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This is a list of the top ten completed manga that I've read and enjoyed which started before 2010 and ended at some point in the period between 2010 and 2019.
The top spot was REALLY HARD. My heart in its current state said one thing, but my critical judgment (and memory of my heart in 2010) said another. So... Yeah, I couldn't, I just couldn't put either one in #2. They had to share the spot in the end.
The works are judged in their entirety, including all the chapters and volumes that came out before 2010.
I'm sorry in advance for the gems I might have forgotten.
Wandering Son didn't make it here because I haven't gotten to read the ending yet.
I've used English titles for the sake of communication when those exist, even when I've read the work in French. One work I've only read in Swedish, Hoshigahara Aomanjû no mori, translated as "Aomanjuskogen" ('Aomanju Forest').
It wasn't just the top spot that was tough - a number of great works here, and I could very easily have placed them a bit differently. How do you compare a work like "Billy Bat" to one like "Barakamon"? I found the ending to Billy Bat unsatisfying, but it had many amazing scenes in its run, and is very ambitious - however, it's the kind of work that does need a good ending to feel like a coherent whole, as it's extremely plot-oriented and very explicitly "forward-looking" in its narrative. Meanwhile, Barakamon has a much smaller scope and down-to-earth ambitions, but after a slightly plodding start it goes on to be consistently solid.
And maybe both "Kimi ni Todoke" and "Blade of the Immortal" were stronger in their first half than in the second one, but their strengths and tones are extremely different from each other.
I did a lot of mental coin-flipping...
But this is my list for now!
10. Sweet Blue Flowers (Aoi Hana)
9. Princess Jellyfish
8. Hoshigahara Aomanjû no mori
7. Billy Bat
6. Barakamon
5. Kekkaishi
4. Kimi ni Todoke
3. Blade of the Immortal
--
1. Fullmetal Alchemist AND Gintama
The top spot was REALLY HARD. My heart in its current state said one thing, but my critical judgment (and memory of my heart in 2010) said another. So... Yeah, I couldn't, I just couldn't put either one in #2. They had to share the spot in the end.
The works are judged in their entirety, including all the chapters and volumes that came out before 2010.
I'm sorry in advance for the gems I might have forgotten.
Wandering Son didn't make it here because I haven't gotten to read the ending yet.
I've used English titles for the sake of communication when those exist, even when I've read the work in French. One work I've only read in Swedish, Hoshigahara Aomanjû no mori, translated as "Aomanjuskogen" ('Aomanju Forest').
It wasn't just the top spot that was tough - a number of great works here, and I could very easily have placed them a bit differently. How do you compare a work like "Billy Bat" to one like "Barakamon"? I found the ending to Billy Bat unsatisfying, but it had many amazing scenes in its run, and is very ambitious - however, it's the kind of work that does need a good ending to feel like a coherent whole, as it's extremely plot-oriented and very explicitly "forward-looking" in its narrative. Meanwhile, Barakamon has a much smaller scope and down-to-earth ambitions, but after a slightly plodding start it goes on to be consistently solid.
And maybe both "Kimi ni Todoke" and "Blade of the Immortal" were stronger in their first half than in the second one, but their strengths and tones are extremely different from each other.
I did a lot of mental coin-flipping...
But this is my list for now!
10. Sweet Blue Flowers (Aoi Hana)
9. Princess Jellyfish
8. Hoshigahara Aomanjû no mori
7. Billy Bat
6. Barakamon
5. Kekkaishi
4. Kimi ni Todoke
3. Blade of the Immortal
--
1. Fullmetal Alchemist AND Gintama
