Tenkyoken

Just like the title says post your top ones and if you're feeling a little nostalgic, the manga that you first read and pushed you into the manga world.

slop101

I have the entire Akira in color collection put out by Epic (Marvel) back in the '80s/'90s. I'm pretty sure that's my favorite manga, out of the little I've read. And while it's definitely way better than the Akira movie, and while the manga is really strong for the first half of it's 30-some issues, the second half sort of loses it's focus and fizzles out.

fujishig

Akira is good... in fact, I've been enjoying a lot of the more adult titles coming out of Dark Horse (since Akira was released in it's original B&W in huge volumes by DH):

Most of Masamune Shirow's work (Appleseed, Dominion, Ghost in the Shell though Orion is still incomprehensible to me)

Hiroki Endo's Eden is also pretty cool

Blade of the Immortal is, I think, the only manga left that is being published in a monthly "American comic" format, which I think is a testament to it's popularity, even if it means very slow collections. The translated book reads from left to right, but instead of just outright flipping the pages as most companies used to do, they actually cut the panels up and rearrange them when possible (they still flip full page spreads). That may seem like blasphemy in this era of "uncut, in the original format" translated manga, but I've followed it for this long, and it would take years for Dark Horse to go redo this series, if they ever do. On the surface, it's about a ronin who was infected with worms that allow him to reattach/regrow his limbs as long as his head is not cut off, and how he joins a young girl on a mission of vengeance against a group of killers... but instead of just being a straightforward "Ninja Scroll" type battle against boss fighters, it goes in all kinds of different directions.

I got into manga when I was very young... I used to collect the Japanese editions of Shonen Jump as a kid, and would collect the untranslated tankoubans of shonen stuff like Kinnikuman, Ranma, St. Seiya and Dragonball. Even though I'm of Japanese ancestry, I never quite grasped the language, but the manga was simple enough in it's storytelling that I could for the most part follow along with my rudimentary Japanese skills. When Viz and other companies started translating some manga, I was excited (I remember early on it was stuff like Justy, Grey, Mai the Psychic Girl... and later those Art Adams covers drew me to the second volume of Appleseed).

I think because of the nostalgia of shonen comics, I still love "kids" comics like One Piece and Naruto, which are like spiritual successors to Toriyama's Dragonball and Kurumada's St. Seiya tournament-style manga.

Eric F

Akira Darkhorse (which I think is better than the Marvel color edition), GitS, Domu, Appleseed, a few others I can't think of at the moment.

fiver

Hikaru no Go is my favorite manga of all time. I also really like Saikano, 3x3 Eyes, Elfen Lied, and Monster.

Tenkyoken

I have a soft spot for any shounen titles as that was my childhood entry into manga. Now anything Shirow is music to my ears and a feast for my mind. I agree I don't understand what's going on in Orion (liek his artwork though) his magnum opus Ghost in the Shell has defined Cyber Punk and Appleseed has also shown his dexterity with the genre.

fumanstan

I've never been that interested in anime/manga, but I did read a few different fan translations awhile back. My fav is probably Flame of Recca.

ytrez

Lone Wolf & Cub is my favorite manga.

Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z was kinda fun.

cultshock

I'm not much of a manga reader, but I loved Sanctuary. I found the look into the inside world of Japanese politics and the yakuza to be fascinating (don't know how accurate a lot of the details were though, but it made for a very interesting read)

Josh-da-man

"Battle Royale" is the only manga that's ever held my attention.

Ralph Jenkins

My favorites:

Blade of the Immortal
Horobi
Grey
Uzumaki
Hotel Harbour View
Short Cuts
Junko Mizuno's works (Pure Trance, Princess Mermaid, etc.)

fujishig

Anybody ever read Eagle? It's an interesting look at the American political system from someone that's outside of it...

Maxflier

I'm not into Manga but being a big fan of Golgo 13 I have read some of those, so I guess you can say that is my favorite.

tasha99

You know, that's still in Shonen Jump, which I browse every month just to keep an eye on what my son is reading. It always amazes me how entertaining that one is considering it's about a bunch of kids playing Go.

I don't read that much Manga, but I've really been enjoying Death Note (both the manga and the anime series).

Ash Ketchum

My favorites would be: "Lone Wolf and Cub," "Lady Snowblood," and "Crying Freeman."

I also like Osamu Tezuka's "Phoenix" series although I've only actually finished two volumes. It's pretty heavy stuff, not something you can dash off on a subway ride.

fargodroid

My favorites mangas are dark and more realistic, there aren't supposedly happy endings or events, just like in real life. Blade of the Immortal, Vagabond, Berserk and Gantz take credit. I would probably rate Gantz as #1 of them all and I'm surprised nobody mentioned it.

whaaat

Nausicaa

Tenkyoken

I'm getting into the old Kenshin stuff now. Anyone else read it?

calhoun07

I always liked Strain.

fujishig

I read and enjoyed it, though by the time it came out I had already watched most of the anime. As the anime followed the manga storyline up to right before the Jinchuu arc very, very closely, there were no surprises or anything, but it was still enjoyable.

fiver

I was incredibly sad when the manga came to an end. I'd been reading translations on the web at the time (the manga hadn't been published in the US yet) and I think they were up to volume 14 or 15 at the time. I didn't think I'd ever get to read the whole thing and wasn't sure how I'd feel without some kind of wrap up to the whole thing. I'm slowly buying the manga as it comes out here in the US and still eager to get to the end eventually (although VERY VERY slowly due to shonen jump).

If you've only read part of it, I encourage trying to read the whole thing - I never found it dull and quite touching at times with the theme of 'the eternal rivals' that permeates the story.

I've tried to pick up a little bit of Go since watching the anime but without a partner it's not particularly easy or involving so I gave up - no time to try and play anymore either

Michael

Shinobi

Blade of the Immortal is my favorite, by far. I also liked Battle Angel Alita.

fujishig

Funny, I've been re-reading Battle Angel Alita recently. I've been collecting Battle Angel Alita Last Order, but the story is so convoluted that I had to go back to the beginning to try to figure out what's going on. It's really gory, but the artwork has improved so much, and I'd say it ranks up there with Shirow's stuff in terms of artwork and technobabble.

It's a little weird in that Last Order is actually an alternate ending, so the last chapter in volume 9 of the original series is actually thrown away.

Just finished up Project Arms, and though it kind of got repetitive at the end, I enjoyed it.

How many volumes is Hikaru No Go anyway? I'm to the point where the English translations caught up to where I had read before it was licensed, so I don't know how much is left. While the Shonen Jump wait is a little annoying, especially for a series that is already finished in Japan, I don't mind too much.

fiver

There were 23 volumes of HNG released in Japan and 15 so far in the US. I haven't read all 23 volumes myself but I don't believe there is any real closure at the end. I do enjoy the story as it goes though.

Michael

Sessa17

Best series there is. . .