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1-2 volume sf/f manga stories?


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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 10:29 am Reply with quote
Touma wrote:
How about Ghost in the Shell? You did not mention any content restrictions so I don't know if that would be a problem.
Some other single volumes from Masamune Shirow that might be harder to find are Black Magic, Dominion, and Orion.

Actually, everything else that I can think of will probably be hard to find. But I have discovered that my library has some rather obscure titles that I never expected to find there. So I am just going to list what I know and let you worry about how hard they are to find.Razz

Abenobashi: Magical Shopping Arcade
Brigadoon
Banner of the Stars (This is one book of the "Seikai Trilogy" but it stands alone.)
Banner of the Stars II (same as above)
Crest of the Stars (ditto)
Figure 17
Girl Who Runs Through Time, A
Murder Princess
Plastic Little (If nobody minds some bare breasts.)
Someday's Dreamers
Time Guardian
Witchblade Takeru (can get rather violent)

If you are interested in some collections of short stories you can try any of the "Mermaid" or "Theater" books from Rumiko Takahashi.
Actually, the "Lum" books from which the Urusei Yatsura anime was made are all short stories.

If you decide to increase the limit to three volumes you can try:
Chikyu Misaki
Junk Force
Scrapped Princess
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World


A couple of the old guys in the club would be really uncomfortable with sex or sexually charged scenes. The last book we did had some mildly graphic scenes and they were so uncomfortable they wouldn't come to the meeting. While I think it's a bit silly from my point of view, they're just from another era and I'd rather choose something everyone is comfortable trying.

This is a great list though! I'll see what I can dig up. Thank you so much!
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:32 am Reply with quote
sunflower wrote:


Oooh the Hogan novel tie in would interest them. He's extremely hard sf, right? I seem to recall his short stories being used by a physics prof in college to illustrate various laws. That's right, he wrote Inherit the Stars.


Yep, but but even if they're not into hard scifi all the much, the manga should still be easy to get into since it kinda reads like a movie. At the same time it's faithfull to original, so fans won't have much too complain about either. The English edition reads left to right and Yukinobu Hoshino draws in a clean and universal style, so it's one of the most hurdle free introductions to manga I can think of.
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9807
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:44 am Reply with quote
You might also want to try Magic Knight Rayearth. The first arc is complete in three volumes and is currently available as an omnibus. The ending would certainly spark discussion.

I'd like to second the recommendation for Shirow's stuff. Ghost in the Shell is complete in one volume. While there is some nudity the only sex scene is conveniently missing from the current (Kodansha) version. It even is flipped which would help them. Appleseed is four volumes but all are stand alone stories. It practically cries for discussion. Orion is sufficiently crazy that they would have a ball just looking up his references.

Just how old are these guys anyway?? I'm in my late 60s and I don't have a problem with the stuff in manga.
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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:03 pm Reply with quote
Tamaria wrote:
Yep, but but even if they're not into hard scifi all the much, the manga should still be easy to get into since it kinda reads like a movie. At the same time it's faithfull to original, so fans won't have much too complain about either. The English edition reads left to right and Yukinobu Hoshino draws in a clean and universal style, so it's one of the most hurdle free introductions to manga I can think of.


We read one or two hard sf novels a year, so those who have trouble with those would appreciate a manga version, and those who love it would probably find it interesting. I'm going to pick it up myself and read it. I'm getting so many good recs for myself! I haven't even heard of half of these manga.

Most of these people read comics, or used to. The left to right would help.
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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:13 pm Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
You might also want to try Magic Knight Rayearth. The first arc is complete in three volumes and is currently available as an omnibus. The ending would certainly spark discussion.

I'd like to second the recommendation for Shirow's stuff. Ghost in the Shell is complete in one volume. While there is some nudity the only sex scene is conveniently missing from the current (Kodansha) version. It even is flipped which would help them. Appleseed is four volumes but all are stand alone stories. It practically cries for discussion. Orion is sufficiently crazy that they would have a ball just looking up his references.

Just how old are these guys anyway?? I'm in my late 60s and I don't have a problem with the stuff in manga.


They're in their 70s. It's a generational thing as well as a personal one I think. One of the men constantly asks that we read some books by authors who aren't dead white guys about people who don't have European backgrounds (something both he and I fought for together and we succeeded this year). So he's pretty progressive. And yet, he is just not comfortable reading and discussing books containing sex, with women. Which is odd since he loves Heinlein and Heinlein doesn't exactly shy away from that LOL. Who knows? I haven't read the manga version of GitS, but will read it and see what I think.

An omnibus is another good idea since it would allow for a longer story. I didn't think of that. Thanks!
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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:14 pm Reply with quote
Lengarion wrote:
How 'bout:

Osamu Tezuka's Apollo's Song 2 volumes – Sci-Fi, supernatural, time travel + it's a classic

Aqua – a charming slice-of-life Sci-Fi on Mars, 2 volumes (OOP, but easy/cheap to get)

Verious issues of Mermaid Sage - OOP, but some are not so hard to get, kinda stand-alone. Supernatural/Fantasy


I don't know the first two, but they sound pretty good! I'll look them up. Thanks!
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Lengarion



Joined: 10 May 2013
Posts: 19
PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:54 am Reply with quote
Never mind Apollo's Song, though, as it depicts sexual themes. While there is nothing "dirty" about it, your guys probably wouldn't like it.
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:51 am Reply with quote
Quote:

I'm getting so many good recs for myself! I haven't even heard of half of these manga.


Well, if older and OOP manga are an option for you personally, I bet we can come up with tons more. Like, ever heard of Jyu-Oh-Sei? Very Happy

As for the reading group, are dystopian (graphic) novels something you read? I was thinking Ikigami might be suitable. It's one of those stories that takes place in the very near future, so there's practically no sf in it, but it's episodic and at the very least the whole Ikigami-system should be able to fuel discussion.
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Touma



Joined: 29 Aug 2007
Posts: 2651
Location: Colorado, USA
PostPosted: Sat Oct 19, 2013 7:58 am Reply with quote
@sunflower
A note about Aqua.

I love Aqua but it does not meet your requirement for length of series.
"Aqua" is indeed only two volumes, but those are really the first two volumes of "Aria." The title was changed when the series moved to a different magazine.
Aqua+Aria=14 volumes. Only 8 of those were translated and released in North America.

I really love Aria and its loss is one of the things that saddens me most about the demise of Tokyopop.
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