Forum - View topicFavourite Manga of 2009
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Hey all! As has become sort of a tradition, at least for me, it's time to take a look back and see what manga you liked best this year.
Honestly, I don't know what to choose for this year's pick. I feel like I didn't actually read as much manga as usual, nor did I start any new series. So I think I'm going to give it to the two titles that stand out a bit and which I have not already picked: Solanin and Clover. Solanin is a story that I can relate to so much right now, since I'm really in a very similar situation (well, not as far as the specifics go, but the general idea is the same). And it really is beautiful crafted and has thus ensured that there is a new mangaka out there whose works I will check out, no matter what they are (which of course reminds me that I need to pick up the two volumes of What a Wonderful World ASAP.) Also I should mention that one of the driving reasons I picked up this book was because so many people mentioned it in last year's favourites thread. CLAMP is always a favourite of mine and I was really excited to pick up Clover when it finally was re-released. I wasn't disappointed. Sure, the story isn't always the strongest (though I think the last chapters are quite strong) but the art and aesthetic is just so beautiful. Add to that the Dark Horse did a wonderful job with the release and you have quite an excellent book to add to your collection. I'm still into and reading a lot of the other titles I've mentioned before and still love them. But these two are definitely the stand-outs, possibly because they are also stand-alones. If you would like to see previous picks, here are some links! 2006 2007 2008 |
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Gyt Kaliba
 Posts: 712 Location: Arkansas |
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Hmm, so I'm guessing stuff that just started here is what you want most right? For me...hmm, that's a bit tough.
The only thing I've read that just started this year I think is Ane Doki, but I've definitely been enjoying it pretty well. I'm a sucker for the romance genre lately though. I think it's definitely developing more into a harem title than a straight-line romance though. 
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Honestly, it doesn't matter when the manga was first published. It could be a recent release, it could be ten years old. What does matter is that it was your favourite thing to read this year.
I don't think I've actually heard about Ane Doki, though if it's more harem-y then that would explain why it's not on my radar. |
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Tamaria
 Posts: 1512 Location: De Achterhoek |
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2009 was a great year for my manga collection. I discovered many cool thing, both old and new. Favorite is probably 2001 Nights. I lend it to a friend after I read and we were able to discuss it like we would discuss literature. Solanin is close behind.
I picked up lots of great one-shots and collections of short stories. I managed to find A,A' for only €3 (including shipping). It made me feel bad, because the seller was really nice. I helped her find a OOP manga to keep our karma balanced  I found Domu and Memories for a very reasonable price. I grabbed Love Song and Ashen Victor from a bargain bin. And then there were A Drifting Life, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, lots of Tezuka stuff...
As for series, I learned there are plenty of shoujo series out there I actually like, I was just looking in the wrong place. Shoujo Beat? Not really my kind of series, though there are a few exceptions. Now, CMX, they knew what I like before I did! I should have started reading Swan and From Eroica with Love much earlier. I really liked Moon Child, Oyayubihime Infinity and Apothecarius Argentum as well. Now it looks as if I'm ignoring the bigger publishers, but that's not the case. Many of Viz' new Signature/Ikki titles caught my attention, especially Ooku and Ikigami. |
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Gyt Kaliba
Posts: 712 Location: Arkansas |
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Ohhh ok. Sorry about that then, I misunderstood you.
In that case, my vote definitely goes to Masakazu Katsura's Zetman. I'm a nut for just about anything by him, though DNA2 was less than stellar and I couldn't even get started on Wingman really, but I'm loving this one so far. I'm nowhere near the recent chapters from Japan but I'm slowly working my way there. It's more perfectly blended emotion and philosophy with high-octane action than any other manga I've read in a while. That and, at the risk of sounding pervy, nobody still draws ecchi scenes quite like Katsura.
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JGonspy
Posts: 70 Location: Toronto |
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This is tough...really tough...
I actually just read Solanin last night and rather enjoyed it. Probably not quite my favourite, but definitely up there. Very repeatable, although in that sense, also kind of depressing. And inspiring. And I do enjoy a good paradox. I'm tempted to go with something like Pluto or 20th Century Boys, but I honestly don't know if I've read enough of either to make a firm commitment (I'm not up to date on the current volumes). I would have to use what seems like a lack of original thinking and just go with NANA, just like last year. I started reading it last year after seeing the anime, but this is the first year where it's been all new material for me. Heck, it even inspired me to write an essay to examine the series a little closer. Brilliant series, and easily one of my all-time favourites. It's the only thing I literally cannot wait to read, and something I'll buy the second I know it's available and read that evening in complete silence solitude. I've read a lot of great manga this year, but I can't say I've read anything better than that. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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This was my first year going to Otakon so I picked up all sorts of new things there. And I'll make up some personal awards for whatever reason.
One of my favorite thing I picked up at Otakon was Club 9, it's a shame Dark Horse stopped publishing it after 3 volumes (out of only 5! And the other two had already been translated for Super Manga Blast! Those jerks!), but nonetheless, I actually liked the main (and her incredibly naive view of city life), but part of her charm was that she was so naive, but so likable. Wins "best manga I avoided due to strange looking artwork on the covers for many years" award as it really wasn't warranted to overlook this one. Moyasimon also came out this year, some of us (me included) managed to get the misprint early on, but even then it was just re-released a few weeks ago. As a bio major, I was quite charmed at the views of microbes and their uses. "Best manga based on biology" award, Also, during the past summer, I rented all of Battle Royale (the Ultimate Editions) from my library. It gave me the impression that people who work at the library don't read manga because I'm really not sure how it snuck in there given how graphic it is. It's quite possibly the most violent and graphic manga I've ever read and yet I believe it's good enough to own (working on this for bday/xmas) because it was also horribly sad and depressing, yet somehow touching at times (not necessarily the times when spoiler[the girl with the scythe was getting off to killing other people while acting like a complete and total slut], but when you look at the pasts of the characters, who mostly had relatively normal lives before this). Hopefully this will be the last thing I ever buy from Tokyopop whom I have nothing but scorn for due to their mistakes these past few years, but hey, even they can get a really good series and not completely mess it up it would seem. Wins two awards, first the "award for breaking my rule to never buy from undeserving companies" award and second the "most violent manga i've ever read" award. By virtue of the first award, also wins the "why does Tokyopop have to have the license to this?  " award.
While we're on the topic of less wholesome manga, Detroit Metal City won me over this year too. It was pretty much due to the main character, who is a mix between psychotic and metal-loving and sweet and innocent. He sure doesn't seem to like his job and he's always put into awkward situations because of it (like when he goes back home to visit his brother), but hey, a job's a job! "Most metal manga" award, which is a little odd because you sorta need music for a metal experience, and yet it still worked here. Much like Tamaria, I also discovered the joys of CMX this year, meaning their line of shojo. The only thing I had from them before was GON, but based on Moon Child (which I'll admit I wasn't overly fond of), I like the way they print and handle their manga and they have a lot of older shojo titles that interest me. CMX in general gets the "best publisher I've finally taken notice of" award. I picked up the volumes I was behind on of Kekkaishi at Otakon too, and it makes me wonder why I ever thought to stop after volume 13 (well, it was because I didn't want it to get out of hand with never ending and I rather got bored of Bleach by the same point), anyway, Kekkaishi is still quite possibly my favorite shonen title of the decade and the volumes that came out this year proved to be just as amazing as the previous ones. It makes me wonder if all the greatest shonen authors are actually female. "Best series I decided to pick back up" award. And finally, this was the first year I bought anything from Yen Press. What did I get? Well, actually, Cirque du Freak, which did prompt me to borrow the novels it was based on from the library. Although the art can sometimes be a bit wonky to look at, it's a very good abridged version of the novels its based on and unlike that recent garbage movie (don't even get me started on that, anyone who has read even the first 3 manga can tell they must've used cliff notes and a lot of alcohol to write a script that takes out a main character who will have a large role in later books and then mess up everyone's characterizations, years, etc), it takes a good source material and makes a good end product from it. It's my award for "unexpectedly good" this year. My "best of" award though goes to Liar Game, a manga someone seriously needs to license (thus also wining the "why hasn't this been licensed yet?!" award). I think I started it earlier this year and every day I check for a new chapter while waiting excitedly, something no other new volume release does for me. Sure, I remember thinking when I first started off saying "this seems a bit slow and I hate Nao" and while I still hate Nao (not quite as much, she's actually becoming slightly more awesome every game), it reminds me what good psychological drama is and I just can't wait for the next chapter!! |
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marie-antoinette
Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I hate to burst your bubble but you may want to know about the issues with the translation of Battle Royale, which is not a straight translation. The biggest difference is the fact that in the original there is no reality tv show. I read the first volume of the series and found that the violence was too much for me to take, though I was interested by the storyline on a whole. |
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zawa113
Posts: 7358 |
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Oh I never doubted that they probably messed up part of the translation here too, but it was still good enough overall that I just didn't care. |
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synn
 Posts: 24 |
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For me it's "Moyasimon". I found this just few month back. It is good read.
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Aylinn
 Posts: 1684 |
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I still like Nodame Cantabile and Skip Beat, my favourites from last year. It has not changed.
My favourite manga this year has been Glass Mask, I started reading it because I read it is similar to Skip Beat. The characters are the strongest aspect of this title. The main character, Maya, is this kind of character that can grow on you, even if she doesn’t make a favourable impression at the beginning. Her biggest rival, Ayumi, is also a very likable character, which makes a good drama as it’s difficult to choose who should get the role of the "Crimson Goddess". Glass Mask has a good characterization of the crucial characters, all of these characters are developed over the course of the manga, albeit it’s a very slow development, still it is better than some long series offers, for example Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE where the main characters do not develop at all. The plot is nothing special, but it does not have to be in a shoujo series. My second favourite read this year has been Historie. I like this story because it’s connected with one of my favourite historic character, Alexander the Great. Eumenes is an interesting choice for the main character, and so far the author, Hitoshi Iwaaki, is doing very well. Nevertheless, what I’m interested in is how he is going to portray Alexander. The next worth mentioning series is Pandora Hearts. Although it is not on a par with the above mentioned series, it makes a good reading. It’s composed of well-known elements mixed into a suprisingly tasty soup. Clichéd as the characters are, I don’t feel like strangling them with a belt. The story is not incredibly original, but it somehow manages to pique my interest. |
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Kelly
Posts: 868 Location: New York City |
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My vote for this year is Fruits Basket. I can't imagine anyone who's followed the story not being moved by the montage in the penultimate volume, and the wrapup in the final volume gave us time to say goodbye to all the characters one by one without ending things too abruptly. It was a generally happy ending while still acknowledging the damage that the curse had caused - and the fact that one character's problems were too big to solve - keeping it from getting too sugary. All in all, a very satisfying ending.
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driverstart
 Posts: 214 Location: America |
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Of all the new stuff I got to read this year, my favorites were Oishino; Children of the Sea; Pluto; When They Cry: Cotton Drifting Arc; and What A Wonderful World.
The one I liked the best was for sure was Pluto. Naoki Urasawa knows how to sucker me in with good storytelling, great art, and interesting characters. |
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bahamut623
 Posts: 1463 |
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I follow too many series, so I'll just limit myself to stuff that came out this year. 20th Century Boys and Pluto are obvious choices...I think I enjoy Pluto just a tad more, but maybe that's because I'd already read the first few volumes of 20thCB through scans and Pluto is newer to me.
But another favorite this year was Nabari No Ou. For all its ninja-trappings, there is surprisingly little action, and the series isn't any worse off because of it. The mangaka also adds just the right amount of humor; it's not a comedy series, but the humor really stood out to me. There is a fujoshi factor to the series, but the mangaka plays it for laughs. And I like that it isn't clear cut good vs. evil. The villains want the same thing, and they're going about it in the same way. The biggest difference is who the main character's aligned with. And there's nice art to boot! I know it's not the topic, but my vote for best publisher of the year would go to Viz. With the nice treatment they give the Signature line, launching Ikki Comix, their VizBig editions, and speeding up One Piece, Viz just keeps doing great things. Runner-up would be Yen Press. They went from being nowhere near my radar to being one of the publishers whose license announcements I'm most excited for during convention season. Their rescue of Yotsuba and their attempt to reach out to the mainstream (Twilight, Gossip Girl) are proof that they're becoming a force to be reckoned with in the manga world. |
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il capitano
 Posts: 54 |
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I write the following as a Moonspeaker.
Best First Volume Award: Knights of Cydonia by Tsutomu Nihei and I Am a Hero by Kengo Hanazawa (kind of boring choices but I can't think of anything else) Best Newcomer Award: Tsubana, author of Dainana Joshikai Houkou (who also wins the award for being the Best New Masakazu Ishiguro) Best Second Volume That Was Supposed to Go on Sale, Like, This March, But It Never Did: Atarashii Asa, by Iou Kuroda Most Barren and Disgustingly Hipster First Chapter Award: That insufferable new thing in Morning 2 by Daisuke Nishijima (kill it with fire) More awards if and when I think of them. |
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