Naoki Urasawa

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I decided it would be good to have a topic to discuss the various works of the mangaka genius Naoki Urasawa.

I'd talk about how much I love Monster and 20th Century Boys, but I'm sure its obvious to everyone how awesome those are. I do plan to read all of his other works when I have the time to get around to them, though.

Anyways, I was thinking of checking out the 20th Century Boys live-action films. I'm not even sure if they are licensed in North America, though, and if they are I'd have to hope that they are easily attainable online.

[Dr. Insomniac]

They are.

And I need to read Billy Bat.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The films are actually pretty good and close to the manga. They moved one part to the prologue, but it doesn't really ruin anything, it just makes it more interesting.

And I need to read Billy Bat.

Wait until it's done.

This is easily his most confusing (but interesting) manga so far, the rate at which it comes out is way too sluggish to keep up with, you'll constantly forget what was going on. But make no mistake, it's really interesting.

[Pharass]

I personally consider Urasawa to be one of the greatest storytellers that has ever worked in the medium of sequential art.  This statement may sound hyperbolic, but I honestly can't think of any work I've read by the man that I didn't find to be brilliant.

So, yes, you could say I'm a fan of his.
As for Billy Bat, I'm thorn between following the Doctor's advice and put it on hold or keep reading it whenever it updates. Sure, the former is probably for the best, but I need my fix, damn it.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, I can't imagine reading Urasawa's works in installments and regular intervals. As brilliant of a writer and story-teller as he is, his works are clearly meant to be read in large chunks at a time, in quick succession, much like a novel. Each chapter of his material is so dense and so packed with details that if you wait too long between chapters you'll end up forgetting a lot of key points and losing track of the story and characters. Also, having read both Monster and 20th Century Boys, I can very well say that it would have driven me insane having to wait for each individual chapter to be released with how intense those stories got later on down the line. It got to the point where I would start reading one volume only intending to read a few chapters, and then before I knew it I had already read 4 or 5 entire volumes before I realized I needed to eat or sleep or perform some other necessary life function, as that's pretty much the only thing that could ever pull me away from the trance that I'm in when I'm reading his stories. This is also a good reason for why I have decided to never start reading any of his works in the middle of my university semester.

I think that in the case of Billy Bat, I'll take Desensitized's advice. Since I haven't actually started reading it yet, it'll be easy to avoid doing so. However if I was already in the middle of it my temptation would be far too high with each release for me to wait for a bunch of chapters to pile up at once. Plus, I still have a number of his notably shorter (but still brilliant, I'm sure) works to read, so I'll probably hit those up before I get to his latest work. I've been meaning to tackle Pluto for a long time, now, so once my spring break rolls around I'll probably plow through that series within the course of the week that I have off.

[Pharass]

This is perhaps a bit off-topic, but I've been reading two of Osamu Tezuka's more serious works lately: Adolf and Ode to Kirihito respectively and while Urasawa has never made the fact that he's a huge admirer of Tezuka (Pluto is after all, Urasawa's own take on the World's Strongest Robot storyline from Astro Boy) the influence the God of Manga has had on Urasawa really shines through in these two works.

Speaking of Tezuka I need to read MW. After all, I heard that it's villain was the inspiration for that depraved monster, Johan Liebert, so he's bound to be an interesting bad guy.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Admittedly I'm not very familiar with the works of Osamu Tezuka. I'm sure they are classics and that I would enjoy them, but I've never quite gotten around to reading any of them except for some bits and pieces of Black Jack (which I find to be pretty excellent, so I know that the guy was one of the most talented mangaka who ever lived....you know, as if creating manga and anime itself wasn't enough to go on his track record ). Perhaps during the summer I'll see if I can look into some of his classic works.

[Angus]

Anyone check out Yawara (his entry in the rom-com genre)?

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's basically a better version of Happy!, a similar story he did.

It's cute, and a pretty fun story, all told.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

To be honest, I really haven't read any of his shorter series. I really need to get on that. Actually, I still need to continue reading Pluto. I only ever read the first few chapters of that manga.

[Angus]

D'oh 20th Century Boys live action chapter 1 is in the "Saved" section of Netflix.

[Angus]

Even when it has plot elements that have been done before in action movies, his stuff is still compelling to read. I find myself eagerly turning pages, then giving it a rest and then re-reading the chapter.

[Foggle]

Viz is going to be releasing omnibuses (omnibi?) of the Monster manga. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-08-10/viz-media-to-release-ranma-anime-on-bd/dvd

[LumRanmaYasha]

Hells Yeah! I'm glad they aren't wasting their rights to the manga while they still have 'em, unlike what they did with the anime. Damn Viz, with this and those Ranma 1/2 omnibuses, you're going to bleed me dry! 

[Spark Of Spirit]

Viz is going to be releasing omnibuses (omnibi?) of the Monster manga. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-08-10/viz-media-to-release-ranma-anime-on-bd/dvd

Only two volumes per, but I'll take it. Nine volumes over eighteen will always be preferable.

Now if only we could get a complete series DVD set.