Anime Syracuse!

This is a list of similar manga and anime titles.  The idea is if you like one of these then you should check out the rest.

For this first “If You Like…” the focus is on 4koma.  4koma is a manga style in which the stories are told in 4 panel blocks.  Most are character focused, with quick one-liners, and zen-like, maybe non-existent plots. A few 4komas have reached the heights of popularity, but many are hidden in obscurity.  Let’s try and rectify this.

Note: Most 4koma is about day-to-day life so the descriptions are short as there is not much to describe without introducing the entire cast.

  Lucky Star: The most popular of this genre.  Originally following 4 high school girls, the cast has now grown as the girls have graduated and are off to college.

AzuManga Daioh: The original high school 4koma. This really started all the others. K-on: The adventures and friendships of 4 high school girls in the “light music” club. The current reigning queen of this style.

S.S. Astro: If you ever wondered what would happen to all those 4koma girls if they grew up, then welcome to S.S. Astro.  In this manga the main characters are the teachers not the students.

Ichiroh!:  After failing their entrance exams Nanako and Akane move into a dorm/shrine to take prep classes.  If you’re tired of high schools, then graduate to the world of Ichiroh!

G.A. Geijutsuka Art Design Class: Follows a high school art class. Art is discussed in a very technical and real way. A must for aspiring artists.

Sunshine Sketch (Hidamari Sketch): follows 4 students who attend an art school and live in the same dorm. Not as technical as G.A., with a greater focus on day-to-day instead of art.

Sketchbook: More female art students.  This one tends to focus more on the little things in life.

Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro: 4koma with a plot. This follows the adventures of a traveler called Kuro, her bats, and two small odd children as they try to find a mysterious witch.  (This also has a similar feel to Kino’s Journey and Mushishi.)

A Channel: For all those that want more Lucky Star, A Channel is the next best thing. Keep an eye on this one as it may be the next big anime/manga in this genre.

Choir!: (18+ Adult) Follows the story of an otaku girl and her friends in a religious high school.

Kanamemo: Follows the stories of the girls who live and work in a newspaper carrier service.

Potemayo: follows the story of male junior high student, Sunao Moriyama, and the cute creature he found in his fridge, Potemayo.  He names her Potemayo after potatoes and mayonnaise. Other characters include Sunao’s classmates and another refrigerator being called Gunchuko.

Suzunari: Kaede Takamura wakes up one day to find out she has a twin; a twin with cat ears and a tail.

Hetalia: Axis Powers: Ignoring the fandom- this 4koma anthropomorphizes the countries of the world, taking a romp through history. Moe for girls.

Doujin Work: (18+ Adult) Follow those that work and live for doujin.

B-Gata H-Kei: (18+ Adult) A perverted high scool girl, Yamada, wants to experience love and romance. Since she is inexperienced and shy, she decides to make nerdy and awkward Takashi Kosuda her test subject.

Nichijou (My Ordinary Life): While not actually a 4koma, the style and subject are similar enough to the day in the life of high school girls’ story-line that it will be enjoyed just as much.  Caution Nichijou is surreal and insane.

I am not sulking!

Sunetenai yo!

To talk about the 90’s and anime in America, we must take a small detour from Japanese produced animation.  In 1987, on the sketch comedy program The Tracey Ullman Show, the dysfunctional family cartoon called The Simpsons debuted.  The Simpsons was so popular it went on to its’ own series, eventually becoming the world’s most popular and influential animated show.   So popular is this show that its’ idioms can only be rivaled by the Bible and Shakespeare, propelling catchphrases like “doh” into the Oxford English Dictionary.

More important to anime fans, however, is The Simpsons influence on the medium of animation.  The Simpsons proved that cartoons can be for adults and in the early 90’s a wave of American animation exploded onto television.  Shows like: Ren & Stimpy, Beevis & Butthead, The Maxx, Spawn, and Liquid Television’s Aeon Flux.  So great was the demand for this types of show that, Cartoon Network, a channel dedicated solely to animation was created and other networks created large time slots for animation such as: Nickelodeon’s  Nicktoons, HBO, and MTV.   The masses accepted animation and publicly recognized anime as a medium.  Anime was no longer just for kids and nerds.

The anime created during this period is some of the most known and beloved anime.  Anime like, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Slayers, and Cowboy Bebop bred a new type of fan and shows like Ranma ½ and Dragonball Z moved the genre away from just Sci-fi/fantasy.   Films like, Ghost in the Shell and Princess Mononoke gained critical acclaim, awards, and big budgets.

Fans became diehard.  They fell in love with these shows, turning them into classics and they fought for these shows.  The” Save Our Sailors campaign” brought Sailor Moon back to television (If you doubt the influence of Sailor Moon, then just ask any female anime fan over 20 about its’ importance) and Pokemon, the game and its’ anime, brought kawaii (cute) to every high school classroom.

The 90’s was a new wave for anime in America, bringing back classics (Speed Racer-yet again), creating new genres (like Magical Girl and Gender Bending), and spawning a renewed interest in this Japanese style.  Soon anime would not be alone as the next decade brought with it a love of manga and Japanese culture and the internet connected fans on another level.

Next time: The Naughts and the birth of now.