Shuna's Journey was conceived two years before the launch of Studio Ghibli, and is loosly based on a Tibetan legend (and parts of Earthsea). Whilst Shuna resembles Nausicaa in many ways, he's actually a Prince, so not female (I had to finally read this translation to realise this). Miyazaki was developing the anime for Nausicaa at the same time it was published, so they do have various similarities. Shuna is more like a fable though, much less dense and simpler than his later work.
I know what you mean. The density of panels is hypnotic. He finished it over a very long period of time. He didnt abandon the manga version of Nausicaa, even when the Anime work became the main focus. Whenever he could, between bigger projects, he stuck with it ... Have you seen the Porco Rosso manga? I've got that too, in Japanese. Its not many pages but its very cool.
Yeah, a lot of Ghibli i first watched were on Chinese bootleg DVD's, but at least they had English subtitles! Indeed, he's retired multiple times, but he always comes back for more. Have you seen this NHK documentary? Its quite in-depth, i've not watched it all yet. It's free to view for four more years ... https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/playlist/115/
Ghost in the Shell: The Human Algorithm Vol.3 dropped recently. I may be an old-school GITS-head and probably biased, but this Manga is very cool. Its written by Junichi Fujisaku, who also writes the 'Ghost in the Shell: Arise' anime. This manga is a bit different because there is definitely more humour than the anime versions. The artist includes gag panels in the 'Chibi' style etc occasionally, but it doesn't distract too much from the usual moody and dark atmosphere of GITS. The artwork is extremely detailed and well done. Its great stuff
I just got myself all the Nausicaa in English (had them in French long ago). I am starting to read them just after going through The Incal and World of Edena. It's fun to see how Moebius and Miyazaki work with similar theme but with such different take. Today, I prefer the more subtle Miyazaki to the in your face kinda cynical Moebius/Jodorwosky work.
Have to agree, and i have a lot of both. I also love the Nausicaa manga for the large number of panels on each page. Its unusual.
'Asadora' Vol.6 has dropped. Viz's award-winning best-kept secret keeps on being awesome. A story that's perfectly paced and beautifully drawn. The realistic background of real-life events of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics combined with the fictional threat of a Kaiju lurking in the bay, and the governments attempts to keep it secret from the public, is done with confidence and bags of style. This is manga at its finest, folks. If you're looking for grown-up dramatic manga by a master of the medium, seriously give this one a try. You won't regret it.
I got my copy of Spriggan Vol.2 If you're in the mood for a late 80's, early 90's lesser-known classic with shades of Akira, try this one. I think there will 4 volumes in total ... at 648 pages for each book that's a lot of manga for your money. Great printing and translation so far.
Recent grabs, If you like Astro Boy or just robots and ai in general Last book in this series ... Weird spooky little story, i dug it ...
I read this one on the weekend. A nice little one-shot, heavily featuring The Louvre Museum in France. I really enjoyed it, but i always enjoy Manga not based in Japan. I think this was part of a thing the Louvre did to promote the museum, not all of it has been translated to English. Other translations include 'Guardians of the Louvre' by Jiro Taniguchi and 'Cats of the Louvre' by Taiyo Matsumoto ... One family. One painting. One mysterious individual.
Hello manga heads, I’m itching to read Akira again. Is the 35th Anniversary box the way to go? Also: man that new edition of Fist of the North Star is interesting. I ve only ever watch the series in French, famous for its utterly ridiculous and wild ‘artistic’ choice. Curious to read what the actual base material is about.
I haven't bought the Akira box set because I already have the Dark Horse paperbacks and the hardback 'Akira Club' art book that it includes. The box set is nice though, because its hardback and unflipped. It also has the original Japanese sound FX. I'd like it, but I wouldn't read it enough to justify upgrading. The new editions of FOTNS are beautiful and worth every penny. Its a bit of a commitment because the series is long (it will be approx 18 books for this Viz run). Its pure hyper-violent trash but what wonderful trash it is. Every book has pretty much the same shit happening, but its incredibly entertaining. Classic 80's manga.
@The Moog Got both today. The box is awesome even though I prefer paperback. I am super excited to dive back into that story. fun fact: I didn’t got the movie at all firt time I saw it. Took me reading the manga to see the greatness of that story. FOTNS is a super fun read. Exactly what I was hoping. I can hear the French anime translation as I’m reading it which is fun too. I wish there was a way to translate how insane they went with the dubbing. Sounded like they were high or drunk and couldn’t care less.
Yeah, 80's dubbing was often poorly done, I was so glad when they re-dubbed Akira for DVD ... "We're not supposed to live in the outside world." ... the kids voices were awful on the original dub! Akira is undoubtedly worthy of its reputation as a classic but I've always found that the Manga is a little long and could of done with some editing, its a bit protracted. Maybe to keep the story in serialisation longer, it does meander. But yeah, its much better than the Anime which takes too many short cuts! Interesting you prefer paperbacks, I do like a good hardback. Feels like I get more value for money. *edit I just read up on it, Otomo added a lot of material when he compiled Akira for the collected volumes. A bunch of stuff he couldn't fit in when it was being serialised. Kinda like a directors cut, but manga. I think this is mentioned in the 'Akira Club' book, but i forgot.
I can recommend this one i recently read. The artwork has a european influence but is still undeniably manga. Very cool, i'm looking forward to the rest of the story ... this is book one of six.
Goodbye Eri! What a trip of a story and it's a one shot too. One of the best manga I've read in a while, the story will definitely stick with me. The less said the better. Read it illegally here and support it when it's released at your local: https://goodbye-eri.com/
Nice, i like one shots. Not as much commitment. I still haven't read 'Fire Punch' which is by the same mangaka ... These two are fun. Very violent, but written in a kinda light-hearted way.
I finally completed the English translation of 'DOROHEDORO' by Q Hayashida. The later editions have been out of print for ages, and they've been going for silly flipper prices that i refused to pay. Luckily they started reprinting them a while ago, so i've managed to pick up the ones i was missing. I think they were reprinted this time because it was made into an Anime. Its an amazingly weird and wonderful Manga, by a great mangaka
