Amazing @asano_inio DeadDeadDemon’s Dededede Destruction vignette arrived today. Really high quality paint job and attention to detail.
@kimonostereo brb moving to Japan. I absolutely love DeDeDe since one of my friends told me to read it a few months ago. I feel spiritually connected to Ontan.
@eli The series has its own distinct visual style to help portray its mood, and it carries across well in the typography.
...And I just realised how much anime stuff @kimonostereo has on his desk. And I thought I was bad :p
@JacksonOfTrades one day I'll have to talk to you about Manga/Anime recommendations. my comics literacy is very very western. I gotta branch out.
@JacksonOfTrades I am ashamed to admit I've only read some Dragon Ball, One Piece, and some of Osamu Tezuka's stuff (but I wanna read a heap more)
@eli yeah! I love Asano’s design sense. It’s all over the manga too. First issue arrives next week in the US! (Finally)
@JacksonOfTrades on my first trip to Japan, the first collection of Dedede was on sale so I picked it up. I enjoyed Asano’s previous works but this was so different I was blown away. Huge fan and can’t wait for the 1st issue next week to come out at last!
@JacksonOfTrades oops. My desk was so messy. That’s just some of the stuff. Tried to take the photo on the ‘neater’ side of the desk. 😬
@kimonostereo Asano's other work is in my to-read queue, but not sure if I'm ready for more depressing stuff in my life right now (I mean, Steins;Gate 0 anime is out soon), so I'm just reading some cute Touhou doujinshi to tire me over.
@kimonostereo Same. So many loose sheets of paper and notebooks from my lectures, and that's on my desk to the side. In front of me are two Nendoroids and my 3DS.
@JacksonOfTrades counter depressing Asano stuff with Laid Back Camp and Interviews with Monster Girls. While Dedede has some dark overtones, I’m glad it has a lot of comic relief and Kadode and Ontan are drawn extremely cute.
@kimonostereo I've been meaning to watch both of those shows, my friends love them to death. Honestly, I should have been watching Yuru Camp to counter Violet Evergarden.
That being said, I haven't found Dedede to be too dark. And when it does, the surreal overtones makes it feel... fun at least? As long as I ignore the chapters with the one sided slaughter of the invaders.
@JacksonOfTrades all right! It is the weekend, so I’m gonna finally follow up and let myself dive down this rabbit hole! What comics do I read? The only comic I’m keeping up with at the moment is Saga. Elsewise I’m working my way through the back catalogue of Hellboy. Here are some other titles I’ve read in the last year or so:
- Nimona
- Edena
- Kaiju Max
- Paper Girls
- Goldie Vance
- Motor Girl
- an assortment of Marvel/DC stuff
- Bee and Puppy Cat
@eli Give me a day or so to research and ask my more in-the-know friends if they know of any. I already have a few in mind :)
@eli So I ended up going a little over the top last night when I was tired and waiting for a VM to finish installing. Here's my recommendations.
(A lot of these are derived from reading the synopsis on Wikipedia of the comics you recommended)
- Black Lagoon - Heavily inspired by cheesy 80's-90's American action films.
- Lone Wolf and Cub - Haven't read it but it's popular and looks similar to Saga. About a samurai father running from a crime he didn't commit, while caring for his young son.
- Yotsubato - Lightweight wholesome manga about a special six year old and her adventures. I love it so much because the titular girl reminds me of my little sister.
- Hellsing - Eldritch edgy horror. Can get a bit grusome at times. One of the few shows where I actually recommend the adaption (Hellsing Ultimate) and the dub. It was the mangaka (Authors) first non-erotic work, so the early chapters have a bit of an eh art style.
- Dead Demons Destructions (DeDeDe) - A post-apocalyptic dystopian slice of life about two young girls after an alien invasion. Actual analyses a number of sociological themes that happen after an alien invasion.
- Girls Last Tour - A nihilistic romp through a destroyed world. Also about two young girls, but a lot more depressing and a lot more lovable.
- Detective Conan - A long running mystery series
- My Hero Academia - A very popular super hero manga.
- Rabbit Doubt - A short whodunnit mystery about a group of friends locked up in a facility. YMMV.
- Soul Eater - A kind of light Tim Burton-esque world where Death (The Grim Reaper) is actually this super cute guy who trains people to fight demons and witches at not-Hogwarts. Also some people can turn into weapons.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Perhaps best described with this.
- Vampire Hunter D - 8000 years in the future, a beautiful man roams the post apocalyptic world slaying vampire and other monsters. Merges a number of genres incredibly well, and is heavily inspired by pulp novels and 50s movies.
And some I personally enjoyed:
- Berserk - A long running and grimdark fantasy series with beautiful art. A cursed swordsman seeks revenge at the cost of his own humanity. I love it, but I can understand why some people wouldn't.
- Vinland Saga - Same as above but with less curses and vikings.
- Prunus Girl - The most beautiful girl in class is actually a boy? Amazingly well written and wholesome, helped me come to terms with my sexuality.
- The Rising of the Shield Hero - Transported to another world, our hero finds that he's actually the worst class of hero - The shield hero. As in: he can only defend.
@eli Sorry to intercede, @JacksonOfTrades, but I can't see manga recommendations and not mention Priest by Min-Woo Hyung. It's an unfinished manhwa (Korean comic) with an apolacyptic story set against the old American West. One of my favourite pieces of literature.
Oh, also a film was made of it. Never watch it. Ever.
@simonmumbles I need to read more manwha and manha (The Chinese manga). My old flatmate used to recommend them to me a lot, but I never got around to them.
@JacksonOfTrades awesome list, I’ll say thanks too! I can second the Vampire Hunter D recommendation- used to read those a long time ago and really enjoyed them!
@herself Same. Tried a few of the novels and found them to be a bit eh (Think it might just be an issue with a too literal translation), and some of the themes are better portrayed in the manga.