Ethan: My Favourite Manga

Here are my five favourite manga series. If you haven't heard of manga they are Japanese comic books that can go on for several volumes. I like them because they are usually funny and you can read them quickly and they have lots of action. I often read them in between normal books.

5. Zatch Bell

It's about a boy who gets sent a person from another world by his dad. His dad found this person, called Zatch Bell, in a forest. They go on numerous adventures and it is always really exciting. This would be a good series to start with if you are a younger reader or new to manga.

4. Naruto

You might have seen this on the television, the series is based on the manga books. I am up to volume 42 and they are still going. Naruto is the main character and he is a young boy at the beginning of the series. He goes to a sort of ninja school and has to pass lots of tests and fight in loads of battles. Later on in the series he goes away to train for a few years and the books start up again when he is older. This has a lot of proper fighting in it and people die so might not be good unless you are 10 or over. It depends how wussy your parents are.

I like Naruto because there are lots of jokes and plenty of action.

3. Fullmetal Alchemist

Two brothers, Edward and Alphonse, train in alchemy - which is using the elements around you to create things. One day their mother dies so they train to become even better alchemists and when they return they try to use their skills to bring her back to life (something that no alchemist before has ever managed to do).

This all goes wrong and they have to forfeit parts of their bodies. Edward loses and arm and a leg and Alphonse his whole body. Edward uses alchemy to put his brother's soul into a suit of armour that is nearby. They then go on lots of adventures but the only problem is that Alphonse cannot feel emotion and cannot eat.

I think it is a really interesting series as there is so much going on. Sometimes you don't understand what is happening until later on and I quite like that. And they are funny.

2. Bleach

This is all about Soul Reapers who are basically ghosts who fight Hollows (evil spirits). The main character is Ichigo Kurosaki who is human but can see the ghosts. One day he is visited by a Soul Reaper called Rukia who is fighting a Hollow that is about to attack Ichigo's family (Ichigo's mum is already dead having been killed by a Hollow).

The fight goes badly and Rukia half-kills Ichigo so that he can become a Soul Reaper and have half her powers and help her kill the Hollow but the spell goes wrong and he ends up with all of her power. He then becomes the only human Soul Reaper.

He then spends the rest of his life defending humans from Hollows.

This is an action-packed series and some of the Hollows are pretty scary. Don't read it in bed.

1. MAR

This is about a boy called Ginta who dreams of another world and then gets taken to that world by a Dimension Arm which is a kind of weapon. He meets lots of people on his journey through this world which is called Marchen. There are evil people called Chess Pieces who challenge Ginta and his friends to war games which is a war but in a game.

This is my favourite manga because it is really, really funny. There are only (!) 15 volumes and I have read them all three times.

Comments

[Michael Wombat]

Full marks for your manga choices - especially FMA, which is wonderful.

[Lauryn Purtee]

Without a doubt, Naruto and Bleach are the favorite anime of a lot of anme followers. Their storyline and plots are very unique. Though I haven't seen MAR, which is the #1 on your list, I'm sure it's also great! =)