Forum - View topicPulp manga
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DarkWarLord
 Posts: 141 Location: Tucson, Arizona |
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I've been recently looking around ANN for different types of manga and I happened to spot these. Most of them looked interesting, but are out of print. I found a place to buy them at, but I would like to know your opinions on them. Also, if you can tell me any other type of manga that might be out of print or not as popular, I would really appreciate that. I am currently looking for any type of manga, if it helps, you can look at my current manga collection. animenewsnetwork.com/MyManga/collection.php?categ=5&user=DarkWarLord
These were the ones I found: Strain Sanctuary Bakune Young Benkei in New York Uzumaki Voyeur Voyeur's Inc. Blue Spring |
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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The only ones on that list that I've read enough of to really comment on are Strain and Sanctuary, and both I would highly recommend. The two series are united by the art of Ryoichi Ikegami, who has a highly realistic style that fits these types of hard-boiled stories perfectly.
And MAN, are they hard-boiled! Sanctuary is easily one of my favorite manga series, mixing both political intrigue and gangland violence in a tale of two best friends who take alternate paths (one as a politician in the Diet, the other as a yakuza thug) in their quest to take over and transform Japan. Strain loses the political aspect in a more straightforward crime epic of an unusual assassin. Both are definitely adults-only (brutal violence, and LOTS of sex) but for someone looking for a more adult action title, I can highly recommend both. |
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smoochy
 Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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Uzumaki is one of the best horror manga, no arguement allowed. Ito creates one of the most horrifying atmospheres I've seen in manga, and has one of the most satisfying endings I've seen in horror manga. If you pick them up, and like them, as you should, I'd recommend any other work by Junji Ito, the man is a genius.
Benkei in New York is another you should pick up if you like noir. Thats really the only description for this manga, straight out noir. I liked it, but I have a soft spot for the creator, and the genre. Blue Spring was a miss for me, but thats because I had such high expectations. The creator, Taiyo Matsumoto, has so many other works that are much, much better than this one. But if you've already read things like Black & White, and No. 5, I'd say pick it up, because it is good enough on its own right, just not when compared to his other works. |
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DarkWarLord
Posts: 141 Location: Tucson, Arizona |
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Thanks a lot you two. I'll definitely be checking these titles out. By the way, how many volumes are there of Sanctuary? Also, have they all been released? I could only find 9. Thanks again
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Asako
 Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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Only 9 were released, if you have trouble finding some let me know, I know a place here that has some of the volumes but they sell it at full cover price
 But to complete my set of 9, I need #7 which has been difficult to find for me... I'm gonna pick it up in a couple weeks.
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DarkWarLord
Posts: 141 Location: Tucson, Arizona |
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How many are there supposed to be? |
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Asako
Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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 9 were released and that's the complete series 
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DarkWarLord
Posts: 141 Location: Tucson, Arizona |
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Haha, it's ok, nothing to worry about. Thank you very much for the info. I'll definitely be picking up most of the series I named above. Smoochy, could you name some other books from Junji Ito? When I looked up his name I found books like Gyo, Tomie, Museum of Terror, ect. Are all those fully released? I've been looking into horror and I would really appreciate it if you guys could tell me of other good horror manga. |
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Buster Blader 126
 Posts: 1207 Location: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
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Museum of Terror was being released by Dark Horse, but they discontinued it due to lack of sales.
& Gyo will be reprinted by Viz this year. I don't know about that other title.
Other Pulp titles include Banana Fish (which Viz just recently finished releasing in manga form), and Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga, which Viz seemed to discontinue. I myself haven't read any titles from the defunct Pulp line yet, but I like how Viz seems to be re-releasing a couple of their old Pulp titles. I might pick them up, as my interest in horror manga has increased.
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I'm assuming your talking about the magazine PULP as opposed to the actual "genre" (if not I can recommend plenty of other things for you). Even if some of those titles didn't appeared in that magazine they all more or less could fit into its very loose guidelines. As for recommendations, both Strain and Sanctuary are both good, over-the-top crime manga, the former being a bit grittier and more violence-oriented and the latter being more focused on intricate plotting and character relations. Sanctuary is the better of the two, but they're both good picks for hard-boiled tales.
Bakune Young is hit or miss with most people, especially with the first volume. Its basically a satire of ultra-macho action manga (kind of like the last two titles) and as expected it goes ridiculously over-the-top in its depictions of violence (about 100 people are killed within the first 50 pages). The art definitely isn't going to appeal to everyone, but the line-work and the layouts are often unbelievable. It gets to be quite good in the last two books (its only three volumes), so if your into someone unusual titles I'd pick it up. Benkei is yet another good crime manga, though unlike the previous two its told in a much more subdued style and fits into noir conventions (though its still quite pulpy). One of its biggest appeals is Jiro Taniguchi's stunning artwork, which is some of the best you'll ever see in manga. Hotel Harbor View (also drawn by Taniguchi) is superior in my opinion (though much more cerebral and existential), but Benkei is a fun read). I've always found Junji Ito's work to be vastly overrated. Great artist but for the most part only an average writer. Of course I'm not much of a horror buff, and since everyone else loves him I won't really get into an in-depth critique. Voyeur and Voyeur's Inc are both extremely odd titles that are only going to have limited appeal. Hideo Yamamoto was still developing his craft, but themes like urban isolation, depraved behavior within the modern world and existentialism are all present here. Your best bet is to look into Ichi the Killer or Homunculus to see if your really like his style before buying his earlier, inferior work. And finally, Blue Spring is very good if you know what your getting. A collection of stories from Taiyo Matsumoto, one of the most talented manga-ka working today, it lacks the brilliance of some of his titles but is still very good in my opinion. I can see many people simply not "getting" these stories, as they're very subtle (and bleak) in nature and more about establishing mood than developing plot of characters. If your not afraid to watch art films then give it a shot. |
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DarkWarLord
Posts: 141 Location: Tucson, Arizona |
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Yes I meant the PULP magazine, but it's all the same basic thing. What's the genre of pulp? I'll trust any manga you say is good Kagemusha, you have very good taste in manga.
I'll be checking out Hotel Harbor View because I like the art style. That's what drew me to most of these books. Ichi the Killer and Homunculus haven't been released in the US yet have they? I've read part of Ichi online and it looked pretty interesting. Too bad they're wasting their time publishing other manga instead of the more, how should I say this, underground like manga? |
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jgreen
Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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I just want to note, then, that Sanctuary was never in Pulp magazine, as it was published before Pulp existed. However, Sanctuary is a GREAT manga, and would have fit well into said mag. |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I put genre in quotes because it really isn't an actual genre, more of a term used to describe certain kinds of stories. It came from old crime/horror/sci-fi literary anthologies back in the first half of the 20th century that were printed on extremely cheap, pulpy paper and usually weren't considered particularly high-literature. The term has kind of been adopted to describe stories with low-brow, trashy pop-culture sensibilities, even if they aren't actually from pulp anthologies (which don't really exist anymore). So even though there are no actual "pulp" manga, its a good descriptive term for stuff like Voyeur's Inc. or Strain, which is why Viz probably named the magazine that.
They have not and I seriously doubt they ever will be. Ichi was hugely controversial even by Japanese standards because of the extreme nature of its violence (not to mention it was usually associated with sex), with more than one scene of sexual organs being mutilated. Despite the ridiculously over-the-top sex and violence (usually both together) it does have a very good if flawed story which is equal parts yakuza revenge thriller, psychological profile of the main character and (like every Yamamoto manga I've read) darkly existential portrait of modern society. I suppose Viz might consider releasing it because of the cult-status of the Takeshi Miike film adaptation. Homunculus is probably Yamamoto's most accomplished (and subdued) work yet. Similar themes to Ichi, but it explores in a less exploitative and extreme fashion with more mature writing and art. In any case, both are available through scanslation and both are well worth reading. |
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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I found myself re-reading Blue Spring recently and really getting into it, completely different from the first time I read it (fresh off the heels of Black & White). While I thought I felt a little disappointed before, I realize it was more like you said: I got something completely different from what I was expecting. Now, more than a year and half later and at a completely different place in my life, I felt like everything clicked. I feel like there's a very extreme personal subtlety to the stories that need to be felt more than read. It's still no B&W, but my opinion of it has raised considerably. |
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Asako
Posts: 751 Location: Hawaii |
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I felt that way about Battle Angel Alita, which I believe to be an awesome series
Dunno about Last Order yet, still thinking about it... But I don't think Battle Angel Alita is Pulp... just something that's really good!!
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