#obviously monster isnt on the list strictly because you are coming to a monster blog lmfao

[good-wine-and-cheese]

Hi!! It's me again 🐸

What are your comic book/book/anime recommendations?

Hello welcome back to my inbox <3

So I don't have much to say in the way of books or comic books sadly. It's been a hot minute since I've read much in the way of novels and short stories, though I've had some recommended to me, so we'll see how those go! I would love to put more words in my eyeballs.

Comic books I've just never really gotten much into outside of manga. Never really had friends that were into them (outside of superhero comics which didn't really interest me too much) and I tend not to involve myself in things on my own that much, it's more fun to have people to talk to about things.

Manga recs

I'll go ahead and spotlight 20th Century Boys. Not only is it unreasonably relatable right now (especially to readers in their upper 20s and above) it's just like, really well told, as a narrative. It's some of Urasawa's best storytelling I think. I'll obviously say to read most of Urasawa's works in general, but if you asked me to pin down one specific manga, 20th Century Boys is it.

Another manga I would recommend reading is Blue Period. It has an anime, but the anime only covers a very small part of the series and doesn't do it justice at all. Blue Period is a beautiful celebration of art and artists and what it means not to know your place in that world and it's so, so good for people who consider themselves creatives. Also it has some really fun character designs.

Lastly for manga I'll recommend Ajin! I can't think of another manga that I've read that has the same kind of glow up in its visual style. The first couple volumes aren't much to look at, but there's a very quick and noticeable uptick in quality that's very impressive to look at. It's worth checking out just for the artwork honestly.

Anime recs

It was really hard to pare down just a couple I think are exceptionally worth checking out, but I've tried to hit some of the best and most enjoyable series, at least for me. I've pared it down to five.

Mushi-Shi is perhaps my favourite anime overall, ever. It doesn't have a single episode or story beat I dislike, and it's got some of the most beautiful background work and soundtracks in anime, and some very smart, mature writing. It's episodic and easy to pick up at a random episode.

Mob Psycho 100 is one I feel like most folk already know of, but I'll put it on this list anyway because it's another near-perfect anime and has the benefit of being newer so it's especially shiny and has impressive animation to go with a very well told story.

Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor is a must watch and I wish people didn't judge it for the visual style! It's not a pretty show to watch but it's not meant to be. I would say it has a similar message to Monster with respect to being a bit of a social commentary, but it's a lot more cynical. The message of hope is there, but the world of Kaiji is much grittier and more ruthless. Squid Game wishes it had what Kaiji has.

Eureka Seven is my oldest, fondest love in anime. When I say no OST matches what eureka seven has I am being completely serious; literally nothing can match the sound that anime has. Also it's just an absolutely fantastic story about rebellion against an authoritarian government, fighting to protect the environment, has some of the most compelling romances in all of anime, and it just happens to be packaged in a mecha anime skin. It isn't what I would call a mecha anime, it just happens to involve big mech suits.

Ping Pong: The Animation is a mind blowing experience. It's a bit weird for a sports anime in that it doesn't feel like one. I can't say exactly why, because it does still follow a lot of the classic sports anime story beats, it just also throws in some unexpected narrative beats that make it especially unique. You're really watching Ping Pong for the actual animation, though. Trust me.

I have a lot more anime I could list honestly, there are a ton of really good ones that I didn't put on here, but these would be the top 5 I think people definitely need to check out.