Forum - View topicBest of '04
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Since there's already a topic on the biggest disapointments of last year, why not a list of the top individual paperbacks of 2004? Feel free to list any kind of series (no reprints though), and please tell why you think they're the best so this won't become a pointless list thread. In no particular order:
Buddha volume 4: The Forest of Uruvela-It's pretty safe to say that Buddha is the most acclaimed manga being published today. Its garnered tons of critical praise from the mainstream press and the American comicbook community (both mainstream and alternative), and won an Eisner award. There's good reason behind this praise. Buddha represents Osamu Tezuka at his best. To retell the life of one of the most important and influential human beings in history is certainly ambitious, and Tezuka masterfully does it. The story has great depth and spiritual value, and its characters and their struggles make it hard to stop reading. Truely aspiring, Buddha is a tremendous achievement. Blade of the Immortal volume 13-While it may not have been as fast paced or suspense filled as the prievious two volumes, 13 was filled with huge shockers and tons of facinating character interaction. Both Anotsu and Rin (as well a Makie to some degree) go through great development (I went from not really caring about Anotsu that much before this volume to really being interested in him). Plus, it had the best art in the series to date, which is saying alot. Cannon God Exxaxion volume 3-With just the perfect mix of action, drama, character development and camp, Exaxxion is hands down the best action manga currently being published. While it certainly isn't going to amaze anyone with new scifi ideas, the story is so well told that I could care less. A big draw for this title is the hero, Hoichii. He definitally is a very human character who goes through believable struggles that make the reader sympathise with him, and still manages to come off as a badass. All this plus great art and fanservice makes CGE a must own for action fans. Planetes volume 3-From the moment I read the first volume I fell in love with this manga, and with each volume it continues to get better. Telling of one man's struggle to come to terms with himself and the world around him, Planetes is a very believable science fiction drama that's made even more plausable by the detailed artwork. The characters are deep, and their struggles seem like thinks anyone could go through (minus the space part).This is definitally a classic in the making. Vagabond volume 11-Vagabond had a big year, with 9 volumes being released and Takehiko Inoue being nominated for an Eisner Award (best writer/artist). If I had to choose just one of those volumes to be included on this list, it would be eleven. Musashi's confrontation with the invincible Yagyu was simply amazing in presentation. Its effect on his character is clearly visible, as is his encounter with his friend Otsu. While the newer volume have richer art (pre-Kojiro art is still superb), volume 11 is definitally the most facinating. Other things that I really enjoyed this past year were Alice 19th, Oh My Goddess!, Saikano and Hellsing. |
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IvoryBirch
 Posts: 137 Location: a distant northern land |
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2004 was, in my opinion, a very good year for American manga releases, and the following are a few series that I found exceptional:
--Angel Sanctuary by Kaori Yuki : I was so ecstatic when I found out that this series was finally being published in the States. Viz's translation wasn't superb by any means, but I'm just happy that AS is being released (especially given its thematic elements - more than a few individuals are bound to be offended by its incest and portrayal of God, among other things). Anyhow, I'll admit to being a sucker for stories about Heaven and Hell, and indeed, this is what first attracted me to the series. However, it was the more mundane aspects of the story that really got me hooked; despite its ethereal backdrop and numerous, Angel Sanctuary is, at heart, a simple love story. --Alice 19th by Yuu Watase : It first published in 2003, but as the last volume was released in 2004, I'm including it here as well. I mean, Viz has so rarely completed a series that I think this deserves some praise... This is arguably Watase's most solid series to date, and Alice is another great example of her ability to seamlessly fuse fantasy, romance, and delightful characters. Alice is my favorite Watase heroine thus far; her flaws are much more relatable than those of Miaka (Fushigi Yuugi), she's good-hearted without being completely happy-go-lucky like Tanpopo (Imadoki), and her love life doesn't dominate the story as Aya's tends to in Ceres. The story is typical of Watase - nothing too heavy, but emotional, unique, and just pure fun. --Other series about which I'm too lazy to go into detail : Hana-Kimi (light-hearted fun), Imadoki (I'm a huge Yuu Watase fan in case you couldn't tell...), Fruits Basket (I'm not as head-over-heels for this one as many are, but its hype is well-earned). Post scriptum - I'd like to apologize, Kagemusha, for not following your format of listing individual books, but I've loved so many that my list would be unreasonably long. Ergo, I'm limiting my post to series with first volumes released in 2004. (Even still, I managed to break my own format with Alice 19th, and thus I feel compelled to apologize once again...) |
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Jamesleedx
Posts: 29 Location: Towaco, Nj |
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I completely agree about the Buddha manga. It's an absolutely fascinating interpretation of Buddhist scripture and history using Tezuka's unique visual and narrative style as well as his quirky sense of humor. The current release by Vertical press is really top notch but it's really too bad that they delayed the rest of the series indefinitely.
Another release I would have to elect as best of 2004 is Phoenix: Karma, which is another work by Osamu tezuka. I'm impressed with the other volumes, but the story of this volume makes it stand well above the other volumes released so far. What's so great about this series is that you can read a volume without having read the other volumes and still get what's going on as each volume's story stands alone. However, it's when you read all of the volumes (at least the ones Tezuka lived long enough to publish) that you see how each story ties in with the other, despite taking place in completely different times and places with completely different characters. |
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Sousuke Segari
 Posts: 156 Location: In Tokyo-3 Hiding under Rei |
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Full Metal Panic Vol1-6 Were great , simpley amazing, loved to read them.
Evangelion Volume 9 Was Nothing short of perfect, it was so much mor evil and darker and it was just full of charcter development and story telling. Trigun Maximum Vol1-3 Agin nothing short of perfect, simply wounderful. |
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Perfect, Great, Amazing, Wonderful. That's cool and all, but what about the book that makes it best of 04. Don't turn topic into a mindless list thread. |
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