"Monster" is different from traditional Manga, but many regard it as a masterpiece. It isn't action packed like Chainsaw man or Berserk, but it's story is so complex and well written I think you would love it. Because it isn't the traditional action packed Shōnen, I'm afraid it won't get a lot of votes, but I do hope you consider it.
He just did a long form shounen and a graphic violence fantasy seinen. I think Monster is PERFECT. A Grounded in reality masterpiece that’s relatively short, at least compared to berserk or esp one piece. Plus it’s a complete work. Monster is a perfect pick.
it's because monster a seinen (order teens and adults) and not a shonen, which seinen can take more risks than shonen and confirm less to conventions(though I'm not saying shonen is mostly fighting fantasy and is worse than seinen).
I really wish more people recommended Vagabond, the art is fenomenal, it's very character driven, violent and rich in introspection and personal journey
Highly recommend Kingdom. It's a fictional retelling of the military unification of China during the Warring States period. It has fantasy elements but it focuses more heavily on strategic battles and the absolute badassery and cunning of its characters. One of the most hype reads I experienced regardless of mediums.
@@johanjoseph4802 Yeah, that is not only disappointing but also really strange. Few series are more popular in Japan these days but we still cant even have an English physical release?
@@floriandolder8111 yea. Doesn't make an iota of sense. The fact that this story is so damn popular in Japan and so popular with the fan scans. Still no official work 🙃
Oyasumi Punpun is a phenomenal series that explores growing up with untreated mental health issues. It's only 147 chapters long and is totally complete. It's extremely different from what you've read so far, taking place in the modern day and in a normal world. It follows the character Punpun as he grows up from a child in to an adult. It has a very unique visual presentation, while almost everything is rendered in extremely realistic detail, Punpun and his family are rendered as extremely cartoonish birds whose forms will sometimes change to better reflect their internal psychological state, for instance there's one point in the story where Punpun is drawn as a floating pyramid for 2 chapters. This clues you in to the deep changes he's going through during this period without it explicitly having to be said.
Oyasumi Punpun will be my recommendation alongside the other great recs in the comments already. It's absolutely incredible, and it focused so much on characters with complex problems like Berserk. I love One Piece and manga in general, but weirdly enough, I know you from Malazan reviews, which you also did review twice. Your berserk review is fantastic, and I'm glad OP will have the same treatment. Anyway, read Oyasumi Punpun, and don't let the title nor the main character design fool you. It's a masterpiece.
So happy you are diving into other manga reviews. And I love your approach to berserk and think one piece would definitely benefit from that treatment once Oda finishes the story. Fingers crossed that Fullmetal Alchemist is on that upcoming poll as it’s another well regarded fantasy manga set in a post industrial Britain/German inspired country with a very well developed magic system (alchemy).
@@saminsanity4766 Origonal Anime or Brotherhood? Because they go in complately different directions as Brotherhood follows the Manga more than the origonal Anime.
@@nikolai6361 Dictionary Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more Search for a word e·vent /əˈvent/ Learn to pronounce See definitions in: All Sport Physics noun a thing that happens, especially one of importance. "one of the main political events of the late 20th century" a planned public or social occasion. "events to raise money for charity" Similar: occurrence happening proceeding episode incident affair circumstance occasion business matter experience eventuality phenomenon function gathering get-together jamboree bash do jolly shindig shindy each of several particular contests making up a sports competition. "a star sprinter in the 100- and 200-meter events" Similar: competition contest tournament round heat game match fixture meet meeting encounter race bout fight playoff replay
I really just want you to experience Vagabond. Every page feels like a painting. Also Vinland Saga too, its in my top 3 along with One Piece, the release of the anime will definitely benefit views. Dandadan is amazing too, some of the most fun I ever had reading something, its amazing
I would love to see either of these, I’m happy two of the three with the most votes are truly phenomenal manga as opposed to the popular, inoffensive work. I feel the characterization in each are unrivaled and each respective farmland are among my favorite arcs in fiction
Please read 20th Century Boys. You don't even need to do a deep dive series of reviews for it. Just please read it. You can just say "hey I'm reading this". That's it, just read it. Oh, that and Monster... Yeah, definitely Monster as well.
Well yeah, i don't think they fit with the theme of the channel as they are not fantasy manga but i do want to here daniel's thoughts on them. They're both masterpieces in their own right. Maybe Daniel will surprise us :)
I can’t recommend Vinland Saga enough. It is a fantastic story that manages to both be great on its own merits and work as a deconstructionist text on many manga tropes. Interestingly reading berserk along with you has made me appreciate Vinland Saga even more. Chainsaw Man is also great and honestly would probably do great numbers for your channel if you do it fairly soon. The manga is already super popular, the anime comes out in October and if it’s even half as good as people hope it will explode in popularity.
Vinland saga is great and boring at the same time. atleast the later parts of it. he will probably enjoy it and have a field trip with analyzing thorfin and ashelad though.
I was looking for the Vinland saga recommendation, i think he will certainly love it until the latter parts which i didnt like too much but maybe he will. I like chainsaw man too but i dont see it as manga to give an in-depth analysis *IMO* im still on early chapters
Chainsaw Man is a better experience if you've read a lot more manga, especially battle shonen. It's not really a beginner's manga since it might be too much of a cluster fuck if you're not used to the medium
@@cainandabel7059 The 2011 version really doesn't capture the tone very well in a lot of scenes until later, great animation though. The 1998 version does it pretty well but has a lot of filler. I'd personally rather he just stick to the manga.
Hi Daniel, I've been a fan of your content since 2 years ago. In fact, I got into manga precisely because you started reviewing One Piece, so I cannot thank you enough for opening me up to this medium! I've become somewhat of a manga nerd since then, so here are my (really lengthy) list of recommendations! I see a lot of people have been recommending the other Seinen greats like Vinland Saga and Vagabond, but I cannot stress enough how amazing Kingdom is. Imagine the scope of One Piece, the grittiness of Berserk and the politics of A Song of Ice and Fire, all combined into one series. It's probably the most fun I had in a war manga, due to just how overly grand and epic every battle is. The first few arcs are a bit meh, but once it gets to the wars and battles I think it might be up your alley. Naoki Urasawa also absolutely slaps when it comes to thriller manga, 20th Century Boys and Monster are must-reads. In the realm of shonen, Chainsaw Man would be definitely a great read if you're looking for something shorter, but Hunter x Hunter and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure are one of the all time classics when it comes to shonen for good reason. I haven't read too many high fantasy manga, but Beyond Journey's End is amazing. It tackles what happens after the hero's journey is complete, and many themes that resonate with me a lot. A lovely manga. Some science fiction manga I enjoy also include Girls' Last Tour and Land of the Lustrous. Girls' Last Tour is one of the most wholesome yet depressing manga ever, about two girls trying to survive in a world that is decaying, and Land of the Lustrous' existential dread is just horrifying yet beautiful. They're both pretty short in comparison, less than a hundred chapters ish. This might be slightly unrelated, but I think a lot of Japan's best stories also reside in other mediums such as light novels and even visual novels. Now, I doubt you'll ever get into reviewing visual novels, but some of the best fantasy I've seen from Japan comes from there. The Fate franchise, the When They Cry franchise, Steins;Gate, all of them are some of the most beloved fantasy and scifi franchises in Japan. In the Light Novel department there's a lot of trash isekai, but there are some genuinely good stuff out there. NISIOISIN is probably my favourite author of all time, with the Katanagatari, Zaregoto and Monogatari series in particular being novels I hold dear to my heart. Hopefully you'd check them out someday, even though I wonder if there is an audience for it. Anyway, no matter what series you decide to cover. I'm really glad you're reviewing more manga on this channel.
My favorite arc is still Enneis Lobby. The energy of that arc was infectious, all of the Straw Hats got time to shine, there were so many fantastic character moments, the fights were some of the best in the series, and they scale of it all was insane. It did a great job at taking the fantastic character and world building of Water 7 and using it all for one big, epic demonstration of the Straw Hats' will and determination.
I think my favorite arc is still Saboady. Has Luffy's first time really showing fear and regret leading to his first real lowest point in my opinion. On top of that, going into it, we meet the Supernovas, Rayleigh, learn about the Void Century, meet a new admiral. So much was going on, and it has one of the most viscerally satisfying punches in the series
It's a great arc fr. It really opens up the larger world of one piece with the introduction of the supernovas and the pacifistas, and learning about Haki and the celestial dragons. Idk if it's my favourite though I think that would be Enies lobby or alabasta.
Vagabond is a really good follow up to berserk, the themes of growing up and giving contest to violence and mastering one’s “art”, dealing with anger and much more also beautiful manga panels
HxH, Vinland are great choices. Tokyo Ghoul upward to Tokyo Ghoul RE has a lot of interesting literature references and symbolism that more classical literature fans might enjoy, but it does fall off a bit into Tokyo Ghoul Re as the author burns out. Anyway that’s just my two cents
I don't know, I never felt it fell off a bit on Re🤔 Anyway, he MUST READ Tokyo Ghoul, what a magnificent manga and Kaneki is the most complex character I know.
Hey Daniel! If you want a great mystery, thriller manga with a phenomenal story and mature character work, Urusawa's 20th Century Boys is a must read. Think Japan's love letter to Stephen King. If you also want a crazy, trippy, grungy and super creative darker fantasy with amazing worldbuilding, Dorohedero is also a riot
My Top 5 arcs are; 1. Whole Cake Island 2. Wano 3. Marine Ford 4. Water 7 5. Enies Loby Reason being, even with a smaller crew Whole cake Island to me felt like classic One Piece but this time more mature, higher stakes and Oda's story telling being more mature. Luffy's confrontation with Sanji managed to give me the exact feels I felt when; Luffy fought Ussop, and then the subsequent events were like Luffy asking Robin what she really likes, Or Luffy helping Nami prior to the Walk to Arlong Park. The Antangonist was truly classic One Piece to me. It felt like fighting Buggy, Captain Kuro, Eneru all combined. Bigmom was like a natural disaster dressed like a clown. And then we had the best fight in the series so far, Luffy vs Katakuri. Anyway to me, Whole Cake Island is classical One Piece at its best. I mean look at the Island itself.
Wano is definitely my favorite saga. I love the entire setup and vibe. The art of the manga has never been more consistantly beautiful (especially the first onigashima panel - my god). It awnsers a lot of things, and at the same times set a lot up for us to see. Very very strong characters across the board and as someone who likes to do a bit of digging and doesnt really like having stuff spoonfed too me, this arc got actually even better the more time you invested into thinking about it. What i mean by this is that a lot of the quality was below the surface, not only naratively, but also in terms of character dephts - especially for kaido. Him especially i digged. I dont really know how to describe it best, but apart from his monstrous and ruthless side, there were also other sides. His dynamic with king, his past, his philosophy, his view of the world and so on. I doubt this is the last thing we will get of him
I find it to be easier to binge arcs of One Piece rather than go chapter to chapter. I tend to forget details since it takes me over a year to get to the climax I forget some of the set up. Also, dead on with the bit about the Anime having “obnoxious” effects. It’s just too much.
I really hope, when they release the DVDs, that they re-edit those scenes in the recent Episodes. This is just madness and doesn't capture the actual intent of the Chapter. I hope feedback on this reaches them and they hopefully care about it, but I smh doubt that.
I mean the fight was drawn similar to a dbz fight so im fine with it up until a certain point where rubber is the centerfold, tryin not to spoil but you kno what im talkin bout
I welcome the new manga fans in my audience to something my longer fans are well aware of. I get things done. It can take years, but I always get there 😂
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki. It's a short read, but my favorite piece of fiction. If you've seen the movie: this is on another level. It really is Miyazaki's magnum opus imo.
@@beeozan1426 The dual hard cover right? In blue? I thought that might have been it, but I couldn't ever tell for sure if it was. I thought i confirmed it wasn't with a side by side with mine but that was a long time ago. I hope he has read it! EDIT: I looked again and that for sure is the hardcover two book set. I almost hope he hasn't read them yet, as I'd love a review, but I doubt it would ever get the votes necessary to be a focus.
I love the news and the announcement of a One Piece re-read, but I think you're vastly underestimating how long One Piece still has to go. Oda has confirmed that the manga is entering the final saga. For context, the Four Emperors saga, which just ended, started in 2015-2016. Wano alone started in 2018. There's probably at least another 5 years worth of One Piece. In terms of Manga to read: try Vagabond, Vinland Saga, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kingdom, Chainsaw Man
Vinland saga would be a amazing manga to go through having arguably the same level of writing as berserk when it comes to the protagonist and the hardships he has to face.
My first instinct was to recommend Monster & 20th Century Boys lol. But then I remember you focus mostly on fantasy so while the dream is the Monster/20th Century Boys analysis videos I'm not sure if they really qualify for your channel. Then again you did imply Akira was going to be on the list and that's more scifi so at least 20th Century Boys could be a possibility. Monster was my first exp reading NU, and overall, it was a solid storyline that grew on me. I read 20th Century Boys next and loved it, especially the first 2/3s, I'll have to reread it, but I remember the last third took a turn (it made sense, just changed the whole vibe of the series) and made some choices I could've done without out. A certain character appears who I don't think should've shown up! Fingers crossed these titles get picked lol.
Wano is definitely rapidly encroaching on me favorite OP arc as of this moment. The biggest reason being you can just tell how much Oda wanted to get the Crew here. Wano is first mentioned in Thriller Bark. And then in Punk Hazard. And everything that leads up to the rousing finish of Wano is just so thought out and intentional. I also love how incredible and emotional the story is. Oda has never shied away from the heavier more emotional moments in his story. But so much of Wano feels like him (weirdly) hitting his stride when it comes to telling the emotional depths of his story. We all know Oda loves his flashbacks, but so many times in Wano he’ll place a small one in a perfect spot to remind you what this place has been through and how absolutely devastated it and it’s people have become. And then to have the Straw Hats and Luffy be their hope? It just pulls on so many strings for me.
Wano is my #1. A combination of the best backstory with Oden, end game hints, and most of all the culmination of around 10 years went into the end of this very arc. The build up and anticipation I've read weekly for over a decade all coming together just hits different. I love the growth that Momonosuke has gone through from the beginning to now. The Akzaya are great. And the events that took place on Roof Piece are unmatched.
Absolutely read Vinland Saga!!! It’s amazing (or at least it’s been amazing up to where I’ve gotten so far), would 100% recommend! Also, super hyped! These re-reviews sound like they’ll be a ton of fun and I’m super excited for them!
With "tone" I also think in how amazing is that with so much on stake, with so much epicness, Oda still manages to keep it goofy and cause a laugh or two so often without taking away from the overall mood. He really makes it seen so easy and so natural.
Saw your interview with Liam and gotta say, I love your humor and video style. And I wish I could hear your thoughts on the spoilery stuff in Wano in some way... but I guess that'll have to wait for now. Great video, happy to be a new sub for you!
I think Skypia is my favorite arc, just for how imaginative and adventurous it was. The sequence with crew going up the knockup stream is also my favorite scene to see animated. As for manga recs, Blue Exorcist is a fun supernatural/action series that has some of the best character work I think I've ever seen in any manga series. Blue Exorcist is ongoing with 135 chapters as of now, and is legally available in English. Witch Hat Atelier is a beautifuly drawn fantasy series about a girl learning magic, the tensions caused by keeping magic a secret from the wider world, and student-teacher relationships goog and bad. Trigun Maximum is a completed series from the 90s. The anime adaptation ran on Adult Swim alongside Cowboy Bebop and it's getting a new anime adaptation soon, which gives me hope for a reprint of the manga in English. A very intense scifi western. Yu Yu Hakusho isn't as good as HunterxHunter according to strangers on the internet, but I still think it's worth checking out. It is completed, has one of the best ensemble casts to ever come out of Shonen Jump, exellent monster design, and is relatively short. Hellsing is a bloody vampire manga from the 2000s. Features loads of guns, monsters, religous zealotry, and Nazis (as villians thankfully).
*spoilers for anyone not up to date with the manga* I definitely agree with you in general about characters being the most interesting when they still have a lot to go for, and usually near the end of the series I start losing interest. However, I do think that Oda did phenomenal job at Luffy's latest power up. At the same time it fits his character arc perfectly while also going against fandom's expectations and the trend of edgy protag upgrades. Thematically it could not have been better, and it being so heavily tied to deeper lore of OP leaves me excited for what's to come still. And especially with the latest chapter throwing some curve balls at us, I do think that Oda still has so many surprises in store for the last leg of the series. All things considered, OP being as coherent as it is at THIS point of the story is an unbelievable feat from the author (Oda just knocked JK Rowling down a peg on the list of all time fiction authors btw!). Also you might want to check out Oda's interview with Detective Conan's author Aoyama-sensei! Lots of interesting insights into Oda's mentality towards his job there. As for manga recs, I think everyone wants to see HxH, but I'd recommend Monster or 20th Century Boys. Also Sakamoto-sensei's Innocent (& Innocent Rouge) is a spectacular manga, it's quite a lot shorter than other recommendations that are being thrown out there!
Kingdom would definitely be my next manga recommendation! On a point of discussion, there's a really sad story behind the ending to one of my favourite mangas: Toriko. It's a manga about characters who hunt powerful beasts in order to collect ingredients for meals. So in other words, it's a food manga. But it is so much better than it has any right to be. With some of the best world building and action i've encountered in the genre. And some of the aforementioned beasts are just so incredible! But alas, the series wasn't making much money so they forced the writer to intensely rush the last third of the story and condense potentially 150 - 200 chapters into just 30. And as amazing and hype as those 30 chapters are, they're just so abrupt that it takes away so much of the overall tale for it to be so overbearingly rushed at the end and thus makes it really difficult to recommend to people. But overall, it is definitely an underrated gem.
YES. Kingdom I like to say is like having marineford every arc, but each time it gets WAY BETTER. The coalition war is simply the best war I've ever seen.
Hell's Paradise is, personally, my favorite fantasy manga. It handles its power system so well and gives a really unique take on how to defeat an immortal villain. Another thing it does that broke me whenever I was reading it was how it handled the death of its characters. You never know who was going to die because of the way the author handled previous deaths. It's also getting its own anime this Fall, so do with that information as you will :) Edit: Forgot to mention that it is completed! 127 chapters in total.
Good suggestion. For those wondering the genre is grimdark action fantasy. Imagine Demon Slayer but if it was actually well written and more mature - great atmosphere, characters are well written, pacing is 10/10 because it doesn't try to outlive its scope and stays focused on a single long arc from start to finish, keeping the narrative tight and cohesive.
Oda stated that if the fights in one piece begin to become more and more serious like other battle manga he would "Hate" the series, thats why imo chapter 1044 was one of the greatest chapters in one piece, its Oda doing what he truly loves, he even said "I know some wont like it, but its fine, because i did it to have fun, and i truly had fun drawing those chapters"
We will wait here for you to finish this epic series. It could be 5 years from now. But we will still be here. Good times and great work making OP worth the time!
RE: future series I would highly recommend Vingland Saga, Vagabond or Hunter X Hunter. The first two being more serious realism series which take a look at life & existentialism, whereas the latter is an equally-adult, yet more cartoonish series focusing on adventure, exploration, and human morality. Would be excited to see any of the above
@@thomasedwards6641 No! We are getting ten chapters this year, It's official! They may have even dropped already... Togashi has also been preparing his wife to take over the series and she's a talented mangaka in her own right. So the series will go on.
The talk of power creep in One Piece reminds me of a funny comment I've read recently. "Zoro is a traditional Shonen protagonist stuck in a Looney Toons cartoon." and now I can't unsee it.
I just wanna mention Dorohedoro because I love it. It’s dark fantasy done very creatively with a great visual style/aesthetic and wild sense of humour. Also has a great magic system with a lot of very creative and wacky powers, which occupies a large portion of the fantasy element, alongside the series’ fantastic world building. Starts out first page with a giant lizard man cramming some dude’s head in his mouth, all I’m gonna say.
Its funny that the straw hats getting more powerful has exactly opposite reaction for me For me its so satisfying and i feel pride in them because we know how much effort they have put it And especially luffy. Seein Someone who got destroyed by kuma and was vastly underpowered in marineford now going toe to toe with an emporer is so rewarding
Also, there is hardly a way around it, knowing how powerful the Villains and Opponents are. It also seems like their recent Power Ups are near their Prime, I don't think there will be another Gear for example, I imagine they will just "perfectionate" their new Powers and that will be the ceiling. Unless Characters will gain access to Devil Fruit, thus adding another Layer to level up, but I doubt that this will happen for the SHs.
A few ideas: Naoki Urasawa's Pluto. It's only 8 volumes, a very solid remake of a story arc from an old Osamu Tezuka Astro Boy story. Golden Kamuy. A treasure hunt in Hokkaido during the early 1900's. Historic things like this make Robin's body tingle. Witch Hat Atelier. Learning magic and some of the most aesthetically pleasant art in the medium of comics. Takehiko Inoue's REAL. Broken people trying to make do. They also play basketball occasionally. Summit of the Gods. A five-volume manga about mountain climbing. Also exists as a novel, a live-action movie and an animated movie (from France, not Japan).
I'm a huge fan of world building and my favourite chapters in One piece are always the conclusions of arcs. But, my favourite arc, or the arc that I think is, not necessarily the best but the most impactful to the world of One piece, is Reverie. A close second would be the first buster call in Sabaody archipelago + Marineford just due to the sheer amount of things that happened and the insane character developments.
Water 7 (or more specifically, marineford) is my favorite not just for the character growth but for the message it sends. Being a person with depression and formally suicidal tendencies, having a character like Robin who it feels like the whole world is against her, and just wishes she was dead, was relatable to say the least. When you get to a point with depression where nothing goes right and everything makes you miserable, it can feel like death is the only option, like it's the last way you have to escape. So when Luffy asked Robin what she wanted, what Oda did was point out the other option. The one you can't see on your own, because it seems impossible to accomplish on your own. But with help, and support, another option becomes available. You. Can. Live. Yes it can be hard, it might even feel like you are going up against the world itself. That you will literally have to fight EVERYTHING to make it happen. But You, can, live. Death isn't the only way. You can fight for the change you want to see in your life, and you don't have to do it alone. "...I want to live!" Is a phrase that has stuck with me for years, and is a mantra I chant to myself when life is at it's worst. Before one piece, living was never an option I could even have dreamed of, but Robin's story made me realize how much of my life I had been ignoring if not outright refusing that option. but now, I'm taking it. I'm living my life as best as I can. Is it perfect? Fuck no. Is it hard some days? Absolutely. But now instead of existing just because I was forced to, I am living. It may seem like a simple lesson to some, but to those who need it, it is the most important lesson in all of one piece imo. I live for my son, for my dreams, and for the people I love. I will forever be grateful to Oda for teaching me that lesson.
Chainsaw Man would be amazing since the anime is coming out in October. Fujimoto has a twisted genius like a evil Terry Pratchett, and it’s only just starting it’s second arc now.
HxH, Chainsaw Man, Tokyo Ghoul, Monster, 20th Century Boys, and FMA would be great series for Daniel to do a deep dive on. Also One Punch Man just for fun
Vagabond, Vinland Saga, Monster, Oyasumi Punpun, 20th Century Boys, Blade of The Immortal, Real, and HxH alongside Berserk and AoT (which I'm aware that you've seen) are the pinnacle of the medium in my eyes. Can't go wrong with any of those.
Hey Daniel, You should check out the beastars manga by Paru Itagaki for deep dive reviews. It doesn’t run too long and it has some very deep discussions about where the problems of the individual and the collective collide in unexpected ways. All of it set in urban fantasy where the anthropomorphic people are segregated into carnivores and prey, which the medium takes full gruesome or cute advantage of when needed in both its main plot and slice of life side stories. The artwork is also lovely. Enjoy!
My favorite Arc/Saga is definitely Wano, imo its the most developed we seen Luffy become. And also the looming feeling of the story's conclusion, i can truly feel it in this arc, its something i both love and fear, but it is the strongest emotion i had from beginning the series, the feeling of the story ending soon. And again the development of Luffy in this arc is just amazing, i mean he wears a freaking badass COAT like Shanks! And of course Oden's Flashbacks are my all time favorite stretch in the series.
My favorite arc of One Piece is the ThrillerBark arc. Mainly because of how you saw the team struggle and work together to beat a man who was truly causing alot of issues being Moria, yes I understand he's not like a huge or one of the worst one piece villians but something about Moria and Thrillerbark that personally had me thinking was Morias power like had it been given to someone Competent same with Ceaser both the Gas Gas fruit and Shadow Shadow fruit are both two of the most scariest powers to me other than the Soul Soul fruit. Reason being with the Gas fruit you can become any type of gas from anything toxic and poisoness but also can become things more explosive but can also take away someone's Oxygen. Now the Shadow fruit being able to take someone's Shadow and take it as well as absorb shadows and gain power through them as well as creating an army of strong people through shadows. I also enjoy the introduction of Brook and how he asked to join Luffy.
I've got two suggestions that come off the top of my head. The first is Jojo's bizarre adventure. The series has been memed to hell and back, but it's a legitimately great series. Stands are perhaps the most creative power system in fiction, and it mostly lacks the power creep issue that some series run into, instead focusing more on the strategy and creativity such varied abilities allow. Additionally, due to the structure of the series it regularly has natural stopping points so it would be easier for your deep dive style. Second is Mob Psycho 100. It's a series that's more aimed at a pre teen to young adult demographic, but it's absolutely worth the read even if you aren't in the demographic. The character work and themes are insanely good, and it like to twist and play with lots of typical genre tropes if very interesting ways. It's also one of the shorter recommendations. The only real negative is the art style, the author isn't a good artist so it takes some getting used to. Fortunately the anime solves this issue by being quite possibly the best animated show of all time.
Was looking for this comment. The fact that i didnt see jojos in the poll was so surprising i wonder if its the series daniel said he left out for entertainment reasons cause its hard to imagine it wouldn’t get a decent amount of votes. Or mabye daniels fans and jojo fans just dont overlap alot but ay if ur a jojos fan check out blood sun vendetta on RUclips
I think wano may be my favourite story arc/saga for some reasons. I think the build up of the conflict between beast pirates/strawhat pirates (and worst generation) has been built up quite well. I don't think all fights are perfect or anything, but we got a very satisfying conclusion to this 10 year build up to the biggest story yet. At least in my opinion. Another reason for me is Momonosuke, who turned out to be possibly my favourite side character in the series. He has come a long way, and looking back to his very first appearance it's very nice and touching to see him mature mentally so much (gotta appreciate the physical change too, oda uses these sort of body changes very effectively in my opinion). Last reason I am going to name is hype. I think wano has collectively the most badass moments and just really cool lore dumps. I am a sucker for dumb hype and huge lore dumps when the series is well made.
I highly recommend jujutsu Kaisen to add to your list of manga. The characters have proper development, and the plot is carefully planned with attention to detail. The plot twists are foreshadowed well and jaw dropping. Did I mention it also has a beautifully crafted hard magic system that sticks to it's rules.
The thing about Wano wrapping up that makes me most excited, is that this is the first time in the better part of ten years that we as an audience have genuinely no idea what comes next. For the past decade of One Piece, we have known what was coming, ever since Punk Hazard, we knew at least the rough outline of what Oda had in store for us. We knew that the Straw Hats were going to take on Dofflamingo and then move on to take on Kaido. We didn't know the exact details, but we could more or less see the route. Now, for the first time since breaching the surface of the New World, we don't have that knowledge. We are truly sailing into the unknown, with only theories and speculation about what comes next. And I am fucking LIVING for it.
Wano is definitely my favourite, with its scale, characters and the way the story is being told. Plus oda's fight choreography has improved a lot, it has much more of an organic feel to it right now, most battles in the raid connected and complemented each other in an almost seamless way with the heavy overcast of Luffy vs kaido. What was happening on the roof had a material effect which was communicated very well visually on everything else happening in the castle. There were a couple of things I didn't have much of an investment in, like otama's whole thing with converting beast pirates. The way hiyori was handled was overrated AF too, apart from giving a powerful and emotional speech which looked visually stunning , there wasn't anything much she did. The fake out death with kinemon is on par with Pell's in terms of how laughable and meme worthy it is.
Some lesser known but high quality, adult manga: A hobo gets paid to drill a hole through his skull. A weird ass descent into madness, "Homonculus" The last master of a dying art, Rakugo, recounting his life story growing up during WW2 and Japan's sudden modernization. "Descending Stories: Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu" A doctor saves a little boy, quickly complicate things for the entire world. Legit one of the best thrillers out there "Monster".
Arlong Park is my favourite. Nami's backstory leading into the 'help me, Luffy' scene is IMO the strongest character writing Oda's ever done, and the arc as a whole is built on a clever narrative that only gets better the more you learn about the context of the world it takes place in.
I really want you to read anything from Naoki Urasawa. He has done stuff like Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, Billy Bat, Asadora etc. It's wild how he can constantly put out top tier Manga
It’s great that you found something for which you have so much enthusiasm! Unfortunately, manga isn’t my thing. But I’ll stick around for your other content.
The combo Water 7/Enies Lobby is my favourite part of One Piece still to this day, and it is mostly because of two reasons; 1- The main focus is on the Strawhats; It's a story about loyalty and what it means to be a crew after all told by putting Usopp (the least developed character up until that point) and Robin (the newest addition to the crew at that point) in the front. 2- The story is as tight as it gets. I think the only part I don't care about is the fight between Franky and Fukurou, but that's like two chapters so it doesn't really matter. Beyond that is super tightly told and is filled to the brim with super iconic moments that hit it out of the park every single time. From Usopp failing at reedeming himself after he got robbed and then the Strawhats fighting the Franky family at the very beggining, to stuff like the "I want to live" moment (I can't express how much I love that moment even all these years later), Usopp sniping out the marines from the top of the tower or his "JUMP TO THE SEA!" scream because the last crewmember had finally arrive. Man, I'm getting chills just writing about these scenes (for real), I first watched this in 2008 (like many I first watch the anime and once I got caught up with that -back in Shabaody- I started reading it) and 14 years later I still get emotional just by writing about this saga. That should tell you how much I love that story. What I have to say about Wano is that, despite loving everything in One Piece (some things more than others of course) I didn't think it was ever going to be as good as Wano was again. It's by far the biggest story Oda has ever attempted and it plays to all of the series strengths and the guy knocked it out of the park. He tried the hardest trick ever and succeded at it. Maybe I don't love it as much as Water 7/Enies Lobby, but it's definetly my second favourite story, which... for a story I've been reading weekly for as long as I have is saying something.
I'd recommend Vinland saga. It's a semi fictional historical retelling of the life of the Thorfinn Karselfni. It's really good and has an anime that's really amazing and a second season is coming out next year. The manga is also almost done as well
My personal favorite would be Marineford Saga due to the emotional intensity and how it pull Luffy through the wringer, it’s the arc that Oda must surpass with this final stretch of the series and what I can imagine he’s going to have the most amount of trouble with in trying to reach those same heights.
I doubt oda can ever surpass marineford in terms lf writing quality. Maybe we would enjoy final saga more since it will give us lots of answers, but emotional intensity won't be there
I’m gonna take a risk and throw Dorohedoro out there. It’s one of the most wild fantasy stories and settings I’ve ever seen. It throws you into an insane world with rules you know nothing about with characters that already have a handle on it. Nothing makes you feel more like a lost tourist in a horrible magical world than Dorohedoro. It has a pretty rough art style and breakneck pacing but once you get over that it’s an extremely memorable story with consistently awesome characters that you won’t regret reading. I would recommend actually starting with the anime to ease into it tbh.
This is why is Oda said we are at the final saga, because when luffy is already at the top of the pirate world (only left is to be pirate king) theres no much you can do to keep your audience engaged, the events that will lead to the final confrontation and the final part of the heroes journey, needs to happen now.
I’d like to throw the manga Fire Punch into the discussion. It’s by the same author as Chainsaw Man but it has been over for a while now. It’s incredibly depressing at times but also very hopeful(?) and really engaging, I would definitely look it up and see if it would be of interest. I would best compare it to The Road by Cormac McCarthy in its level of intenseness so look up any triggers prior to reading. I think it’s bring some great discussion though
Hello my dude! Your Berser reviews bought me to your channel, and I'm happy to see that you intend to make more manga series. As I'm not a part of your Discord (yet [?]), I'm leaving here my suggestions as an enthusiastic reader of high quality manga series: - Vagabond - Blade of the Immortal - Rurouni Kenshin - Ghost in the Shell - Appleseed (this one is not too often mentioned, but trust me, high quality short 80's style sci-fi series) - Beck - Ai-Ren I could rant on for hours (years back I took upon myself to read every interesting manga in chronological order since 1920ish and I can assure you that between 1960 and 1999 there are plenty of good manga), but I'll leave these ones here because they're my all-time favorites.. And I'm a writer, publishing my first book, and hope to see you make one review of it in the future (it's in portuguese now, but the publisher promised an english translation if the book sells enough). And sorry any grammatical error, english is not my first language.
Monster: One of the best works of fiction I've ever read and the magnum opus of one of the greatest Manga authors of all time. 20th Century Boys: Another masterpiece from the same author as 'Monster'. Seriously, this guy is a genius. Chainsaw Man: Simply a masterpiece created by a young prodigy of an author. This dude has a fresh, modern, unique style of storytelling and he just doesn't miss. Tokyo Ghoul: A very engaging series with interesting themes but has it's highs and lows. Vinland Saga: Masterful storytelling. Starts of as one thing turns into another (without spoiling anything) in one of the best ways I've ever seen done. Amazing historical fiction. Akira: Pretty much the godfather of modern Cyberpunk. Evangelion: Anything but Evangelion. It's pretentious as f*ck. It's like the anti-Berserk. Where Berserk is a story that is edgy on the surface but has deep underlying themes, Neon Genesis Evangelion is supposed to be deep but only comes across as what a whiny edgelord would consider to be deep. Goodnight Punpun: One of the greatest Manga of all time. Wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy. Literally depression turned into manga form. The author is a genius. I genuinely despise him for making this masterpiece. I can't deny how excellent it is but I regret reading it. Vagabond: Amazing story. Even better artstyle. Incomplete and on indefinite hiatus so I wouldn't recommend for reviewing. Naruto: You've probably heard of this series. Very long mainstream shounen series. Almost as long as One Piece. The only series to ever truly compete with One Piece in terms of mainstream popularity. I would go so far as to say that it was more popular internationally until very recently. Was the face of manga for a long time. Has highs and lows but the highs are really, really high. Best and most iconic villain group in all of manga in my opinion. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: OOOOOOOH BOOOOOY! There's nothing like it. It's impossible to describe. P.S. I want to thank you so much for introducing me to so much amazing fantasy literature. I'm a hardcore Brando Sando stan now. And I haven't even started the Stormlight Archive yet! Just finished Mistborn, Elantris and Warbreaker. Also, Gunmetal Gods. What an unbelievable rollercoaster. Planning to start Shadow of the Gods because you spoke so highly of it. Cheers.
My favorite arc is definitely Whole Cake Island, it was just so different then other one piece arc that came before it. It single handedly fleshed out Sanji in a way I didn’t even know I needed. It showed the crew at their most desperate as their just trying to escape the terrifying Big Mom Pirates. And it had probably my favorite Luffy fight in the entire series with Luffy vs Katakuri. Also you should def look into reading Chainsaw Man, Vinland Saga, Monster, 20th Century Boys, Takopi’s Original Sin, or Blue Flag. And if you want to review some anime, check out Gurren Lagann, it’s an absolute Banger
Fair anime criticism, while the energy stuff is pretty and shows off amazing animation, the last episode was an absolute overload of stimuli. Didn't bother me that much but I can definitely see it getting to other people.
Yeah, the worst thing is, that it feels totally disconnected from the feeling you had in the Manga. They just try to produce "Hype" scenes, that look fancy, but don't have much substance, apart from some frames. Just comparing the Uppercut wit CoC feels like two different worlds. It's really sad and I hope that what a certain character did in the recent chapter with his Haki won't be a flashy lightshow. Edit: Also I really hope they tune back the effects for the DVD Editions and re-edit parts of the episodes.
My favorite arc is also Water 7, more specifically the post Enies Lobby portion where we see the Going Merry "break" in a fashion that looks like its bowing to Iceberg. I still ugly cry everytime I watch/see reaction vids of others watching ep 312. The entire arc was one where we as readers, were brought through highs and lows on an emotional roller coaster 🎢 ending falsely on a high (when our heroes escape the Marines), only for merry to break and have a "crew member" leave the story for good. The arc is also the first time you really see that the higher-ups of the "good guy Marines/world govt" aren't what they make themselves out to be...
Super excited for whenever you get around to Chainsaw man. It’s absolutely batshit crazy and can make you laugh your ass off one page and then make you wallow in existential dread the next page without feeling any tonal whiplash.
Chainsawman is amazing, especially when compared to regular shonen, going into the series and noticing the contrast enriches the first read through in my opinion. Chainsawman is more unconventional and wild, but still tame compared to the previous work of the author Fujimoto. Fujimotos stil is more realistic and almost seems like a good screenplay when it comes to comedy and action. Few manga made me laugh like Chainsawman. Fujimoto also is a movie fan (including B movies I believe), especially of spiderman I think.
Ehh its slightly above average in every aspect but is a masterclass in none. Id call it a great series definitely a teir but would not call it a masterpiece. The only reason its high on mal is because the toxic fanbase but thats not a fault of the show. Actually havent read the manga but brotherhood is very faithful from what ive heard.
I like that everyone is recommending really good series but I would go a step further and tell you that there are different demographics of manga and each has their own way of storytelling and art. There's shonen which is aimed for young boys and young adult men; seinen is for adult men usually; shoujo is for young girls and young adult women; josei is for adult women. One Piece is a shonen series and Berserk is a seinen and even though they are both aimed to males there are differences in how they can approach stories. Here's just a few recommendations: Shonen: Chainsaw Man, D. Gray-Man, Hunter x Hunter Seinen: Monster, Vinland Saga, Hellsing Shoujo: Fruits Basket, Basara, X/1999, Banana Fish, Nana Josei: Nodame Cantabile, Paradise Kiss
Goodnight PunPun. The story is so beautiful, dark, and deep. There’s so much intricate storytelling I’ve always wanted to hear someone else discuss it in a detailed way. I think you’d really appreciate that story.
Hey Goblin King! My personal favorite saga is Water 7 as well, because it was so emotionally resonant and had great plot lines. But I absolutely adore Wano. I love the style, since if really shows off how versatile Oda can be even within his own style and how much he loves traditional Japanese art and culture. Everything so detailed and fleshed out, the characters were amazing, the stakes were high from the start and went up even more. Seeing Luffy finally stand on that stage with the giants of the last era was amazing to witness, touching in its own way to see how far he and his whole crew have come. They’ve always reached for the sky, towards their dreams, and now they can nearly touch it with their fingertips. To me, it doesn’t feel forced like many shounen manga protagonist’s power ups feel, but well earned. They truly struggled hard and deserve to be where they are. I only feel proud for them.
I highly recommend reading NANA by Ai Yazawa, especially since you are a fan of character centric stories. To this day it is the only piece of media that awakes a strong emotional reaction every single time I see stuff from the anime or edits of the manga.
Here’s my full recommendation list Golden Kamuy: 314 chapters (about the indigenous people of Japan and a hunt for gold) genre: seinen, action, mystery status: completed Battle Angel Alita/GUNNM: 53 chapters, genre: post-apocalyptic sci-fi, status: completed Claymore: 160 chapters, genre: Fantasy, Horror, Action, Seinen status: completed A Bride’s Story (no seriously): 103 chapters, it’s about various Turkic peoples and their daily lives, and the coming invasion of Russia, *genre:* historical fiction, romance, drama, *status*: ongoing Jojo’s bizarre adventure: anthological series kinda sorta (*1st part is 44 chapters),* it’s about an evil man slipping into a family and trying to ruin their lives, all the while unholy vampires begin to crop up in England, *genre*: shonen, action, gore, mystery status: ongoing and complete - alternatively you could watch the anime - I didn’t add some synopses because I didn’t know how to word them lol
Comment here any mangas you’d like to see me add to the list to walk through as a new fan of the medium :)
20th Century Boys... My Favorite Naoki Urusawa Manga
Monster
Vagabond
Monster and 20th century Boys
KINGDOM... MY FAVORITE MANGA OF ALL TIME...
"Monster" is different from traditional Manga, but many regard it as a masterpiece. It isn't action packed like Chainsaw man or Berserk, but it's story is so complex and well written I think you would love it. Because it isn't the traditional action packed Shōnen, I'm afraid it won't get a lot of votes, but I do hope you consider it.
This 1 million times. Monster inspired me to learn to draw and write my own story. I re-read it quite often
He just did a long form shounen and a graphic violence fantasy seinen. I think Monster is PERFECT. A Grounded in reality masterpiece that’s relatively short, at least compared to berserk or esp one piece. Plus it’s a complete work. Monster is a perfect pick.
it's because monster a seinen (order teens and adults) and not a shonen, which seinen can take more risks than shonen and confirm less to conventions(though I'm not saying shonen is mostly fighting fantasy and is worse than seinen).
@@kennedydegale1477 yeah👌🏼
Of course it would be different from the most popular Shounen.
It’s a brilliant story. Not very much like what he normally reads but I have zero doubt he’d love it.
I really wish more people recommended Vagabond, the art is fenomenal, it's very character driven, violent and rich in introspection and personal journey
Oh yes vagabond please!
Vagabond makes me so hype whenever the mc is alone in his own thoughts
and it'll probably never finish
I saw a top 100 comics list and vagabond was like 97. What a joke, that manga is beautiful both in story and in art
Have you read Slam Dunk by the same author?
Highly recommend Kingdom. It's a fictional retelling of the military unification of China during the Warring States period. It has fantasy elements but it focuses more heavily on strategic battles and the absolute badassery and cunning of its characters. One of the most hype reads I experienced regardless of mediums.
I wanted to read this badly too. But it's just pathetic that there's still no official translation yet. Both in physical or online
@@johanjoseph4802 Yeah, that is not only disappointing but also really strange. Few series are more popular in Japan these days but we still cant even have an English physical release?
My favorite Manga of all time...
Kingdom... Strategy... lmao
@@floriandolder8111 yea. Doesn't make an iota of sense. The fact that this story is so damn popular in Japan and so popular with the fan scans. Still no official work 🙃
Oyasumi Punpun is a phenomenal series that explores growing up with untreated mental health issues. It's only 147 chapters long and is totally complete. It's extremely different from what you've read so far, taking place in the modern day and in a normal world. It follows the character Punpun as he grows up from a child in to an adult. It has a very unique visual presentation, while almost everything is rendered in extremely realistic detail, Punpun and his family are rendered as extremely cartoonish birds whose forms will sometimes change to better reflect their internal psychological state, for instance there's one point in the story where Punpun is drawn as a floating pyramid for 2 chapters. This clues you in to the deep changes he's going through during this period without it explicitly having to be said.
Depression and angst the story
This is probably my favourite manga. But does Daniel review non-fantasy stuff?
@@skullz1 That's a good point, maybe if he would consider a non-fantasy with some surrealist elements in it.
@@gabriellbraga7732 it'd make more sense to reccomend Punpun to Merphy
@@thebraydenchannel78 if it has child abuse that is sexual she won't read it
Oyasumi Punpun will be my recommendation alongside the other great recs in the comments already. It's absolutely incredible, and it focused so much on characters with complex problems like Berserk.
I love One Piece and manga in general, but weirdly enough, I know you from Malazan reviews, which you also did review twice.
Your berserk review is fantastic, and I'm glad OP will have the same treatment.
Anyway, read Oyasumi Punpun, and don't let the title nor the main character design fool you. It's a masterpiece.
Yes i agree
YES
I want to recommend SO MANY GREAT BEAUTIFUL AWESOME mangas that my head is going to explode🤣🤣
oyasumi punpun for sure
He's still going through berserk, adding another depressing story is not good. Let him breath man, have mercy on his soul.
You just want to see Daniel cry.
Seconding ‘20th Century Boys’: nostalgia, rock music and ominous conspiracies. It’s a mood for sure, absolutely heart-wrenching at points.
So happy you are diving into other manga reviews. And I love your approach to berserk and think one piece would definitely benefit from that treatment once Oda finishes the story. Fingers crossed that Fullmetal Alchemist is on that upcoming poll as it’s another well regarded fantasy manga set in a post industrial Britain/German inspired country with a very well developed magic system (alchemy).
He's already watched fma in anime format
@@saminsanity4766 Origonal Anime or Brotherhood? Because they go in complately different directions as Brotherhood follows the Manga more than the origonal Anime.
@@Merdragoon he watched brotherhood i think
@@leespn4396 Okay, so he would have a better idea how the manga goes then lol.
Absolutely agree on summary review! It also remind me on the event happening.
event?
@@nikolai6361 Dictionary
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noun
a thing that happens, especially one of importance.
"one of the main political events of the late 20th century"
a planned public or social occasion.
"events to raise money for charity"
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occurrence
happening
proceeding
episode
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circumstance
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each of several particular contests making up a sports competition.
"a star sprinter in the 100- and 200-meter events"
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@@v.lighting3530 ffs lol
I really just want you to experience Vagabond. Every page feels like a painting. Also Vinland Saga too, its in my top 3 along with One Piece, the release of the anime will definitely benefit views. Dandadan is amazing too, some of the most fun I ever had reading something, its amazing
Oh yes, Dandadan!!!
If you are reading this, READ CLAYMORE
I mean he read Berserk. One must always read Vagabond and Vinland Saga after lol
Before vagabond I would Slam Dunk by the same author. Great story :P
surprisingly I like vagabond more than berserk
I would love to see either of these, I’m happy two of the three with the most votes are truly phenomenal manga as opposed to the popular, inoffensive work. I feel the characterization in each are unrivaled and each respective farmland are among my favorite arcs in fiction
Please read 20th Century Boys. You don't even need to do a deep dive series of reviews for it. Just please read it. You can just say "hey I'm reading this". That's it, just read it. Oh, that and Monster... Yeah, definitely Monster as well.
This is so sweet. I do promise I’ll look into it :)
20th Century Boys is good but I prefer Billy Bat from the same mangaka
@@firmanchristiansianturi4794 Billy Bat is also a top shelf manga.
Well yeah, i don't think they fit with the theme of the channel as they are not fantasy manga but i do want to here daniel's thoughts on them. They're both masterpieces in their own right. Maybe Daniel will surprise us :)
One of the most Bizzare Premise that actually worked
I can’t recommend Vinland Saga enough. It is a fantastic story that manages to both be great on its own merits and work as a deconstructionist text on many manga tropes. Interestingly reading berserk along with you has made me appreciate Vinland Saga even more.
Chainsaw Man is also great and honestly would probably do great numbers for your channel if you do it fairly soon. The manga is already super popular, the anime comes out in October and if it’s even half as good as people hope it will explode in popularity.
Vinland saga is great and boring at the same time. atleast the later parts of it. he will probably enjoy it and have a field trip with analyzing thorfin and ashelad though.
Vinland Saga falls apart into Christian power fantasy at the end
I wouldn't take recommendation from someone who throws around words like "dEcOnStrUcTiOniSt"
I was looking for the Vinland saga recommendation, i think he will certainly love it until the latter parts which i didnt like too much but maybe he will. I like chainsaw man too but i dont see it as manga to give an in-depth analysis *IMO* im still on early chapters
Chainsaw Man is a better experience if you've read a lot more manga, especially battle shonen. It's not really a beginner's manga since it might be too much of a cluster fuck if you're not used to the medium
20th Century Boys isn't necessarily fantasy but definitely worthy of a deep dive🥰
It is science fiction, though not in the way it seems to be at first.
I didnt like at all of the ending arc, I dont know if I just didnt get it. But the journey was badass
@@stefanolozardo9711 agreed first half is a dam 10/10, but second half was definitely underwhelming compared to first half.
daniel would absolutely love 20th Century Boys
Yes please I finished it a couple months ago and I’ve been wanting the goblin to do reviews since
I reccomend Hunter x Hunter for the big manga voting list! It's definitely another series derserving of long-form reviews, just ask Merphy!
if hxh then he should watch the hxh 2011 version by madhouse
@@cainandabel7059 The 2011 version really doesn't capture the tone very well in a lot of scenes until later, great animation though. The 1998 version does it pretty well but has a lot of filler. I'd personally rather he just stick to the manga.
@@Gus_Na based af HxH anime/manga take
Hi Daniel, I've been a fan of your content since 2 years ago. In fact, I got into manga precisely because you started reviewing One Piece, so I cannot thank you enough for opening me up to this medium! I've become somewhat of a manga nerd since then, so here are my (really lengthy) list of recommendations!
I see a lot of people have been recommending the other Seinen greats like Vinland Saga and Vagabond, but I cannot stress enough how amazing Kingdom is. Imagine the scope of One Piece, the grittiness of Berserk and the politics of A Song of Ice and Fire, all combined into one series. It's probably the most fun I had in a war manga, due to just how overly grand and epic every battle is. The first few arcs are a bit meh, but once it gets to the wars and battles I think it might be up your alley.
Naoki Urasawa also absolutely slaps when it comes to thriller manga, 20th Century Boys and Monster are must-reads.
In the realm of shonen, Chainsaw Man would be definitely a great read if you're looking for something shorter, but Hunter x Hunter and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure are one of the all time classics when it comes to shonen for good reason.
I haven't read too many high fantasy manga, but Beyond Journey's End is amazing. It tackles what happens after the hero's journey is complete, and many themes that resonate with me a lot. A lovely manga.
Some science fiction manga I enjoy also include Girls' Last Tour and Land of the Lustrous. Girls' Last Tour is one of the most wholesome yet depressing manga ever, about two girls trying to survive in a world that is decaying, and Land of the Lustrous' existential dread is just horrifying yet beautiful. They're both pretty short in comparison, less than a hundred chapters ish.
This might be slightly unrelated, but I think a lot of Japan's best stories also reside in other mediums such as light novels and even visual novels. Now, I doubt you'll ever get into reviewing visual novels, but some of the best fantasy I've seen from Japan comes from there. The Fate franchise, the When They Cry franchise, Steins;Gate, all of them are some of the most beloved fantasy and scifi franchises in Japan.
In the Light Novel department there's a lot of trash isekai, but there are some genuinely good stuff out there. NISIOISIN is probably my favourite author of all time, with the Katanagatari, Zaregoto and Monogatari series in particular being novels I hold dear to my heart. Hopefully you'd check them out someday, even though I wonder if there is an audience for it.
Anyway, no matter what series you decide to cover. I'm really glad you're reviewing more manga on this channel.
My favorite arc is still Enneis Lobby. The energy of that arc was infectious, all of the Straw Hats got time to shine, there were so many fantastic character moments, the fights were some of the best in the series, and they scale of it all was insane. It did a great job at taking the fantastic character and world building of Water 7 and using it all for one big, epic demonstration of the Straw Hats' will and determination.
What is daniel’s favorite arc ?
@@wwe12153 water 7
I think my favorite arc is still Saboady. Has Luffy's first time really showing fear and regret leading to his first real lowest point in my opinion. On top of that, going into it, we meet the Supernovas, Rayleigh, learn about the Void Century, meet a new admiral. So much was going on, and it has one of the most viscerally satisfying punches in the series
It's a great arc fr. It really opens up the larger world of one piece with the introduction of the supernovas and the pacifistas, and learning about Haki and the celestial dragons. Idk if it's my favourite though I think that would be Enies lobby or alabasta.
Vagabond is a really good follow up to berserk, the themes of growing up and giving contest to violence and mastering one’s “art”, dealing with anger and much more also beautiful manga panels
Yess.
HxH, Vinland are great choices. Tokyo Ghoul upward to Tokyo Ghoul RE has a lot of interesting literature references and symbolism that more classical literature fans might enjoy, but it does fall off a bit into Tokyo Ghoul Re as the author burns out. Anyway that’s just my two cents
I don't know, I never felt it fell off a bit on Re🤔
Anyway, he MUST READ Tokyo Ghoul, what a magnificent manga and Kaneki is the most complex character I know.
Yeah Ishida definitely rushed the ending of Re. I still think it’s a good story, but I wish he took his time with it. Still a fun read though
His art that he posts on twitter is really good tho. I really like his use of colors.
Hey Daniel! If you want a great mystery, thriller manga with a phenomenal story and mature character work, Urusawa's 20th Century Boys is a must read. Think Japan's love letter to Stephen King.
If you also want a crazy, trippy, grungy and super creative darker fantasy with amazing worldbuilding, Dorohedero is also a riot
I don't get the hype with 20th century boys and Monster...they are fun. But its too long. I finished them both, but I was very disappointed.
Absolutely doroedoro
@@ReubenXR bro fucking TRUUUUE. They're both so mid with so much fucking hype.
@@colbyrob4814 its ok to dislike masterpieces
@@islandboy9381 its ok to praise the ground that mid as fuck pieces of media walk on
My Top 5 arcs are;
1. Whole Cake Island
2. Wano
3. Marine Ford
4. Water 7
5. Enies Loby
Reason being, even with a smaller crew Whole cake Island to me felt like classic One Piece but this time more mature, higher stakes and Oda's story telling being more mature.
Luffy's confrontation with Sanji managed to give me the exact feels I felt when; Luffy fought Ussop, and then the subsequent events were like Luffy asking Robin what she really likes, Or Luffy helping Nami prior to the Walk to Arlong Park.
The Antangonist was truly classic One Piece to me. It felt like fighting Buggy, Captain Kuro, Eneru all combined. Bigmom was like a natural disaster dressed like a clown. And then we had the best fight in the series so far, Luffy vs Katakuri.
Anyway to me, Whole Cake Island is classical One Piece at its best. I mean look at the Island itself.
Wano is definitely my favorite saga. I love the entire setup and vibe. The art of the manga has never been more consistantly beautiful (especially the first onigashima panel - my god). It awnsers a lot of things, and at the same times set a lot up for us to see. Very very strong characters across the board and as someone who likes to do a bit of digging and doesnt really like having stuff spoonfed too me, this arc got actually even better the more time you invested into thinking about it. What i mean by this is that a lot of the quality was below the surface, not only naratively, but also in terms of character dephts - especially for kaido. Him especially i digged. I dont really know how to describe it best, but apart from his monstrous and ruthless side, there were also other sides. His dynamic with king, his past, his philosophy, his view of the world and so on. I doubt this is the last thing we will get of him
You got me into One Piece. Thanks!!
I find it to be easier to binge arcs of One Piece rather than go chapter to chapter. I tend to forget details since it takes me over a year to get to the climax I forget some of the set up.
Also, dead on with the bit about the Anime having “obnoxious” effects. It’s just too much.
Yeah, it was okay in starting, but it is getting too much now.
I really hope, when they release the DVDs, that they re-edit those scenes in the recent Episodes. This is just madness and doesn't capture the actual intent of the Chapter. I hope feedback on this reaches them and they hopefully care about it, but I smh doubt that.
I mean the fight was drawn similar to a dbz fight so im fine with it up until a certain point where rubber is the centerfold, tryin not to spoil but you kno what im talkin bout
Monster review please. Its genuinely one of the best psychological thrillers I've ever read
One of the happiest days of my life ngl
Feel like it's gonna be atleast 4 to 5 years by the time One Piece ends
I welcome the new manga fans in my audience to something my longer fans are well aware of. I get things done. It can take years, but I always get there 😂
@@DanielGreeneReviews 😂😂💯💯
Been here for 3+ years. Yea. We know it. 💚😂
@@DanielGreeneReviews He means one pieces ending, Oda said three years to the ending which is more likely to take longer than shorter
@@skinnytree8861 Remember when we thought we’ll get to Wano at the start of 2017? Good times lmaoo
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki.
It's a short read, but my favorite piece of fiction. If you've seen the movie: this is on another level. It really is Miyazaki's magnum opus imo.
Yes great suggestion!!!!! It's fits this channel's theme well.
Has Daniel not read it? It's been sitting on his shelf for a while now
@@beeozan1426 The dual hard cover right? In blue? I thought that might have been it, but I couldn't ever tell for sure if it was. I thought i confirmed it wasn't with a side by side with mine but that was a long time ago.
I hope he has read it!
EDIT: I looked again and that for sure is the hardcover two book set. I almost hope he hasn't read them yet, as I'd love a review, but I doubt it would ever get the votes necessary to be a focus.
I love the news and the announcement of a One Piece re-read, but I think you're vastly underestimating how long One Piece still has to go. Oda has confirmed that the manga is entering the final saga. For context, the Four Emperors saga, which just ended, started in 2015-2016. Wano alone started in 2018. There's probably at least another 5 years worth of One Piece.
In terms of Manga to read: try Vagabond, Vinland Saga, Jujutsu Kaisen, Kingdom, Chainsaw Man
Vinland saga would be a amazing manga to go through having arguably the same level of writing as berserk when it comes to the protagonist and the hardships he has to face.
My first instinct was to recommend Monster & 20th Century Boys lol. But then I remember you focus mostly on fantasy so while the dream is the Monster/20th Century Boys analysis videos I'm not sure if they really qualify for your channel. Then again you did imply Akira was going to be on the list and that's more scifi so at least 20th Century Boys could be a possibility. Monster was my first exp reading NU, and overall, it was a solid storyline that grew on me. I read 20th Century Boys next and loved it, especially the first 2/3s, I'll have to reread it, but I remember the last third took a turn (it made sense, just changed the whole vibe of the series) and made some choices I could've done without out. A certain character appears who I don't think should've shown up! Fingers crossed these titles get picked lol.
Daniel: Fixes his pronunciation of "manga"
Also Daniel: KAYDOOUGH
DOOFLAMINGO!
Wano is definitely rapidly encroaching on me favorite OP arc as of this moment. The biggest reason being you can just tell how much Oda wanted to get the Crew here. Wano is first mentioned in Thriller Bark. And then in Punk Hazard. And everything that leads up to the rousing finish of Wano is just so thought out and intentional. I also love how incredible and emotional the story is. Oda has never shied away from the heavier more emotional moments in his story. But so much of Wano feels like him (weirdly) hitting his stride when it comes to telling the emotional depths of his story. We all know Oda loves his flashbacks, but so many times in Wano he’ll place a small one in a perfect spot to remind you what this place has been through and how absolutely devastated it and it’s people have become. And then to have the Straw Hats and Luffy be their hope? It just pulls on so many strings for me.
Wano is my #1.
A combination of the best backstory with Oden, end game hints, and most of all the culmination of around 10 years went into the end of this very arc. The build up and anticipation I've read weekly for over a decade all coming together just hits different.
I love the growth that Momonosuke has gone through from the beginning to now. The Akzaya are great. And the events that took place on Roof Piece are unmatched.
Absolutely read Vinland Saga!!! It’s amazing (or at least it’s been amazing up to where I’ve gotten so far), would 100% recommend!
Also, super hyped! These re-reviews sound like they’ll be a ton of fun and I’m super excited for them!
Second this! Vinland Saga is great
It's also sort of the opposite of berserk in what happens to thorfinn so it would be perfect to review it after berserk
Vinland saga is going to end in 1-2 years, he is better off waiting a bit imo.
That's just beautiful. One piece has made your channel able to survive for the next 5-10 years. I'll be 35+ when I'll watch those vids! I cant wait!!!
With "tone" I also think in how amazing is that with so much on stake, with so much epicness, Oda still manages to keep it goofy and cause a laugh or two so often without taking away from the overall mood. He really makes it seen so easy and so natural.
Gomu Gomu no Jump rope
Saw your interview with Liam and gotta say, I love your humor and video style. And I wish I could hear your thoughts on the spoilery stuff in Wano in some way... but I guess that'll have to wait for now. Great video, happy to be a new sub for you!
I think Skypia is my favorite arc, just for how imaginative and adventurous it was. The sequence with crew going up the knockup stream is also my favorite scene to see animated.
As for manga recs, Blue Exorcist is a fun supernatural/action series that has some of the best character work I think I've ever seen in any manga series. Blue Exorcist is ongoing with 135 chapters as of now, and is legally available in English.
Witch Hat Atelier is a beautifuly drawn fantasy series about a girl learning magic, the tensions caused by keeping magic a secret from the wider world, and student-teacher relationships goog and bad.
Trigun Maximum is a completed series from the 90s. The anime adaptation ran on Adult Swim alongside Cowboy Bebop and it's getting a new anime adaptation soon, which gives me hope for a reprint of the manga in English. A very intense scifi western.
Yu Yu Hakusho isn't as good as HunterxHunter according to strangers on the internet, but I still think it's worth checking out. It is completed, has one of the best ensemble casts to ever come out of Shonen Jump, exellent monster design, and is relatively short.
Hellsing is a bloody vampire manga from the 2000s. Features loads of guns, monsters, religous zealotry, and Nazis (as villians thankfully).
*spoilers for anyone not up to date with the manga*
I definitely agree with you in general about characters being the most interesting when they still have a lot to go for, and usually near the end of the series I start losing interest. However, I do think that Oda did phenomenal job at Luffy's latest power up. At the same time it fits his character arc perfectly while also going against fandom's expectations and the trend of edgy protag upgrades. Thematically it could not have been better, and it being so heavily tied to deeper lore of OP leaves me excited for what's to come still. And especially with the latest chapter throwing some curve balls at us, I do think that Oda still has so many surprises in store for the last leg of the series.
All things considered, OP being as coherent as it is at THIS point of the story is an unbelievable feat from the author (Oda just knocked JK Rowling down a peg on the list of all time fiction authors btw!). Also you might want to check out Oda's interview with Detective Conan's author Aoyama-sensei! Lots of interesting insights into Oda's mentality towards his job there.
As for manga recs, I think everyone wants to see HxH, but I'd recommend Monster or 20th Century Boys. Also Sakamoto-sensei's Innocent (& Innocent Rouge) is a spectacular manga, it's quite a lot shorter than other recommendations that are being thrown out there!
Kingdom would definitely be my next manga recommendation!
On a point of discussion, there's a really sad story behind the ending to one of my favourite mangas: Toriko. It's a manga about characters who hunt powerful beasts in order to collect ingredients for meals. So in other words, it's a food manga. But it is so much better than it has any right to be. With some of the best world building and action i've encountered in the genre. And some of the aforementioned beasts are just so incredible! But alas, the series wasn't making much money so they forced the writer to intensely rush the last third of the story and condense potentially 150 - 200 chapters into just 30. And as amazing and hype as those 30 chapters are, they're just so abrupt that it takes away so much of the overall tale for it to be so overbearingly rushed at the end and thus makes it really difficult to recommend to people. But overall, it is definitely an underrated gem.
Also the writer was in very controversial shit, so not a series i would recommend
YES. Kingdom I like to say is like having marineford every arc, but each time it gets WAY BETTER. The coalition war is simply the best war I've ever seen.
@@saminsanity4766 That has nothing to do with anything. Toriko is great.
Toriko is great and definitely worth reading.
Hell's Paradise is, personally, my favorite fantasy manga. It handles its power system so well and gives a really unique take on how to defeat an immortal villain.
Another thing it does that broke me whenever I was reading it was how it handled the death of its characters. You never know who was going to die because of the way the author handled previous deaths. It's also getting its own anime this Fall, so do with that information as you will :)
Edit: Forgot to mention that it is completed! 127 chapters in total.
Good suggestion. For those wondering the genre is grimdark action fantasy. Imagine Demon Slayer but if it was actually well written and more mature - great atmosphere, characters are well written, pacing is 10/10 because it doesn't try to outlive its scope and stays focused on a single long arc from start to finish, keeping the narrative tight and cohesive.
Oda stated that if the fights in one piece begin to become more and more serious like other battle manga he would "Hate" the series, thats why imo chapter 1044 was one of the greatest chapters in one piece, its Oda doing what he truly loves, he even said "I know some wont like it, but its fine, because i did it to have fun, and i truly had fun drawing those chapters"
We will wait here for you to finish this epic series. It could be 5 years from now. But we will still be here.
Good times and great work making OP worth the time!
RE: future series I would highly recommend Vingland Saga, Vagabond or Hunter X Hunter. The first two being more serious realism series which take a look at life & existentialism, whereas the latter is an equally-adult, yet more cartoonish series focusing on adventure, exploration, and human morality. Would be excited to see any of the above
Why recommend hunter x hunter it is never going to be finished don't do it to Daniel
@@thomasedwards6641 No! We are getting ten chapters this year, It's official! They may have even dropped already... Togashi has also been preparing his wife to take over the series and she's a talented mangaka in her own right. So the series will go on.
The talk of power creep in One Piece reminds me of a funny comment I've read recently. "Zoro is a traditional Shonen protagonist stuck in a Looney Toons cartoon." and now I can't unsee it.
FullMetal Alchemist!!
I just wanna mention Dorohedoro because I love it. It’s dark fantasy done very creatively with a great visual style/aesthetic and wild sense of humour. Also has a great magic system with a lot of very creative and wacky powers, which occupies a large portion of the fantasy element, alongside the series’ fantastic world building. Starts out first page with a giant lizard man cramming some dude’s head in his mouth, all I’m gonna say.
Its funny that the straw hats getting more powerful has exactly opposite reaction for me
For me its so satisfying and i feel pride in them because we know how much effort they have put it
And especially luffy. Seein Someone who got destroyed by kuma and was vastly underpowered in marineford now going toe to toe with an emporer is so rewarding
Also, there is hardly a way around it, knowing how powerful the Villains and Opponents are.
It also seems like their recent Power Ups are near their Prime, I don't think there will be another Gear for example, I imagine they will just "perfectionate" their new Powers and that will be the ceiling. Unless Characters will gain access to Devil Fruit, thus adding another Layer to level up, but I doubt that this will happen for the SHs.
they growth from being nobodies to people the world acknowledges is one of my favorite things in one piece.
*begins to type comment about K-dough* (4:43 happens) You got me Daniel, well played
A few ideas:
Naoki Urasawa's Pluto. It's only 8 volumes, a very solid remake of a story arc from an old Osamu Tezuka Astro Boy story.
Golden Kamuy. A treasure hunt in Hokkaido during the early 1900's. Historic things like this make Robin's body tingle.
Witch Hat Atelier. Learning magic and some of the most aesthetically pleasant art in the medium of comics.
Takehiko Inoue's REAL. Broken people trying to make do. They also play basketball occasionally.
Summit of the Gods. A five-volume manga about mountain climbing. Also exists as a novel, a live-action movie and an animated movie (from France, not Japan).
Oh yes pluto
Very underrated manga
I'm a huge fan of world building and my favourite chapters in One piece are always the conclusions of arcs. But, my favourite arc, or the arc that I think is, not necessarily the best but the most impactful to the world of One piece, is Reverie. A close second would be the first buster call in Sabaody archipelago + Marineford just due to the sheer amount of things that happened and the insane character developments.
Water 7 (or more specifically, marineford) is my favorite not just for the character growth but for the message it sends.
Being a person with depression and formally suicidal tendencies, having a character like Robin who it feels like the whole world is against her, and just wishes she was dead, was relatable to say the least.
When you get to a point with depression where nothing goes right and everything makes you miserable, it can feel like death is the only option, like it's the last way you have to escape.
So when Luffy asked Robin what she wanted, what Oda did was point out the other option. The one you can't see on your own, because it seems impossible to accomplish on your own. But with help, and support, another option becomes available.
You. Can. Live.
Yes it can be hard, it might even feel like you are going up against the world itself. That you will literally have to fight EVERYTHING to make it happen. But
You, can, live. Death isn't the only way. You can fight for the change you want to see in your life, and you don't have to do it alone.
"...I want to live!" Is a phrase that has stuck with me for years, and is a mantra I chant to myself when life is at it's worst.
Before one piece, living was never an option I could even have dreamed of, but Robin's story made me realize how much of my life I had been ignoring if not outright refusing that option. but now, I'm taking it. I'm living my life as best as I can. Is it perfect? Fuck no. Is it hard some days? Absolutely.
But now instead of existing just because I was forced to, I am living.
It may seem like a simple lesson to some, but to those who need it, it is the most important lesson in all of one piece imo.
I live for my son, for my dreams, and for the people I love.
I will forever be grateful to Oda for teaching me that lesson.
what you said put some tears in my eyes. hope good things happen for you buddy
I can’t wait for the upcoming manga content. Love your videos, Daniel!
Chainsaw Man would be amazing since the anime is coming out in October.
Fujimoto has a twisted genius like a evil Terry Pratchett, and it’s only just starting it’s second arc now.
Evil Terry Pratchett 😂
Love it
I love CSM, but I really want Daniel to read look back and goodbye eri, literally one-shots masterpieces
HxH, Chainsaw Man, Tokyo Ghoul, Monster, 20th Century Boys, and FMA would be great series for Daniel to do a deep dive on. Also One Punch Man just for fun
Vagabond, Vinland Saga, Monster, Oyasumi Punpun, 20th Century Boys, Blade of The Immortal, Real, and HxH alongside Berserk and AoT (which I'm aware that you've seen) are the pinnacle of the medium in my eyes. Can't go wrong with any of those.
Hey Daniel,
You should check out the beastars manga by Paru Itagaki for deep dive reviews. It doesn’t run too long and it has some very deep discussions about where the problems of the individual and the collective collide in unexpected ways. All of it set in urban fantasy where the anthropomorphic people are segregated into carnivores and prey, which the medium takes full gruesome or cute advantage of when needed in both its main plot and slice of life side stories. The artwork is also lovely. Enjoy!
My favorite Arc/Saga is definitely Wano, imo its the most developed we seen Luffy become. And also the looming feeling of the story's conclusion, i can truly feel it in this arc, its something i both love and fear, but it is the strongest emotion i had from beginning the series, the feeling of the story ending soon. And again the development of Luffy in this arc is just amazing, i mean he wears a freaking badass COAT like Shanks!
And of course Oden's Flashbacks are my all time favorite stretch in the series.
My favorite arc of One Piece is the ThrillerBark arc. Mainly because of how you saw the team struggle and work together to beat a man who was truly causing alot of issues being Moria, yes I understand he's not like a huge or one of the worst one piece villians but something about Moria and Thrillerbark that personally had me thinking was Morias power like had it been given to someone Competent same with Ceaser both the Gas Gas fruit and Shadow Shadow fruit are both two of the most scariest powers to me other than the Soul Soul fruit. Reason being with the Gas fruit you can become any type of gas from anything toxic and poisoness but also can become things more explosive but can also take away someone's Oxygen. Now the Shadow fruit being able to take someone's Shadow and take it as well as absorb shadows and gain power through them as well as creating an army of strong people through shadows. I also enjoy the introduction of Brook and how he asked to join Luffy.
I've got two suggestions that come off the top of my head. The first is Jojo's bizarre adventure. The series has been memed to hell and back, but it's a legitimately great series. Stands are perhaps the most creative power system in fiction, and it mostly lacks the power creep issue that some series run into, instead focusing more on the strategy and creativity such varied abilities allow. Additionally, due to the structure of the series it regularly has natural stopping points so it would be easier for your deep dive style.
Second is Mob Psycho 100. It's a series that's more aimed at a pre teen to young adult demographic, but it's absolutely worth the read even if you aren't in the demographic. The character work and themes are insanely good, and it like to twist and play with lots of typical genre tropes if very interesting ways. It's also one of the shorter recommendations. The only real negative is the art style, the author isn't a good artist so it takes some getting used to. Fortunately the anime solves this issue by being quite possibly the best animated show of all time.
Was looking for this comment. The fact that i didnt see jojos in the poll was so surprising i wonder if its the series daniel said he left out for entertainment reasons cause its hard to imagine it wouldn’t get a decent amount of votes. Or mabye daniels fans and jojo fans just dont overlap alot but ay if ur a jojos fan check out blood sun vendetta on RUclips
I miss your One Piece content Daniel, really enjoyed re-watching it all!
I think wano may be my favourite story arc/saga for some reasons. I think the build up of the conflict between beast pirates/strawhat pirates (and worst generation) has been built up quite well. I don't think all fights are perfect or anything, but we got a very satisfying conclusion to this 10 year build up to the biggest story yet. At least in my opinion. Another reason for me is Momonosuke, who turned out to be possibly my favourite side character in the series. He has come a long way, and looking back to his very first appearance it's very nice and touching to see him mature mentally so much (gotta appreciate the physical change too, oda uses these sort of body changes very effectively in my opinion). Last reason I am going to name is hype. I think wano has collectively the most badass moments and just really cool lore dumps. I am a sucker for dumb hype and huge lore dumps when the series is well made.
Thank you for the channel update. I prefer the traditional styles, and fantasy news so super excited they will continue
I highly recommend jujutsu Kaisen to add to your list of manga. The characters have proper development, and the plot is carefully planned with attention to detail. The plot twists are foreshadowed well and jaw dropping. Did I mention it also has a beautifully crafted hard magic system that sticks to it's rules.
You mean manga ?
The thing about Wano wrapping up that makes me most excited, is that this is the first time in the better part of ten years that we as an audience have genuinely no idea what comes next.
For the past decade of One Piece, we have known what was coming, ever since Punk Hazard, we knew at least the rough outline of what Oda had in store for us. We knew that the Straw Hats were going to take on Dofflamingo and then move on to take on Kaido. We didn't know the exact details, but we could more or less see the route.
Now, for the first time since breaching the surface of the New World, we don't have that knowledge. We are truly sailing into the unknown, with only theories and speculation about what comes next. And I am fucking LIVING for it.
Wano is definitely my favourite, with its scale, characters and the way the story is being told. Plus oda's fight choreography has improved a lot, it has much more of an organic feel to it right now, most battles in the raid connected and complemented each other in an almost seamless way with the heavy overcast of Luffy vs kaido. What was happening on the roof had a material effect which was communicated very well visually on everything else happening in the castle. There were a couple of things I didn't have much of an investment in, like otama's whole thing with converting beast pirates. The way hiyori was handled was overrated AF too, apart from giving a powerful and emotional speech which looked visually stunning , there wasn't anything much she did. The fake out death with kinemon is on par with Pell's in terms of how laughable and meme worthy it is.
Some lesser known but high quality, adult manga:
A hobo gets paid to drill a hole through his skull. A weird ass descent into madness, "Homonculus"
The last master of a dying art, Rakugo, recounting his life story growing up during WW2 and Japan's sudden modernization. "Descending Stories: Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu"
A doctor saves a little boy, quickly complicate things for the entire world. Legit one of the best thrillers out there "Monster".
Arlong Park is my favourite. Nami's backstory leading into the 'help me, Luffy' scene is IMO the strongest character writing Oda's ever done, and the arc as a whole is built on a clever narrative that only gets better the more you learn about the context of the world it takes place in.
Chainsaw Man is on the shorter side, currently, but it’s also not at all shy about it’s weirdness. Be aware of that if you end up checking it out.
I really want you to read anything from Naoki Urasawa. He has done stuff like Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto, Billy Bat, Asadora etc. It's wild how he can constantly put out top tier Manga
It’s great that you found something for which you have so much enthusiasm! Unfortunately, manga isn’t my thing. But I’ll stick around for your other content.
I strongly recommend Vinland Saga but it isn't a fantasy or sci-fi so I don't how your audience will take it.
A truly amazing story though.
The combo Water 7/Enies Lobby is my favourite part of One Piece still to this day, and it is mostly because of two reasons;
1- The main focus is on the Strawhats; It's a story about loyalty and what it means to be a crew after all told by putting Usopp (the least developed character up until that point) and Robin (the newest addition to the crew at that point) in the front.
2- The story is as tight as it gets. I think the only part I don't care about is the fight between Franky and Fukurou, but that's like two chapters so it doesn't really matter. Beyond that is super tightly told and is filled to the brim with super iconic moments that hit it out of the park every single time. From Usopp failing at reedeming himself after he got robbed and then the Strawhats fighting the Franky family at the very beggining, to stuff like the "I want to live" moment (I can't express how much I love that moment even all these years later), Usopp sniping out the marines from the top of the tower or his "JUMP TO THE SEA!" scream because the last crewmember had finally arrive. Man, I'm getting chills just writing about these scenes (for real), I first watched this in 2008 (like many I first watch the anime and once I got caught up with that -back in Shabaody- I started reading it) and 14 years later I still get emotional just by writing about this saga. That should tell you how much I love that story.
What I have to say about Wano is that, despite loving everything in One Piece (some things more than others of course) I didn't think it was ever going to be as good as Wano was again. It's by far the biggest story Oda has ever attempted and it plays to all of the series strengths and the guy knocked it out of the park. He tried the hardest trick ever and succeded at it. Maybe I don't love it as much as Water 7/Enies Lobby, but it's definetly my second favourite story, which... for a story I've been reading weekly for as long as I have is saying something.
I'd recommend Vinland saga. It's a semi fictional historical retelling of the life of the Thorfinn Karselfni. It's really good and has an anime that's really amazing and a second season is coming out next year. The manga is also almost done as well
OMG I'M SOOOOO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT RE-READ WITH FORESHADOWS!!!
My personal favorite would be Marineford Saga due to the emotional intensity and how it pull Luffy through the wringer, it’s the arc that Oda must surpass with this final stretch of the series and what I can imagine he’s going to have the most amount of trouble with in trying to reach those same heights.
I doubt oda can ever surpass marineford in terms lf writing quality. Maybe we would enjoy final saga more since it will give us lots of answers, but emotional intensity won't be there
I’m gonna take a risk and throw Dorohedoro out there. It’s one of the most wild fantasy stories and settings I’ve ever seen. It throws you into an insane world with rules you know nothing about with characters that already have a handle on it. Nothing makes you feel more like a lost tourist in a horrible magical world than Dorohedoro. It has a pretty rough art style and breakneck pacing but once you get over that it’s an extremely memorable story with consistently awesome characters that you won’t regret reading.
I would recommend actually starting with the anime to ease into it tbh.
An actual good suggestion. Ppl don't understand that this is a sci-fi fantasy Chanel
@@zoulzopan That's true, as much as I love Monster and Vagabond, they aren't really in the right genre for the channel.
There is always a charm that is lost when the underdogs finally start to reach the top. Not sure any long series has managed to avoid that.
This is why is Oda said we are at the final saga, because when luffy is already at the top of the pirate world (only left is to be pirate king) theres no much you can do to keep your audience engaged, the events that will lead to the final confrontation and the final part of the heroes journey, needs to happen now.
I’d like to throw the manga Fire Punch into the discussion. It’s by the same author as Chainsaw Man but it has been over for a while now. It’s incredibly depressing at times but also very hopeful(?) and really engaging, I would definitely look it up and see if it would be of interest. I would best compare it to The Road by Cormac McCarthy in its level of intenseness so look up any triggers prior to reading. I think it’s bring some great discussion though
Also it’s very digestible and could be torn through in a week
i would highly recommend vinland saga .trust me , your not gonna regret it
Hello my dude! Your Berser reviews bought me to your channel, and I'm happy to see that you intend to make more manga series. As I'm not a part of your Discord (yet [?]), I'm leaving here my suggestions as an enthusiastic reader of high quality manga series:
- Vagabond
- Blade of the Immortal
- Rurouni Kenshin
- Ghost in the Shell
- Appleseed (this one is not too often mentioned, but trust me, high quality short 80's style sci-fi series)
- Beck
- Ai-Ren
I could rant on for hours (years back I took upon myself to read every interesting manga in chronological order since 1920ish and I can assure you that between 1960 and 1999 there are plenty of good manga), but I'll leave these ones here because they're my all-time favorites.. And I'm a writer, publishing my first book, and hope to see you make one review of it in the future (it's in portuguese now, but the publisher promised an english translation if the book sells enough).
And sorry any grammatical error, english is not my first language.
Here’s my comment for the algorithm…
You lost me at wano is the strongest in terms of storytelling in one piece…
>insert shaking my head gif
Vagabond!!!! Omg you'd love it, both the art and story is breathtaking
Monster:
One of the best works of fiction I've ever read and the magnum opus of one of the greatest Manga authors of all time.
20th Century Boys:
Another masterpiece from the same author as 'Monster'. Seriously, this guy is a genius.
Chainsaw Man:
Simply a masterpiece created by a young prodigy of an author. This dude has a fresh, modern, unique style of storytelling and he just doesn't miss.
Tokyo Ghoul:
A very engaging series with interesting themes but has it's highs and lows.
Vinland Saga:
Masterful storytelling. Starts of as one thing turns into another (without spoiling anything) in one of the best ways I've ever seen done. Amazing historical fiction.
Akira:
Pretty much the godfather of modern Cyberpunk.
Evangelion:
Anything but Evangelion. It's pretentious as f*ck. It's like the anti-Berserk. Where Berserk is a story that is edgy on the surface but has deep underlying themes, Neon Genesis Evangelion is supposed to be deep but only comes across as what a whiny edgelord would consider to be deep.
Goodnight Punpun:
One of the greatest Manga of all time. Wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy. Literally depression turned into manga form. The author is a genius. I genuinely despise him for making this masterpiece. I can't deny how excellent it is but I regret reading it.
Vagabond:
Amazing story. Even better artstyle. Incomplete and on indefinite hiatus so I wouldn't recommend for reviewing.
Naruto:
You've probably heard of this series. Very long mainstream shounen series. Almost as long as One Piece. The only series to ever truly compete with One Piece in terms of mainstream popularity. I would go so far as to say that it was more popular internationally until very recently. Was the face of manga for a long time. Has highs and lows but the highs are really, really high. Best and most iconic villain group in all of manga in my opinion.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure:
OOOOOOOH BOOOOOY! There's nothing like it. It's impossible to describe.
P.S. I want to thank you so much for introducing me to so much amazing fantasy literature. I'm a hardcore Brando Sando stan now. And I haven't even started the Stormlight Archive yet! Just finished Mistborn, Elantris and Warbreaker. Also, Gunmetal Gods. What an unbelievable rollercoaster. Planning to start Shadow of the Gods because you spoke so highly of it.
Cheers.
My favorite arc is definitely Whole Cake Island, it was just so different then other one piece arc that came before it. It single handedly fleshed out Sanji in a way I didn’t even know I needed. It showed the crew at their most desperate as their just trying to escape the terrifying Big Mom Pirates. And it had probably my favorite Luffy fight in the entire series with Luffy vs Katakuri.
Also you should def look into reading Chainsaw Man, Vinland Saga, Monster, 20th Century Boys, Takopi’s Original Sin, or Blue Flag. And if you want to review some anime, check out Gurren Lagann, it’s an absolute Banger
I highly recommend reading Hunter x Hunter. It's definitely one of the best Mangas of all time and the author is back after a very long hiatus.
Vinland saga genuinely made me cry and rethink life in general and would love so much if you were to read through Vinland
Fair anime criticism, while the energy stuff is pretty and shows off amazing animation, the last episode was an absolute overload of stimuli. Didn't bother me that much but I can definitely see it getting to other people.
Yeah, the worst thing is, that it feels totally disconnected from the feeling you had in the Manga. They just try to produce "Hype" scenes, that look fancy, but don't have much substance, apart from some frames. Just comparing the Uppercut wit CoC feels like two different worlds. It's really sad and I hope that what a certain character did in the recent chapter with his Haki won't be a flashy lightshow.
Edit: Also I really hope they tune back the effects for the DVD Editions and re-edit parts of the episodes.
My favorite arc is also Water 7, more specifically the post Enies Lobby portion where we see the Going Merry "break" in a fashion that looks like its bowing to Iceberg.
I still ugly cry everytime I watch/see reaction vids of others watching ep 312.
The entire arc was one where we as readers, were brought through highs and lows on an emotional roller coaster 🎢 ending falsely on a high (when our heroes escape the Marines), only for merry to break and have a "crew member" leave the story for good.
The arc is also the first time you really see that the higher-ups of the "good guy Marines/world govt" aren't what they make themselves out to be...
Super excited for whenever you get around to Chainsaw man. It’s absolutely batshit crazy and can make you laugh your ass off one page and then make you wallow in existential dread the next page without feeling any tonal whiplash.
A few completed manga suggestions: Good Night Punpun, Flowers of Evil, Sunny, Pluto, Dorohedoro.
Chainsawman is amazing, especially when compared to regular shonen, going into the series and noticing the contrast enriches the first read through in my opinion.
Chainsawman is more unconventional and wild, but still tame compared to the previous work of the author Fujimoto. Fujimotos stil is more realistic and almost seems like a good screenplay when it comes to comedy and action. Few manga made me laugh like Chainsawman. Fujimoto also is a movie fan (including B movies I believe), especially of spiderman I think.
Fullmetal Alchemist is one of the greatest manga of all time, thematically cohesive, emotionally resonant, immaculately constructed.
Ehh its slightly above average in every aspect but is a masterclass in none. Id call it a great series definitely a teir but would not call it a masterpiece.
The only reason its high on mal is because the toxic fanbase but thats not a fault of the show.
Actually havent read the manga but brotherhood is very faithful from what ive heard.
I like that everyone is recommending really good series but I would go a step further and tell you that there are different demographics of manga and each has their own way of storytelling and art. There's shonen which is aimed for young boys and young adult men; seinen is for adult men usually; shoujo is for young girls and young adult women; josei is for adult women. One Piece is a shonen series and Berserk is a seinen and even though they are both aimed to males there are differences in how they can approach stories. Here's just a few recommendations:
Shonen: Chainsaw Man, D. Gray-Man, Hunter x Hunter
Seinen: Monster, Vinland Saga, Hellsing
Shoujo: Fruits Basket, Basara, X/1999, Banana Fish, Nana
Josei: Nodame Cantabile, Paradise Kiss
I love your reviews so much and how you touch on points that gets you attacked by the general one piece Fandom for being too "judgemental"
Goodnight PunPun. The story is so beautiful, dark, and deep. There’s so much intricate storytelling I’ve always wanted to hear someone else discuss it in a detailed way. I think you’d really appreciate that story.
Hey Goblin King! My personal favorite saga is Water 7 as well, because it was so emotionally resonant and had great plot lines. But I absolutely adore Wano. I love the style, since if really shows off how versatile Oda can be even within his own style and how much he loves traditional Japanese art and culture. Everything so detailed and fleshed out, the characters were amazing, the stakes were high from the start and went up even more. Seeing Luffy finally stand on that stage with the giants of the last era was amazing to witness, touching in its own way to see how far he and his whole crew have come. They’ve always reached for the sky, towards their dreams, and now they can nearly touch it with their fingertips. To me, it doesn’t feel forced like many shounen manga protagonist’s power ups feel, but well earned. They truly struggled hard and deserve to be where they are. I only feel proud for them.
I highly recommend reading NANA by Ai Yazawa, especially since you are a fan of character centric stories. To this day it is the only piece of media that awakes a strong emotional reaction every single time I see stuff from the anime or edits of the manga.
Here’s my full recommendation list
Golden Kamuy: 314 chapters (about the indigenous people of Japan and a hunt for gold) genre: seinen, action, mystery status: completed
Battle Angel Alita/GUNNM: 53 chapters, genre: post-apocalyptic sci-fi, status: completed
Claymore: 160 chapters, genre: Fantasy, Horror, Action, Seinen status: completed
A Bride’s Story (no seriously): 103 chapters, it’s about various Turkic peoples and their daily lives, and the coming invasion of Russia, *genre:* historical fiction, romance, drama, *status*: ongoing
Jojo’s bizarre adventure: anthological series kinda sorta (*1st part is 44 chapters),* it’s about an evil man slipping into a family and trying to ruin their lives, all the while unholy vampires begin to crop up in England, *genre*: shonen, action, gore, mystery status: ongoing and complete - alternatively you could watch the anime -
I didn’t add some synopses because I didn’t know how to word them lol