Maokun: Ninjas or Pirates? (Vikings are not a valid answer, sorry)
EricTheFred: Vikings are always a valid answer.
EricTheFred (post: 1197270) wrote:Did you know that the top-selling OEL, "Megatokyo", a web-manga turned book-manga, is now being marketed in Japan? Kodansha licensed volume 1 last year and will be putting it on the shelf in a couple months.
My favorite 'series' is Rising Stars of Manga, but that's a short-story anthology / contest. For actual series, I'm a big fan of "Amazing Agent Luna", which is on Volume 4 and sadly going to finish with volume 5, and a new title, "Hollow Fields". I sort of like Last Hope, except I would wish for more originality in the script. Good character designs, though.
"Unearthly" is frustratingly on hiatus, which is very unfortunate because it is basically the one with the most potential of any OEL.
Others that look like they could be good, if the writers step up to the plate (all of these have excellent art) on volume 2:
Pantheon High
Grand Theft Galaxy
Atomic King Daidogan
The last one was pulled from print, and I don't know why. The short version in RSOM was brilliant, and it was going to be a three-volume series. Some sort of breakdown between author and publisher, I suppose. The other two are ongoing, but very slow.
Maokun: Ninjas or Pirates? (Vikings are not a valid answer, sorry)
EricTheFred: Vikings are always a valid answer.
ShiroiHikari (post: 1197466) wrote:I read a little of Sorcerers and Secretaries, it wasn't bad but I never found any more volumes in the stores.
I also used to read Roadsong, but same story there: couldn't find any more of it.
Oh, and Earthsong. I used to read that regularly too.
uc pseudonym (post: 1197497) wrote:OEL manga makes a decent label (getting away from the "definition of manga" argument), but so far I haven't found the field terribly impressive. There is some nice art out there, but the writing leaves a great deal to be desired. I could discuss specific titles in more detail, but some of them are ones people have already listed as their favorites in this thread.
minakichan (post: 1197474) wrote:The other issue I have is that people are willing to categorize comics into manga, manhwa, manhua by national origin, but will then insist on calling American manga-style comics "manga." So, if you're Korean or Chinese, you get your own label, but American works are all manga? But there are also some people who consider "OEL manga" to also suggest national origin, so I'm OK with that.
Like I said, I'm on the fence. The rational, nonpartisan side of me asks "What the heck do these terms even mean?!" Manhua, for example, encompasses comics that look exactly like "Japanese manga," comics that look exactly like American superhero, and crazy HK wuxiapian style stuff, yet it's all grouped with one term. Does manga mean a style of storytelling or just the national origin? (And technically it just means "comics," so Superman is manga too. Then it gets trippy.) How can one even have this debate if the key vocabulary term is so vague and everyone defines it differently?
If you want me to rant about people who are completely against OEL, I can do that too.
Maokun: Ninjas or Pirates? (Vikings are not a valid answer, sorry)
EricTheFred: Vikings are always a valid answer.
Maokun: Ninjas or Pirates? (Vikings are not a valid answer, sorry)
EricTheFred: Vikings are always a valid answer.
EricTheFred wrote:And they are silly. We think of the Japanese style as somehow different, forgetting that there has been give and take between all the national styles down through the years.
yukoxholic wrote:Feel free to state your opinions on certain OEL even if they are listed! I like what I like but I am always eager to hear others opinions.
uc pseudonym (post: 1197795) wrote:Indeed. I wish people would just choose a labeling system and be consistent about it.
Quoted for truth. The only way to make this debate worse is to add elitism.
I'm reluctant to speak too broadly, because I'll admit my reading of OEL manga is skewed toward Tokyopop's titles. For whatever reason I see a disproportionate number of those (online chapters may be partially to blame). But as a whole, I'm disappointed with the quality of the stories being produced. This is especially evident to me in reading many of the recent RSOM compilations - the winners all have decent art, but in my opinion some of the entries as a whole are terrible.
I've read two volumes of Dramacon and personally find it mediocre. Better than a lot of their other OEL series, but the story is somewhat same old, same old. It is nice to see some decent dialogue, but I find the characters are all somewhat archetypal.
Megatokyo... I probably shouldn't get started on it. But this is one of the most hated titles online, so I'm sure you're aware of all the usual complaints.
yukoxholic (post: 1197813) wrote:As to Megatokyo, yes, I have heard the complaints of his works but than again these books have been translated into German, French, Italian Polish and recently Japanese. If these countries are willing to publish it than there must be something special about it to cause a spark across the globe!
Maokun: Ninjas or Pirates? (Vikings are not a valid answer, sorry)
EricTheFred: Vikings are always a valid answer.
Ok, let me just state one thing be it graphic novels, manga, comics, etc I know that any one of those genres that I pick up I won't find anything ground-breaking. I know it won't be as gripping as reading an actual 300 page suspense novel or picking up a biography on someone's life.
Maokun: Ninjas or Pirates? (Vikings are not a valid answer, sorry)
EricTheFred: Vikings are always a valid answer.
yukoxholic wrote:Ok, let me just state one thing be it graphic novels, manga, comics, etc I know that any one of those genres that I pick up I won't find anything ground-breaking. I know it won't be as gripping as reading an actual 300 page suspense novel or picking up a biography on someone's life. I tend to think those types of literature rely heavily on the art more than the story. They want their pictures to do the talking, not the dialogue which is why most OEL, OCL, etc (and yeah they should just call it all one thing!! >__<) always lack in terms of story.
yukoxholic wrote:YenPress I have to give credit for they are at least searching for more depth in terms of manga. With the Light...Raising an Autistic Child by Keiko Tobe is basically a manga masterpiece in my opinion. It not only deals with the trials of those who raise an autistic child but also touches on what that child has to go through by using beautiful art and captivating storytelling. Another title that deserves to be noted is: Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno which is about Hiroshima, Japan. Even though these are both by Japanese mangaka, if we put that aside what nationality they are, where they come from, etc and just look at first, the story which is based on 'life situations' and THAN the art we can see why these two are praised so much and given awards for their work.
yukoxholic wrote:As to Megatokyo, yes, I have heard the complaints of his works but than again these books have been translated into German, French, Italian Polish and recently Japanese. If these countries are willing to publish it than there must be something special about it to cause a spark across the globe!
yukoxholic wrote:The reason why I loved Dramacon so much is because I myself am an anime con-goer (yes, I know that is pretty sad but also very fun! ) but to me if you left the character dramatics out of it she summed up an anime convention perfectly which I guess is why I praise it so much. I suppose I am biased! ^__^
minakichan wrote:90% of EVERYTHING-- manga, comics, 300-page suspense novels, biographies, everything-- is crap. There is only one exception to this rule, and that is that 100% of crap is crap. Yes, there are tons of super awesome deep classic novels, but they're the 10% of literature as a whole. For every novel of awesome there are 9 of not-so-awesome, but of course, we only see the awesome stuff because the others didn't stand the test of time.
EricTheFred wrote:However, in one way MT stands head and shoulders above almost all OEL manga. It has an imaginative, original story line which can not be called a stale copy of some much better Japanese original. What most OEL Manga suffers from is copier syndrome. The stories are usually written by people who are really, really good artists, but haven't developed good writing skills. Their stories are copies, not originals, and they lack the sharpness and quality of the original. MT is original material.
yukoxholic wrote:Though you do have a point I suppose I am being too rash in what I had stated in a previous post. The art drawn inside of manga is just as important as the story if not more so due to the vast competition from other artists. Yours has to shine best among the rest.
uc pseudonym (post: 1198032) wrote:"Something special" is defined as "will sell many volumes."
uc pseudonym (post: 1198032) wrote:I hadn't reflected on this at any length, so I may need to consider it more. Copy syndrome is indeed a problem, though I think some series have gotten away from the need to emulate a manga stereotype. Pantheon High, for example, has Norse mythology. Sure, we've seen superpowered high schoolers before, but I feel it does it in a different way (at least not a manga-ripoff way).
uc pseudonym (post: 1198032) wrote:However, I have to say that I don't dislike Megatokyo because Rodney left or because of the art (I'm not really an art person, if you haven't noticed). I dislike it because I honestly don't like the nature of the story. Melodramatic wish-fulfillment, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it's free and online, so I keep reading...
Maokun: Ninjas or Pirates? (Vikings are not a valid answer, sorry)
EricTheFred: Vikings are always a valid answer.
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