Forum - View topicThe Best Series Out Now on the Viz Manga App
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2558 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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If I could recommend two titles on the Viz Manga app that aren't already listed by the ANN writers themselves, then I'd have to go with Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M & The Law of Ueki.
Daigo is an excellent series about a young, brash rookie fireman who wants nothing more than to save everyone he can from any fire he tackles, even if the path to doing so breaks any & all rules he normally should follow. Daigo himself is instantly likable, the supporting cast is excellent & all recognize how good of a fireman Daigo really is (though his methods do require reprimanding him), & even the slow build romance between Daigo & his old high school teacher Ms. Ochiai is handled rather well, considering their history as student & teacher. Unfortunately, Daigo was a notoriously poor seller (Denpa's Ed Chavez once admitted that he looked at the Diamond sales numbers & saw that Daigo only managed to sell a few hundreds of copies... in total across all 20 volumes!), so having it be fully accessible via the app is outstanding. Also, while that anime adaptation of the new Daigo manga looks to be its own thing (though the main character looks to be inspired to become a fireman himself because of the OG Daigo), I imagine reading the original series first might help give people who watch the anime some bonus appreciation for it. As for Ueki, it is simply an absolute joy of a "battle manga", one that knows how to be both a parody of the genre as well as a well told one, in & of itself. Everyone's special power, like Ueki being able to turn trash into trees, is purposefully meant to be a bit silly, but then you'll see the characters actually use their powers in smart & ingenious ways during battles, which usually come with requirements to actually use, resulting in there being some strategy (sometimes silly ones) in order to either use their powers or figure out what their opponent's is. The first volume or two are admittedly a bit rough (the anime adaptation actually skips over most of it to go straight into the main tournament plot), & Tsubasa Fukuchi's early artwork isn't the greatest, but literally everything about Law of Ueki gets better & better as you continue, making it a true reward to stick with it for the entire run. I only wish we got the short-lived sequel (Law of Ueki+)as well, even though I've generally heard it's nowhere near as good. |
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njprogfan
 Collector Extraordinaire Posts: 1162 Location: A River Named Toms |
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Add me to the list of people who praise Lovely Complex!, the first shoujo I ever enjoyed and is in my top 3 funniest rom-com manga. I agree about Risa's facial expressions, they are hilarious and unmatched. It's great the chapters are online because some of the physical volumes go for outrageous prices!
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fausti
Posts: 37 |
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Good to see Basara being recommended in this article. One of the best manga of all-time. I'm probably one of the few who owns and read the entire print run that Viz put out years and years ago. But trying to find others who read it was frustrating. I once thought it'd be one of these "lost classics" that nobody talks about. Hopefully, with its new availabilty, it will attract new fans as it deserves.
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purplepolecat
 Posts: 130 |
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Surprised no-one mentioned NANA, probably the best Josei manga of all time, an intoxicating blend of romance and punk rock.
Ping Pong is also great, it deviates from the usual sports manga by delving into the psychology of what makes people compete, and how psychologically damaging competition can be. |
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Triltaison
 Posts: 727 |
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This is a great sampling, and several mentioned are actually the reason I subscribed. No joke, when I saw ANN'S article about the new app last time, I subscribed immediately when I saw Basara was there. I couldn't afford Basara at the time it was new, and now that series alone as a physical set will typically cost over $1000 on the secondhand market.
I didn't realize so many were sneakily hiding on the website, though. After finishing Basara and the one volume of Bokurano that costs like $300 nowadays, I'm probably going to tackle some of Asano's stuff next. Firefighter Daigo is definitely on my shortlist, though. Here's hoping Viz decides to add Please Save My Earth and Red River to the service since they're in the same situation as Basara (being much loved classic shoujo, incredibly out of print, and also expensive enough to be a car payment to acquire physically). Nana was finally blessed with a reprint all these years later in addition to being provided on the new service, and I'm just so glad the girly stuff is finally getting some love. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7358 |
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I was gonna scream if no one mentioned Basara! Glad to see it's back!
And Firefighter Daigo is absolutely a must read that's also long OOP. So glad Viz did this right when Kodansha was about to launch their mess! The choice between "what even is this, 1 chapter for $1?" and "$2 for all you can eat Basara and Daigo" was made entirely too easy. |
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 606 |
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As you can see from the other replies in this thread, Basara has retained a small-but-devoted fanbase in the US.
The first thing I checked for after seeing Basara was on the app was Red River. I was sadly disappointed. |
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2450 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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Good idea for an article — always nice to do a round-up with the various writers and editors.
I don’t read a ton of Viz stuff, but of what I’ve read here, I think my recommendations would be Cross Game (which I enjoyed even though I have zero interest in baseball) and the soapy melodrama Sand Chronicles. Of course, I’d dearly like to see Viz put Tezuka’s Phoenix on the app, but we’re probably lucky that’s available at all as an ebook, since it was nearly impossible to collect in print back in the day. |
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