I got lots of reviews to be writing right now, but that’s just boring, so instead I am going to talk about some mango artists that I respect (and finish some of the drafts I have left, forgotten in the abyss of the intarweb).
小島あきら
Kojima weaves magic into his work. Every bit of his creation is as much a fantasy as it is reality. All his characters are just outright quirky, each possessing incredibly radical personalities. But they are pure in mind and heart, unbound by social constriction, nor bound by the seed of distrust. Most of the time, they would all come together without a purpose, but that is perfectly fine the way it is, because life is like that, without a goal or purpose. Rather, the very existence of their interaction is the purpose bestowed upon them.
It is pretty hopeless to expect plot or revelations in Kojima’s work. There simply is next to none. In fact, half the time, the chapters are produced in 4-panel strips, with some amounts of continuity from strip to strip, but otherwise they stand alone all on their own. But that is ok too, because the reader will become absorbed into the world portrayed in front of their view. Some times it is funny, some times it is warm, some times it is even sad, but at the end of it all, the reader will finish the reading with a smile on his face (or so I hope).
Every time I touch one of his works, I can expect to just sit back and let the story carry me where ever it may lead. In many ways, it is the modern fairytale.
– examples of his work: mahoraba, manabiya
水上悟志
At first, Mizukami can be quite misleading. Most of his works start off with nothing but shounen mango flare: humour, chicks, fighting, and maybe some perverted jokes. But as the story moves along, the reader would quickly realise that this is not the only case. In fact, all of that is just a prelude of the true path the story intends to move at. There is little warning: the characters are immediately thrown into a cloud of inner darkness, as they come to terms with themselves. Pure evil does not exist; neither does pure good. Justice is however you may define it, and personal reality is the truth… but not the only one.
Nothing is simple in Mizukami’s world. There is no definitive truth, nor is there a single justice. Everyone has their own goals, their own reality. But what is right? Is there even an answer to that? One of the most prominent theme in his works is identity. The characters will struggle to seek a place to belong, a reason to exist, even if the answer lies in destruction and oblivion.
Things rarely work out for the best, if ever. People will come, and people will go. The ones we come to love, the ones we come to hate; anybody could be buried six feet under in the very next page.
If Mizukami’s works can be described under 500 words, I would not bother including it in this post. It is precisely the complexity of his world which makes him great.
– examples of his work: hoshi no samidare, sengoku youko
甲斐谷忍
Kaitani has seen the world. And he certainly does not give a very pretty portrayal of it either. His works are underlined with very mature tones, and he takes no effort to conceal the many aspects of human nature, regardless of whether these natures are desirable or not.
In particular, his psychological works are a notable thing to behold (partly because I have not actually read his other works other than the psychological ones). In these worlds, people are interested in only their goals. If their objectives happen to overlap those of others, and end up benefitting them as well, then good for them. But make no mistake: everything they do, they do them for self-interests.
Of course, when a person talks about a psychological thriller, you need the tricker, the tricked, and the treats. In Kaitani terms, this means brilliant psychological analysts that love to explain their tricks, dumb kids that always play into their hands, and some cash to reward he who makes the better plan.
In the end though, it all comes down to the battle of wits. They do not need to be elaborate or complex in order to capture reader’s attention, they just need to be awe inspiring. Kaitani uses simple concepts that involves simple arithmatic or knowledge, and stretch them in ways that shakes the foundation of our perceptions.
– examples of his work: one outs, liar game
福本伸行
ざわ‥ざわ‥ ざわ‥ざわ‥ Enough said.
– examples of his work: Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji, akagi
PS. I realised after writing this post that all the artists are guys. Am I just sexist? Well, I certainly respect CLAMP, and maybe I should include them as well, but it’s not quite the same level of respect. I might do a post for just CLAMP at some later date, simply because they are on a different scale in quality, production, and style.
PSS. I do realise that certain aspects of greatness that I mention can be overlapped with mainstream mango. But really, the psychology of naruto is about as deep as potato skin.
PSS. The level of enjoyment I have for their work is kind of in a descending order; in order words, out of these guys, I enjoy Kojima the most, then the next one, and so forth. I also realised that Kojima is the only one in this list that doesn’t have a particularily psychologically deep theme. I guess I’m a sucker for fluff?
The cake is a lie. 
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