Rei's Random Manga/Anime Lists

This page is now pretty old and is no longer maintained (well, ok, sometimes I add stuff, but rarely). Please see instead my primary Anime/Manga page, with essays, updates, and links.

Detailed descriptions and summaries of some of these manga.

What is this manga stuff, anyway?

Here are some random lists of manga and Japanese Anime things:

Recommended mangas:

Doubutsu No Oishasan. A veterinary student comedy... some really excellent, subtle humor.
Me Gumi No Daigo. A firefighter manga... with some amazing character depth and development.
Maison Ikkoku. One of the best "romance" mangas on the market. I hear there's a translated version being published. Classic Takahashi stuff.
Ranma 1/2 ... if for nothing else, the stories with Ryoga in them. Modern day comedy with random stupidities. Also has good songs if you get the CDs.
The Rose of Versailles. Old shojo manga but very well done; about pre-revolutionary France and a fictitious female swordswoman.
Black Jack. Somewhat Bradbury-like short stories about a brilliant but seemingly cold-hearted surgeon. Modern day. By the late "Father of Manga" Tezuka Osamu.
Chojin Locke. About a forever young psionic; if for nothing else, read this for the psionic battles. Far future SF.
Galaxy Express 999. Thought-provoking stories from a young man's journey to the Andromeda Galaxy. Far future SF.
Yu Yu Hakusho. Lots of battles, but good humor and likable characters. Kurama's in it, too. Modern day, with excursions into different planes.
3X3 Eyes. Lots of battles, but amusing in its own way. Modern day weirdness.
Amai Seikatsu (Sweet Life). Adult manga that's lighthearted and fun to read; harmless. Modern day.
Doraemon. Kiddie manga, but the old Doraemon is still a great intro to growing up as a Japanese kid. Plus some great, classic stories. Modern day, with time travel.
Vampire Princess Miyu. Occasionally needs more plot, but Lavra is cool. Modern day, with excursions into different spaces. Pointer to someone else's Miyu info.
Vampire Princess Yui. Occasionally needs more plot, but Yui and her pal Nagi together are amusing. Modern day, with excursions into different spaces.
Captain Harlock. Despite the male posturing, it conveys a cool mood of far-future gothic adventure. Far future SF.
Seito Shokkun! Shojo manga (if you can stomach it) that follows a group of close friends from Junior High to post college. Modern day, normal.
Black Angels. Gratuitous blood, violence, etc. I like the artwork. Modern day weirdness.
City Hunter. Classic 007-style adventure, except our hero keeps getting clocked by his female partner for being a total skirtchaser. Modern day.
Cat's Eye. 3 cool sisters go around the world stealing art treasures. Modern day.
Dokaben. The high school Meikun baseball team struggles toward victory. Modern day.

Favorite Cool Male Manga Characters

"Hamuteru" from Doubutsu No Oishasan. He's just so... deadpan.
Hibiki Ryoga, the man with no sense of direction (and very nice fangs), from Ranma 1/2. Also known as P-chan, the little black pig. ("Where the hell am I??" ---Ryoga. "Bukkiiiiii!" --- P-chan)
Kurama, the magical fox-turned-human who likes roses and studies biology, from Yu Yu Hakusho.
Lavra, the cloak-bound blue-haired Shinma, from Vampire Princess Miyu.
Nagi, the long-haired (who isn't?) Shi Clan member, from Vampire Princess Yui.
Asuka, the card-wielding (deceased) black angel, from Black Angels.
Okita, the long-haired country mountain climber (deceased), from Seito Shokkun!
Locke, the green-haired ever-youthful super psionic, from Chojin Locke.
Captain Harlock, Mr. I'm So Cool in a pirate outfit, from Captain Harlock.
Black Jack, the brilliant, money-hungry, scarred surgeon, from Black Jack.

Favorite Cool Female Manga Characters

Sakura Sensei, from Urusei Yatsura (Lum).
Ryunosuke, from Urusei Yatsura (Lum). ("I'm a girl!!")
Oscar, the woman-raised-as-a-man palace guard, from the Rose of Versailles.
Federation Officer Frances, who only appeared in 3 of 30+ Chojin Locke books. Too bad.
Pirate Queen Emeraldas, from Captain Harlock and Galaxy Express 999.
Genkai, the old master of rei-ki, from Yu Yu Hakusho. She's short, old, and rude, but she's good.... ("It's not that I hate evil. It's just that a lot of the people I can't stand happen to be that way.")
The 3 Cat's Eye sisters, from Cat's Eye.
Sanjiyan, the 3-eyed being (Pai's true ego), from 3X3 Eyes.

Favorite Anime Movies

Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)... one movie I never wanted to end. Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, of course.
Metropolis, the one by Tezuka Osamu. No one mentions it's based on the original silent film, but hey.... Superb animation and direction.
Spring and Chaos, about author Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933). Sort of biographical; too bad they had to make the people look like ... cats. Wish it were longer; it only describes a fraction of a fascinating person.
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Very well animated, acted, directed, etc. SF
Laputa: Castle in the Sky. Utterly awesome movie. One of my top favorites. The last 30 minutes or so are stunning. Miyazaki. Fantasy/SF.
My Neighbor Totoro. High-quality kiddie fare. Miyazaki. Recent past.
Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro. Random fun. Miyazaki. Modernish.
Vampire Hunter D. Wish the art quality were better, but the story's cool. Weird fantasy.
Vampire Princess Miyu. Occasionally needs more plot, but still cool. Modern day with excursions into different spaces.
Kujaku-Oh. Well, the magic is neat. Modern day, with demons.
Sol Bianca. Don't remember it well, but it was better than average (SF).
Galaxy Express 999. I like the series, too. SF.
Twilight of the Cockroaches. Live action with animation. The ending is cool....
Ghost Sweeper Mikami. I have personal reasons for liking this one. Who else can make psychic battle with evil spirits as funny as Mikami?
In terms of sheer animation quality, some of the above are top-notch. Others that are amazing for animation quality, but which I for various reasons didn't like as much as I might've, are the movie version of Black Jack (where's Tezuka Osamu's humor? gone!), Ghost in the Shell (very nice overall, spectacular animation, but ... kinda cheesy and predictable ending), Akira (oh no, not another apocalypse!), Blood: The Last Vampire (good stuff, but too short!).

Favorite Anime Series

Last Exile is truly excellent. It's Gonzo Studios' tenth anniversary anime series, of 26 episodes. Excellent direction, superb animation (with lots of great, unobtrusive CG), memorable music, intriguing plotline. Too bad I watched some "Final Fantasy: Unlimited" right after the last "Last Exile" episode. Was like eating a stale candybar after a five-star restaurant meal....
Cowboy Bebop is among the best directed and acted anime series I've ever seen. I don't necessarily like all the episodes -- many felt like they would have been better off as full-length movies, rather than short 30-minute episodes.
Trigun was also something I enjoyed. Some interesting spiritual lessons and a lot of character pathos (hah).
Millennium Queen (the TV series). Never mind I never saw the 2nd half of it. Near future SF; (D-Day is 9/9/1999 9:09:09)
Gold Lightan (the TV series). The Lightans were cute. Modern day with robot battles. The Mecha Dimension is excellent.
Gundam, the original TV series. Truly awe-inspiring. Future SF.
Captain Harlock, the original TV series. Far future SF.
From what I've seen of Evangelion, it's very well directed. Future SF. Dark and psychological toward the end of the series (waiting for the movie). The last episode is very surreal, but is at least a form of daybreak to the psychological night that precedes it.
The Heroic Legend of Arislan. Way cool, though I've only seen 1.6/4. Superb animation, great plot, handsome characters. High fantasy.

Quick rehash from my homepage:

Local stuff! Some local Anime images and stuff.
The MIT Anime Club.
And more! Anime-manga FTP Dir.
And yet more! An anime homepage.

Rei's Anime and Manga Page

Back to my homepage