Does anyone actually read "The big 3?" I know Naruto is getting ready to end, Bleach is on the last arc (and is terrible), and I think One Piece will be published forever.

You're in for a treat . . . the Manga is far better than the animation!

I've been tracking down as many Ryoichi Ikegami translations as i can for a few years now and i'm nearly there. I picked up the 'Wounded Man' set the other day and I have the 'Strain' set on its way in the post. Ikegami has surely got to be one of the best Manga artists ever.

He mainly does full blooded Seinen stuff . . . if you want someone to draw a gun fight or an awesome roundhouse kick to the head - Ikegami's your man. Not to mention his very sexy female characters

I love the highbrow cultured Manga like Jiro Taniguchi etc . . . but sometimes its cool to wallow in sex, violence and bad taste!

I love his artwork. Of his translated works I am missing Sanctuary Vol. 7 and Samurai Crusader 1-3, I think that is it. Just picked up a bunch of the older Crying Freeman volumes the other day.

I read the first few chapters of Naruto when I had a subscription to Shonen Jump, but stopped reading it when my subscription stopped. I own a bunch of Bleach that I got dirt cheap on ebay but have never read any of it, and I used to have some One Piece Volumes but lost them. I enjoyed One Piece but I am insanely far behind at this point.

Yeah, Crying Freeman is epic . . . ridiculously over the top and a lot of fun.

I don't know why but I was under the impression that Samurai Crusader was only one volume . . . thanks for making me aware of the other two!

hmmmm . . . when you spell a thread M*A*N*G*A* with asterisks like that, its hardly a surprise it doesn't turn up when peeps do a search

One Piece is rough because they are so far ahead. Getting through some of the early Naruto Arcs is a lot of fun, but then when they have the time skip (Shippuden) the first couple of arcs kinda suck. Bleach is good up until the end of the Soul Society arc, if you stop there your good to go.

whoa, lots of suggestions i need to check out here!
i blew threw 20th/21st century boys in a day or two, definitely a great one (even if it does fall apart a little bit).
i need to re-read akira, i've only ever read the first volume but i didn't like it that much. i've still never seen the movie though..
i've been bored with comics lately, i need to get back into some manga.

Like everyone else has said manga is way better than the movie, it just makes more sense and the story goes in a much better and more interesting direction.

i can only guess bryan is talking about "akira" in the above... but then again, when is the movie EVER better than it's source material?
no, really... i'd like to know...

I haven't read it in a while but the Ghost in the Shell movie is pretty close in quality to the Manga . . . but yeah, its not better.

Just got the Strain set in the post . . . looking forward to some Chinese Malaysian gangster action

Strain is now on my want list, thanks for the tip The Moog it looks awesome!

No problemo . . . you cant go wrong with any of Ryoichi Ikegami's stuff really.

I'm currently reading the 'Buddha' series by Tezuka. I'm on volume 6 at the moment and have to say its great . . . a proper page turner. I've read a lot of Tezuka and Buddha is a good example of his style so far. Its an entertaining mix of drama, action and goofy humour. In this series he is very playful with the comics format but doesn't shy away from serious stuff when needed.

I've just finished reading 'Pluto' by Naoki Urasawa. It was recommended to me by multiple people and they were bang-on with their description . . . . its really, really good. I loved it.

Will have to check out '20th Century Boys' and 'Monster' now!

Finishing up JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.

I really like Jolyne Jotaro, the supporting cast is really lacking though. Some really cool stand abilities. Like it more than Steel Ball Run, I couldn't stand Jonathan Joestar.

5 years after i bought the original Japanese version:


The Strange Tale of Panorama Island by The Moog Image Dump, on Flickr


Here's the English translated version by Last Gasp.
Such a nice quality hardback


The Strange Tale of Panorama Island by The Moog Image Dump, on Flickr


The Strange Tale of Panorama Island back by The Moog Image Dump, on Flickr

I thought this was pretty cool . . . .

http://enjp.blouinartinfo.com/news/stor ... n-building

http://unknown999.tumblr.com/post/59298511247/a-100

http://natalie.mu/comic/news/97968

TOKYO — The Shogakukan building, due to recent concerns over the earthquake resistance of the building, which was built in 1967, the owners had marked it for demolition and rebuilding. As a gesture of tribute to its colorful history before the wrecking ball came, however, the editors of Big Comic Spirits, one of the magazines under the Shogakukan brand decided to organize a live drawing event.

10 minutes to get as many photographs of drawings that will no longer be some days later. The visit must have been a real pleasure and stress at the same time...

After a few months delay, D+Q finally release their new GeGeGe no Kitaro English translation - and its a beauty.
A very well produced paperback . . . good size too . . . 396 pages.

I suspect the delay in releasing was down to having to stick stickers over typesetting errors on the back and inside cover.

Anyway, i hope enough people buy this book so its worth their while publishing a lot more!

I had no idea GeGeGe No Kitaro was being formally translated! I will definitely support this!

Finished up Dororo last weekend.. excellent stuff

Not a manga but.. The Shining?

Oops, and the Kitaro release is awesome. Stopped into a local comic shop looking for clearance/Tezuka stuff and my friend pointed it out at random. Had to buy it immediately. I really do hope that Drawn and Quarterly keep releasing manga. I think they've released some other Shigeru Mizuki stuff also.

Also, by far one of my favorite mangas and things in general is One Piece. Amazing work.

Started Astro Boy book 1-2. Way more action packed and strange than the animated series.
I mean, the Hot Dog Corps?! What the?!

Also picked up the Kitaro. Looking forward to reading that.

And Crayon Shin Chan Vol.1-3. My little guilty pleasure.

I was waiting a long time for the Kitaro book.
I actually think I enjoy Nonnonba better though.
Uzumaki has been mentioned and is great.
Dokumushi Kozou (bug boy) is a great horror manga.
Cat Eyed Boy is great in a similar way to Kitaro.

One that hasn't been mentioned (I don't think) is Taiyo Matsumoto's books.



I also really like Yokoyama's books, but they are really abstract. Not much of a story or words, but still fascinating.


I'm looking forward to checking out some of the recommendations that have been made above.

blue spring and tekkon are both great, you cant forget No. 5. also, i saw a new matsumoto book at the barnes and noble here, i cant remember the title though.