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Akira

Publishing run: 1982-1990
Author: Katsuhiro Otomo
Publisher: Kodansha
Format: Large format volumes
Completion: 6/6 volumes

When I first read Akira at a local library, I didn't think much about the acclaim this manga had received until later, when I heard people raving about the seminal 1988 film adaptation, specifcally. So eventually I'd come to watch that, and ended up really disappointed despite its excellent quality - since it only adapts about half the source material. I'd later come to learn that the manga and film were developed separately, which makes it understandable, but it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that we might never get a complete animated adaption of, in my humble opinion, the vastly superior manga, which has got it all - gorgeous illustration, stellar character chemistry, and a thrilling plot that kept me glued to the pages even during my 2022 re-read.

The Ancient Magus' Bride

Publishing run: 2013-present
Author: Kore Yamazaki
Publisher: Mag Garden, Seven Seas Entertainment
Format: Tankōbon single
Completion: 1/19+ volumes (ongoing)

Have you ever started a series because a spinoff looked appealing but didn't want to get into it because you wanted to know if the core series is good? Well, that's what's happened here. I read a bunch of it first but only really started collecting it on a whim when I was looking for new stuff to start at the local comics shop so I ended up with vol 1 of a couple of series, including this one. It's very good though even if my consumption of this series started out as kind of as an afterthought. I can only hope Wizard's Blue ends up as good as this has gotten so far!

The Ancient Magus' Bride: Wizard's Blue

Publishing run: 2019-present
Authors: Makoto Sanda, Isuo Tsukomo, Kore Yamazaki
Publisher: Mag Garden, Seven Seas Entertainment
Format: Tankōbon singles
Completion: 3/7+ volumes (ongoing)

This series is the most carefully considered 'impulse buy' I've ever made, I think. Found it on the shelves of my local comics shop, was like "oh this looks good", but didn't buy it yet because I hadn't actually read the original series this is a spin-off from. Fast forward about a week and a half, and I had caught up on the original Ancient Magus' Bride (which is a very good read, would recommend also), but since that one doesn't have the immediate personal appeal to me that this particular spinoff does, it's not been a priority to add it to my collection. So what's that 'personal appeal', you ask? You have to ask? Dragon lady hot, of course. What else could it be? But yeah, fast forward a couple more weeks and I finally get around to snagging the first three volumes and I have to say it's definitely worth it. It's just a shame that it's been relegated to the lesser 'spin-off' category so I don't see other people talking about it so I've taken it on myself to spread the gospel of hot dragon ladies in manga. And none of that wishywashy monstergirl bullshit either, there's a time and place for that but I rarely bother with that these days considering I now live in a post-Beastars world.

Beastars

Publishing run: 2016-2020
Author: Paru Itagaki
Publisher: Akita Shoten, Viz Media
Format: Tankōbon singles
Completion: 22/22 volumes

A big surprise, the furry collects what's probably the furriest mainstream manga out there. Shit's good though, otherwise I wouldn't have stuck with this series. I'm a big fan of the attention put into detailing out the quirks of the daily lifes of the various species, from the dynamics of the group of canids the main character is roomed with at his dorm, to a bit-part hen character who gets one chapter of focus because she lays eggs that are used in sandwiches that the main character likes to eat at school (it's super weird out of context but it makes sense in there, I promise!). But yeah, watching the first season of this restarted my interest in collecting manga, and I'm really happy that I did. It made me start looking out for print copies of Dorohedero as well when the anime adaptation of that aired, and since 2020 I've been enjoying reading manga on paper again for the first time in a while because of that decision. I completed my collection in late January 2023.

Bleach

Publishing run: 2001-2016
Author: Tite Kubo
Publisher: Shueisha, Viz Media
Format: Tankōbon omnibus
Completion: 18/74 volumes

Bleach is one of my most formative manga, the one that initially sparked my interest in taking art seriously, and has also informed a great deal of my approach to worldbuilding and that world's relationship to the characters who live there. It's also notable to me for being the first anime I watched in Japanese, having direct downloaded the first episode from some fansite in a weird RealMedia format (before I learned about filesharing methods like LimeWire and BitTorrent). There's a lot that's been said about Bleach's story and structure that I feel isn't necessary to repeat here, so I won't, but due to that I'm not in a hurry to expand my collection of this long running series, but that said, I'm still probably going to eventually get around it since the long-awaited adaption of the final arc that got left out of the original anime run has gotten me hyped for it!

Burn The Witch

Publishing run: 2020-present
Author: Tite Kubo
Publisher: Shueisha, Viz Media
Format: Tankōbon single
Completion: 1/1+? volumes (ongoing?)

This manga is weird in a lot of ways, not the least the premise and execution. It sits in that weird limbo of being the next title from the author of a hugely successful work that's considered to have drastically fallen in quality in its latter arc, so I don't quite know what to make of it. It seems pretty solid in the premise, with the gimmick being essentially a western version of the Bleach setting with dragons being the movers and shakers of the initial plot instead of evil ghosts. Which is a pretty good shake-up in my opinion. I just wish the characters were better. None of them are all that interesting, or worse, actively annoying (a character obsessed with skirt-peeking? in 2020?), and most of them have godawful names. I know the Japanese aren't the best with English names, but "Ninny Spangcole"? Really? In any case, this is the first and only manga so far that I've just picked up on a whim, mostly because I found a copy on the cheap at my local shop's annual mega-sale, and decided to give it a shot based on having liked Kubo's previous work enough. Let's see if he can improve on things in the second 'season'.

Dorohedoro

Publishing run: 2000-2018
Author: Q Hayashida
Publisher: Shogakukan, Viz Media
Format: Tankōbon singles
Completion: 23/23 volumes

First things first, Dorohedoro is amazing. It's probably my all time favorite manga as of my writing this, due to its amazingly evocative rough, yet detailed, gritty, yet charming artstyle, excellent and unique worldbuilding and magic system for urban fantasy, my favorite genre, and characters you want to root for despite them being at odds with each other. I don't want to get into the premise since if I do I'll be vomiting words onto this page for way too long, but suffice to say: It has pretty much everything I like in manga. If you like supernatural mystery plots in gritty urban settings with a hefty dose of weirdness and some much needed moments of levity inbetween the (very gory - I'll understand if that's not your thing) bloodshed and (further into the series) body horror, read this. You owe it to yourself. I even resorted to special ordering the final volume because I suspected my local comics shop just wasn't going to stock it otherwise. At some point I'd like to start collecting Dai Dark, author Q Hayashida's next series, but I'm going to try to get a bit further in my still incomplete series first.

Fullmetal Alchemist

Publishing run: 2001-2010
Author: Hiromu Arakawa
Publisher: Square Enix, Viz Media
Format: Mixed tankōbon singles and omnibus
Completion: 27/27 volumes

Ah yes, as far as I can recall, this series was pivotal to a lot of things in my life. The vol 1-3 omnibus edition was the first paper manga I ever picked up, as far as I can recall. And it was one of a few series that made me want to get serious about drawing back then, stoking the flame that had previously gotten lit by Bleach. I had gotten around two thirds of the series by the time I first stopped collecting paper manga due to my living situation and shift in life focus, but I then resolved to complete it shortly after starting my collection of Beastars, and as luck would have it, my local comic shop happened to have most of it in stock, so in the next few months the rest trickled onto my bookshelf, usually 3 by 3.

My collection is mixed between the tankōbon singles and omnibus formats. It's never bothered me too much because both formats are the same height (thank you, Viz) so it's not too irritating to look at. My omnibus format volumes are 1-3, 13-18, and 22-24, and my tankōbon singles are vols. 4-12, 19-21, and 25-27.

One Piece

Publishing run: 1997-present
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Publisher: Shueisha, Viz Media
Format: Mixed tankōbon singles and omnibus
Completion: 23/103+ volumes (ongoing)

Oh, One Piece. The sole survivor of the big three of the 2000s, and the only one who has ballooned in length so much that there's now 100 volumes of the English version, so if I ever decide to continue collecting it, it'll probably dominate the shelf it ends up in, if not just taking over a whole unit. And yeah, I don't have the space for that currently. So it gets to stay stuck in Baroque Works for the foreseeable future. However I did recently pick up a few more volumes relatively recently, so I'll probably move this a bit further up in the priority order. Who knows, I might even make it to the next arc in this current year of our Lord (as of writing this: 2023)!

When I first picked it up, I absolutely hated the art style, having been putting off reading it for that reason, only resorting to reading it out of boredom due to having already exhausted all the other shonen manga at my library that didn't have gaps in it. Being fresh off Death Note probably didn't help either, in retrospect. However, I was eventually won over by the sheer charm of the writing and characters, and understood how the style worked in service of the overall vibe of the series. I have a healthy respect for One Piece though I dropped it a while ago and haven't caught up with it since. I do plan on continuing it someday, probably once it concludes, since I hear (as of oct '22) that it's entering its final major arc.

My collection of One Piece is, much like my Fullmetal Alchemist collection, split between standard tankōbon singles and omnibus editions. Vols 1-3, 7-15, and 19-21 are in omnibus format, while 4-6, 16-18, and 22-23 are singles.

Ranma ½

Publishing run: 1987-1996
Author: Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher: Shogakukan, Viz Media
Format: Tankōbon omnibus
Completion: 2/38 volumes (ongoing)

Yep, another milestone work in this kobold's weeb era. In what way? Titty. This was the first nudity-heavy manga I got my grubby paws on back in the day, and actively hid them from my parents back when I borrowed them because it was too embarrassing for my 14-year-old self to read in the open of the library itself. I can probably say it was a bit of a sexual awakening, and those who know me in that way would probably say "yeah, that tracks", were I to mention and/or explain this series to them. That said, I was initially interested in it for the martial arts stuff and was kinda disappointed that it was way more comedy and romance-focused than what I was used to. Buuut, the sexy stuff kept me hooked on it until the premise and characters had grown on me, so I managed to stick with it to the end. I only have the first 2-in-1 omnibus volume, though, and haven't been able to find any other volumes locally.