Top Series
November 12, 2006
descriptions forthcoming.
TOP TEN SERIES CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE US:
XxXholic
From Eroica With Love
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
Nana
Apothecarius Argentum
Law of Ueki
DVD
Guru Guru Pon-chan
One Piece
Click
TOP FIVE SERIES OF ALL TIME:
One Piece (47+ volumes) - What is there to say about this one? It’s already pretty popular, and is just about the journey through the Grand Line of the world’s most toughest, jovial pirates. Monkey D. Luffy is one of my top favorite characters of all time, tied with Vash the Stampede.
From Eroica With Love (34+ volumes) - This and The Violinist of Hameln are going to be the least popular series on my list, which is unfortunate. This one is literally the absolute most hysterical manga I’ve ever read in my life. I laugh so hard at every volume. It’s amazing that it’s not more popular, because it’s perfect in every way to me. It’s got the ultra-flaming Earl Dorian Red Gloria and the ultra-manly Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach who always find some way to run into each other while they’re trotting the globe on completely separate missions (the Earl is a professional art thief, the Major is a NATO intelligence officer). Dorian would love to get to know the Major better while the Major would like nothing better than to never see the Earl again. I… can’t do it justice in a short summary. Just please, please read it. It’s also vintage 1970s and features many Led Zeppelin references, so it’s perfect, you see.
Paradise Kiss (5 volumes) - This will always be one of my favorites. It’s only five volumes long and is one of the most well-written shoujo romances I’ve ever read. It’s about an uptight exam student who falls in love with a fashion star from a famous art school. A torrid relationship follows which is placed amongst preperation for a fashion show at the art school. I’ve read it several times, and I still cry every time I read the end.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (94+ volumes) - In case you are unfamiliar with this one and did a double-take on the length, yes, one of my favorite series really is nearly 100 volumes long (the third longest manga ever!). This is one of the biggest, most epic comics on the face of the earth. Seriously. It starts out in England in the 1890s with Jonathan Joestar, who winds up locked in battle with Dio Brando, who is a young lad that finds himself an immortal vampire. From there, the story, time period, and location change periodically as the main character turns into Jonathan’s son Joseph, then Joseph’s grandson Jotaro, then Joseph’s son Josuke, then Dio’s son Giorno, then Jotaro’s daughter Jolyne. It’s more or less a straight tournament-style action series (with some exceptions) up through Jolyne, with most battles taking place using stands, psychic warriors who are mostly named after bands, albums, or songs (to give you an idea: Pearl Jam, Harvest, Oh! Lonesome Me, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Wired, and Limp Bizkit are all the names of stands). After Jolyne’s section of story, things go back in time (complete with awesome explanation) with vaguely familiar characters who are racing across the United States on horses for a fabulous cash prize… and of course still battling stands, sometimes against the likes of Pork Pie Hat Boy. It’s silly, ultra-violent, and action-packed. It’s everything a comic book should be, and if anyone tries to tell you different, they’re lying.
Cardcaptor Sakura (12 volumes) - I recently reread Violinist of Hameln, and while I would love to see it in English still, I just don’t think it’s as great as I used to. Sakura was on my top five for a long time, but was dethroned unceremoniously by From Eroica With Love, because I’m just not a 10 year old girl anymore. Age has nothing to do with how good this series is though, and it tells the perfect magical girl story with romance, action, and friendship all in the forefront without being overpowering with its message. The ending is still one of the best endings to any series I’ve ever read. It’s the best of CLAMP’s series, and the only one that may knock it out of place is XxXholic, but I’ll hold judgement on that one off until it ends. I can’t imagine it ending with the perfect cute reunion, complete with teddy bears, but maybe it will, who knows.
July 11, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Cardcaptor Sakura and One Piece are the only ones I know from your list. You own 200 volumes of CLAMP manga? Whoa.
July 13, 2007 at 7:45 pm
200 is a bit of an exaggeration, it’s more like 170 or so ^_^; Close enough, though. I ought to update this list, I think Holic passed Cardcaptor Sakura as my favorite CLAMP series… though it’s hard to say since one is still new and one is kind of old.
September 17, 2007 at 8:20 pm
have you ever read kaze Hikaru? i think it’s awesome. if you haven’t you should give it a shot. got to love love triangles!
September 19, 2007 at 1:02 am
I did try Kaze Hikaru briefly… I’ve read 2-3 chapters in Shoujo Beat and couldn’t really get into it. I’m thinking about looking into it again, though.
September 20, 2007 at 1:02 am
well…it was kind of confusing at first…things delevope slowly..but book 4 is where it really takes off for me. i’m deeply saddend that volume 7 doesn’t come out till november.
September 23, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Is it still in Shoujo Beat? Man, the release schedule seems really, really slow, and it’s over 20 volumes and still going in Japan. I have to hold off on starting more long shoujo series until I finish up the ones I have ^_^;
October 10, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Jojo replaced Sakura!! Victory! *does the V-sign for victory*
Since I have no feasible way of getting the first twelve volumes of Jojo, and since a release for those twelve seems to be nowhere in sight, would starting at the beginning of the English release (aka, 13) be an OK place to jump into the story?
October 15, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Oh yeah, there’d be no problem there. The English release starts at the point where they begin using the Stands, so all that is explained, and the technique from the previous volumes is totally forgotten about. There’s an extra-long explanation in the front of the first English volume that fills everything in character-wise too, but the plot and characters are totally different from arc to arc, so it’s pretty easy to jump in.
April 6, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Hi, from your list the ones that would probably make it to my Top 10 are xxxholic, Nana and One Piece (and maybe Cardcaptor Sakura). I still have to read Land of Silver Rain (waiting for books to arrive). I’m surprised I don’t see Genshiken in your huge manga collection. It’s one of my top series! ^_^
April 7, 2008 at 12:56 am
Eh… I’m not a very big fan of series about anime/manga fans. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Genshiken, but I just don’t think I’d like it very much. Maybe I would get into it though, I enjoyed the fannish meta bits in Flower of Life by Fumi Yoshinaga quite a bit.
Also, I really like the beginning and end of Land of Silver Rain, but the middle was very disappointing. I should probably take it off that list. The first volume is excellent, though.
April 7, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Well, I think Genshiken’s really worth it. From the same genre I also like Welcome to NHK. I also wonder if you heard of Hiroki Endo.. ;-) I love his Eden series, as well as short stories Tanpenshu very much…
April 9, 2008 at 1:43 am
I’ve been seriously tempted by Eden lately, especially now that I hear it’ll go on at least a little longer. It’s something that both me and my roommate can get into. I may get Tapenshu first just to make sure I like his style before embarking on Eden, but I’ve heard that either one is fantastic.
April 12, 2008 at 12:17 pm
recently I have got into One peice and its just incredible. reading scans right now of chapter 202 (near the end of B.W saga) thanks for putting it on this list, cause if it weren’t for this site, probaly wouldn’t have given it a chance. If only its image wasn’t ruined in the west by 4kids #sigh#
April 12, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Thanks, I’m glad you tried it because I recommended it here, I never know how much credit people give lists like this. I just had my love for this series renewed after finishing the most recent completed story in the Japanese version. I stopped following so closely because the previous storyline had been very long and drawn out, but “Thriller Bark” had everything I love about One Piece turned up as far as possible in it. The fact that my favorite part of the story so far happened after 50 volumes, that it could still be so fresh after that long, amazes me.
Oh man, I’ve stayed far away from the English version of the anime. I saw the first 20 or so episodes and the first movie a long, LONG time ago, and I didn’t even like it subtitled, so there really isn’t too much motivation for me to check it out in English. Though I have heard that the opening is one of the most unintentionally hilarious things EVER.
April 15, 2008 at 1:34 pm
oh its hilarious alright, PAINFULLY halarious:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zdfhjWBLVzg
April 17, 2008 at 1:27 am
I… I forgot I was told it was a rap. That was astounding. Thank you for that.