Manga – nerissa wanders

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

One Piece is truly one of the best mangas around. I felt like I was living an adventure that I never wanted to end. The straw-hat crew became my family. If that doesn’t describe a good read, I don’t know what will…

Firstly, I think we should all applaud Oda. He has been drawing One Piece for over 20 years and has shown no signs of stopping. Every week the manga gets even more interesting – both plot and art wise. I love that he has such a huge passion for his manga even after two decades.

So there has to be a reason why One Piece is so popular, why it’s able to continue for such a long time. I think it’s because it gives readers HOPE. No matter what happens to the characters in the manga, they find a way to continue living their dreams in different ways. Whether they pass on these dreams to someone else, or they try again themselves – they never give up or give in. This reminds readers, like myself, of our younger selves when we were more ambitious. It makes us think that we can achieve our dreams too. This feeling of hope is consistent and keeps readers wanting more. Truly, One Piece is amazing isn’t it?

Beyond that, the characters are some of my favorite. I would say I’m a little biased since I’m more attached to the earlier crew but I like all of them. I’m heartened that they come from different backgrounds but they acknowledge each other as nakama aka comrades who are like family. They are friends who travel on this wild and incredible journey together and during their adventures, they gain a family. They never turn their backs on each other even when the going gets really really tough (i.e. the Enies Lobby and Vinsmoke arc). Readers who accompany their journey, are able to relate with the characters by struggling through each fight and celebrating each victory with the crew. Family has a distinct feeling and the characters in One Piece reminds me of that.

Storywise as well – Oda can do no wrong. He knows when to make readers feel, such as to laugh, cry, get angry, and so on. Moreover, he keeps the manga interesting through varied twists and turns even after 20 years of it. Literally, there are thousands of theories on the internet about what might happen next in the series but even then he always finds another way to surprise readers. There’s never a fixed structure in the manga but every story arc is as good, or even better, than the previous. My personal favorite is probably the Whole Cake Island or Prison Break arc.

I could rave about One Piece for much longer but I think it would just be endless praise so I think you get my point. I’m an avid reader of manga but I could never like others as much I love One Piece. I am truly glad to live in a time where One Piece exists. If you’re interested in reading about a heart-warming (sometimes heart-breaking) and hilarious adventure, you definitely need to give One Piece a try! I hope you love it as much as I do~

I’ve read manga for a really long time and consider myself some kind of an expert by now. In particular, sports manga is something that I have lived and breathed over the past few years. This is a list of my favorites (and then some).

In general, I consider sports manga well-written if it explores themes of friendship and sportsmanship in complex ways, where characters and plots are given growth arcs to fully develop. I also expect that the main characters face setbacks and even lose matches because it is unlikely for characters to always succeed. After all, sports manga is meant to be realistic to a certain degree.

1. Haikyuu!! by Haruichi Furudate

Haikyuu!! is the epitome of a sports manga. It encompasses everything I expect to see in a sports manga . In particular, Furudate excels in creating detailed backstories for each character that you feel connected even to the smallest insignificant teams. In fact, my favorite team isn’t even the one that the main character belongs to (ahem it’s Seijou and I’m still devastated that they…). Read Haikyuu!! if you want the full sports manga experience. I always feel like playing volleyball after reading it!

2. Chihayafuru by Yuki Suestsugu

Chihayafuru isn’t your typical sports manga since the characters don’t actually play a conventional ‘sport’, instead they compete over a traditional Japanese card game. However, I still consider this series a sports manga (and a great one at that) because it explores the themes of friendship and sportsmanship as other mangas do, and the mangaka does this well. It is also the only manga in this list with a female lead (and the art is amazing), so you should definitely check it out!

3. Kuroko no Basuke by Tadatoshi Fujimaki

Before Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke was the sports manga that everyone was into (including me). It’s about basketball and all the characters were guys and they were tall and good-looking so you understand why. I do think that the mangaka might have run out of steam by the end because the manga became over-complicated and unrealistic (as in it seemed as if there were superpowers and stuff). I probably like Kuroko no Basuke less as well because character development was almost entirely on the main characters, which yes does make basic sense, but I would have liked to understand what drove other characters to play basketball as well amirite?

4. Prince of Tennis by Takeshi Konomi

Prince of Tennis is probably the oldest in this list since it came out in the late 1990s or 2000s? This doesn’t make it a bad manga though. In fact, I really enjoyed it when I initially read it (when I was a sports manga newbie) and it got me into sports manga in the first place. I put this lower down on the list mainly because I don’t think many readers would share my sentiments. First, the art is a style that was popular in the early 2000s so it might be off-putting for new readers of sports manga today. Secondly, the development of characters is unfamiliar because in Prince of Tennis, the characters are already good at the sport. Instead of becoming good at the sport like in most other mangas, the characters are interested in getting better. Also, this manga took a twist at the end and there were also like superpowers and stuff which can be a little confusing.

Special Mention: Daiya no Ace by Yuji Terajima

I have to admit that I haven’t read Daiya no Ace in a long time. This is a manga about baseball and I have many friends who enjoy it. I admit that the mangaka has developed the story well based on my criteria above. However, I do remember becoming bored near the end because it felt like the story was never ending. I also felt that the mangaka wasn’t great at explaining the sport either so I was confused for a period of time and that messed with my reading experience. You might want to read this later after you have gained an introduction to this genre through other sports mangas.

If you do intend to start reading sports mangas, I definitely recommend you delve into Haikyuu!! first. It is such a great experience which you will never forget. I hope you enjoy sports manga as much as I do!

* The 5 mangas listed in this post have been made into animes as well. However, I have not watched the shows yet and hence am unable to comment on the animes. This is my solely my opinion of the mangas themselves.

Tag: Manga

manga review: one piece

One Piece