Just thought I'd bring some attention to this wonderful little piece of work called SHONEN JUMP.
It comes out monthly, and it's a collaboration of several series of anime. It's about 300 pages long, and it has several different titles running all at the same time.
It's chock full of interviews with the artists and pictures of conventions.
The kicker? Not only do you get 300 pages worth of manga and pictures, but it's only $6.00 an issue!
You find SHONEN JUMP at Book A Million, EB, or Babbage's.
I've been introduced to some classics I'd never heard of, and I few I'd already known about, including
- "One Piece", starring a young boy named Monkey D. Luffy, who eats the cursed fruit of the Gum Gum tree, and his body gains the ability to stretch like rubber. He aspires to become King of the Pirates, so he makes friends, and recruits some interesting characters along the way.
- "Naruto", currently running on JPN TV. This is an excellent little saga about a Ninja training town. Naruto is a "class-clown" ninja in training. Very fun series. Kicks butt too, with all types of mystical techniques.
- "Dragonball-Z", and you should know what this is. The story of Goku and his friends fighting against threats to their planet. It's currently running the Trunks/Androids Saga.
- "SandLand", Akira Toroyama's newest work. It is set after the apocalypse, after Earth has become a barren wasteland. I Beezelbub, one of the main characters, is the son of the Devil himself. See how he gets along with another demon named Theif, and their human cohort ( can't remember the name now ).
- "Yu-Gi-Oh". Yes, THAT Yu-gi-oh. IMHO, the manga is MUCH better than the cartoon. Yugi, a young ( and shy ) kid, solves the "Millineum Puzzle", and it gives him a more confident, justice serving, game playing version of himself. It's a bit more adult that the kids T.V. show, I'll tell you that, with it's violence and sexual jokes coming from the high school characters.
- "Shaman King", about a boy who can communicate with various spirits of the dead. It's okay, but IMHO, it's the least interesting of the manga in the book.
- "YuYu Hakusho". Again, if you've seen Adult Swim, you know what it's about. Again, I think that the manga is better than the anime. Yusuke dies while saving another person. Now, he has a chance to come back to life in his original body, but before he does, he's got to prove himself to King Enma Jr.
Do yourself a favor and pic this book up ASAP. It's a fun read, and it introduces you to several lesser known works!
