Forum - View topicSci-Fi Manga
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Utokai
Posts: 20 |
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I am a huge fan of all things Sci-Fi. My favorite manga is Planetes, and I'm into Mecha. However, I see a huge lack of Sci-Fi manga on the shelves. I don't really want to read manga adaptations of Gundam, Envagelion or Eureka Seven. I've seen a few titles but they're sealed in plastic at my local Borders, so I couldn't sample them. Can anyone give me a hand?
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Well, Akira is a classic. Brilliant, ground-breaking storytelling combined with a skillfully layered-story makes for a very compelling read whether your a Sci-fi fan or not. Otomo's Domu is also a masterpiece, though it's also in the horror genre. If you can find it (which is almost impossible at this point), Memories has some great one-shots that feature some of Otomo's best art I've seen; he's able to show of his surreal, Moebius-influenced style here much better than in Akira, which I really love.
A recent release, Eden, is also quite good, though I'd hesitate to say it's appeal is in the Sci-fi aspect. It's more of a character driven drama about war that just happens to be set in the future; no really amazing ideas are presented and while the art is exellent the designs are a bit boring. As a manga it's top-notch though, so I'd say pick it up anyways. Another hard-to-find gem is 2001 Nights. It's hard Sci-fi, like Planetes, but resembles the film 2001:A Space Odessy more than that titles. Some really amazing stuff in there. Darkhorse also collected the author's adaptation of an American novel called The Two Faces of Tommorow. I have yet to read it and I'm not a huge fan of written Sci-fi (especially hard sci-fi), but probobly worth checking out since the illustrator is good, and the pricepoint is exellent too. |
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Utokai
Posts: 20 |
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I'm not so interested in seeing highly advanced stories technology wise, but more of the near-future thing. The reason I like Planetes is the technology is believable, but it still keeps the story grounded. Domu sounds interesting. Have you heard anything about Scrapped Princess? It's a mixture of Fantasy and Sci-Fi. I merely saw the back of it.
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Raven Shinobi
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Try Gunslinger Girl, it's sci-fi nicely mixed with action and psychology, but I've got to inform you that we only got three volumes in English and it's currently unknown if there's a chance we'll get the other volumes in the future.
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saikori
 Posts: 85 Location: Hot Ole' Texas |
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You might check out Earthlight from TokyoPop then. It's about the first school/Colony on the moon. It takes place in 2068.
I don't normally get into those as much but I thought the story was really good. Here's the link for it on TokyoPop: http://www.tokyopop.com/S-1705/ |
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I_AM_L
 Posts: 138 |
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Gantz...although I can't post scanlation sites, and it's not licensed here yet...
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Bad classification. It has elements of the genre, but it takes place in what's supposed to be modern-day society and doesn't focus on those elements; it's like calling a 007 movie sci-fi. Still a good read.
Well your better off seeing the anime then, as I've heard the manga is only mediocre. In terms of what you want, Akira would fit the bill; though it gets quite metaphysical and philosophical, it remains a potent story about human behavior and conflict through out. |
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HitokiriShadow
 Posts: 6251 |
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Definitely check out the anime Scrapped Princess. I loved the anime and I look forward to the novels, but I glanced through the manga and wasn't impressed. I can't imagine the plot being compressed into three volumes of manga.
Just be warned that the sci-fi elements don't really show up until half way through the series. |
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shamelessfanboy
 Posts: 48 |
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I'm seconding Akira, it's the definitive sci-fi manga and is pretty much an obligatory read among fans of the genre. Six beefy volumes of extremely well-polished storytelling.
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Utokai
Posts: 20 |
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Thanks to everyone that dropped the names of a few titles. I'm particularly interested in Eden, and even read a 10-page preview of it. I'll be sure to pick some of this stuff up when I get the funds.
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Two Faces of Tomorrow is absolutely fantastic. I've never read the original novel, but the manga is one of my favorite sci-fi series ever. Another good, old, hard-to-find sci-fi series is Chronowar, which Dark Horse put out around 1997 or so. It's so obscure that ANN doesn't even have it in their encyclopedia. 
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Kruszer
 Posts: 8016 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I suggest finding the Seikai Trilogy manga. It consists of Crest of the Stars, Banner of the Stars, and Banner of the Stars II. They were based off very well written novels the first of which you can finally find on the shelf here in the US from Tokyopop (which I'd also heartily suggest). When his home planet of Martine is anexed by the Ahb Empire, it's leader makes a rather unsavory deal and surrenders the planet in exchange for retaining his position and status in the Empire. Thus his son Jinto is forced to becomes a noble of the empire. After years of schooling in the Abh language and culture he is on his way to the military academy for mandatory service, and through a feat achieved through ingnorance gains the friendship of the gorgeous female Abh pilot trainee named Lafiel that's come to pick him up, who also happens to be a princess of the Empire. However, what was seeming to be a peaceful and routine journey is shattered by the onslaught of war. |
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coolerimmortal
Posts: 522 |
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Er, no. Gantz is pure sci-fi. Between the aliens, the weapons, and Gantz himself, it's pretty obvious that it's science fiction. The 007 comparison is wrong. Anyways, Eden and Akira are probably your best bets, OP. Eden in particular is magnificent. |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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No it isn't, at least in my eyes; the main focus is not Sci-fi elements, it's action and character-driven drama. Just because it has fantastical elements in it doesn't mean it's pure Sci-fi because it doesn't demand the reader become absorbed in the world it creates; unlike titles like Akira or Eden it doesn't create a unique world, but rather uses a "normal" setting with some extreme elements. Those elements are treated ambiguously; the Sci-fi weaponry and "monster-of-the-week" designs are so generic in fact that I suspect a subtle parody of Sci-fi conventions was intended. Reguardless of the authors intention, Gantz is not "pure" sci-fi; definitally one of the title's sub-genres, but certianly not the focus. I'll agree that you could consider it a Sci-fi manga , but there are better definitions of the genre in manga. Since that's what he seems to be looking for, I'd rather recommend a truely "pure" sci-fi. |
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miyagi1
Posts: 3 |
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Blame! is the best sci-fi manga I've ever read. Gantz is really good too, but yea, it kind of depends on how you define sci-fi.
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