Best New Manga
There was a lot of love for Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, One-Punch Man and My Hero Academia, but no one title dominated our reviewers’ lists. In fact, there probably was no hope of choosing one. So…
KC: There’s no doubt in my mind that A Silent Voice knocks every other manga out of the park, and this is a year I delved further into manga than I ever have. Yen made some splashes with Prison School. Yowapeda, and Emma; Vertical continues their consistent output of great stuff with Prophecy, Tokyo ESP, and Seki-kun; and Viz released a few gems among their pile of manga that was released with Jojo’s, Food Wars, My Love Story, and One-Punch Man (finally in print). Kodansha knocked it out of the park though with two of my favorite manga of the year with Yamada-kun and A Silent Voice. It is, of course, the latter that takes the prize. A Silent Voice is the most frustrating manga I’ve ever read and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say everything I’m angered about in A Silent Voice is everything I love in A Silent Voice. It takes the story and theme of bullying and executes it to perfection. Its story of redemption for the bully and story of self-acceptance of the one bullied brought anger and tears to my heart. Hands down, nothing has been better this year.
AA: Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches – I reviewed this manga as the singles came and I still stand by its greatness. Miki Yoshikawa made a great lead with interesting characters and heart. This series may have some of its printing issues, but that shouldn’t get in the way of the overall quality of the manga. Definitely go and read the adventures of Ryu Yamada and how he navigates powers of Urara Shiraishi and the rest of the witches.
MPA: Best new manga in 2015 for me has to be Prison School. Even though it is set in the standard high school scenario, it sticks to seinen aspects with all the characters and then throws them into absurd scenarios with tons of humours ecchi. From the idea of an internal prison to punish the worst students to the dominatrix-in-training Vice President of the all female Underground Student Council. Then add to that the fact that the series is still ongoing with 19 volumes currently released in Japan, and I’m happy to ride this ecchi train for all its worth.
MW: 1. One-Punch Man 2. My Hero Academia 3. So Cute It Hurts
One-Punch Man is an explosion of fresh air that absolutely demands attention. With its brilliant art and non stop action combined with wonderful comedy beats, it’s a series that nobody should miss. Meanwhile, My Hero Academia manages to step into the Shonen Jump line-up with some real force. It mixes together a strong basis in American comics with its unique “Quirks” to create a great up and coming series. And finally, So Cute It Hurts may be a bit of an unorthodox choice, and it’s certainly one that’s easy to miss. With its awkward title and basis in what appears to be a bundle of cliches, it really does appear to be completely throwaway at first glance. But upon giving it a chance I found a title full of charm that tossed aside a surprising number of its tropes to carve out a unique niche. If you’re looking for a Shojo title that’s a little bit outside the norm, be sure not to skip over this one.
KO: The Ancient Magus Bride
Seven Seas managed to score a surprise hit with this series. It’s Beauty and the Beast mixed with a coming of age story, which could go horribly, creepily wrong but doesn’t turn the reader off. It manages to remain compelling with it’s likable and mysterious leads, and I actually find myself rooting for this unlikely and unorthodox couple. (Potential Stockholm Syndrome be damned.) The artwork is perfectly dreamlike and makes the magic feel alive. The English countryside setting and fairy tale creatures are all perfect, and it’s one of the best fantasy manga to come along in ages. Runner up: Tokyo ESP.
DW: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures – I’ve been a long-time fan of the Jojos world ever since the OAVs came out in the 90s. So when Viz Media came out with these high quality hardbound books, I knew I had to have these. I considered Jojo’s my favorite fighting anime alongside Fist of the North Star for a good while now. It’s easy to see how much Hirohiko Araki acquired from Fist manga-ka Tetsuo Hara’s style. Reading through these books reminds me how much the two parallel each other with uber muscles and hyperactive violence along with the horrific aspects, unique use of spirit fights with golems called ‘Stands’ and liberal use of musical homages. So much crazy fun here.
(Runner-up: Ultraman)
GLP: 1. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure 2. One-Punch Man 3. Inuyashiki
Jojo is one of those series that should have been released when Viz was first making a name for itself with Pokemon Adventure and Dragon Ball as their heavy hitters. So for the first volumes of Jojo to not only be released, but released in the fanciest way possible, with nice, oversized hardcover volumes, is a treat for all fans that have been holding out hope for so long.
On the side of more recent manga, both One-Punch Man and Inuyashiki are interesting reads in that at their core, they both address the lives of incredibly normal, under-appreciated people that wish to make a change in humanity regardless of the lack of praise they’ll get. OPM is an easy enough sell, what with its anime having just aired, but I say give Inuyashiki a try as well. While there’s little dialogue, and the pacing makes more for something to be read in just a handful of sessions, that’s definitely not a bad thing.
JT: My Hero Academia
So truth be told, I haven’t checked out a lot of new manga releases this year and what I have read was mostly limited to the confines of Shonen Jump. That said I’m still pretty confident about this one even if it’s not a terribly original choice. This series started off as something that looked like it could be a decent successor of sorts to Naruto now that it’s finally wrapped up (manga-wise anyway) and while it still succeeds in that area it’s really grown into it’s own as of late. It’s a surprisingly well paced action series and one that feels extremely confident in terms of the direction it’s headed as it’s started fleshing out it’s cast and introducing some new villains for them to face. Combine that with some absolutely stellar artwork and you’ve got the combination for one of the most impressive new things from JUMP I’ve seen in a while.
