Naoki Urasawa is one of the most renowned manga authors, and here are some of his best works.
Widely praised and regarded as an all-time great creator in the manga medium, Naoki Urasawa has been wowing readers for more than 40 years now. Best known for building intricate, long-form mystery epics, Urasawa is a versatile talent who has plied his craft on a variety of genres.
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Starting work predominantly as an artist, Urasawa gradually began pulling double duty, writing his own scripts and quickly impressing critics, readers, and his fellow creators alike. His first major breakout success came with 1986’s Yawara!, a popular series that ultimately proved to be a vast departure from the darker, more fantastical stories he has become best known for. A master of sharp dialogue and smooth paneling, Urasawa is arguably without equal in the manga world as a colorful, grand-scale storyteller, stringing together diverse plots often spanning enormous amounts of time and events. With such a rich bibliography to boast of, there are plenty of standout masterpieces from the seinen maestro.
6 Yawara! Is A Good-Natured, Slice Of Life Sports Comedy
A humorous coming-of-age take on the sports genre, Yawara! follows the complicated judo journey of titular high schooler Yawara Inokuma. Despite her longing to enjoy a more run-of-the-mill high school experience, her legendary judoka grandfather is determined to send her all the way to Olympic glory.
A naturally gifted judo practitioner, Inokuma’s grandfather is training her with success at the 1992 Olympic Games in mind. The story touches on several tropes of the sports genre, but does so in a light-hearted, thoughtful manner. Urasawa takes great care in developing the psyches of his two lead characters, ensuring their dysfunctional bond remains engaging and often moving. A curious subplot involving Inokuma’s parents provides the series with some missing person mystery as well, ensuring the colorful series has a little something for everyone. One of Urasawa’s most comedic efforts, Yawara! is a likable tale of competition and maturation that readers can enjoy in its entirety.
5 Billy Bat Manages To Give An Apocalyptic Look At The Comics And Manga Industries
This unconventional murder mystery series is as much about the trials and tribulations of work in the comic book industry as it is an all-important ancient scroll that can lead to world domination. Set in 1949, this engaging mystery thriller follows a comic book artist who discovers his beloved Billy Bat series may’ve been ripped off from artwork he saw in Japan.
Needless to say, his decision to head over to Japan to receive permission to continue using the image from the original artist leads to all manner of increasingly fantastical situations. The lighter, more eccentric tone of the series initially proved to be a bit jarring with longtime fans of Urasawa’s typically darker, more sinister narrative tone and style. Embracing an old-school comic strip-style for scenes with the titular Billy Bat character, the series blends high-concept conspiracy theories with thoughtful meditations on pop art and storytelling. Over the course of the series’ eight-year run, it never failed to dizzy readers with its near-endless number of twists and turns, earning high praise in the long run for its thrillingly unpredictable storytelling and character arcs.
4 Asadora! Mixes History With Kaiju Terror For A Thrilling Epic
As is so often the case with Urasawa’s finest efforts, Asadora! dives head-on into the realms of mystery. Along the way, the series also provides readers with a full biopic of the titular character Asa Adora from her post-WWII formative years all the way up to the present day.
In 2020, Tokyo is besieged by an enormous monster. In 1959, young Adora is kidnapped and later caught up in the infamous Typhoon Vera, the worst tropical storm in Japanese history. The science fiction elements of the story take a backseat for the most part, with Urasawa focusing heavily on historical drama as the mysterious monster looms large in the background. In Adora, the series boasts a fiery, likable lead protagonist whose life story plays out in an effective, thoughtful fashion. Along the way, the budding mystery of the kaiju threat to Japan simmers below the radar, building a suspenseful sense of dread. Overall, this grand-scale sci-fi mystery is Urasawa at his genre-blending best.
3 Pluto Provides A Revolutionary Reimagining Of Astro Boy
Urasawa’s penchant for twisted murder mysteries was applied with startling effect to the iconic Astro Boy series with the thrilling Pluto. Named after one of Astro Boy’s big bads, the series follows a robotic Europol investigator on the case of a series of grim human and robot homicides.
In an increasingly high-stakes race to catch the killer, it becomes apparent that the world’s top seven most elite robots are the top targets. The blend of compelling themes in regard to robotic rights and the dynamic between humans and machines, as well as a police investigation, makes for an absorbing piece of mystery fiction. As a reimagining of an earlier, classic work, Pluto is an incredibly original, somewhat under-the-radar effort, completely breaking away from the style of the original whilst managing to maintain many of its key sci-fi tropes and concepts.
Unsurprisingly, the series racked up plentiful acclaim, with both fans and critics still unpacking its countless references, symbolism, and character traits two decades after it first arrived on the seinen scene. With an anime confirmed to be on the way, now is the perfect time to give this one a go.
2 20th Century Boys Is A Wild, Multi-Generational Thriller
Another multi-decade spanning mystery thriller from the top-selling manga master here as childhood memories from the ’60s play into defeating a deadly menace at the turn of the 21st century. A seinen thriller livened up with apocalyptic sci-fi themes, 20th Century Boys quickly proved to be a hit upon its debut in October 1999.
Giant robots, plots to assassinate the Pope, and the Triads all come into play in an increasingly chaotic storyline that sees four childhood friends attempt to take a stand against a cult leader with a mysterious connection to them. The antagonistic Friend has since become an icon of manga villainy with uncovering his true identity proving to be an obsession both for protagonists such as Kenji Endo and for the reader. The series’ popularity sparked the aptly titled 21st Century Boys sequel in 2006. While not quite as enormous in scope and plotting as the original, the sequel remains a must-read for fans of the series. A modern manga classic, 20th Century Boys is a thrillingly imaginative effort.
1 Monster Gives Readers One Of The Darkest, Richest Mystery Thrillers In Manga History
Urasawa’s seminal psychological thriller first hit the shelves back in December 1994. Zeroing in on Germany-based brain surgeon Kenzo Tenma, the story follows his increasingly horrific journey after making the decision to save an injured youngster instead of the mayor after a brutal massacre.
Needless to say, the youngster and his twin sister are not standard people, and their backstory makes for chilling human experimentation-focused fare. The engrossingly grim series was a smash hit with readers almost immediately upon release. The complex narrative, suspenseful atmosphere, and lead character arc are all among the finest ever put into manga. The anime series, first aired a decade after the manga’s initial release, only continued the series’ popularity and growing legacy, ensuring it acquired more fans than ever before. Boasting one of the most effective and thrilling finales in manga history, this iconic, endlessly quotable series is a must-read for all manga lovers.
Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
