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Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Special Guest Edition: Basara


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domino



Joined: 25 Nov 2004
Posts: 373
PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:50 pm Reply with quote
This is without a doubt my favorite series Viz has ever released, so I'm very happy that this was written. It's so good that I've even lent my books to non-manga fans and they begged for more. Now I want to re-read it! This is definitely a manga classic and a 90's shoujo icon that just didn't catch on here (probably because I've NEVER seen a book store carry it! I've had to special order EVERY SINGLE VOLUME... darn it, Viz! Stop filling bookstore shelves with trash and show off the good stuff!)

I've even hunted down the short-but-sweet 90's anime adaptation (yes, it exists!)... I once read a review that summarized my feelings for Basara perfectly with a statement saying "If I had a million dollars, I would spend it all on Basara manga just so I could hand out copies to people for free". It's a crime for any action or strong-heroine shoujo fan to not have read this series.

Tamaria wrote:
Cool, despite having played Live-a-Live, I didn't know that! Smile

Speaking of shoujo mangaka and RPGs, Saki Hiwatari is a HUGE Suikoden fangirl, Yuki Kaori loves MegaTen games (and Angel Sanctuary kind of starts out like one...) and while not a fan, Moto Hagio did some character designs for Illusion of Gaia/Time.


Another fun fact: in one volume of the comic Yami no Matsuei / Decendents of Darkness, a copy of the game Genso Suikoden is sitting on a bookshelf (with other games)! That author also hid Final Fantasy 7 characters in the background of one scene...
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Graceful Nanami



Joined: 24 Aug 2011
Posts: 303
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:50 am Reply with quote
^ Matsushita sure does love her video games, indeed.
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:21 am Reply with quote
Quote:

I didn't know that! Angel Sanctuary's plot is a lot like the Digital Devil Story games.


She talks about them in her series from the early nineties on multiple occasions. She also mentions Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy V in the author's notes in Count Cain.
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Banjo



Joined: 13 Dec 2010
Posts: 779
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 6:39 am Reply with quote
the story is nice, but I didn't like the art style, so I couldn't finish it after all.
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rinmackie



Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 1040
Location: in a van! down by the river!
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:17 am Reply with quote
Sounds interesting, but I couldn't get past the artwork, either.
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Shaenon



Joined: 17 Sep 2010
Posts: 18
PostPosted: Fri Oct 28, 2011 12:52 pm Reply with quote
Thanks, everybody!

One thing I love about Tamura's bonus columns and gag strips is that she has a surprisingly raunchy sense of humor. I remember one strip she did making fun of her own tendency to draw characters grabbing each others' hands below-panel: Sarasa grabs Shuri this way, then he holds up his hands to reveal that she's accidentally grabbed... er... something else.

I edited the last ten or so volumes of Basara for Viz, and it remains one of my favorite editing jobs, along with Saint Seiya and Kingyo Used Books (because I liked learning about all the different manga). I cried as I was working on certain scenes.
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UtenaAnthy



Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 694
PostPosted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 5:49 am Reply with quote
classicalzawa wrote:
Gah, this is my number one series that is in my "desperately want to read" list. Seriously Viz, why do you put junk into omnibus format but not this?! And now you're pushing shojo and more adult oriented stuff and you totally ignore your back library! The other two titles that seem to come up when people say "publish this again!" are Banana Fish and Please Save My Earth, both of which I have read and are on my shelf.
But hey, maybe we'll have to hope that Vertical can license rescue this if Viz no longer has the rights or something. Worked for Adolf!


Some of us actually like (some of) the series they are going to release/are releasing/have released in omnibus format, I'm very happy to be able to have VizBig editions of Rurouni Kenshin and (when I have money) Fushigi Yuugi on my shelves, along with X/1999, Skip Beat! and Hana-Kimi. And if I ever do decide to read Fullmetal Alchemist and/or One Piece, I'm glad to be able to pick them up at the lower price (and save on shipping costs).

I do completely agree with you about Banana Fish, Basara and Please Save My Earth, really wish they'd reprint all three of these (especially Basara, as some of the volumes are astronomically expensive). I also really wish they'd reprint Cheeky Angel, Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix and Red River (listing just Viz titles, I have other ones I want reprinted from other publishers, there are also some more recent ones I want reprinted such as High School Debut, Hikaru no Go, Lovely Complex, Monkey High, but I have not put them in the main list as Viz may well have omnibuses planned, or they're shorter series that are probably gone for good).
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_Emi_



Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 498
Location: Langjökull
PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 7:23 am Reply with quote
I was actually able to collect all of this without ever having to pay above MSRP for any volume. A thank you to st_owly for that, as she provided me one of the volumes. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet so I just want to ask if their is anything in it that would be inappropriate for a 12-year old.
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:48 am Reply with quote
Depends on the 12 year old. There is no nudity to worry about, but Shuri can be very forward, there are some dirty jokes (mostly in the back of the book, outside of the story) and Sarasa having her period is brought up as a plotpoint. The series does not shy away from sex, but it all happens off screen. As for violence, it's certainly there. The artwork prevents it from being too gruesome, but (important! likable!) characters do die. If she's been exposed to something like, I don't know, Twilight, it will probably be okay.

If she's into this type of manga (strong heroines, epic storyline, romance, action...), From Far Away may be more suitable a girl her age.
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Graceful Nanami



Joined: 24 Aug 2011
Posts: 303
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:26 pm Reply with quote
Basara is by no means for the younger crowd. No younger than 16, I'd say. Too many adult themes and real-life choices. And there's blood and some very unsettling deaths. And yes, there is nudity in Basara. And rape. And incest. You need to be old enough to take away from it as much as you can. Basara has some very amazing messages for the reader. And:

"but it all happens off screen"

No it doesn't. O_o I can think of three sex scenes in Basara off the top of my head that are not off-screen...
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Tamaria



Joined: 21 Oct 2007
Posts: 1512
Location: De Achterhoek
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 12:53 pm Reply with quote
I honestly can't remember them. Must be somewhere later in the series (that I haven't reread yet). Still, I stand behind my original statement: it depends on the 12-year-old. I can't think of anything that was in Basara, but wasn't in books (mostly literature chosen for us by our teachers) I read when I was that age. Aside from kick-ass female main characters and an epic storyline set in post-apocalyptic Japan, I mean.

Age twelve doesn't mean that much. Some kids are really still kids at that age, while others are well on their way to adulthood. Some like to be challenged by the books they read, some don't like to read at all. As long as the girl is emotionally mature enough (some are at that age!) and there is someone who she can discuss the manga with, I don't she why she shouldn't read it.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 3:57 pm Reply with quote
_Emi_ wrote:
I was actually able to collect all of this without ever having to pay above MSRP for any volume. A thank you to st_owly for that, as she provided me one of the volumes. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet so I just want to ask if their is anything in it that would be inappropriate for a 12-year old.


I only just noticed this post Smile I'm glad it went to a good home. Not long after I rescued it from the comic shop, all the bargain bin volumes in the shop disappeared, so goodness knows what would've happened to it....
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