I’m happy to present a series of articles that will provide you with interesting facts and relevant opinions on the most popular (and not very popular) titles. I’m going to review famous manga/anime works as well as newly-appeared pieces and also obscure works that could claim to be popular.
Here we go!
It's time to speak about another iconic manga that had a great number of fans and haters as well. There were endless discussions and wranglers over the series like over Naruto at the time. Fans closely followed every new chapter… Up to some point…
To start with, I’d like to note that Naruto is one of the iconic pieces in the manga world. Back in its day, it formed a part of “the holy trinity of shonens”: Naruto - Bleach - One Piece. The author of the series, Masashi Kishimoto, managed to create an incredibly diverse universe with great history and well-developed conception dating back times.
Aquarion is an anime TV series written and directed by Shoji Kawamori. The series was broadcast from 2005 and it comprises three seasons: Genesis of Aquarion, Aquarion Evol, and Aquarion Logos. In this review, I’m going to cover only the first series… Why? I’ll explain later.
Fullmetal Alchemist was written and illustrated by Arakawa Hiromu (born Hiromi). It’s interesting that “Hiromu” is a pen name that female writers usually use when choosing the category of shonen manga. The manga was released between 2001 and 2010. It was adapted into two anime series for television. The first one had an alternative ending since the manga hadn’t been finished and the scriptwriters had to finish it anyway. The second one had the same ending as in the manga. I’m touching upon the anime series because the alternative version is worth noticing equally with the original one. Funny enough but the fans still can’t agree which ending is better.
The manga series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon was written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was published in Kodansha’s Nakayoshi magazine between 1992 and 1997. It was also adapted into an anime series titled Sailor Moon, which is a classic example of the shojo genre. Interestingly, Sailor Moon is usually considered to popularize the concept of the team of magical girls and to “revive” the maho shojo genre. However, Sailor Moon is quite different from Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. So, I think it will be interesting to review the manga since it’s the base for the anime.
To start with, I should say that I have mixed feelings about the manga Toriko. It seems that the author, Shimabukuro Mitsutoshi, just wanted to make a profit out of the series and shoot to fame, rather than to make something new and unique.
Claymore is a great manga series written and illustrated by Norihiro Yagi that was released between 2001 and 2014. The manga will capture the imagination of those who like historic works as well as stories about demons and great conspiracy.
Talking about manga in general, you’ve probably noticed the following tendency: now many comics are getting longer, going on for several years and have a silly ending. By contrast, Psyren is a finished piece and the author doesn’t ruin the ending. That’s already one of the pros.