The Drifting Classroom
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Super Awesome Manga of Power!!

Anime and manga can be confusing stuff.  Confusing and scary.  I know, because it sure used to overwhelm the hell out of me.  Sometimes it still does.  The Internet doesn't help; gathering an anime fandom online is like exposing Bruce Banner to gamma rays.  One minute there's civilised talk about characters and plot, and then, inevitably: "Why does this piece of fanart have tentacles in it?  Wait, what are they doing to Sailor Moon?" 

The Mumbling Kitsune attempts to educate, as well as to serve and protect.  It's hard to believe sometimes, but there is more to anime than big eyes and stalactite faces.  There's more than hentai, yaoi and pornography.  And not all anime is equal.  The Mumbling Kitsune is drawing close to its sixth-month anniversary, and I've been reviewing anime and manga for about as long.  I'd like to summarise my experiences and share my recommendations with the lost and unsure. 

"Who do you think you are?" 

I'm a n00b anime veteran.  Yeah, that wasn't confusing.  I was a gamer long before I was a certified anime fan; old NES titles like Dragon Warrior made me a huge fan of Akira Toriyama (creator of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z) and his cool monsters, even though it was years before I knew his name.  I also dug the robot designs in games like Mega Man. 

My first encounters with anime included Canadian-dubbed series like Belle and Sebastian and The Little Prince as well as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  So by the time anime's popularity exploded with Sailor Moon, I was fairly comfortable with the art style (Trivia Sidequest: Anime hit the mainstream in Canada long before America because Sailor Moon was aired after school as opposed to the US' five a.m. time slot). 

"Anime looks like crap.  Is it really worth my time?" 

Yes!  I will admit I quickly outgrew Sailor Moon's silly character designs and girly drama.  But it's perfectly okay to dislike certain series.  Hate them with vigor if it makes you feel better!  Growl and swear.  Grrr.  But do remember tastes vary.   

Do you like everything on TV?  I hope not.  But some stuff is good.  Same with anime.  You have your stuff that's geared for kids, you have your crap and you have gems.  Dismissing all anime as garbage isn't cool. 

"So what do you recommend, smarty-pants?" 

For one thing, I enjoy manga (Japanese comic books) far more than anime.  Fifty percent of the reason lies with presentation, and the other fifty percent is the fault of my own quirks.  I'm terrible at paying attention to moving pictures.  I much prefer to read at my own pace.  But I also find anime adaptations of popular mangas tend to drag on forever.  The best example would be Dragon Ball Z.  As an anime, it's sort of ridiculous.  Fans usually start weeping when they recall the Namek Saga, wherein the villainous Freiza plants a time bomb in the core of planet Namek and sets it to go off in "five minutes".  That "five minutes" literally takes up about thirty episodes.  But as a manga, DBZ is witty, fun and fast-paced. 

DBZ is, nonetheless, still an expansive series.  Many manga series span dozens of volumes, which can be a turn-off for potential anime fans circling the outskirts of the hobby.  The good news is, most of the series do eventually come to a solid conclusion and don't careen into spinoff city like American comics tend to do.  Not to say manga is completely innocent: Gundam, Gundam W, etc). 

So where should you start?  A lot depends on your tastes, but in terms of all-around solid titles that shouldn't disappoint: 

Death Note -- If you like drawn-out games of cat and mouse, you really can't go wrong with the hugely popular Death Note series.  When a Shinigami (God of Death) drops his "Death Note" on Earth, a young genius named Light picks it up and gains the power to kill anyone whose name is written in the cursed notebook.  Light immediately begins executing criminals with the intent to create a crime-free utopia, and his actions attract the attention of L, a highly intelligent detective who vows to stop him.  The translation of the series is being handled by Viz Media, which has released nine volumes of the manga to date and is rumoured to have plans for the anime that recently debuted in Japan.  The Red Hot Chili Peppers are reportedly big Death Note fans, which may encourage or deter your purchase. 

The Drifting Classroom -- If you loved Lord of the Flies, do not ignore Kazuo Umez's Drifting Classroom.  Sho, a young schoolboy in grade six, attends a normal school day when suddenly, somehow, the building is transported to a cold, dark wasteland where nothing grows.  Authority quickly breaks down and the children must find a way to survive as food supplies run out and a nightmarish centipede-monster makes repeated attacks on the school.  Umezu is revered as a horror pioneer  in Japan, the same country that scared the shit out of you with movies like The Ring and The Grudge, so you know you're in for good times.  Viz has translated four volumes of The Drifting Classroom so far.  It's an excellent series to start with if you're not too familiar with manga. 

Phoenix -- If you grew up with Astro Boy, you're already familiar with the work of the father of manga, Osamu Tezuka.  But you're probably not familiar with his opus, Phoenix, a multi-volume epic that's only beginning to receive the attention it deserves in North America.  Viz has released 10 volumes of the series to date.  Each book is a self-contained story, so reading them out of order isn't a problem.  However, the stories link up through character reincarnation and shared themes and come together to illustrate the history--and future--of humanity.  Tezuka started working on Phoenix as far back as the 1950's, and the story has aged amazingly well. 

So is this all there is?  Heck no.  Next week will be a veritable bonanza of recommendations.  But for now, sample a bit of what I listed and try to contain your excitement.