09.16
The following is a list of story arcs we never got around to including for one reason or another. Each compiler will include a reason why the arc was not included and maybe you will hate us all a bit less. Nonetheless, these are all extra nominees that just missed the cut for the final list. Chances are, if it’s good, we looked it over. So enjoy this compilation of stories that didn’t quite make it on.
Ashita no Joe – Carlos Rivera & Jose Mendoza
Ashita no Joe as a whole is fantastic, and these arcs are two more of it’s best. “Carlos Rivera” sees Joe find a new rival that manages to re-ignite his passion for boxing, and shows him work to overcome the trauma he’s been struggling to deal with throughout the entirety of “The Fall of Joe Yabuki” arc. “Jose Mendoza” is the final arc of the series, culminating on series long character arcs, showing Joe give his all in a fight with the world champion, in what becomes the finest fight of his entire life, and ends with a scene that I reckon everyone knows even if they have never seen or even heard of AnJ before. Both are high-quality arcs, and two of the best in any anime or manga, but because of our two arcs per series rule, they just ended up missing the cut. ~Cartoon X
Buddha – Devadatta/The Forest of Uruvela & Prince Ajasattu
Osamu Tezuka’s fictional account of the birth of buddhism and the life of the Buddha is divided into 7 parts, split into 8 books in Vertical’s print edition. The arcs I’m referring to here are the third and the sixth in the series respectively, and have been named after the volumes the arcs are found in. “Devadatta/Forest of Uruvela” is the longest arc in the series, and sees the Buddha struggle with understanding the nature of life and death, ultimately attaining enlightenment, while also tracking the youth of the orphan Devadatta, depicting the adversities he faced as he tried to find a place in the world, and showing him become the ruthless, power-hungry trickster he would later be. “Prince Ajasattu” focuses in part on the titular Ajasattu and his efforts to overthrow his father King Bimbisara, unwittingly fulfilling the very prophecy he refused to believe in the process. As buddhism increasingly grows in popularity and influence, the duplicitous Devadatta schemes to usurp Buddha as his successor, using his connections with Ajasattu as a means to back his takeover by force in Buddha’s absence. Meanwhile, in his journey to spread his teachings to more people, Buddha reencounters his old enemy Prince Crystal, and attempts to end the Kosalan Kingdom’s persecution of the Shakya people, while his oldest friend, Tatta, betrays his principles, opting instead to pursue his revenge against Kosala. Buddha is one of Tezuka’s best works, and these two arcs are it’s best sections. A story about finding an answer to the suffering one suffers in life, and the good and evil that exists in all people, Buddha is a fascinating tale of moral and religious exploration, and though it is a fictional story, it is nonetheless a good way to learn more about buddhism, and in general is some of the best manga you could ever possibly read. ~Cartoon X
Lupin III Franchise – The Woman Called Fujiko Mine
This is one arc that, quite frankly, we only left off on a technicality. You see, unlike a mini-series like War in the Pocket which does still take place in a larger continuity, Fujiko Mine is technically a rebooted iteration within its own franchise, so including it on this list would be breaking the rule of excluding any story arc that comprised an entire series. Having said that, it still deserves massive props for essentially taking an age-old franchise and making it entirely relevant to the world of modern anime. The arc is comprised of many vignettes detailing the devious escapades of the master thief, Fujiko Mine, all while interacting with the many other iconic characters of the Lupin Universe, including Lupin himself. It is hands down one of the best anime to come out of the past five years, and while we deeply regret not being able to rank it on our list, this honorable mention will have to suffice. ~Dr. Ensatsu-ken
Bakuman – Newbies
Mashiro and Takagi are high school students with the unlikely dream of being manga creators. But can they succeed in a field where success is due as much to luck as it is to skill? What makes this arc so good is that it’s completely fresh. We learn the ins and outs of what it means to become a good manga writer and artist as our characters grow and we learn about the world around them while meeting rivals who want success as much as they do. Though it’s lighthearted, it’s entirely engrossing and a lot of fun, while at the same time being a love letter to storytelling and the manga art-form. Nonetheless, it just missed the list. Pick it up regardless. ~Spark Of Spirit
Cross Game – Portables
The second and longest arc in Mitsuru Adachi’s masterfully written baseball manga. Determined to make their old friend Wakaba’s dream a reality, series protagonist Ko and his friends Akaishi and Nakanishi join their high school baseball team. But since they didn’t participate in the early tryouts, they are placed in the reserve team, known as the “portables,” named so after the worn-down portable shack that serves as their training grounds. But this is actually a blessing in disguise, as the coach of the starting team, Daimon, is willing to sacrifice the health of his less talented players in order to serve his grand, calculated scheme meant to further his own career, having formed a deal with the principal of the school to get the baseball team to play at the holy ground of high school baseball, Koshien stadium. However, if the “portables” are going to have any chance to play in official games, they must defeat the starting team and somehow get rid of Coach Daimon. The arc takes an interesting look at some of the most unsavory aspects of high school sports, while laying the groundwork for the birth of Seishu’s greatest baseball team. While perhaps not the most emotional or personal of the arcs, it’s highly memorable for the combination of the careful planning and sneakiness it takes to outwit Daimon and develop the skills to beat his all-star team, as well as for featuring the longest single game of baseball in the entire series. The entire manga is fantastic, but the “Portables” arc comes off an incredible set-up arc and develops the story into something truly great, and one of the best sports series in recent memory. ~Cartoon X
Dragon Ball – Saiyan
Yeah, so, the only reason the “Saiyan” arc wasn’t in our list was because I pushed for “Namek” over it and E-K and Spark were nice enough to agree. So, “Saiyan” arc fans, you’ve got me to blame for that one. But even though we didn’t put it on the list, the “Saiyan” arc is really one of the best in Dragon Ball. The series’ strongest warriors band together to face a threat none of them could take on alone, incorporating the most well-done teamwork and tactics in the entire series, and really the only time it takes everyone’s effort to take down the main villain of an arc. The “Namek” arc is on the list because of basically everything I wrote about it; it’s culminates the entire legacy of Dragon Ball up until that point and has several interesting intricacies to it’s plot and some of the most iconic and influential elements of the entire series. The “Saiyan” arc is on the same level of quality, though, and if it was possible, we could have put them together as a single entry. That wouldn’t have been proper, though, since they are really separate arcs, so it ended up being left off the list because of our two arcs per series limit. It was a tough decision, but I personally think it was justified in the end. ~Cartoon X
Yu Yu Hakusho – Dark Tournament
If there is anyone to blame for this iconic arc not making it on our list, then you may direct that at me. I should also make it clear that I am a massive YYH fan, and it is in fact my personal favorite anime. That said, I had to put personal love aside for this list, I just found that it would be too tough to justify a tournament arc over many of the more story-driven in our compilation, including the Chapter Black arc from this very series, which all three of us authors firmly stand by as the best arc to represent the series, despite popular opinion saying otherwise. Regardless, the Dark Tournament arc is the greatest tournament arc of all time, so it deserves its dues. Anyone who dismisses this as “just another tournament arc” either hasn’t seen it, or is completely missing the heart of what makes it so well-written and entertaining. By all accounts, a tournament arc should just be about brainless fighting and not much more. Yoshihiro Togashi proudly sticks a middle finger towards that notion and does far more with this arc than he had to. The Dark Tournament is an underground fighting/death-match competition of demons held in the human world and funded by crime bosses who sponsor teams and bet against each other for some good old-fashioned blood sport. Yusuke, his friends, and his mentor are invited to the tournament as special guest entrants, and this is their chance to take down one of the biggest foes that Yusuke has yet had to face. What follows is a long series of fights, yes, but some of the most well-thought-out and downright strategic battles that you are ever likely to see in the genre outside of a series as battle happy as JoJo or as intricate as Hunter X Hunter. However, beyond the fights is a surprisingly nuanced and intriguing backstory between the Yusuke’s mentor and the main villain of this arc, and just as interesting is to see how each character grows both in terms of skill and in terms of maturity as characters. It is an arc that, on the outset may just seem like a tournament, but like all of Togashi’s best stories, the true brilliance lies in what you read in-between the lines. ~Dr. Ensatsu-ken
Excel Saga
Yes, fellow Excel Saga manga fans, the series’ story arc (which I’m still not sure what to call) was almost a part of this list. The issue was that I wasn’t confident I could write something substantive about it without reading it again, as it is a surprisingly complicated, nuanced story. Ultimately, I wasn’t able to re-read the series, and thus I decided to not write about the arc. In any case, Excel Saga’s greatest strength is in it’s expertly written humor and characters rather than it’s plot, so while I wish I could have written about it, I’m not too torn up that it didn’t end up getting included. Still, everyone should make sure to read Excel Saga, because it is the greatest, smartest, and funniest manga comedy ever made. No, seriously, stop what you’re doing and read it right now. I’ll wait for you. ~Cartoon X
Fate/Zero – The Fourth Holy Grail War
Vying for the coveted Holy Grail, 7 chosen mages summon heroes from throughout history to serve and fight for them, the sole survivor earning the spoils. Kiritsugu Emiya desires to use the Grail’s power to create a better world, and forms his contract with Saber, who turns out to be King Arthur, who turns out was actually a woman. Who knew? But a formidable obstacle is put in Kiritsugu’s way in the form of Kirei Kotomine, a ruthless mage-killer serving the aristocratic mage Tokiomi and his servant Archer, who is as powerful as he is ambitious. Much like how War in the Pocket is on the list because it is a part of a larger narrative in the Gundam franchise, we could have justified putting Fate/Zero on the list since it’s in-continuity with a completely different story arc in the same universe, Fate/Stay Night. Though we didn’t end up doing this, Fate/Zero is nuanced storyline chock full of incredible battles of wit and strategy, interesting philosophical musings, and excellent character development. One of the most popular and best anime to come out in recent years, if you haven’t watched it yet, you really should check it out. ~Cartoon X
Dragon Ball – King Piccolo
For those who have followed the story of Akira Toriyama’s most iconic series since it’s inception, they would know that it was mostly a comedic series that was heavy on adventure and a bit lighter on action than what the uninitiated might expect, given the series’s notorious (and quite frankly undeserved) reputation, mostly thanks to a certain sub-par anime adaptation which did the original comic no justice. Regardless, like all great series with humble beginnings, this one evolved into something more than what was initially intended, and the King Piccolo arc stands as that point of evolution, as the first major arc that was very serious in tone the entire way through. Up to this point, Goku had faced tough villains before, and even managed to lose the life of someone who he failed to protect, but the threat of King Piccolo trumps all of that. The arc literally starts with the shocking death of Goku’s closest friend, Krillin. And, sure he could come back to life with the use of the titular Dragon Balls, but at the time it was still a big deal to see a main character brutally murdered. Goku races to confront Piccolo’s killer to avenge his fallen friend’s death, but is soon greeted with a harsh defeat at the hands of the demon King Piccolo, who bears a particular grudge against his master for being part of the martial arts school that imprisoned him so many years ago. What follows is a very well-constructed and surprisingly emotional arc in which no character is safe from the threat of this evil and everyone must sacrifice their life just to have a chance at defeating him. Of course, being Dragon Ball, it still never completely loses its charming sense of humor (the main villains are named after musical instruments, among other things), but this is the first time where the balance clearly swayed more to serious drama and action, and as the first attempt at such a relatively dark tone for the series, it’s a true classic. The only thing preventing it from making it onto our list was that the series had done even better arcs in this category since then. ~Dr. Ensatsu-ken
Hunter X Hunter – Chimera Ant
Thanks to the 2011 anime, Hunter X Hunter has been exposed to a whole lot of new people, and gained several new fans, many of which consider “Chimera Ant” the best arc of the series. And it’s not hard to see why, because overall it’s a fascinating and well-done story with fantastic character development, particularly for Gon, Killua, and the arc’s main antagonist, Meruem. But it’s also somewhat inconsistent in quality, the first third of the arc being a bit unfocused and containing many moments that exist only for shock value, while the arc also begins to drag a teensy bit towards the end. While we do love the arc for everything it does so, so well, we ultimately decided that York New City was just a more consistent story arc to represent the series on our list. ~Cartoon X
InuYasha – The Final Act
Yes, I like InuYasha. Yes, InuYasha is actually good…the second half of it, at least. No, this arc was never going to end up in our list, but I’m still going to mention it here because it really is one of my favorite arcs in anime/manga, and a darn good one. The most tightly-paced section of the series, “The Final Act” sees every one of the series’ core characters go through a personal character arc, and builds upon and resolves series long subplots, all culminating in the long awaited restoration of the Shikon Jewel, and the final battle with series antagonist Naraku. With strong character development and interesting new insights into the motivations of the characters and the relationships between them, it’s by far the most well-written part of the story and easily the best writing Takahashi’s done since the end of Maison Ikkoku. I’ve seen my fair share of battle-shonen, and InuYasha has to be one of only a rare few that somehow managed to improve itself after a mediocre stretch of writing in it’s first half and turn itself around into a solid and strong story by the end. While InuYasha is not one of Rumiko Takahashi’s better works, it’s a pretty decent battle-shonen overall, and “The Final Act” is by far the best part of it. ~Cartoon X
Cowboy Bebop – The Real Folk Blues
Spike’s past is by far the most compelling arc in Cowboy Bebop, but we just couldn’t fit it onto the list. For a show as flashy and as full of style as Cowboy Bebop, it could manage to stuff a lot of character and information into a storyline that really only lasts a handful of episodes into the story. Learn how one man is destroyed by the world he covets so much and how an old friend has to drop in and save him the only way he knows how. It’s an engaging arc with a lot of heart, and is simply not to be missed. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve already seen it. There’s a reason for that. It is a classic of anime. ~Spark Of Spirit
Black Lagoon – El Baile de la Muerte
Following up on Rock’s conviction at the end of “Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise” to save people’s lives from the influence of the criminal cesspool known as Roanapur, “El Baile de la muerte” (also known as the Roberta’s Blood Trail OVA series in the anime) gives him his chance when the patriarch of the wealthy Lovelace family is accidentally killed by U.S. agents, and the family’s maid, Roberta, returns to the city to get her revenge on the men responsible. The race is soon on to find Roberta and curb her path of destruction, as her conflict with the United States escalates into a volatile situation that threatens to expose the existence of Roanapur to the world. Rock, desperate to both save the life of the young Garcia Lovelace and reform Roanapur, schemes a plan to outwit the town’s most influential crime boss, Chang, and engineer a situation that will get what he wants, even if it means he must dirty his own soul and use the young Garcia as a pawn in his dangerous and deadly game. Another fascinating arc for the development of all integral characters involved, especially for Rock, and improved upon in presentation in the anime adaption to be a highly intense, suspenseful experience, “El bailie de la muerte” rivals “Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise” in quality and is another solid storyline to come out of Black Lagoon that just narrowly missed the list in favor of other, more diverse choices. Though it might be years before we get a proper conclusion to the story, the ending of this arc actually feels like a bittersweet, but satisfactory stopping gap for the story up to this point. If you’ve already watched the first two anime seasons but haven’t seen the OVA adaption of this arc yet, I strongly recommend you do. ~Cartoon X
Kaiji – The Bog
Kaiji is one of those series that is admittedly light on substance, yet so finely crafted and engaging that it keeps you hooked until the story is done, and then you’ll probably just think of starting the beginning of the next arc out of curiosity and find yourself hooked on that one as well, before long. So, consider this entry a placeholder for just about any arc from this series, but The Bog is a personal favorite of mine. This series deals with its titular loser of a character, Kaiji, who is mostly a bum and constantly finds himself in debt. The story-lines focus on the insane predicaments that he finds himself in as he attempts to gamble his way out of whatever new debt he has created for himself, with both the humor and tragedy of his character being that, no matter how many times he wins, he will always lose at something else, digging him into even deeper debt than before, and forcing him into new predicaments where he must once again come up with brilliant strategies to gamble his way out of whatever current debt plagues him. It’s a simple formula, but one that hardly ever gets old with this series. In this particular arc, Kaiji has spent months stuck in debter’s hell at this point, and thanks to his winnings from a previous arc, manages to literally buy himself a few days of time from the labor camp he was being imprisoned at. In that short amount of time he must win a shit-load of money fast in order to buy himself, and his friends, out of that prison. It already sets the stakes up incredibly high, and on top of that, offers up one of the most intriguing challenges that Kaiji has ever had to face. As he finds out, the only possible way for him to make the money he needs in a short enough period of time is to challenge the unbeatable Bog, a nickname given to a Pachinko machine in a high-stakes underground Casino. If it sounds like just luck to you, consider that there are several tricks that make it highly rigged, and in this arc, Kaiji has to incorporate skills more akin to a film like Ocean’s Eleven than straight-up gambling, making for one of the most intense and ingenious story arcs in the entire series. ~Dr. Ensatsu-ken
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Diamond is Unbreakable
Now, I love all of JoJo’s, pretty much. But aside from Stone Ocean, if I had to choose just one other arc to put in our list, it would have to be part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable. DiU can be considered a sort of cross between a slice-of-life and a murder mystery series. Unlike the continent-traveling adventures of the other parts, DiU takes place entirely in the town of Morioh, which allows Araki to flesh out and develop the setting into a believable community environment. Most of the conflicts in DiU don’t arise from bad guys trying to kill our heroes, but arise from normal (albeit, messed up) people using their Stand powers for selfish gain in everyday life situations, and Josuke and co. just getting caught in the middle by chance. Especially interesting is the arc’s main villain, Yoshikage Kira, who is unique among shonen villains for being completely, utterly unambitious. All he wants is to live a normal, white-collar, salaryman life. A life that just happens to involve him killing young women and cutting off their left hands and carrying them around as a means of stress relief. And he’ll be damned if he’ll let anyone ruin his perfect, totally innocuous life that he’s worked so hard to maintain all these years! With his all-consuming desire for anonymity and disturbing, yet somehow hilarious personality, Kira is one of the most memorable villains in not just JJBA, but in any battle-shonen series, and the mystery surrounding him and uncovering his whereabouts makes for a unique and exciting story. Though Stardust Crusaders has always been the most popular arc, DiU is the secret favorite among many JJBA fans, and for good reason. If you were to read only just one part of JoJo’s, I’d highly recommend you choose this one. ~Cartoon X
One Piece – Marineford
Separated from his crew, Monkey D. Luffy decides to focus his efforts on first rescuing his older brother Ace from being executed at the headquarters of the World Government, Marineford. In this endeavor, he manages to ally with old enemies as well as new friends, and the race is on to stop Ace’s execution as the inevitable war between the Marines and the Whitebeard Pirate Alliance finally begins, the fate of which will change the era of piracy and the world of One Piece forever. Straying from the established formula of One Piece arcs, and culminating in a conflict of unimaginable scale, with consequences that permanently change the status quo of the series, the Marineford arc is the possibly the best written part of One Piece. However, because it lacked the majority of the series’ main characters, and because the CP9 arc captures a similarly strong sense of scale alongside better balanced mystery and adventure elements and more personal conflicts for the characters overall, we ultimately decided to favor the latter. Still, the Marineford arc is one of the highlights of all of One Piece; the perfect conclusion to the series’ first act, and a level of quality it had not reached before and has not managed to meet since. ~Cartoon X
Full Metal Panic! Sigma – Burning One Man Force
Unfortunately, Tokyopop never got past volume 5 of the light novels, and this manga was never licensed in North America up to this point. However, that doesn’t stop it from being a fan-favorite. We decided to go with the EDBD arc on the main list because it was more easily accessible and legally available in English, but this is yet another excellent arc that deserves its due. Getting into the plot would be tough due to heavy spoilers, but it’s a relatively short but engaging story involving our main character, Sousuke Sagara, operating as a stand-alone mercenary for higher for the first time in a long while since he had been part of the organization MITHRIL. What ensues is a story where he finds himself in a beat-down but highly populated and thriving trade town, full of many dangerous folks such as himself. He comes seeking gear and information on the whereabouts of a certain person, but nothing comes for free, and before long Sousuke finds himself teaming up with both an undercover agent under the guise of a reporter, and a rag-tag group of mechanics as he participates as a pilot in a series of underground mecha battles. All of this in order to work his way up to gaining access to information from the big shots that sponsor these unsanctioned events. Revealing any more than that would be major spoilers, however suffice it to say that the arc is full of plenty of action and a surprising amount of both humor and drama. Even better, though, is that while we spent most of the story hearing about how bad-ass and ruthless of a mercenary Sousuke was before his MITHRIL days, this is the first time we get to see him start to revert back to that persona in the present. It happens slowly but surely, and makes for interesting developments in an already interesting character. This is definitely a must read, either via the manga or light novels, for anyone interested in continuing the series past where the anime leaves off. ~Dr. Ensatsu-ken
Outlaw Star – Hilda
Outlaw Star is fairly forgotten now, but when it started, it was a marvel. The first handful of episodes throws you into the world of pirate Hilda, a frosty woman who cares as little for others as she does the universe. Slowly throughout this arc we are introduced both to the world of Outlaw Star, of spaceships, caster shells, action scenes, and adventure, and we see a sacrifice that comes out of nowhere that would work well enough as an ending to any other show. Simply put, it’s gripping stuff. The only reason it isn’t on the list is because it’s only a small handful of the total show, and not much like the rest. That said both this arc and the show are totally worth your time. ~Spark Of Spirit
Phoenix – Future & Space
Every Phoenix story is worth reading, but I will highlight these two in particular to be among the cream of it’s crop. “Future” is a rollicking sci-fi story that takes us to the last days of humanity and sees the birth and rise of new civilizations as the cycle of life infinitely loops. “Space” is a fascinating murder-mystery, and boasts some of the most innovative layouts in any manga as Tezuka gives each of his core characters their own tier of panels in a fantastic escape sequence, tracking their actions individually and simultaneously. “Future” is a morality tale that ultimately ends with the hope that mankind might one day truly learn from their mistakes, no matter how many times they have to repeat them, while “Space” is a more character-driven tragedy, as the relationships between the characters are explored and examined, as they slowly realize just how little they really knew about people they had been close to for years, and ultimately, are all by some circumstance isolated, left alone for the rest of their days. These are two of the most memorable and fascinating stories of the series, and feature powerful, moving themes and imagery that will stick with any first-time reader. Again, all of the arcs in Phoenix are worth your time, but if you can’t track down a copy of “Karma,” “Future” and “Space” are just as recommended as entry points into both the works of Osamu Tezuka and this unfinished masterpiece. ~Cartoon X
Trigun Maximum – Wolfwood
After rescuing Vash the Stampede from Knives’ ship, Wolfwood returns to the orphanage he once grew up in, and ends up having to protect it from the Eye of Michael, who are looking to eliminate Wolfwood for his betrayal. The most deadly of his enemies are none other than his old master, Chapel, and the final Gung-Ho Gun, Livio the Double Fang, an old friend of Wolfwood’s with a tragic past, and a disturbed psyche. This arc almost made the list, but was ultimately cut at the last minute in favor of others. But it’s a fascinating character-driven story, not only giving us a look into Wolfwood’s past, but also featuring the culmination of Wolfwood’s character arc, in a way that is arguably superior to the anime’s version. It’s the highlight of the Trigun manga, and is the finest hour of one of anime/manga’s finest characters. If you liked the Trigun anime, and loved Wolfwood, then you should definitely read the manga, and check this brilliant piece of storytelling out. ~ Cartoon X
And that’s our list of story arcs! It took a long time to compile this together, so we hope you enjoyed it. Now the next step begins. Have any favorites of your own? Agree/disagree with the list? Or maybe you think three drunk monkeys could make a better list on nothing but a typewriter? Sound off in the forums and let us know!