Awesome Manga

Michiharu Kusunoki’s 1980’s manga series Aitsu to Lullaby is about a high school kid who gets into street racing on his Kawasaki Z2. YouTuber 12% on the desk recreated some of the riding scenes by building a scale model of the hero and his bike, and then painting and shooting the models to make them look like their comic book counterparts.

The latest edition of editor Julius Wiedemann’s coffee table book offers an A-Z catalog of some of the most influential manga creators ever. The 576-page hardcover book includes biographies and bibliographies, example art, and character descriptions from greats like Osamu Tezuka, Katsuhiro Otomo, and more.

The ancestors of Japanese comics date back over 1000 years, but Manga exploded in popularity in the 1950s. This fascinating history book explores how Japanese society, politics, economics, and culture influenced this popular form of entertainment. It includes hundreds of examples of Manga art along with stories and details about their creators.

We weren’t familiar with the Japanese manga and anime Jujutsu Kaisen, but now that we’ve seen that one character wields a sword with a human hand for a handle, we want to know more. Bladesmith and prop maker Tetrahymena created a knife inspired by the unusual weapon, and we’d like to shake his hand for a job well done.

HypieLab’s deck features images inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West (西遊記). The cards have illustrations by artist Sin Yee Lam, based on mythical characters like the Monkey King and Pigsy. A premium edition is printed on black core casino stock, and they’re also making Wukong coins and a skinny Go deck.

Shinrashinge creates amazing interactive manga which play out with the turn of a pencil. Each one is made from a series of opaque and tracing paper rolls that overlay and combine to tell a story. Watch three more of their tear-jerking manga machine stories here, here, and here.

First released in 2001, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is a comic book retelling of the 1979 anime that launched the entertainment juggernaut we know and love. Now you can read its English version legitimately for free, thanks to manga publisher Comic Walker.

(SPOILERS, Gore) CineFix compares the underrated Edge of Tomorrow aka Live Die Repeat with its manga counterpart All You Need is Kill, which is a more faithful adaptation of the eponymous light novel. The movie cut a lot of corners, but it’s still a great film.

Footage from the final film in the manga-inspired trilogy which lands in Japan in the coming weeks. While this trailer is devoid of English subtitles, it’s worth watching for the incredible swordplay. Here’s hoping it sees a U.S. release.

Three Manga illustrators transformed the classics A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello and Romeo and Juliet into Japanese-style cinematic graphic novels, set in a dystopian future Tokyo.

More hair-raising footage from the upcoming installment of the bestselling manga series’ live-action adaptation. It appears that the movie will be split into two parts. We wholeheartedly approve of that decision.

Kenshin Himura is forced into battle to stop the vengeful Shishio Makoto and his Juppongatana. Two deadly assassins meet in the second live action adaptation of Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Rurouni Kenshin. Our bodies are ready.

You’ll have to find a way to order them from Japan, but RGB Laboratory’s bold rings based on the chunky sound effect characters from manga are well worth the effort.

There’s no gameplay footage in this trailer for Fist of the North Star, but we’re still plenty excited: the Dynasty Warriors-style game is due out next year on PS3 and Xbox 360.

We’re unfamiliar with Kakugo no Susume (one of anime/manga’s most violent series), but this Kyoukagaikokaku Zero figure is pure badass; it’s a poseable figure with die-cast parts.