Manga Friday

Posted: April 30, 2010 | Author: flomu | Filed under: Uncategorized |10 Comments »

Recently it has come to my attention that most people read shitty popular manga and never give shitty unpopular manga a shitty chance shitty.  Thus it is my shitty pleasure to introduce to you shitty five manga that shitty you should be (but probably shitty aren’t) reading shitty shitty.  Shitty shitty shitty and shitty because they are shitty shitty shitty.

Little House with an Orange Roof

Besides boasting one of the worst manga titles I’ve ever seen, Little House with an Orange Roof is quite good.  It’s what happens when you take your average romance, put a seinen twist on it, and throw in two families of characters.  You’ve still got your drama and romance, but the novelty of seeing a couple of parents as the main characters isn’t something to play down.

Of course, the art sucks, the story is almost purely episodic, and you sometimes wonder why the main characters are such dumbasses, but it’s thought that counts, right?

P.S.: The cover pages are always, without fail, pictures of the girls.  I think the mangaka is sexist.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer

Now one of my favoritist manga, Hoshi no Samidare (which somehow makes it into English as “Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer”) is a complete masterpiece.   If One Piece is the pinnacle of mainstream shounen, then Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is its non-mainstream counterpart.  It starts off as something of a gag manga, then evolves into a drama, an action series, and finally a blend of all three.  At the surface, this manga is an enjoyable ride through brilliant characterization and intense but realistic action.  Underneath, there are are some pretty deep themes going on.  Of course, I can’t name any of these themes because I don’t really want to think right no I’m not a thinker.  I’m just a guy who likes superficial things.

Sket Dance

Comedy is serious business, and Sket Dance proves it.  The comedy here is on par with Gintama, and the drama far outdoes Gintama’s shoddy transitions from laugh-out-loud-funny to sudden moral-of-the-arc scenes.  Besides the main trio of characters, Sket Dance doesn’t do as  good a job as Gintama at characterization (there ain’t no Hijikata or Kondo here!), but the main characters have a lot more depth than Gintoki, Shinpachi, and Kagura.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that Sket Dance is better than Gintama.  Gintama is a great manga, and an even greater anime, but Sket Dance is just… well, better.  So go out and read this series, because for a Weekly Shounen Jump series that outclasses just about everything else in the magazine, Sket Dance is so un-famous, it’s ridiculous.

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been listing these manga in order of how much I love them.  Of course, Little House with an Orange Roof is pretty damn good to begin with, but Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is on a whole different level.  Sket Dance is even higher than that… but not the highest.

Franken Fran

This shit is the shit.  It’s the shit’s shit’s shit.  That’s how much of the shit it is.

Franken Fran is something like a Higurashi comedy, only scarier and with as much gore as Berserk.  It will make you feel depressed, entertained, scared, and happy at the same time.  When you first read a few chapters, you think to yourself, “What the fuck did I just read?”  After a few more chapters, you think, “What the fuck did I just read?”  After you’re finally caught up to date, you think, “What the fuck did I just read?”  But all the while, you’re loving it.  And that’s what makes Franken Fran good.

Black comedy, meet Fran comedy.

Also, vote for me.

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