AnimeSuki Forums

Only season 1 for Minami-ke? The second season was pretty atrocious with the new artstyle and that anime original character, but I thought the third and fourth were a return to form.

Been meaning to watch Hanamaru Kindergarten for the longest time but I completely forgot about it. Will add to my list.

I enjoyed the rest (especially Tamami Galaxy, Fumoffu and Sakura Trick), but I guess I'm more into the absurd humor, like Cromartie High School, Seto no Hayanome, Arakawa under the bridge, GTO or Gintama.

Comedy-wise for anime:

Minami-ke (season 1 only)
The Tatami Galaxy
Azumanga Daioh
FLCL
Full Metal Panic Fumoffu
Little Witch Academia
Dragon Half
Sakura Trick
Hanamaru Kindergarten

The City hunter anime is great (I grew up with it) but the manga is even better. The anime censored a lot of jokes and didn't adapt the full manga. It's a shame it's apparently not available in English, as it's a classic. I'm looking forward to the OVA coming soon. It will feature a brand new story.

I do love action manga, especially older ones. Give me badass characters and good fights, and I won't be bored. Of course, it's even better if the manga has a great plot, which I believe most of the ones on my list do. If you want amazing artwork, you should read Shin Angyo Onshi, especially since the artwork is far from being the only thing it has going for it.

My other favorite genre would be comedy. I can never get enough of it. I'd be curious to know if there are any comedy manga or anime you particularly enjoyed.

I can't recommend Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou enough. It's up there with Aria in the slice of life/contemplative genre. It's a crime it was never properly made into an anime.

Hmm, good point. The manga releases for Citrus in English seem to have caught up with what it's up to in Japan? Guess it'll be quite a while before Volume 5 gets published. However, since this is turning out to be a good year for anime and that certain Japanese games have/are finally getting Steam/general releases (Danganronpa, Seinarukana, Flowers), I guess I'll be somewhat preoccupied.

I quite like City Hunter in anime form. I really do. You can't get more 80s anime than City Hunter except for maybe...Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star, which also happens to be on your list. The other 80s icon for me is Kimagure Orange Road, which I adore in anime form. I guess I find their manga versions to be a bit rough for me.

To be honest, you've got some things I like in anime form that would be on my top 100 list. Monster, City Hunter, Gintama, FMA, Mushishi. Amanchu will probably end up on that list too. But out of those, only Monster and Amanchu made the manga 20 list. Maybe if I made the list bigger more would. But in all honesty, I guess I'm a bit more fickle on manga. It's the form I crave better artwork in since anime will usually not have the budgets to go whole hog on visuals - and sometimes don't need to. Manga usually has the ability to be more beautiful visually without blowing a budget since the means to achieve that are far less costly.

I daresay you like action manga more than I do. I do like action somewhat in anime. But generally not shounen titles. FMA and Hokuto no Ken would be the big exceptions.

I notice you have Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou on your list. I remember trying to obtain it once, but what I got was corrupted. I'll need to investigate that title again because it looks intriguing.

But yeah - I respect your list too. We've got some common ground and our own defining differences.

Master Keaton is probably what led to Urusawa doing Monster. It has the thriller aspect but is a bit more light-hearted. While Keaton does go on dangerous assignments, there's some amusing/meaningful downtime and some sagas are more scientific than they are thrillers. The use of archaeology/history is also intriguing as are the various locations events take place in.

The Citrus hate is just on a certain era of the internet, but it's so strong over there I almost came under the impression that was a consensus. Glad that's not the case. Now that I think about it, it's been a while since a chapter came out...

I enjoyed most of the titles on your list (sometimes in anime form, so can't put them on my manga list), but my own top 20 is completely different. In no particular order:

1. Monster
2. City Hunter
3. Shin Angyo Onshi
4. Berserk
5. Jojo's bizarre adventure
6. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
7. Gintama
8. Fullmetal Alchemist
9. Yotsubato
10. GTO
11. Mushishi
12. Pluto
13. Hokuto no Ken
14. Sket Dance
15. Sanctuary
16. Cat Street
17. Jojo's bizarre adventure
18. Lucifer and the Biscuit hammer
19. Kingdom
20. Amanchu

I've been interested in Master Keaton since you mentioned it last time, and after seeing in your top 20, I'm definitely going to give a try.

Oh, Adachi - baseball and relationships. A regular occurrence in his titles but he does them well.

Yeah, I completely understand why you didn't like I''s. The MCs of that author are rather milquetoast in general. So many unnecessary interruptions. It probably was longer than it should have been (oh, Shounen Jump....). The male characters in general....*headdesk* But there were a few things that made me persist and still like it overall:

1. The great art.
2. That Iori was someone who was keen on entering the entertainment industry/somewhat idol-like but that once she obtained her dream, she realised how much it was beginning to ruin her on the inside. It's a bigger challenge to have a dream, eventually reach it, lose heart then eventually find the courage to walk away from it. To change one's goal in life can be one of the most daunting things. But Iori chose love in the end.
3. Seto may be bland, but he had some principles that were admirable. There were multiple times he could have had sex with Iori, but he realised that while she was willing to, it wasn't quite the way or time she wanted it to happen, so he respected her wishes. His feelings for other females were mainly lust-oriented - when it came to Iori, he respected her as a person and never wanted to do anything untoward. She was the best thing that happened to him and ultimately, even when other people tried to drive them apart, he didn't stray and he never gave up on the notion that they could be together. The fact the two of them eventually made it and were willing to find their way in life some day by being true to each other - there's something heartening about it.

What's that about Citrus? Um...is that in the areas of the internet you peruse, where you live? As I recall, the first few volumes sold very well in the US. One of them was #2 on the bestseller list for manga in its first week. I've bought all translated volumes. The place I checked it out at first had a lot of people that liked it. Where the haters at? I love it. My friends like it.

Meh....yuri tends to tick people off since it means males can't envision scoring with them or whatever. It's pathetic. If two females want to love each other, then let them...Sick of people who instantly judge someone over something like that or think they don't have the right to be married. I have female acquaitances that are married/in relationships with females and they're good people. Can't wait for the national vote on same sex marriage that is likely to happen in Australia in the next year.

Hmm, I've been constructing a fave 100 anime list over the years. Lemme think for a bit about my fave 20 manga. Started writing down the ones I still enjoy. These 20 were the ones that stuck out.

1. Girl Friends
2. Monster
3. NANA
4. Azumanga Daioh
5. Liar Game
6. Tetsuwan Girl
7. Spice and Wolf
8. Master Keaton
9. Erased
10. Amanchu
11. Rose of Versailles
12. Arisa
13. Genshiken
14. Citrus
15. Chrono Crusade
16. Remote
17. Say I love you
18. Love Plus - Rinko Days
19. Kare Kano
20. Kimi ni Todoke

Oh, don't get me wrong. When I say it's my least favorite genre, I'm not saying I don't like it. I like pretty much every genre as long as they're done well really, it just so happens romance is the genre I'm the most picky about. It needs to have good characters or I get bored rather quickly. You mentioned I"s, that's one of those I didn't like much. Same for Video Girl Ai. Katsura's MC are too insufferable, and the girls aren't that great. Let's not mention how slow progression is too.

Ironically, I really like To Love-ru despite the MC being similar, but that's because the girls are amazing and the focus is more on comedy and boobs than romance

Everybody seems to hate Citrus, but I don't think it's that bad. The gorgeous art certainly helps, and at least the author tries to make stuff happen.

Recently, I've read Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (really great), Cage of Eden (very meh) and I'm currently on Area D. As for anime, I'm watching Touch.

Ah okay, I'll try not to mention romance stuff again.

To be honest, my main gripe with anime is that I generally don't like male characters - at least the way the males are done. I rarely like shounen titles, I was cool with action from the 80s to the 00s but not the way it is now. Despite the amount of anime I've watched over the last 13 years, I would barely be able to list 10 male characters that I approve of. If I was asked to do 100 female, on the other hand, I might able be able to make it. I know that sounds weird but...I've always felt there's a more interesting spectrum for females within anime and manga 'overall'. Certainly certain stereotypes/styles prevail that I don't like but there's enough uniqueness over time along with talented seiyuus. After Jun Fukuyama and Norio Wakamoto, I guess I'd also list Daisuke Ono and Mayoru Mirano. After that, I'd have trouble.

Hmm, just remembered one female seiyuu that I also really like - Ami Koshimizu. Can't believe I actually forgot about her last time.

Recent manga reads have been the 4 available volumes of Citrus, all 15 volumes of I''s and now going through the volumes I have of Master Keaton.

It's true that this happens often and is pretty annoying. I find that it's mostly romcom aimed at males that have this problem, and these are the ones that tend to get adapted. Most of the shoujo I've read actually have the MC going out with someone before the ending. I wonder if there's a reason for that. Do they think men are more interested in the "chase" than in actual relationship? Or perhaps it stems from a desire to not leave a girl on the side in the case of love triangles? (so as to not piss off the fanbase of said girl)
Either way, it starts getting really old after a while. Only way I can enjoy these anime is if they have good comedy or side plots to make up for the lack of romantic progress.

I honestly don't remember much about Girl Friends, but I do know I loved it and that it was the one who sparked my interest in romance (which still remains my least favorite genre).

Yep, good year. Emma, Honey and Clover, Zettai Shounen, Kamichu, Nanoha A's, Akagi, Aria, Mushishi. Especially Aria and Mushishi, The October 2005 season had a lot of good stuff in it but at the time, most of those titles weren't being shown/covered outside of Japan. Really took until 2008 for them to emerge.

Another side-effect of the high school setting is the way romances are done, as in the 'takes virtually all series for them to declare their love to each other, potentially with numerous relationship resets along the way.' Gradually falling in love can be sweet but it can grow tiresome with how ubiquitous it is. Couples that make the declaration early on or adults being involved are rare. That was why I was so into Garden of Words - so much occurred in just 45 minutes in terms of growing as people as well as the romantic aspect. The ones in NANA were definitely the kind that approached issues most romance-involved titles won't. I'd swear that there's a prevalent attitude for adult relationships to fail or be infiltrated by cheating, which is disheartening. I feel there's so much possible for adult relationships, But then again, with the stricter/more conservative views on them in Japan, maybe that's a real factor. But when half the new issues in the local manga store are involving teen romances, it gets weird.

The one thing I've ever read/seen that I felt was truly romantic for me was Girl Friends by Milk Morinaga. The dual perspective to see both sides of each female in the relationship and what they had to overcome. The side character that had was in open relationships with multiple men. That they were able to not just become a couple but that they were given the chance to be together long-term. Plus it was just so damn beautiful/funny/heart-warming.

On another note, there also seems to be pressure for a romance in most titles, even if it's a train wreck of an idea. It was a real relief to see in the Danganronpa game (anime adaptation wasn't up to scratch) that Makoto and Kirigiri were able to gradually work together through an epic struggle and be true to each other without having to fall in love. It definitely allowed for Kirigiri to be a far more impactful and admirable character.

I recall some directors saying it was easier to inflict anguish and negative stuff onto teen characters and that the resultant angst was what they were seeking. That said, there are aspects that only adults can provide. Ah well, I guess we have manga for that. Eventually by attrition there's enough that has awesome casts that are predominantly adults.