April Manga Recommendations

I've been reading a couple of manga recently that are worth reading. They are not as well known to the general public, but they do have a bit of their own charm. I haven't read manga in quite a while because I have chosen anime and schoolwork to occupy my time. Manga may not have sound and movement like an animation, but imagery is a powerful tool to tell a story. Every mangaka has their own way of designing. For instance, "Bleach" uses a lot of large panels and I don't think it has a lot of small panels on a single page. Kubo Tite deliberately stated that he doesn't draw in backgrounds because that was how he envisioned the scenes; to appear in empty space. As opposed to "Naruto" which often times includes splash pages of detailed backgrounds and scenery because setting is very important to the story. We also see that manga doesn't always have to drawn in squares. Panels can be rectangular or in a variety of shapes. They can bleed off the page and objects do not necessarily have to contained within a panel. People belittle comics and graphic novels dismissing it as childish art or art that is not art, but they don't realize how much work goes into a page. It isn't simply the skill of an artist to render scenes. The artist has to be a good designer knowing how to place items on a page and make decisions on how it should be presented. Otherwise no matter how good you can draw, your work may end up unreadable.
Here's the April recommendations I have.

Misappropriation Investigator Nakabo Rintaro

For some fans, you may recognize the name Hara Tetsuo. Yes, this is the same Hara-sensei that created the Fist of the North Star series and made it a legendary icon for old school manliness. The design for Nakabo Rintaro would eventually become the design for Kasumi Kenshiro from Fist of the Blue Sky (also a very good series). Both characters are very similar as well as they take on a disguise of being a nice guy, but is actually very tough and won't take any shit from you. Misappropriation Investigator Nakabo Rintaro takes place in a Japan that has been found guilty of misappropriating huge amounts of the country's funds. As a result, the world summit forces Japan to pass a misappropriation act and forms a special bureau that uncovers people misappropriating money. Rintaro is a character of justice and from this story, he's taking down all the bad guys. What makes it interesting to read is the way he takes them down.

  

Sabu and Ichi Torimono Hikae

This is a vintage series that first ran in 1966 in Weekly Shonen Sunday. The artwork is fairly unique as it combines the "anime" look we recognize today and influences from Western cartoon. The line work looks fairly simple, but the scenery and the way a scene is drawn is very graphic. Ishimori Shotaro the mangaka took a lot of references from Japanese print designs which is appropriate because the story takes place in the Edo period of Japan when Hokusai was popular. The manga volume covers take an entirely different direction, but it goes well with the story overall. Sabu works as a thief-taker which is a detective really. His friend Ichi is a blind swordsman that helps out Sabu in solving murder cases and participates in the detective work too. Each chapter tells a different case often times exploring the motive of the murderer and how the murder was accomplished. It is your detective story set in ancient Japan and it has a nice ring to it. Sabu and Ichi are interesting characters and you learn a little more about them case by case.

 

Shokugeki no Soma

I came across this manga by "mistake". I was looking for a new shounen title and this came up in my search. Shokugeki no Soma starts off with a boy named Soma who has this great talent in cooking and works at his family restaurant. One day his dad decides to close it down to travel to Europe and he sets a challenge for his son, attend an elite cooking school and survive. This school is known for its 10% graduation rate because it is ruthless towards passing their students. This manga has a great storyline and I think the food that they draw looks delicious. If you like ecchi manga, this one has its fair share of ecchi. I personally do not like it, but I don't let it bother me from reading a good story. Though I have to say its awkward seeing characters "aroused" after eating delicious food. I have yet to see how Soma will go against his future opponents in a shokugeki, a food challenge that they do in the cooking school. A lot of them are very cocky and like to flaunt their high reputations like Erina, Soma's rival who is at the top in the school. She is what you can call a total bitch because her superiority complex will allow her to dismiss anyone she deems unworthy.

Nobunaga no Chef

In search for a samurai drama, online manga searches suggested me this. This one has a very interesting story. Ken wakes up one morning to find himself in ancient Japan along with another chef. They get pursued by some samurai mistaken to be spies and the chef Ken was with gets killed. Other than getting chased, Ken has no recollection of how he got here and who he really is. The only thing however he remembers is his skill in cooking. Probably the worst thing ever is that he was selected to become Oda Nobunaga's personal chef. Using his western trained techniques, he tries to survive in ancient Japan. I think it's great that it uses some historical context to provide the background and combines it with a nice time traveling twist.

Usogui

Fukumoto's crazy gambling genre got me hooked on gambling genres in general. I came upon Usogui when Natsu-Comi were doing some promotion on their website in 2013. The story follows Madarame Baku who gambles at life threatening stakes for fun. These gambles are usually overseen and controlled by a dangerous organization called Kagerou. Baku is seeking to out-gamble Kagerou. The artwork leans on grotesque because the nature of the story is all about the shady activities. I like the suspense in each chapter and the gambles are really exhilarating to read. It does remind me a lot of Fukumoto's Akagi only different type of gambling.