Manga recommendations for a library?

[Earth 2 Chris]

My wife works for the city library, and her coworkers were wanting to order some more manga graphic novels. I am in no way a manga fan, so I didn't know what to tell her. Do you guys have some suggestions for PG-13-like manga that is popular/good? It needs to be appropriate for middle and high schoolers.

Thanks!

Chris

[The Toyroom]

Can't help ya on this one...I'm not into manga either.

[thunderbolt]

The only one I read was Akira.

[The Toyroom]

What about Lone Wolf and Cub (or am I showing my age here...)

[The Toyroom]

Ghost in the Shell?

[samurainoir]

Hmmm. I know our local library classifies Ghost in the Shell and Lone Wolf and Cub (Shogun Assasin, Lady Snowblood etc) as adult graphic novels, seperate from the Teen Graphic Novel section. I would imagine because of the sexiness of Masamune Shirow's artwork, despite the lack of graphic nudity. I was reading Lone Wolf and Cub as a kid (and even had several of the original Japanese volumes), however I'm sure there are some less liberal parents out there that would object to bare breasts and sexually suggestive content. Funnily enough, I'm not sure how much problem folks would have with the graphic violence.

In terms of what I would recommend for tweens/teens?

Nausicaa of the Valley Wind. One of the all time best graphic novels period.

Dragonhead is excellent. It is a survival thriller starring two teenagers struggling to figure out what happened in a post-disaster Toyko. Again, the violence might be an issue, but keep in mind kids also study Lord of the Flies and Macbeth in school.

I'm enjoying Drifting Classroom as well, again it might be frightening for some kids, but I'm also keeping in mind the popularity of kid-horror books such as Goosebumps.

It's not Manga, but it's Manga sized featuring Manga influenced artwork. Marvel Comics' Runaways is probably one of the best Teen Comics published by anyone.

Akira is always a classic, but don't overlook Domu and [IMG]Legend of Mother Sarah[/IMG], also by Katsuhiro Otomo.

When in doubt, Astroboy is always a favourite

[Earth 2 Chris]

Thanks guys, much appreciated!

Chris

[samurainoir]

I should also mention Cromartie High School. Farcical teen manga.

[johnmiic]

Not sure if there is Manga versions out there but many Americans know Manga and Anime from Space Battleship Yamato as Star Blazers here in America. At one time there were color comic book volumes adapted from the Star Blazers TV show.

here is an example:

2 STAR BLAZERS VOL 2 AND,3 1983 COMICS SEE DISCRIPTION - (eBay item 290170814159 end time Nov-13-07 11:09:43 PST)

samurainoir what about Porco Rosso, Mai The Psychic Girl, Appleseed, Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock, LUM; would these bee too adult for a library?

There have also been Manga versions of all the Star Wars films you could get. Also if it's still in print Zot! was a favorite American Manga inspired comic and was collected into graphic novel format.

[Bizarro Amy]

There are manga adaptations of many of Hayao Miyazaki's movies, which are all excellent, family-friendly anime. I have "Spirited Away" and love it.

[samurainoir]

Not sure if there is Manga versions out there but many Americans know Manga and Anime from Space Battleship Yamato as Star Blazers here in America. At one time there were color comic book volumes adapted from the Star Blazers TV show.

here is an example:

2 STAR BLAZERS VOL 2 AND,3 1983 COMICS SEE DISCRIPTION - (eBay item 290170814159 end time Nov-13-07 11:09:43 PST)

samurainoir what about Porco Rosso, Mai The Psychic Girl, Appleseed, Galaxy Express 999, Captain Harlock, LUM; would these bee too adult for a library?

There have also been Manga versions of all the Star Wars films you could get. Also if it's still in print Zot! was a favorite American Manga inspired comic and was collected into graphic novel format.

It's always very difficult to say when crossing cultural bounderies like this. Manga aimed at kids and teens can have a degree of nudity in Japan that is not always acceptable for a North American youth audience.

I've noticed the rule of thumb for our local libraries seems to be to shelve it in the adult graphic novel section when in doubt. Not really much stopping kids from checking stuff like that out of their local library anyways, but then again I'm pretty sure a kid could check out some pretty racy prose literature or a rated "R" DVD movie if they wanted to as well.

It's been quite a while since I've read many of the "classic" manga, but do folks think flashes of bare breasts in Mai the Psychic Girl or Legend of Mother Sarah would be okay for an American library's teen manga collection? I can't remember, does Akira, Appleseed or Lum have flashes of nudity? Akira certainly has some pretty disturbing imagery, which is probably okay for a teen audience.

But then again, I'm always suprised at what they do manage to pass... Disney released Pom Poko on DVD which has Giant Raccoon Balls, but I think they managed to cover it up by saying it's something else.

LOVE Zot. Is it still in print?