looking for an anime/manga

El Banana · Post by **El Banana** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 1:15 pm

And If you like samurai manga, you'll DEFINITELY like both.

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 1:23 pm

El Banana wrote:Blado Of the Immortal is extremely good, if not particularly realistic. Lone wolf and cub has a dryness to it, because of the attention to historical accuracy the author gave it. Both are, however, two of my favorite titles.

And if possible, check out the Lone Wolf and Cub movies. They're really old, but they follow the manga almost exactly... and are pretty fun to watch.

I want a Katana...

A movie as in a live-action or anime? Sorry...hard to get mind away from anime when on a-m-v.org

. If it's anything like the Seven Samurai, I'm sure it'll be great. Then again though, Kurosawa probably didn't direct it.

El Banana · Post by **El Banana** » Thu Mar 20, 2003 1:39 pm

I never saw the seven samurai, It's an old series of 6 live action movies.
Haven't seen em yet, only bits and pieces.

paizuri · Post by **paizuri** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 11:34 am

dwchang wrote:Alright, sounds like I've definitely seen it at my local comic book shop then. Like I said it sounded familiar since I've been thinking about buying "Lone Wolf and Cub" so I assume Blade of the Immortal was right next to it.

So they're very different and yet both good? They're both bad ass swordsmen/samurai/ronin and different? Interesting. I love Rurouni Kenshin, but I wouldn't go so far to say that it sounds anything like Blade of the Immortal. However, regardless, I have been interested in Samurai manga ever since (although I was a bit disappointed by the Revenge arc in Kenshin).

Are the pocket-sized versions any different from the originals and worth it?

As El Banana has said, LW&C tried to be more historically accurate and the artwork is more stylized, kinda like a series of paintings, whereas BotI seems a lot more anachronistic and the artwork is more fluid and visceral.

LW&C only comes out in the pocket-sized versions. I'm not sure if the original LW&C releases were full-sized comic books or not, but they're probably pretty hard to find or a lot more expensive than their cover price was back then. BotI has a monthly release schedule in comic book format, but it's pretty far along issue-wise. Luckily, there are plenty of readily available graphic novels to help you catch up on the story.

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 2:15 pm

paizuri wrote: As El Banana has said, LW&C tried to be more historically accurate and the artwork is more stylized, kinda like a series of paintings, whereas BotI seems a lot more anachronistic and the artwork is more fluid and visceral.

LW&C only comes out in the pocket-sized versions. I'm not sure if the original LW&C releases were full-sized comic books or not, but they're probably pretty hard to find or a lot more expensive than their cover price was back then. BotI has a monthly release schedule in comic book format, but it's pretty far along issue-wise. Luckily, there are plenty of readily available graphic novels to help you catch up on the story.

Excellent I will pick some up this Wednesday when I go to pick up my comics (Oh please Rising Stars be in!). So BotI is still being released? Argh! That means I have to wait through cliffhangers

. Is it done like a typical comic book as opposed to manga (in the production, obviously not the art) in that they're comic book size and pages, etc.? I seem to recall you saying there were 11 issues out? If this is based on a Manga, I'd think that would mean there is quite a bit more that needs to be released since a comicbook is only ~30 pages and Mangas are a lot larger (shrug).

paizuri · Post by **paizuri** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 2:59 pm

dwchang wrote:Excellent I will pick some up this Wednesday when I go to pick up my comics (Oh please Rising Stars be in!). So BotI is still being released? Argh! That means I have to wait through cliffhangers . Is it done like a typical comic book as opposed to manga (in the production, obviously not the art) in that they're comic book size and pages, etc.? I seem to recall you saying there were 11 issues out? If this is based on a Manga, I'd think that would mean there is quite a bit more that needs to be released since a comicbook is only ~30 pages and Mangas are a lot larger (shrug).

Is Rising Stars any good? Someone else was talking about that the other day too, although it never looked interesting enough to me from the covers to pick it up.

Actually, 11 BotI graphic novels are out (they collect up to issue #72). I just checked the Dark Horse website and issue #77 just came out this week (week of March 19). And the issues are 32 pages. I don't know how closely the comic book issues correspond with the manga releases in Japan since we have all those annoying ads interspersed throughout the issues.

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 3:21 pm

There had better be a damned good reaosn why this isn't an anime yet.

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Fri Mar 21, 2003 3:56 pm

paizuri wrote:Is Rising Stars any good? Someone else was talking about that the other day too, although it never looked interesting enough to me from the covers to pick it up.

Rising Stars is currently my favorite comic book. I'm not sure how familiar you are with comic books (or Babylon 5), but it is written by J. Michael Stracyznski (sp) who is the creator of Babylon 5.

He is also writing Amazing Spider-Man. His Spider-Man run is actually why I got back into comic books (I left around the Spider-man clone and X-men: Age of Apocalypse days which were at best...horrible). In fact, the first few issues Stracyznski does deal with real-life situations like a school shooting and the 9/11 (done non-cheezily and quite well. Deals with out Spider-Man failed and all the Marvel heros coming to grips with true heroism, etc.). I highly recommend this book.

Oops! Got off-topic...about Rising Stars. I recommend it *if* you don't hate somewhat preachy messages. The gist of the story is 115 (or is it 117) kids get powers b/c of a meteor or something passing while they were in utero. It's the story of them growing up, the world they effect and how they change the world. The first 10 or so issues make it *seem* like a super-hero comic (although very well-written and if it was that it'd still be good. Give it till the second TPB.), but there's a turning point where it becomes more worldview. He deals with things like Peace in the Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament, etc.

I'd also recommend Midnight Nation by Stracynzski if you like his works. On the surface, it's about a man trying to regain his soul, but it becomes a book about people and things we choose to ignore in the world. Again, if you would rather have a typical comic book, I wouldn't recommend it. If you'd like a great super-hero comic on the surface and thought provoking material in the center. I highly recommend it. Message me or mail me if you'd like more details. In fact, I'd go so far as to say, if you want, you can always borrow them from me. I have no real issues with that. You're a friend of Hsien's and probably trustworthy (although his avatar with you was badass)

.

paizuri wrote:Actually, 11 BotI graphic novels are out (they collect up to issue #72). I just checked the Dark Horse website and issue #77 just came out this week (week of March 19). And the issues are 32 pages. I don't know how closely the comic book issues correspond with the manga releases in Japan since we have all those annoying ads interspersed throughout the issues.

Wow 11 Graphic novels?! Holy crap! This is gonna take me awhile (like Sandman's 12 volumes). Argh! I've been spending a lot of money on comics lately (because I just got back in). There was a lot of great stuff in the last....9 years (quit in middle school). I've been picking up various x-men and spider-man trades every week as well as "must reads" like Watch-men and now this

BTW if you're not into comics and would like more suggestions, I'd suggest almost anything by Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-man is an excellent starting point for any non-fan since it's a relaunch of spider-man (i.e...starts over), Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale (Batman: Long Halloween and Batman: Dark Victory come to mind) and of course Straczynski.

Wow! I sure write a lot about comics.