and amusing situations are what make this worth reading. And if enough of you buy it, maybe it can be finished!

Strawberry Marshmallow. 6 volumes and still running (5 currently available in English). Published in Japan by Mediaworks in their magazine Dengeki Daioh from 2002 to the present. Published in North America by Tokyopop. Sure, the target audience for this manga may be the source of many arguments on online forums, but who cares? This is fun. The story of Nobue, a young chain-smoking high school girl, and the four 12-year-old girls she tends to run herd on. Well, technically. In reality, this manga is about Miu, an incredibly funny jerkass who causes chaos wherever she goes, and the reactions of everyone else to her antics. The art tends towards the lolicon, I will admit, but I like reading funny manga, and this is funny. Matsuri is such a pathetic drip that it's hysterical, especially when you see her typical day consists of needing help even walking in a straight line. Chika and Miu actually make great partners-in-crime, as well as the boke and tsukkomi team they were born to be. And Nobue is the reader stand in, there to stare at the cute girls and occasionally give Miu a beating. Adorable fun.

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. 12 volumes and still ongoing (10 currently published in English). Published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, in several magazines (currently Young Ace) from 2002 to the present. Published in North America by Dark Horse. I'll be honest with you, I don't like horror. Never seen Friday the 13th, The Ring holds no appeal for me, and I tend to avoid horror manga as well. But this is so well done, with a vein of jet-black humor, that's it's completely won me over. This manga features a ragtag bunch of misfits who decide to combine their excessively odd skills to form a company that grants the last wishes of the recently deceased. As you might imagine, this gets them involved in many shady murders, creepy scientific horror plays, and even some old Japanese legends from World War II. But they go about it with a sense of snark that is one of the best in manga, and everyone is interesting. My favorites are Karasu, the buddhist monk in training who is the hero, sort of, as well as Yuji, who can channel a foul-mouthed puppet from space on his left hand. And if you think that sounds ridiculous... yes. Not for the faint-hearted (some of the horror images are nightmarish), this is still utterly addicting. Oh, and it too is translated by Carl Horn, with extensive footnotes. Carl knows how to pick the best.

Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei. 19 volumes and still running (4 currently available in English). Published in Japan by Kodansha in their magazine Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2005 to the present. Published in North America by Del Rey. My current obsession. And an excellent example of a series that gradually becomes something else. Zetsubou-sensei is the story of Nozomu Itoshiki, a chronically depressed teacher who wears old-fashioned hakama, and his class of eccentric high school students, each with a trademark character tic. Or two. Or four. As the series goes on, though, it's less about the insane girls and their insane teacher, and more about pointing out the foibles in Japanese society. The footnotes are incredibly dense for this one - It's the most newbie-unfriendly manga on this list - but much of the humor is universal, pointing out things such as being the 'deciding vote' in a deadlock (and the power it grants you), or people who take pride in negative things (such as disliking Twilight, for example). All of this is done with a deliberately stark art style that is totally suited to black and white (it rarely has color pages). And as the series goes on, the characters get broader and more violent. It's a fantastic gag series, technically a parody of harem mangas but actually a parody of EVERYTHING.

COAL:

Deus Vitae. 3 volumes (all 3 published in North America). Published in Japan by Kodansha in their Magazine Magazine Z in 2004. Published in North America by Tokyopop. Before the artist made it big by drawing a carbon copy of Akamatsu's superior Negima manga and calling it Negima Neo, he put out this sleazy piece of crap in one of Kodansha's many seinen magazines (one I think is now dead). The plot is completely incomprehensible, so describing it is impossible. Sci-fi, rebelling against the system, lots of computer equipment with metal tentacles that coincidentally wrap themselves around nubile robots. This is what everyone who hates manga believes it all is. Loathsome, on every level.

Happy gift-giving!