6 Manga You’ve Never Heard Of (But Should Read)

And here we are, the follow-up to my 5 Anime You’ve Never Heard Of post!

You damn kids have it easy! Why I remember back in the day (that day being the late 90’s) when Japanese comic books could only be found in comic and specialty shops and the paperback graphic novels cost 20 bucks a pop!

Imagine trying to keep up with your precious Naurtos at that price! Rassa frassin’, get off my lawn and sit your keesters down while I show you 6 manga you’ve never heard of!

#1: Dragon Half

Ever get that feeling of deja vu? That’s right, at the top of my list once again is Dragon Half. I just can’t plug this series enough. If you have seen the wildly funny two episode OVA and have just always itched for more the manga will bring it. 65 chapters of 15-20 page comics more.

The art is good, but it changes drastically over the course of the series. You also get a wider cast of characters to enjoy and laugh at. All the humor of the anime is there and then some: the whacky situations, the fourth-wall breaking, fantasy RPG jokes, the obvious fanservice, and just alot of brilliant gags that defy explanation. Mink, the titular Dragon Half, is still on her quest to become human and win the heart of dragon slayer/pop star Dick Saucer, but along the way she sort of falls into many epic adventures, including a quest to kill the Demon King. But don’t worry, every time the series comes close to actually being dramatic it blatantly sabotages itself with its own insane humor. A good read!

Availability: As far as I know the series is only available online as scanlations. Onemanga has the complete series.

#2: +Anima

+Anima (pronounced Plus Anima) is a series I’ve talked about before on this site but one I still like to make people aware of. I picked this one up in the bookstore one day looking for something new.

+Anima is a cute comic, it’s more about the characters than any real over-reaching plot and unfortunately in the final volume what could have been a big moving finale and fascinating ending story arc feels awfully rushed and is crammed into the last few chapters. I sadly suspect the series was canceled at the time and the creator had to wrap it up quickly.

The story follows four wayward children traveling the land together, they’re all what is called +Anima, people with the ability to use the power of a particular animal shape-shifting part of their body to reflect it. Each character has their own power and their own interesting past that are each naturally revealed through the course of the story’s development. The four characters are extremely likable and the episodic nature of the comic makes it highly accessible.

Availability: +Anima is a mere 10 volumes long and is currently available in the United States published under TokyoPop. Pick it up while you still can, I don’t know how long it’ll stay on shelves as its relatively obscure. Onemanga also has the first 40 chapters available, but I encourage supporting the series with a book purchase if you like it!

#3: Rappi Rangai

Imagine if you will a harem manga that is genuinely funny. One that doesn’t rely on “walking in on the girls in the hot spring” gags and other cliches. One where the female characters aren’t tired, doe-eyed archetypes and have actual personalities. One where the male character isn’t a boring, plain, loathsome, dorky stand-in for sad otaku to inject themselves into.

Now imagine its also brimming with gorgeous art, badass action scenes, and ninjas.

This is Rappi Rangai.

I found this one when I was bored and tired one night just hitting the “random” button on OneManga. Admittedly the cover art is what first caught my eye (I won’t deny this series is chock full of fanservice and lovingly rendered female curves), but it was the great characters and humor that kept me coming back.

The comic stars Raizou, a poor peasant boy with a small horn on his head who is shunned as a demon child by the rest of his village. One day he saves the life of a beautiful girl named Kagari. Turns out she’s a kunoichi (female ninja) in service of the fallen house of Katana. Turns out Raizou is the bastard son of the Lord of the Katana Clan and his horn is proof. Turns out his late mother never bothered to tell him important details like this. Soon two other kunoichi arrive so the three pledge their servitude to Raizou and announce their plans to revive the house of Katana by finding Raizou a woman from another powerful clan to marry.

Wow the plot actually sounds coherent and serious when you explain it, but trust me the series is hilarious.

Availability: Only scanlations for now, on OneManga of course, but the news is Del Rey Manga (Random House) have the publishing rights so look for it sometime this or next year here in the States under the title “Ninja Girls”.

#4: Comic Party

Comic Party comes in two flavors: a collection of short comics by multiple amateur comic book artists published by Central Park Media, and a more structured adaptation by Sekihiko Inui published by TokyoPop. Both series revolve around the same characters and central idea, both are hilarious, though I prefer Inui’s rendition (better art and characterization, an on-going plot etc.)

Comic Party is pretty much all about geek empowerment. It follows a bunch of misfits who create self-published comics to sell at a monthly dojinshi convention called Comic Party (or Comipa for short.)

In both versions our main hero is Kazuki, depressed he was rejected from art school (at least in the Inui version) he’s convinced by his overly-ambitious, passionate otaku friend Taishi to give dojinshi a try, much to the chagrin of Kazuki’s girlfriend Mizuki. Most of the comic surrounds the convention, showing what goes into the process of comic making, over-exaggerating what artists go through during “deadline hell”, affectionately poking fun at cosplay, nerdy fanboy otaku, and just geek culture in general. The original CPM version also has several jokes about yaoi (especially when Mizuki gets lost at the convention and they find her later with a stack of dirty manga hidden in a paper bag.) Both are a great read and pretty funny, but like I said before Sekihiko Inui’s version just has better art and overall more structure.

Availability: I haven’t seen either version in stores near me lately, but you can still purchase it via Central Park Media and Tokyopop’s websites.

#5: Akira

Oh sure, you’ve heard of Akira. You’ve heard of Akira the movie. But what about the original comic?

The original comic is epic. Not only will reading it make the classic film make a whole hell of alot more sense, but you get an expanded understanding of its themes. Some characters only glimpsed in the film have engaging and important roles here. The original in fact takes us even beyond the awakening of Akira and the destruction of Neo-Tokyo, where survivors in the desperate aftermath struggle the find direction and Tetsuo becomes a tyrant. It’s simply incredible.

Availability: Unfortunately Akira was originally published in the United States by Dark Horse Comics in six large volumes the size of phonebooks. These volumes are currently out of print and are very pricey collector’s items. I only have the first 2 myself (the scan for this article is from the very last chapter, hard-bound, in color, in French. Don’t ask why I own this) and they were nearly 30 bucks each even when they were in stores. The series hasn’t been released domestically since. The only scanlations I’ve ever found were through the torrent site Boxtorrents.com.

#6: Lone Wolf and Cub

The artsy animated TV series Samurai Jack once did a blatant homage to Lone Wolf and Cub. Maybe because it lifted many of its action scenes right from this comic. Even at the time when I watched the show I began to suspect they had been studying this masterpiece as reference, only to have them confirm it with a tribute. So if you were ever confused by that scene, now you know what it was in reference to.

Lone Wolf and Cub is kind of hard to describe, there’s really nothing else like it. Its artwork is far more realistic than most Japanese comics, with a touch of influence from traditional Japanese screen prints.

The story is as follows: Ogami was high ranking samurai working for the Shogunate, however a plot by a rival ends in the slaughter of his entire family. His newborn son Daigoro survives, so he gives the child a choice. He places down a ball, and a sword. If the Daigoro chooses the ball he’ll kill the boy to send his soul to be with his mother, and go on his way. But instead Daigoro crawls to the sword.

So Ogami takes his son along with him on his revenge quest, and now as a ronin (masterless samurai) he becomes an assassin for hire. Did I mention he pushes Daigoro around in a wooden baby carriage loaded with hidden weapons? Lone Wolf and Cub is somewhat episodic but not without story arcs or an always present over-reaching plot.

Availability: Also published in the United States by Dark Horse comics, you can still find the books (and many of the live action films) on Amazon.com. There was a short-lived American comic adaptation called “Lone Wolf 2100″ that was set in the future… but the less said about that the better.

So there you have it! Get out there and get reading! I’d like to end this by just saying I love scanlators and fansubbers. You guys all work hard for nothing just so other people can enjoy foreign comics and animation, and for that I salute you!

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