Habu April 06 Issue - 2005 Manga Best Ten Awards

I bought this manga magazine recently primarily for the sake of its 2005 Manga Best Ten Award results and wanted to see how different it was from the results presented in the "Kono Manga ga Sugoi" books which I bought 2 months ago. Note that the voting in Habu does not divide the respondents according to gender so there are quite a number of BL titles in the ranking. For those who are interested in the Kono Manga rankings by male and female readers, please click the links accordingly. I will also be including some interesting topics raised in the magazine besides the results of the manga survey. As the sample size is rather small, there is this trend of the later positions having more than one entry which sort of defeats the purpose for having the ranking so I decided to put the Top 10 or 20 depending on the situation.

Best 20 Manga
1) Kyou Kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou! - Matsumoto Temari + Takabayashi Tomo
2) BLEACH - Kubo Taito
3) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi - Arakawa Hiromu
4) Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki
5) Saiyuuki RELOAD - Minekura Kazuya
6) Junjou Romantica Series - Nakamura Shungiku
7) Tennis no Oujisama - Konomi Takeshi
8) DEATH NOTE - Oobata Takeshi + Ooba Tsugumi
9) D.Gray-man - Hoshino Katsura
10) Gintama - Sorachi Hideaki
11) Skip Beat! - Nakamura Yoshiki
12) xxxHOLIC - CLAMP
13) Ookiku Furi Kabutte - Higuchi Asa
14) ONE PIECE - Oda Eiichirou
15) TSUBSA RESERVoir CHRoNICLE - CLAMP
16) NARUTO - Kishimoto Masashi
17) Hachimitsu to Clover - Umino Chika
18) Ouran Koukou Host Club - Hatori Bisuko
19) LOVELESS - Kouga Yun
20) SILVER DIAMOND - Sugiura Shiho

Comments: Among the top 20, I'm reading Tenipuri, Hagaren and Hachikuro at the moment but I'm kind of interested in titles like Ouran Koukou Host Club, DEATH NOTE and Skip Beat either because of the story or the anime. I note that there are quite a number of BL titles in this ranking which can be explained by the huge proportion of female voters in this survey. I notice that Habu has a lot of advertisements on BL comics so I guess the magazine itself is also actively promoting BL which I'm not particularly interested in. Another strange thing I noticed was that supposed hits like NANA and Nodame Cantabile were ranked outside the Top 20 which was really unusual.

Top 10 Male Characters
1) Vera Kyou Conrad - Kyou Kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou
2) Edward Elric - Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi
3) Shibuya Yuuri - Kyou Kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou
4) Fonbire Ferald Kyou Conrad - Kyou Kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou
5) Roy Mustang - Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi
6) Takahashi Misaki - Junjou Romantica Series
7) Kurosaki Ichigo - BLEACH
8) Usami Akihiko - Junjou Romantica Series
9) Sakata Gintoki - Gintama
10) Fonvera Teru Kyou Gwendol - Kyou Kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou

Comments: Other than Ed and Mustang, I don't know the rest.

Top 5 Female Characters
1) Honda Tooru - Fruits Basket
2) Mogami Kyoko - Skip Beat
3) Ichihara Yuuko - xxxHOLIC
4) Risa Hawkeye - Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi
5) Kuchiki Rukiya - BLEACH

Comments: Seems like the girls are not that enthusiastic when voting for their counterparts because a significant number of characters are in the same positions.

Top 5 Partners
1) Shibuya Yuuri & Vera Kyou Conrad - Kyou Kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou
2) Edward & Alphonse Elric - Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi
3) Kira Yamato & Aslan Zara - Kido Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY
4) Shibuya Yuuri & Fonbire Ferald Kyou Conrad - Kyou Kara Ma no Tsuku Jiyuugyou
5) Mihashi Ren & Abe Takaya - Ookiku Furi Kabutte

Comments: I know the Elric brothers only...

Top 10 animes
1) Kyou Kara Maou
2) Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY
3) Gekijouban Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi ~ Shanbara wo Yuku Mono ~
4) BLEACH
5) BLOOD+
6) Mushishi
7) Hachimitsu to Clover
8) LOVELESS
9) Koukyoushihen Eureka Seven
10) Tennis no Oujisama

Comments: Among the top 10, I've only watched 4 i.e. the Hagane movie, Mushishi, Hachikuro and Tenipuri. I can't comment about the rest but Kyou Kara Maou seems to be hogging the limelight in Habu's survey.

Top 10 Voice Actors
1) Sakurai Takahiro (Kyou Kara Maou)
2) Morikawa Toshiyuki (Kyou Kara Maou)
3) Ishida Akira (Kido Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY)
4) Saiga Mitsuki (Kyou Kara Maou)
5) Inoue Kazuhiko (Kyou Kara Maou)
6) Hoshi Souichirou (Kido Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY)
7) Fukuyama Jun (Gankutsuou)
8) Park Romi (Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi)
9) Sugita Tomokazu (Hachimitsu to Clover)
10) Miyata Yuki (Kyou Kara Maou)

Comments: The ones whom I've actually heard would be Park Romi, Fukuyama Jun and Sugita Tomokazu. As for the rest, I do know some of them but I've not watched the animes concerned.

Last but not least, here's the list of movies/dramas which were adapted from manga in the year 2005 as featured in this magazine. The names which appear at the end of the titles are the main cast members:

Movies
MAKOTO - Higashiyama Noriyuki
Azumi 2 Death or Love - Ueto Aya, Oguri Shun etc
Tetsujin 28 go - Ikematsu Shiaki, Aoi Yu etc
Rinjin 13 go - Nakamura Shido, Oguri Shun etc
Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san - Nagase Tomoya, Nakamura Shichinosuke etc
Tomie BEGINNING - Matsumoto Rio, Shirata Hisako etc
Tomie REVENGE - Matsumoto Rio, Shirata Hisako etc
Gyakukyou Nine - Tamayama Tetsuji, Horikita Maki etc
NANA - Nakashima Mika, Miyazaki Aoi etc
Touch - Nagasawa Masami, Saito Shota, Saito Keita etc
Maicchingu Machiko! Begins - Isoyama Sayaka etc
Initial D THE MOVIE - Jay Chou, Edison Chan etc
ALWAYS Sanchome no Yuuhi - Tsutsumi Shinichi, Yoshioka Hidetaka, Koyuki etc
Asatte DANCE - Matsuda Yomasa, Kurosawa Ai etc
Tokyo Zombie - Asano Tadanobu, Aikawa Sho etc
Luna Heights - Yasuda Misako, Kashiwabara Shuuji etc

Dramas
Roomshare no Onna - Nakajima Tomoko, Sasaki Kuranosuke
H2~Kimi to Ita Hibi - Yamada Takayuki, Ishihara Satomi
Gokusen - Nakama Yukie, Hayami Mokomichi, Koike Teppei, Kamenashi Kazuya, Akanishi Jin etc
Tokumei Kakaricho Tadano Jin - Takahashi Katsunori
Attack No.1 - Ueto Aya, Sakai Ayana
Omiya-san - Watase Tsunehiko, Sakurai Atsuko
Yaou - Matsuoka Masahiro, Kitamura Kazuki, Kaname Jun
Kochira Honke Joushou 5 - Takashima Masanobu, Mizuno Maki
Umizaru - Ito Hideaki, Kato Ai, Nakamura Tooru
Haruka 17 - Hirayama Aya
Dragonzakura - Abe Hiroshi, Hasegawa Kyoko, Yamashita Tomohisa, Nagasawa Masami
Tadashi Renai no Susum - Oshima Satoko, Uentsu Eiji
Designer - Matsumoto Rio, Kokusho Sayuri
Joou - Kitagawa Hiromi, Kaneko Noboru
Hana Yori Dango - Inoue Mao, Matsumoto Jun, Oguri Shun
Don't Mind! - Aibu Saki, Nishijima Chihiro
Mama wa Ballerina - Tokojima Yoshiko, Yamazaki Ginnosuke

*I've put those titles which I watched in italics...

Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2006 Otoko-ban (Top 20 Manga Ranking)

Here's the top 20 manga ranking published in the Otoko-ban of Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2006. Essentially, this means that the titles chosen here are targeted at guys but of course, gals also read these comics. In addition, these selected titles must also have released single-volume books within the period of 1 Oct 2004 to 30 Sep 2005. Among the top 20, I'm currently following Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist) while I've watched the anime of Mushishi and Ema so I may seek their manga versions in future. I didn't like the way how Ema ended which was incomplete so I've been thinking of whether I should get the manga. It surprised me though that this is not a manga targeted at girls though.

I'm also kind of disappointed that one of my favourites, Tennis no Oujisama did not even enter the Top 60 titles list even though I thought it is quite popular and usually enters the Top 3 of the sales ranking in Shueisha on the months it is released. Besides that, it also left me pondering where are the usual big shot manga titles like ONE PIECE and NARUTO which enjoys a strong following.

Those which I have an interest in would be highlighted in bold:

1) PLUTO - Tezuka Osamu / Urasawa Naoki
2) DEATH NOTE - Ooba Tsugumi / Obata Takeshi
3) Shissou Niki - Azuma Hideo
4) Hatarakiman - Anno Moyoko
5) Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi - Arakawa Hiromu
6) Homculus - Yamamoto Hideo
7) Moyashimon - Ishikawa Masayuki / Ookiku Furikabutte - Higuchi Asa
9) Kiichi - Arai Hideki / Danchi tomoo - Oda Tobira

11) Yuunagi no Machi Sakura no Kuni - Kouno Fumio
12) Yotsubato - Azumaki Yohiko
13) Keroro Gunsou - Yoshizaki Mine
14) Mushishi - Urushibara Yuki
15) Showa Furou Fushi Densetsu Vampire - Tokuhito Masaya
16) HUNTER x HUNTER - Togashi Yoshihiro
17) Vinland Saga - Yukimura Makoto
18) Shigurui - Nanjou Norio & Yamaguchi Takayoshi / Majou - Igarashi Daisuke
20) Ema - Mori Kaoru / Genshiken - Kio Shimoku / Zetsubou ni Kiku Kusuri one on one - Yamada Reiji

Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2006 Onna-ban (Top 20 Manga Ranking)

This is a book released annually about manga and I understand that there are various features on different segments. I bought the Onna (Woman) and Otoko (Man) versions which essentially meant that the books talked about manga targeted at guys and gals. There are a number of interviews and features about manga released in volume format from 1 Oct 2004 to 30 Sep 2005 so I'll start off with the Top 20 manga ranking chosen by this book. I've not read any of the top 20 titles so I'll indicate my interest list in bold:

1) Hachimitsu to Clover - Umino Chika
2) Nodame Cantabile - Ninomiya Tomoko
3) NANA - Yazawa Ai
4) Barubara Ikai - Hagio Moto
5) Pride - Ichijou Yukari
6) Ooku - Yoshinaga Fumi
7) Flower of Life - Yoshinaga Fumi
8) Kisekae Yuka-chan - Higashimura Akiko
9) Sugar Sugar Run - Anno Moyoko
10) Maihime Terepu Shikoora - Yamagishi Ryouko

11) Kantoku Fuyuki todoki - Anno Moyoko
12) Ai ga Nakutemo Kutte Yukemasu - Yoshinaga Fumi / Garasu no Kamen - Miuchi Suzue
14) Kakuyahime - Shimizu Reiko
15) Sapuri - Okazaki Mari
16) Tsuki no Parusu - Kuramochi Fusako
17) Eroika yori Ai wo Komete - Aoike Yasuko / Mainichi kaasan - Saihara Rieko / Kyou no Nekomura san - Hoshi Yoriko
20) Kuma to Interi - basso / Inu ni Naritai - Sanjou Tomomi

I'll follow up with other features when I read more of this book.

Paradise Kiss manga and Kono Manga ga Sugoi books received

Finally received my ParaKiss manga and the 2 books under the Kono Manga ga Sugoi series 2006 from Amazon Japan. As I had used the Vpost Japan delivery function, it took more than 1 week to receive the item but I did save on the shipping charges so I can't complain much about this inconvenience. It's quite expensive to purchase books on Amazon where there is a shipment charge of 1000 yen and a handling charge of 300 yen for each item but there are no charges for orders above 1500 yen to be sent to a Japanese address. The Vpost Japan method would be more beneficial if you are purchasing a number of books. If you are talking about a small order, it's better to stick to direct delivery. Anyway, I will post reviews of the books when I finish them one by one.