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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6084 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 1 of 11 22 June 2009 at 2:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hi folks,
I've never been much of a comic person but need something else to read in Japanese besides my "Kanzen Master" books. I don't know of any books available with a good translation besides "Harry Potter" -- (are there any?) So was planning on making an order with benippon but if there's another source please let me know. So which one.. I'm thirty-something so I don't want anything too high-school. I love careful artwork. The adventurous, playful spirit of Hayao Miyazaki's films (despite the profound anti-war sentiment and blob monsters.) I like -some- romance. I don't mind anything along the realm of Tolkien-like fantasy and I'd even settle for science fiction. recommendations? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Alkeides Senior Member Bhutan Joined 6147 days ago 636 posts - 644 votes | Message 2 of 11 22 June 2009 at 3:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The Twelve Kingdoms series of light novels is not bad, and has been adapted to a 45 episode anime. It's set in a fantasy world based on Chinese mythology, but unlike other similar titles, has no romance subplot involving the main character. Among various other themes, it goes into feudal politics and government and the Chinese concept of a Mandate from Heaven in a fantasy guise. This is like a more mature version of Fushigi Yuugi.
The Suzumiya Haruhi series of light novels is good as well, although it is set in a high school. Mainly light, whimsical sci-fi, but the level of language is not bad for a teen novel. Wolf and Spice is another fantasy light novel series. It's about an itinerant trader and his wolf-god companion. Translations of the former two are available either at various sites online or in published editions, which are however incomplete. Manga versions of the latter two are also available. As for fantasy manga, I like Claymore. It's set in a fantasy world where humans are beset by demons, with some slight sci-fi themes in the form of genetic manipulation. You might be reminded of the Polish fantasy series "The Witcher"; the story is interesting for the first 10 tankobon at least or so although it seems to be getting rather convoluted in recent issues. The art style is gloomy and dark though, which some may describe as "gothic", so it isn't very playful. The Death Note manga is a great read with language at a relatively high level and dense dialogues (and internal monologues). Gensomaden Saiyuki is not bad for a fantasy manga too. It's an alterante take on the classic Journey to the West. You might like ヨコハマ買い出し紀行 for a lighter-hearted post-cataclysmic sci-fi anime. I'd like to mention 2 anime series with interesting art styles as well. Kaiba and Mononoke. I've never used benippon before myself, so no comments there, sorry. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| -Kupo- Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6066 days ago 84 posts - 84 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Russian | Message 3 of 11 22 June 2009 at 3:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I will attempt to give a couple of suggestions however am a 19 year old so it might need a bit of research.
A general recommendation I would give to most people would be Death Note. It is sort of a fantasy/mystery type manga but the general consensus is that most people enjoy it. My favourite artwork design would have to be from CLAMP. Especially Tsubasa and xxxHolic. However not sure if you would think them of too high-school. Also I would actually recommend Yesasia for purchases. I have never had a problem with them. Hope I managed to help in someway. EDIT: I actually wouldn't recommend Haruhi, so I would research that one hard. If you are interested in a comedy genre manga I would recommend Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, however it can get quite complicated language wise. Edited by -Kupo- on 22 June 2009 at 3:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5765 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 4 of 11 22 June 2009 at 3:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
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宮崎駿 Miyazaki Hayao's 風の谷のナウシカ (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
Some of my favourites include following seinen (young men) series ブラム! BLAME! by 弐瓶勉 Nihei Tsutomu Nihei originally studied architecture and has a unique style. Blame is a dark science fiction story set in a cyber world and, well. Oh, and it has extrmely little dialogue. But I love it so I had to include it. ._.; 無限の住人 Mugen no Juunin/'Blade of the Immortal' by 沙村 広明 Samura Hiroaki Mugen no Juunin is the story about a samurai who killed hundred men and with the power of an old nun is made an immortal, only able to break this curse by killing thousand evil men. A girl whose parents were killed hires him as her bodyguard. The story is probably not interesting to everybody, but Samura's artwork is special. He is capable of dawing his characters so that you can see their distinctive motion patterns on the paper. EDEN - It's an endless world by 遠藤 浩輝 Endō Hiroki Postapocalyptical science fiction world. He's a friend of Samura and their artwork is similar, they also sometimes draw mini comics for each other. ... but, well. Naushicaä. And if the recommendations you get here don't suit you, maybe leaf through onemanga.com to see what style and genre you like best :) Edited by Bao on 22 June 2009 at 3:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 7076 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 5 of 11 22 June 2009 at 3:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm watching the anime of this now :) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6084 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 6 of 11 22 June 2009 at 3:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
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alkeides and kupo thank you for your input.
I'm going over your suggestions at the moment. I've already read a female review of Tsubasa, but there doesn't seem to be much of a choice of that one at benippon. I'll check out other CLAMP publications. Women don't tend to review manga as much as guys do so it looks like I have my research cut out for me. The setting of Haruhi doesn't interest me that much. Death Note sounds worth reading even though I'm not much of a horror/thriller person. It looks like I can get Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Vol. 1 from Amazon.com -- in Japanese -- wow, but it looks like it's satire would be above my reading comprehension. still researching... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6033 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 7 of 11 22 June 2009 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
Nausicaa is great, as are all Studio Ghibili films I've watched. My personal favourite is "Grave of the Fireflies" (Hokaro no Haka), which tells the story of a brother and sister trying to survive during WW II. Edited by Sennin on 22 June 2009 at 4:05pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5765 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 8 of 11 22 June 2009 at 4:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
It can never be as awesome as the manga. (No, I'm not biased.) Sunja, I myself still read seinen and sometimes overly cheesy shoujo romance (the girl fights with boy, then they somehow have to fight the rest of the world and somewhere inbetween they become a couple kind) Ah, maybe Nana. It's the story of two very different girls named Nana who meet each other on their way to Tokyo. Clamp have some good manga, I however gave up reading them when they were publishing X-1999. Ooh, I forgot: Aozora Bunko digital library with a lot of classis online as etexts. Some aren't that that difficult to read! Somewhere in there should be the translation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, for example. Edited by Bao on 22 June 2009 at 4:11pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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