the kindle has mostly been supplying my manga/comix fix over the past couple of months – but here’s one obligatory book i did buy – i must confess that “best of” comic compilations i generally find unsatisfying, if not depressing – inconsistence and crap (in thou humble opinion) is guaranteed – and in this case we are dealing with uncompromising “alternative manga” (where maruo is considered too mainstream?!) – yep it’s cutting edge and experimental, dahlings – so “heta-uma” (bad art) is de rigueur – determining which is faeces and which is chocolate somewhat subjective? (even dependent on your mood at the time of reading!) – but then we have a takato yamamoto strip dropped in here – which, despite the exquisite art, i don’t think anyone can deny is anything but pretentious drivel – so…??? – there are quite a few metaphysical type pieces included which i liked very much – but the standout for me is an all too brief six pages (of noodle eating!) by einosuke, which offers both artistic prowess and non-conformity – overall it is an erratically interesting and refreshing read and, despite inherent drawbacks, something to be recommended – a worthy successor to the previous anthologies “secret comics japan” and “comics underground japan”
- – -
and now a list of manga recently read (or reading) and loved – scanlations of course (mostly) – yes it’s ethically questionable but at least i can feel conscientiously happy about the saving on bookshelf space – (stop crying, viz media, pump out e-manga!)
and the manga i had high hopes for but ultimately disappointed (those i abandoned reading):
I been waiting for this post. About time
a kinda abbreviated version of what i was planning but nevermind
Quite an interesting assortment Mr. Brown. Taking your word, I just bought the AX compilation and volume one of “a distant neighbourhood” (also took the opportunity of buying the lastest work by Jason) – unfortunately, the rest has not been translated from Japanese, a language I cannot make neither heads nor tails of, making a good part of your suggestions, I’m afraid, forever out of my reach – or being a tad less dramatic, until at least they find their way unto the American or European market. A pity, titles such as Milk Closet and Soil sound extremely interesting. Thanks for the suggestion!
yes, just a distant neighbourhood and gantz officially available – the rest are downloaded fan translations
i found the new jason (the werewolf one) a little below par – not quite so “clever” as his other books? – i bought “left bank gang” at the same time which is excellent
i’m surprised to find you didn’t enjoy franken fran!
i set too high expectations on it? – for a multi-volume book i was expecting an on-going storyline and more depth – the individual episodes got repetitive and predictable
Try some Kitoh if you haven’t already.
i hadn’t i shall : )
Could you drop us the links to the translations? I mean, I have no problems in buying the originals, in support of the works – actually, I would prefer to do this – but, as said, I can’t read Japanese.
On Jason, just bought his “What I did” – I have Low Moon, Almost Silent and the incredibly insane “I Killed Adolf Hitler” – great stuff – anxious to read this new one.
quite a few sites were taken down by viz media recently – many of the best ones sadly (including the site i was snatching “soil” from) – but “manga underground” posts interesting things (http://www.mydailymanga.com/) – and “manga traders” maybe has everything (http://www.mangatraders.com/) tho navigation is bad – you need to sign up i think
“why are you doing this?” is another great book of jason at his peak
Thanks a million for the leads!
Since the dawn of the Stone Age, drawing has been a primary method of human expression, one of man’s many tools of reflection and interpretation.
how to draw manga