Favorite Manga

[VLordGTZ]

I haven't read that many SJ manga, but from what I've completed/caught up on:

1. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
2. Dragon Ball
3. Dr. Slump
4. Hunter X Hunter
5. One Piece

I've really enjoyed what I have read of Shaman King, Gintama, and Rurouni Kenshin, but I feel that I haven't read enough to fully judge them.  I plan to go back to them eventually when I find the time.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Damn, Dr. Slump is another one that I have to get back to. So much stuff on my backlog.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Looks like I missed this while I was absent. Great lists! I'm a fan of every series you guys have mentioned, though I need to read more of Eyeshield 21, and finish the manga for Hikaru no Go.

I would be interested in seeing what CX would put up as his list.

I shall oblige. Though, like Dr. E-K and Vlord, I will stick just with manga. I have different preferences when it comes to watching anime and reading manga that don't just have to do with the quality of the adaption, which leads to many series ranking higher on one and lower on the other, so there's no real way for me to merge the two.

Top 10 Favorite Weekly Shonen Jump Manga:

10. Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma

I've read my share of cooking manga, but Food Wars! somehow always manages to keep me invested in the characters, floored by the food, amused by the comedy, and constantly guessing about where the story will go and continually surprised when it does something I never expected. The series really hit it's stride with the Fall Classic arc, and has been a non-stop ride of fun ever since, somehow always managing to one-up itself with each passing arc. For pragmatically six months straight this year, I've ranked each new chapter as my #1 chapter of the week on the weekly surveys. And that's no mean feat, since plenty of other series in Jump were really strong around the same time as well. But Food Wars! has been on fire these past two years, and has so much momentum going for it right now that I'm constantly finding myself impressed and enamored with it, and with the recent developments in the latest chapters, I think it's just only going to get better from here on out.

9. Assassination Classroom

Assassination Classroom is a very deceptive series. Both in the way it starts out, to it's characters, and the way it develops it's story. At the beginning most might think of it as a comedy, but really, the series encompasses a whole slew of genres and tones, and is a character-driven narrative above all else. The series very deliberately sows seeds for character development, twists, and revelations right from the very beginning, and it's amazing to go back and see how everything all comes together as the series goes on. Like Food Wars!, it always keeps you guessing, and knows just the right moments in which to execute a bold twist or a great character moment. And while I can't say that every student in Class E is memorable, the series still manages to characterize a wide body of characters and keep them relevant and memorable, and really a build a bond of community within Class E that's really endearing. And characters are really it's biggest strength, especially regarding it's central two, Nagisa and Korosensei, both of which have easily become two of my top favorite anime/manga protagonists of all time. Nagisa's development in the series is especially amazing, as the traits that might make Nagisa uninteresting at the beginning of the series soon get explained and utilized in a way that transforms him into not just a dynamic, multi-dimensional character and the heart of the series, but also kind of a badass. Like Food Wars!, Assassination Classroom has been consistently one of my most favorite manga to keep up with these last two years, is constantly getting better and better, not losing even a speck of momentum. The series is currently heading towards it's endgame, and depending on how it ends, I have a feeling that my opinion of the series will only grow higher, and it will cement itself as not only one of my most favorite Shonen Jump series, but also one of my most favorite manga in general.

8. One Piece

I've been a One Piece fan for well over a decade. It was one of the very first anime and manga I've read, and alongside Dragon Ball, one of my earliest obsessions. For maybe about 5 years, I was a huge OP superfan. Even just until a while ago (as you can check by going back to my previous favorites lists in this thread), it was still one of my most favorite series. Not so much anymore. I almost went on a multiple paragraphs rant about why I feel distant with OP these days, but I'll save that for another time. But to sum up; for a variety of reasons, I don't feel very passionate about One Piece these days. Even when it's good, and I think it is still good far more often than it is not, I just am not invested in the story and the characters the way I used to be. But OP, at it's best, still boasts some of the cream of the crop of battle shonen arcs. The first half of the series, especially that glorious 300 chapter run of Water 7 through Marineford, cements it as one of the all time greats for both Jump and the battle shonen genre. Marineford is not just one of my favorite manga arcs of all time, but also my most favorite arc from any Shonen Jump manga ever. Maybe if I were to re-read the series from beginning to end, like I did recently with Dragon Ball, I'd rekindle some of the passion I had for it back in it's prime. For now, though, my reduced enthusiasm for it prevents me from ranking it any higher at this time. Still, very few of the following series have ever truly provoked as much passion from me for them as OP used to back in the day, and even though it's a series that I've fallen out of love with, it's still a series that was incredibly important for me, both in terms of getting me into anime and manga and for personal reasons, and the only series I've ever been more passionate about and made me more obsessed with it in my life have been Dragon Ball and Urusei Yatsura, and I will never forget that.

7. Saint Seiya

Saint Seiya isn't something that I'd expected I'd love as much as I do. It's very fighting-focused, has fairly simple characters, the arcs follow the same basic formula, and there are many Jump battle manga I'd call better written on the whole. But, few series are as purely fun and make me as childishly enthusiastic about them as Saint Seiya has and did while I was reading it. It is pure old-school shonen fun, back up by lovable and awesome characters, sick over-the-top fights, and a genuinely intriguing overarching story that's a lot of fun to see unfold. The final arc in the series, the Hades arc, is excellently written and is a string of one brilliant moment after another, all building up to a bold conclusion that ends the series off on one hell of a high note. So yeah, it might have it's flaws, but damn did I love reading this series, and it's made me itching to watch and read just about anything in the Saint Seiya franchise ever since I finished it (Omega aside, since everyone I've talked to says it blows).


6. Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

I used to consider Bobobo my favorite manga, but I eventually knocked it down after coming across series that I felt stronger towards, as well as coming to the realization that I come back to the anime of the series much more than I do the manga. But don't get me wrong, I still love this series to death. While not one of the most best drawn in it's earlier arcs, Bobobo is pure insanity and I love just about everything about it, from it's eclectic and colorful cast of characters, batshit anything-goes world, to it's hilarious satire and parody of battle shonen series and their tropes and conventions while using them itself in structuring it's story as a vehicle to keep the jokes rolling and the laughs coming in a non-stop train of madness that just gets crazier and crazier. It's not for everyone, but it's definitely for me, and I can come back to the series time and time again and still get as much out of it as I ever have. The stand-alone volume Viz put out back ten years ago that contains the entire Hallelujah Land arc is the single volume of manga that I've re-read the most times (as can be evidenced by the sheer amount of wear and tear on my copy, lol), and one of my all time favorite volumes of manga in general. It kills me that even after a whole decade after getting into it, I still have never been able to read the ending because there exists no scans or translations for the series past the Third Maruhage Empire arc, and at the rate the scans are releasing I might have to wait a decade more to see the series fully translated, unless I learn japanese. Still, this is a series that I never tire of even though I must have gone through it a dozen or more times, and it will likely continue being a series I can keep coming back to for a laugh and a smile for as long as I live.

5. Slam Dunk

Series like Cross Game tend to be more appealing to me as far as sports manga go because of their focus more on character drama than the excitement of long, drawn-out games, but Slam Dunk is the biggest exception. It's success comes from great art and pacing that sells the intensity of the games, as well as well-written, lovable characters that might not all get much development, but have distinct characterizations and feel like three-dimensional people regardless. It's fun, funny, fast-paced, and exudes passion for both the sport of basket ball and the classic shonen desire to win against the odds. But if nothing else, this series sticks with me for that simply godly final game. The Sannoh match is hands down the best game in any sports manga, shonen or otherwise (with the exception of the Joe v. Jose Mendoza fight of AnJ, but I always see the fights in those series as fist fights first rather than sports matches), and despite being six volumes long, the sheer intensity of the game, the desperation of the characters and their drive to win, pushing themselves past their limits, and paying off on series-long character arcs and relationships. It a level of quality that I've never seen rivaled in any other sports match in any other manga, and it probably never will be. It's a lightning in the bottle match and arc from a consistently great series, and what cements it as the definitive work in it's genre, and one of the greatest series to ever come out of Jump, sports manga or otherwise. 

4. Rurouni Kenshin

Everything I could say about Rurouni Kenshin has already been said multiple times by multiple people on this board, so there's not much for me to add. It's a brilliant story about clashing ideologies, changing times, what it means to change, to do what's right, and be a good person. Supported by strong characters that represent different perspectives and offer moving character arcs and lovable, endearing personalities, and highlighted by emotionally-driven action sequences and well-balanced comedy and romance, Kenshin is a rare beast the likes of which we may never see again.

3. Dragon Ball

I've gone on length discussing how important Dragon Ball is to me. It is the one piece of fiction that I believe truly influenced my life in a transformative way, and who I became as a person. I would now be the same person I am today, probably wouldn't even be posting here right now, if I never got into Dragon Ball. It changed the way I looked at action series and animation, and stories and characters. It got me into anime, Toonami, and my obsession with the series led me to discover Toonzone and various other animation fan sites and blogs. Beyond just having a profound influence on me, it's a masterfully written and drawn action-adventure epic that eases in and out of many concepts and evolves into something so completely different by the end, but reads so fluidly and effortlessly that it somehow all feels natural. Nearly every moment in this manga could be considered iconic, something that you can't say just about any series. When I last revamped my favorite manga list, I took out DB, having not re-read it in a while and thinking that I just loved other series much more now. I was dead wrong. Resurrection F inspired me to go back and re-read both of Toriyama's classics, and reading through it again, I remembered just why this series meant so much to me all over again, and just how deep I loved it. There is no way this isn't one of my favorite manga; it's one of my favorite things that has ever been a part of my life. But I owe even more to the man behind the manga, Toriyama himself. Which brings me to...

2. Dr. Slump

Akira Toriyama is the first person I ever became a fan of. After I got into Dragon Ball through the various anime, I very quickly discovered the manga, and began absorbing the series through that as well. Around the same time, Viz had started publishing Dr. Slump, and recognizing Toriyama's name, I started reading it as well. And very soon, I was a Toriyama fan first, and a Dragon Ball fan second. Re-reading the series after all these years, and then immediately re-reading Dragon Ball right after, I love both series dearly, but now find I hold Slump in even higher regard than I did before. Dr. Slump, more than Dragon Ball, is 100% Toriyama. It best captures his talents as a mangaka, as well as his interests in sci-fi, monster movies, automobiles, silly puns, and crazy scenarios and characters. As much as I love DB, Dr. Slumpis even more creative, even better drawn, even funnier, and the passion Toriyama had for the series never falters from the beginning to end. Much like how Urusei Yatsura is easily Rumiko Takahahi's most creative and personal work, so is Dr. Slump. And it was Dr. Slump, and the comments from Toriyama that detailed his creative process and all the hard work that went into making the series throughout the years, which inspired me and made me start to draw, which led me to find my calling in life. As a fan of Toriyama, Dr. Slump to me represents both his creative peak and the series that best represents him, and why he's a master of his craft, and is otherwise one of the greatest manga comedies and manga in general ever made.

1. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

JoJo's didn't and won't ever truly resonate with and influence me as powerfully as One Piece, Bobobo, Dragon Ball, and Dr. Slump, and it never will occupy a place in my heart the same way those series do. But it captures everything I've wanted to see in a fighting series ever since I first got into them. It's extremely creative, crafting unique powers and interesting scenarios, and the way fights play out are almost always about strategy and tactics rather than sheer power. Many stand fights take the form of mini mysteries, whereas others still take the form of games or battles of wit. The characters are all fun, iconic, and memorable. While they don't grow much in earlier parts, later parts have some phenomenal characters arcs. I love how the series also changes genre in each arc to, being a gothic horror tragedy in part 1, world-traveling battle manga in parts 2 and 3, a slice of life mystery in part 4, a crime drama in part 5, and a prison break in part 6. The overarching story is also really well-developed through each part, all coming to a head in one hell of a finale in part 6. And the series is also just incredibly impressive artistically, and Araki's style changes in each part. As far as just the shonen arcs go, my favorite artstyle of his was the one he used for part IV. Really, JoJo's is just the perfect combination of great characters, action, story, art, and humor that fits my tastes perfectly. I'm generally not attracted to fighting series in of themselves, but JoJo's offers everything I want and have ever wanted to see in one, and just gets better and better with each part. Stone Ocean alone would rank highly as one of my all time favorite Jump manga, but combined with the other parts in the series, JoJo's has cemented itself as my favorite battle shonen and Shonen Jump series in general.

-------------------------------

In case you're wondering, I decided to leave out Barefoot Gen in my list since it spent a longer time and had more of it's story published in other magazines. If I had included it, it would have ranked between JoJo's and Dr. Slump. Ranking the bottom 5 was very hard for me. I mostly ended up arranging all the currently-running stuff at the tail of the list, since they could still go up and down depending on how they progress in the future. I almost put Bakuman in my list, but since I haven't read the series in a long while and am planning a re-read of it after the prequel chapters finish their run in Jump in two weeks, I decided to leave it out. There's many Jump series that I really want to read sometime, such as City Hunter, Hell Teacher Nube, and Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, among others, and my opinions on stuff go up and down all the time, so this is very much a "how I'm feeling right now" list. Though, having read both Fist of the North Star and Saint Seiya over the summer, at least I've got most of the uber popular Jump classics off of my backlog. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Awesome list, CX! I also have a lot of series to finish reading, catch up on, or even start reading, as well.

It's funny. A lot if anime and manga snobs loathe WSJ because of its most popular series, and just don't like the genre in general. I've always found that to be a bit silly, though. The anthology of WSJ is hardly defined by just a few series like Naruto or Bleach. And a shonen can be just as enthralling as any other genre or sub-genre of entertainment if handled by a good writer. In many cases even, like with Ashita no Joe, various works of Osamu Tezuka, Barefoot Gen, and numerous other examples, a shonen series can transcend pre-conceived notions and establish itself as a genuine work of art.

Though, in my mind, even just making a thoroughly entertaining series is an art in and of itself. Dragon Ball may lack overly-thoughtful writing or any intentional subtext to character motivations, but the reason it's so highly regarded by so many people even thirty years after its conception is because Toriyama truly utilized his talent and effort to make for an incredibly joyful ride through the adventures of the various unique characters that he got us to form attachments to. In that regard, Toriyama's art is not so much in trying to create a work that we will overly-analyze, but in literally directing our thoughts and feelings of what transpires throughout his stories (being gags, adventures, or fights), and giving it such a natural flow that it's hard to stop reading his work at any given time. That's a mastery of craftsmanship that few can match, but to me it's what all of the manga on these lists share in common, albeit to somewhat varying extents.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Now that's a list!

Saint Seiya has always been one I've wanted to experience, but has been quite difficult to get the time and attention to do so. Same as City Hunter, and Dr. Slump (though I have read some of this, it hasn't been a whole lot), but I do think Jump deserves its status as the premiere manga anthology. The amount of quality it's put out over the decades is hard to match.

It wasn't always great, but compared to what was coming out ten years ago, I think Jump is much closer to its ideal now.

[gunswordfist]

I liked the (NON-JACKIE CHAN) City Hunter movie I saw years ago. Lupin-like, it was.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thanks for the comments! I agree Jump has really produced a lot of great, iconic series over the years. And while the lineups have had their ups and downs in the past, the current "New Power Generation" (as I've seen it been called) has been exceptional with the overall quality of new series, and this high point looks to continue for a good while yet. And as far as western fans go, it's never been a better time to keep up or get into series. I'm certainly having a lot of fun reading the english Jump (as well as writing about it) every week, and in general there's been a lot more great ongoing manga I've been keen on reading these days than when I first started keeping up with manga, and the current era of Jump has certainly played a big part in that.

[gunswordfist]

I might have to check out Saint Seiya.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I'm pretty sure you'd like it. I'm pretty sure the anime goes in a different direction than the anime does, though. Not like I know enough about it, it's just what I heard.

[LumRanmaYasha]

From what I've been able to tell, the anime is fairly similar to the manga, but it has a few filler arcs, and some aspects of the anime's filler force some revisions to how certain things originally were and played out in the manga (Hyoga's backstory and his relationship with Camus in particular is significantly changed in the anime due to the addition of the Crystal Saint, who doesn't exist in the manga). The anime also only adapts until the Poseidon arc, but a three-part series of OVAs adapting Hades arc were made in the late 90s through the early 00s, though I've heard conflicting opinions about how good they are.

[gunswordfist]

I hear they are different. The anime was canceled before the end of the manga due to lack of popularity back then, iirc. I didn't know (or just forgot) that Hades was adapted not that long ago. I'll have to watch it either way.

[Avaitor]

Whoa, have you guys seen this before?

[gunswordfist]

 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Whoa, have you guys seen this before?

*Adds to "list of places to visit before I die."

[Spark Of Spirit]

Oh yeah, I've seen that before. Looks like a good place to visit.