#manga taisho

[animehouse-moe]

2024 Manga Taisho Award Winners Announced

In somewhat of an uncontested victory, Kimi to Uchuu wo Aruku Tame Ni walked away with nearly a 100 point victory. Following it in second place is Hiromu Arakawa's Daemons of The Shadow Realm. And only 1 point behind it in third place is Tales of Craftsmen From Kanda Gokurachou.

Though three series, it's really 1st and 3rd that are incredibly interesting. Kimi to Uchuu only has one volume out currently, with its second coming in May. Published under Kodansha, given their recent... "aggression" with manga licenses, there's a very strong chance to see an announcement for it sometime this summer.

On the other hand, Tales of Craftsmen is the first ever manga to be nominated, let alone place in the top 3, of the Manga Taisho awards from Leeds Publishing. It's a really incredible feat, and just another feather in its cap considering that it had recently won Freestyle's Read This Manga! award. Add on top that it's been nominated for the Osamu Tezuka Cultural prize, and it's a work that everyone should have their eyes on.

Though, many seem unaware of it, so I have a post in the works for this afternoon to detail its history and journey that led it to such commercial success and critical acclaim on only a single volume. The short of it though is that like with Kimi to Uchuu, manga readers should be making a lot of noise about getting it licensed over here.

[metalandmagi]

Romance Anime Starter List

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick and tired of seeing “Top ___ Best Anime of All Time” lists that are nothing but shounen. So, with "My Happy Marriage" getting a little attention from the anime community, I wanted to put together a list of some romance anime that I consider good “starters” for the genre. Because if I were just now becoming an anime fan, I’d think all there was to offer was shounen action series.

And by “starters” I mean basic stuff that’s not too…out there, and actually involves the characters getting together instead of just harems or using romance as a side plot (sorry Ouran High School Host Club and My Next Life as a Villainess). 

So if you’re new to anime and want stuff that’s not just guys beating the shit out of each other (which is also fun, don’t get me wrong), here are some basics.

Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale- When the pessimistic Tamahiko Shima loses all function in his right arm, his family sends him away to live in the mountains with the cheerful, hard working Yuzuki Tachibana…who was purchased by the Shima family to pay off her family’s debts and basically act as a caretaker/future bride for Tamahiko so they’d never have to deal with him again. It’s a more cheerful version of My Happy Marriage (without the supernatural stuff), except in this one, the guy is the one who has massive self-esteem issues and an abusive family. There are still very serious themes, but ultimately it’s not meant to make you cry every episode. I swear it’s so good, but nobody watched it!

Horimiya- A slice of life in which pretty and popular high school queen bee Hori, finds out her quiet, unassuming classmate Miyamura is hiding piercings and tattoos that could get him expelled. The two gradually find out more about each other and get together in the most realistic way I’ve seen depicted in an anime. It’s also fucking hysterical and genuinely emotional.

Recovery of an MMO Junkie- Another slice of life that focuses on two adults who meet in an MMO game without realizing they also know each other in real life. I don’t want to say much more than that. It’s adorable, and the main character is so relatable it hurts.

Love with Yamada-kun at Level 999- Speaking of MMOs, this is a newer series about Akane Kinoshita, a college first year who’s reeling from a bad break up. In an attempt to get back at her ex, she winds up meeting Akito Yamada, a popular gamer who happens to be in her guild in the MMO they both play at an IRL meetup. The two go from acquaintances to something more as they keep running into each other. Even more relatable main characters and just wholesome relationships all around.

Snow White With The Red Hair- A fantasy in which an apothecary named Shirayuki (meaning, you guessed it, “snow white”) runs away from her home in order to escape becoming the concubine of her town’s prince. While fleeing, she is rescued by Zen, the prince of a neighboring country, and she ends up becoming an herbalist to repay him. It's super cute with some genuinely swoon worthy moments and a couple that just works so well together. I have a habit of comparing this to Akatsuki no Yona, even though the two aren’t really that alike. This is more romance driven while Akatsuki no Yona is more of a serious historical fantasy with romance elements (Yona manga is amazing, but the anime barely scratches the surface, so that’s why I didn’t include it).

Sasaki to Miyano- When the shy, easily flustered Miyano meets Sasaki, a cool “delinquent” upperclassmen, the two end up bonding over manga…specifically BL manga. That’s right, Miyano is a fudanshi, but due to his small stature and somewhat feminine appearance, he’s constantly trying to convince others that he’s not interested in having his own love story where he’d be reduced to a stereotypical doe-eyed uke. But as Sasaki and Miyano spend more time together, they realize that what they have is more than friendship, and they have to come to terms with their own perception of gay relationships. This is my favorite romance of all time. It’s a slow burn, but boy is it worth it. Their relationship is so natural and realistic, just like Horimiya. Just two people hanging out and bonding over things the way people do in real life!

Given: The story of some boys in a band with trauma. Enough said. It's great. Go watch it.

Bloom Into You- Yuu Koito is a high school girl who’s been waiting her whole life for her own perfect romance to start…but when she receives a confession, she realizes she doesn’t know how to respond when she’s just not into the guy. And then she gets another confession…this time from the cool student council president Touko Nanami, who basically jumpstarts her lesbian awakening. Very cute story about how we perceive the concept of love vs actually feeling it. Also has a canonically aro/ace side character, so that’s a win for me. Another show like this is Adachi to Shimamura (but I honestly don’t remember much about it. It just didn’t stick with me as much).

Ore Monogatari- Takeo Gouda is a tall, bulky high school first year with a sensitive heart of gold. He wants nothing more than to find his own true love, but most girls are intimidated by his enormous stature, and they end up falling for his conventionally attractive friend instead. That is, until he meets the tiny, adorable Rinko Yamato. He falls in love instantly, but he’s sure she’s interested in his best friend like everyone else, so he vows to help get them together, even though his heart is breaking. Peak himbo behavior. Pure of heart, dumb of ass.

Yuri on Ice- Yes it’s the gay figure skating anime everyone knows. And yes it’s a fucking romance, okay? I will die on this hill. The romance between Viktor and Yuri is just as important as the plot!

Kaguya-sama Love Is War- Two insanely smart high school students both have a crush on the other, but since they’re…you know…high schoolers, neither of them wants to admit it first. So they come up with increasingly convoluted plans to get the other to confess first. This will go down as one of the best of all time. It’s a hilarious yet poignant modern classic.

Fruits Basket- I’ve talked about it before and I’ll talk about it again. A romance “comedy” that slowly morphs into a drama about a girl named Tohru who finds herself living with the mysterious Sohma family after her mother dies. Little does she know, the Sohmas are the victims of a  (somewhat silly, but ultimately tragic) curse that she must fight to break. Even though I’m more into it for the family drama, the romance is still top tier and plays an important role in the story. This is my second favorite anime of all time, and it’s a classic for a reason. If anyone hasn’t watched it yet, GO WATCH IT! IT WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!

And now for some honorable mentions that didn't quite fit into the regular list:

Ride Your Wave- A movie about a surfer who falls in love with a firefighter……and I’m not going to say any more than that. Go into it blind. If you like stuff like Your Name, this is a good one to watch.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun- A comedy about a high school girl who finds out the upperclassman she has a crush on is actually a shoujo manga artist, and no matter how she tries to confess to him, he just never gets it.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague- A slow burn slice of life that focuses on a guy with ice powers who has a crush on his coworker. That’s it. That’s the show. When I say slow, I mean SLOW. It’s perfectly cute and fluffy, but my god does it take forever to get anywhere with these two.

Skip to Loafer- A high strung, small town girl decides to go to high school in Tokyo, where she meets a variety of classmates, including the laid back Sousuke Shima. The unlikely pair become friends, and soon enough, she starts to feel something more than friendship. The only reason I didn’t include it in the main list is because they don’t get together by the end of the first season, but it’s still really cute (also canonically trans character for the win!?)

So that’s my starter list. And no, I didn’t include Toradora, even though it’s a classic. I know it’s blasphemous, but I like it more as a comedy than a romance. It kinda lost me with the ending. But anyway, maybe someone will find something they like. Or maybe you'll just want to roast me and my picks 😅

[demifiendrsa]

Jump j Books 30th anniversary shikishi

Riku Sanjo and Koji Inada (Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai)

Eiichiro Oda (One Piece)

Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto)

Tite Kubo (Bleach)

Hideaki Sorachi (Gintama)

Haruichi Furudate (Haikyu!!)

Yūki Tabata (Black Clover)

Koyoharu Gotouge (Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)

Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu (The Promised Neverland)

Taishi Tsutsui (We Never Learn)

Yoshifumi Tozuka (Undead Unluck)

Sana Kirioka (Taisho Otome Fairy Tale)

Yasuki Tanaka (Summer Time Rendering)

Yuji Kaku (Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku)

[iincogneeto]

- it’s time for a taishō era secret!

did you know that Jinsei is actually a very sweet guy? This is only known by one individual! Tanjiro! He’s the only one that’s seen Jinsei be a sweet person in real time!! Due to his tall frame and ominous face, Jinsei comes off as scary and mean! But he is one of the nicest people Tanjiro has ever met! ✨

( art by me - ref:: kny screenshot )

[autisticzenitsu]

Zenitsu: You betrayed the Corps by becoming a demon and made Gramps kill himself! Kaigaku: *whips out ukulele* Kaigaku: THE TOXIC GOSSIP TRAIN-

[twin-azure-dragon-wave]

Illustrations of young Sesshomaru and his parents from Takashi Shiina’s twitter account

Source

[deathberi]

best of 犬妖怪

[deilantha]

Family's portrait.

[mitsugoth]

— Inu No Taisho manga pfp !

[serexvu]

yuzuki tachibana from taisho maiden fairy tale

[animehouse-moe]

Tales of Craftsmen From Kanda Gokurachou earns Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize

This is... really big news- for me, at least. Tales of Craftsmen from Kanda Gokurachou has netted something massive with their awarding of the New Life/Creative award with this year's Cultural Prize.

Akihito Sakaue has already had an incredible run of popularity and critical acclaim leading up to this, but this award is really the icing on the cake.

It places the manga in elite company, alongside the likes of Frieren, BEASTARS, and Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju- all of which we have in English print. Though, the point that pulls these series together is that they are a supposed "triple threat", having all won the same category of Tezuka Cultural Prize, and ranked within the top 3 for both Kono Manga Ga Sugoi, and the Manga Taisho awards.

That's not a guarantee by any means for Kanda Gokurachou, but damn if it isn't ever inspiring and hopeful. Really great news for both the series and Sakaue though, so I'm sure they'll be taking the time to celebrate the achievement.

[deus-ex-mona]

anyways, in honour of 1 year of honeypre (rip) eos, what were your top stats like at the end of the game? i’ll go first~~~

[anisaanisa]

"Idiot! Sesshomaru's in there!" "Well, then...if I'm gonna pound him, I better be there too!" ☆

[iincogneeto]

TAISHŌ ERA SECRETS!

(about everyone of my kny ocs)

Elliot: he really really likes building small scale models of things. He will make them out of glue and small pieces of wood! So far he’s made a small model of the Eiffel Tower, a shorter version of the Wall of China, and the Leaning Tower of Piza! (Even Kanan doesn’t know this!!)

Kanan: she really likes to draw!! The thing is, she only draws herself..like..ONLY herself

Jinsei: he knows how to do a double backflip but every single time he tries to show anyone he falls 💀 he just stopped trying after the 5th time.

Akemi: she smack talks people AL THE TIME in her head. She would 100% say it to their face but now that she is a demon she can’t say much 💀

Akane: her vision sucks so she has glasses, and she absolutely HATES when people take her glasses and go “idk how you see in these!!” (I hate people that do that too girl dw…)

Tae-Jun: he’s tried dance classes before..and he was like..really good at it..😭 (slay king???)

Xiaocheng: when he laughs he hiccups like “haha-HIC-haha-HICU-haha” but he doesn’t laugh very much so people don’t hear it 😔😔

Akira: he’s actually a really big cry baby when it comes to horror and scary things 😭😭 he will NOT show that to anyone tho..(gotta keep up that nonchalant act..)

Shūkūro: he’s Friends with Elliot because Elliot brings him nice aged red wine sometimes when he’s around. Sometimes he’ll even send a crow with a small canister of it for him to taste test! And shūkūro will even write a crow note to him of his opinions! (Elliot is a big wine drinker lmfao)

[twin-azure-dragon-wave]

This is from the latest chapter. I like that the manga kept the thing about Towa being similar to her grandfather.

[ashitakaxsan]

Please excuse me for being late,the business kept me way. i’m so glad with Maoanniversary.

Thank you so much Rumiko sama. for creating and keeping it going this great manga, which has been with me during these 4 years.I'm so thankful and I'm looking forward for this story.

るみこ先生、本当にありがとうございました。この素晴らしいマンガを作成し、継続させてくれて、この 4 年間私と一緒にいてくれました。とても感謝していますし、この物語を楽しみにしています。