My Top Ten Ongoing Manga Older Than 2010
Dec. 12th, 2019 11:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainsometimesThis list is for manga I've liked/enjoyed/loved/been impressed by that started before 2010 and are still ongoing.
They're judged in their entirety, that is to say including all the volumes/chapters that came out before 2010. That's why One Piece is so high up even though that title has sunk a lot in my esteem during the course of this decade. (That being said, I can't say that my disappointment doesn't matter, either: for as much as I deeply love much of pre-timeskip One Piece, when considering the title as a whole right now it's relevant to also think of the post-timeskip state. That's why it doesn't claim the top spot or the runner-up spot.)
A lot of the list is very much comparing apples to oranges in content, genre, scope, and tone, so I'm not all that sure of my ranking choices. (Also, maybe Ooku has already ended in Japan? But it hasn't ended for me, so it gets on the list.)
Vagabond very likely belongs on this kind of list, but I have only read a few volumes of it - not enough to list it.
EDIT: How could I forget March Comes In Like A Lion? Okay, this one belongs at #1, so the rest are bumped down, and Ooku is no longer on the list but a Honourable Mention.
10. Natsume's Book of Friends
9. REAL
8. Yotsuba&
7. What Did You Eat Yesterday?
6. Saint Young Men
5. Yona of the Dawn
4. One Piece
3. Skip Beat!
2. Vinland Saga
1. March Comes In Like A Lion
They're judged in their entirety, that is to say including all the volumes/chapters that came out before 2010. That's why One Piece is so high up even though that title has sunk a lot in my esteem during the course of this decade. (That being said, I can't say that my disappointment doesn't matter, either: for as much as I deeply love much of pre-timeskip One Piece, when considering the title as a whole right now it's relevant to also think of the post-timeskip state. That's why it doesn't claim the top spot or the runner-up spot.)
A lot of the list is very much comparing apples to oranges in content, genre, scope, and tone, so I'm not all that sure of my ranking choices. (Also, maybe Ooku has already ended in Japan? But it hasn't ended for me, so it gets on the list.)
Vagabond very likely belongs on this kind of list, but I have only read a few volumes of it - not enough to list it.
EDIT: How could I forget March Comes In Like A Lion? Okay, this one belongs at #1, so the rest are bumped down, and Ooku is no longer on the list but a Honourable Mention.
10. Natsume's Book of Friends
9. REAL
8. Yotsuba&
7. What Did You Eat Yesterday?
6. Saint Young Men
5. Yona of the Dawn
4. One Piece
3. Skip Beat!
2. Vinland Saga
1. March Comes In Like A Lion
no subject
Date: 2019-12-13 05:39 pm (UTC)Obviously, since you made 5 lists you'd probably be hard=pressed to name a since favorite, so let me ask this: of these, which title do you wish everyone would read, and why?
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Date: 2019-12-13 08:21 pm (UTC)I can't read Japanese and I can rarely get into a series when I first read it online - legally or not - so all of the above titles have come out in official translations in French, English, or in one case Swedish. The English ones (and the Swedish one) I can buy from two specialty shops in this city, while I order the French ones online. I'm glad we have those two shops since I like being able to browse a new series before buying!
One reason why I buy so many manga volumes is probably because 1) I like to read when I eat, and 2) I like to read in the bath! You can't do either of those things with library copies of manga, and you can't read on the computer or mobile phone in the bath. Hence, print manga are important to me! :D
Ahhh, that's a great question but still a hard one! Even if I chose the option "the one with the most important message", that's still tough --- AND OH MAN I JUST REALIZED I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO LIST "IN THIS CORNER OF THE WORLD" aughhh --- I must update!
...well, anyway. As I was saying, people are so different as to what kinds of comics they would be the most receptive to, in tone and in visual style and composition as much as in the content. So with several comics of excellent messages and fine artistic strength, it's still hard to say which one to pick.
So I'll pick "Iguana Girl"! I don't know how well other people will respond to it, but I found this short story by Moto Hagio, available in English in the hardcover anthology "The Drunken Dream And Other Stories", to be just plain unforgettable. Hagio has made another extremely memorable short story, "Hanshin", which I first read back in the 90s. Like "Hanshin", "Iguana Girl" is about identity and self-image and struggling with how people think you are, among other things.
The premise is simple: A mother gives birth to a child that, to her, looks like an iguana and not a human. What happens later, as this child grows up? But it's executed so memorably. The art looks simple on the surface - a lot less delicate than in many of her other works - but it's so... not sure how to put it. "Iconic"? And also heartbreaking. Everyone should read this story to see what the short story format in comics can do.
no subject
Date: 2019-12-13 08:39 pm (UTC)Well, not only do I have A, A Prime, and a shoujo anthology that includes They Were 11, but to my amazement I also have the Drunken Dream hardcover (gold foil spine) which I am embarrassed to say I don't remember purchasing!
no subject
Date: 2019-12-13 10:07 pm (UTC)