Compliments of the season guys, I wish you all a happy new year and I hope you enjoyed the holiday season (*inserts fireworks*).
Here are my top 10 favourite manga series of all time (My Babies), it was pretty hard to come up with these 10 because there are some other great works I would have liked to squeeze in, I’ll shout out some in the honourable mentions. My No 1 has been fixed since I read it and I usually alternate No 2 & 3.
10 HIMIZU: I really like dark psychological series and this one delivers exceptionally well in my opinion. I won’t recommend this to everyone as it could be considered to be a pretty depressing and disturbing read. The 2 things I love most about the series are the character interactions and the manner in which the dark themes are explored.
9 JOJOS BIZARRE ADVENTURES: I really like the vibe that Jojo brings to the table. The plot is really well executed and you can feel the intensity of the dangerous situations our protagonists get involved in. I love the unique character designs and abilities (seriously, I love the unique character designs and abilities) and the art quality is also very impressive. If you’re looking for a unique & refreshing manga experience, Jojo could become one of your favorites.
8 MONSTER: Monster is an absolutely fantastic psychological thriller and it has arguably one of the best villains I have ever seen. Objectively speaking, it is one of the best written series I’ve ever read. The characters are really well written and it keeps you engaged and at the edge of your seat throughout (by the way there are no fantasy elements involved in the series). I consider it to be a highly thought provoking story, I highly recommend this series if you want a change from the battle or fantasy genre.
7 VINLAND SAGA: If you like Game of thrones this is one series you would enjoy. I love the savagery of the characters, the quality of the art is really incredible, the development that some of the characters undergo is absolutely fantastic, let’s not forget about Thorkell the tall, this series has it all and the recent chapters have been pretty solid. I highly recommend Vinland Saga.
6 KINGDOM: This series is very near and dear to my heart, it’s easily one of my best experiences in manga (I basically read over 300 chapters in a week). Where do I start from? The fantastic characters, the incredibly intense wars, the savage duels, the amazing double page spreads, those epic moments that send chills down your spine, the politics, The Hi Shin unit, Great General Renpa, Great General Ouki *sighs*. Kingdom is truly a gift that keeps giving.
5 BIOMEGA / BLAME / DIGIMORTAL: I know I’m cheating by including 3 of Tsutomu Nihei’s works in 1 spot but I couldn’t help it because Biomega is like a prequel to Blame and Digimortal is a very short work. I’ll admit that these 3 series have their faults but in my opinion they are masterpieces. The creativity and uniqueness put into the character & structural designs is absolutely phenomenal. These are probably my favourite Sci-fi titles in all media. The action scenes are also uniquely drawn and are really enjoyable to read. They also have pretty deep and well written storylines (Except Digimortal, its 2 chapters long).
4 ONE PUNCHMAN: One puuuuuuuunncchhhh. I absolutely love this series, from the fantastic art quality that Yusuke Murata delivers consistently, to the GOAT main character Saitama, to the absolutely ridiculous fights, to the humour, this series gives me all I want and more. 2018 was a great year for one punchman and I’m excited about this series going into 2019.
3 VAGABOND: This series has arguably the best artwork in manga history. Takehiko Inoue is an absolute genius. This historical samurai series is truly epic and it gives a fictional account of the life of Miyamoto Musashi. I really love the development of the main character, some moments are unbelievably epic (I was literally jumping for joy), it also has a very philosophical vibe going on, I also really like how it shows more than just duels but also moments in the characters’ lives.
2 BERSERK: First of all, if you haven’t read Kentaro Miura’s masterpiece stop reading this post and start reading Berserk. Berserk is widely regarded as one of the greatest manga series of all time and it is more than worthy of that honour. I can’t even begin to describe how brilliant this series is, the quality of the art is incredible (constantly improves as the story progresses) the storyline is epic, the characters are absolutely badass. It’s Gritty, violent, very dark and very scary (to me it ain’t scary). Go read Berserk.
**DRAMATIC DRUMROLL**
1 SHIGURUI: My favourite series of all time has to be Shigurui *takes a deep breath*. I can’t forget reading this series in just 2 days (I literally couldn’t stop reading it), I couldn’t stop thinking about how great it was. Personally I can’t find a single fault in this series (I’m sure there are). It’s a pretty violent and graphic historical samurai series so I won’t recommend it to everyone but as far as samurai titles go this is one of the best from a quality standpoint. The art is pretty good, the storyline is excellent, the fights are really well choreographed, has one of the best rivalries I’ve ever seen in manga and the literature used in the narration is top class.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Dorohedoro, Onani master kurosawa, Aku no hana, ping pong, knights of sidonia, Oyasumi punpun, Holyland, Shamo, Kaiji, Killing Stalking, Kengan asura, 20th century boys, Uzumaki and Deathnote
KINGKIRA'S CASTLE 