Recently Read Manga Report....with pictures!

[laceblade]

Apollo's Song by Osamu Tezuka

Tezuka is considered the god of anime/manga, but I had never read anything by him before. His works date back to the 1940s and have influenced every manga genre.

Apollo's Song is really weird, but really good. The protagonist is a boy named Shogo, who has grown up hating love. Society fears him as being a psychopath, because he's killed animals after finding them mating. He is an inmate at institution attempting to rehabilitate him. Through hypnotism and electro-shock therapy, Shogo experiences elaborate dreams in which he falls in love with a woman, only to meet a tragic end every time. A Greek goddess (I can't remember which one it was, :/) tells him that this is his punishment for acting out so much violence against lovers in his life. Eventually, reality and the dream-world blur together. This was pretty awesome, and I'm looking forward to reading more by Tezuka.

---

Tekkonkinkreet by Taiyō Matsumoto

This manga was originally published in the early 1990s, but has recently gained a lot of attention because of the movie adaptation that was made in 2006.

Black and White are two orphan boys living in a city called Treasure Town. The yakuza (Japanese equivalent of the mob) is trying to take over the city, but these two snot-nosed kids simply won't have it. Black is the intelligent and more violent boy, while White seems to be somewhat impaired mentally, and is constantly singing nonsense songs. They live together in an abandoned car.

This manga, and its anime adaptation, have garnered a lot of positive press, but overall, I wasn't too impressed. I'd still be interested in watching the movie, though. It seems to have had a pretty high budget, and the action scenes would probably be fun.

---

Sand Chronicles by Hinako Ashihara

I absolutely adored volume one of this series, and I highly recommend it for its art style, its pacing, and its emotional impact.

Spoilers for volume 3.

I love Ann, and I love Daigo. But I also love the Tsukishima siblings, and I want them to be happy, so I want Ann and Daigo to end up with Fuji and Shiika instead of with each other.

Comments

[claudiall.livejournal.com]

Read more Tezuka?
Yes.
If there's one recommendation I can make in this life, it's to rediscover Tezuka. He was a great storyteller. I read his Metropolis and several volumes of Black Jack (one of my fave comics ever) and it's quite incredible.
Also, how freaky is this? I turned on the TV a few hours ago to HBO and Tekkokkinkreet was on! And though I didn't know what I was watching, I saw the art and thought 'Amer Beton' (Matsumoto's most popular work)

[tigrin.livejournal.com]

I went and read "Sand Chronicles" after reading this.. normally I have no interest in shoujo manga (I relate to being a girl almost as much as I relate to being a pro wrestler... which is not at all) but I started reading that one and couldn't stop. I almost cried through half of it. D8 her parents especially reminded me a lot of mine, it was a little too close to home.

I want Daigo and Ann to end up together just because the hopeless romantic in me finds their relationship terribly cute. but the adult in me knows that teenage relationships aren't all they're cracked up to be. so maybe she will end up with Fuji.

anyways, I really enjoyed it so thanks for the recommendation. it made me think a lot. almost more than I wanted to. @_@

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I'm really looking forward to reading more by him. Especially Princess Knight, which I've heard inspired Rose of Versailles (and the rest of shojo, obviously).

That is crazy, about Tekkonkinkreet being on TV! I haven't heard of Amer Beton, either. Maybe I should try other stuff by Matsumoto?

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it can be difficult to find shojo manga that fits just right. Of course, I'm easily won over by drawing styles and school uniforms, so that makes things easier, :D

I'm sorry that it made you cry! (Although, if it was therapeutic, maybe it was good??). It is really emotional, though, and it's one of the few manga I've read that deals with the pain of depression and suicide, and how it affects the people around the person who suffers from it, and not just they themselves.

It would be so manga-esque for them to end up married, having begun dating at age 12....then again, my friends Kristy and Chad just got married, and they've been dating since they were 13.

I'm glad you like it! Perhaps in the future, I will make a more detailed synopsis to persuade people to read it, since this one was so sparse.

[britrock37.livejournal.com]

I've really been meaning to read Sand Chronicles. It's in my Shoujo Beat, but I'm SOOOOOOOO far behind in reading those it's not even funny. The calendar they sent me with the January issue had a picture from Sand Chronicles for July and August and I kept looking at it every day at work and thinking 'I should read that, it sounds good and sad', but I still haven't.

I'll put it on the list, esp. now that I can read CLAMP stuff more casually since I'm not trying desperately to cram it all into my head for a panel.

Apollo's Song sounds good too. I haven't read a LOT of Tezuka's stuff, but the stuff I did read I liked, but thought was kinda weird. I may give this a try based on your comments.