6 replies to this topic

[Garlan the Gallant]

Hey all!

I was wondering if there were any good new(ish) historical fiction manga in the same vein as:

Cesare
Vagabond
Vinland Saga
Historie

If you cannot think of any, what is your opinion on the following titles:

A Bride's Story
Ares  
Bokko  
Burning Hell  
Cantarella  
Cestus
Drifters
Earl Cain
Gamaran  
Gunka no Baltzar  
Hetalia: Axis Powers
Kingdom  
Ôoku: The Inner Chambers
Peacemaker Kurogane
The Ravages of Time (is this the best adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?)
Saiyuki Gaiden  
Shin Angyo Onshi  
Sidooh  
Sōten Kōro (is this the best adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?)
Threads of Time


Also, please exclude the following titles from your recommendations (yes, I know that some of the following are only anime and not manga). I have either read these or seen these:

A Drifting Life
Adolf
Afro Samurai
Baccano
Barefoot Gen
Basilisk
Billy Bat
Blade of the Immortal
Buddha
Gin Tama
Grave of the Fireflies
Fullmetal Alchemist
I Saw It
Katanagatari
Lady Snowblood
Le Chevalier D'Eon
Lone Wolf and Cub
Ninja Scroll
Path of the Samurai
Phoenix
Rurouni Kenshin
Samurai 7
Samurai Champloo
Samurai Deeper Kyo
Samurai Executioner
The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls

Thanks so much!

[Errant Bard]

Berserk: not history, but Fantasy. Still, you get a medieval-ish world that's pretty nicely done.
Shigurui: Japan, samurais, martial arts
Rose of Versailles (not new-is, but, heh): French revolution, heh.


Anime you could try
Serei no Moribito
Twelve Kingdoms


A Bride's Story: Great artwork, great characters, heartwarming mood. It's more of a slice of life story set in 19th century Kazakhstan, and it's on a bimonthly release schedule. Nothing like the title you mentioned.
Ares: Not historical. Would be close to Vinland Saga, I suppose, but in the end it's more about battles themselves. Does not shy about violence or death, no real pacifist message or anything. Some touching and great moments. Korean, too, so it's really different from any other manga.
Hetalia: Axis Powers: Anthropomorphised countries interacting in a slice of life with gay undertones. Meh.
The Ravages of Time (is this the best adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?): best I've seen, but that's not saying much. It's pretty good in any case and also "historical" indeed.
Saiyuki Gaiden: Hmm, the legend of the monkey king, only targeted at pre-pubescent girls. Lots of gay undertones (if one can call that undertones). Many fights, superpowers. Think Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. Not historical.
Shin Angyo Onshi: Not truly historical, but a good story nonetheless, more epic than most. Great art, also from Korea, so originality in handling some themes.

From what I hear Okko and Bokko are quite nice, but I never tried. No idea on the rest.

[kuroishi]

Errant Bard, on 28 April 2012 - 01:36 AM, said:

A Bride's Story: Great artwork, great characters, heartwarming mood. It's more of a slice of life story set in 19th century Kazakhstan, and it's on a bimonthly release schedule. Nothing like the title you mentioned.
Shin Angyo Onshi: Not truly historical, but a good story nonetheless, more epic than most. Great art, also from Korea, so originality in handling some themes.

I add my voice to these.

Peacemaker Kurogane : Is this Kei Toume's? I remember reading it a long time ago and I mostly liked it. It's short and a bit in the same vein as Blade of the Immortal.

Sidooh : I've read the first few issues. It was... good I guess, but I never could shake away a feeling that the author had some nationalistic tendencies to sort out (I had already read another manga series of him which had left me with the same impression, so I don't think it was an incident). If you can ignore this, I suppose it might be enjoyable.


I've recentley started reading Takemitsu Zamurai by Taiyô Matsumoto and it's quite good (but you have to like his artwork).

Quote

Adolf

Is this Tezuka's? If you've read it and liked it, you should try Ayako and Hidamari no ki. (not new-ish, obviously).

[Errant Bard]

kuroishi, on 28 April 2012 - 05:41 AM, said:

Peacemaker Kurogane : Is this Kei Toume's? I remember reading it a long time ago and I mostly liked it. It's short and a bit in the same vein as Blade of the Immortal.

I think it's Nanae Chrono's and totally distinct from Kurogane. I remember starting watching the anime, and it was not really good.

[kuroishi]

Errant Bard, on 28 April 2012 - 06:22 AM, said:

I think it's Nanae Chrono's and totally distinct from Kurogane. I remember starting watching the anime, and it was not really good.

Oh, you must be right.

Well, I guess the recommendation for Kei Toume's still holds, even if it's not the one you were looking for Garlan.

[Narwhal]

Hetalia is a comedy based around exaggerating national sterotypes told through a comic strip. It's not historical fiction but it can be hilarious at times.

Ravages of Time starts as an average adaption of Three Kingdoms up until about chapter 100 when Dong Zhou (!Two Thousand Year Old Spoilers!) dies. The art and storytelling improve dramatically with each volume up until about chapter 200 where the author seems to have mastered his style. I'd highly recommend giving it a shot although I'd start reading where the current scanlation group picked up the story right around Dong Zhou's death instead of at the beginning. It follows history closely enough that starting a third of the way through isn't that hard. The author's story arcs for Lu Bu and Sun Ce, are wonderful.

The Peacemaker Kurogane manga is better than the anime but the author dropped the project after the fifth volume several years ago and I don't believe she ever returned to it. On the whole, the manga falls under the above average but not great category. Shin Angyo Onshi, on the other hand, is as great as noted although it is another story in which the author improves as the story goes along such that the beginning is weaker than the end.

Edited by Narwhal, 28 April 2012 - 11:48 AM.

[Lord of the Night]

Ubel Blatt is a fantastic fantasy manga, not historical though. Its about a warrior who seeks to kill the Seven Heroes of his homeland for what they did to him twenty years past. Very gripping story.


LotN