MATSUMOTO Taiyou (mature)

[Josef K.]

His manga are certainly special, he has his own unique style, once you get into one of them, you can not help but read all of his work, or well most of it. Matsumoto Taiyou is certainly a rare gem in the manga world. His works are some of the best I have read overall. So enjoy, and I hope you will read some of them.

Zero

Serialized In: Big Comic Spirits
Genre: Drama, Psychological, Seinen, Sports
Japanese Status: 2 Volumes (Complete)
International Release:
Online Status: 2 Volumes (Complete)
Age Ranking: Older Teen

Goshima is a boxer who has held the world championship title for years and never once lost a match - thus earning himself the nickname 'Zero'. His coach, Araki, describes him as 'a flower that blooms only within the ring'. But with his 30th birthday approaching, everyone begins to question Goshima's worth. Thus he decides to look for the ultimate opponent to give him his final match.

Ping Pong

Serialized In: Big Comic Spirits Special
Genre: Drama, Psychological, Seinen, Slice of Life, Sports
Japanese Status: 5 Volumes (Complete)
International Release:
Online Status: 5 Volumes (Complete)
Age Ranking: Older Teen

Ping pong. Table tennis. Fast, furious. You might have seen it - even played it - but never anything like this! The action is centered around Tsukimoto ('Smile') and Hoshino ('Peko'); childhood friends who have been playing the sport ever since they were elementary students.

Tsukimoto - the impassive, bespectacled, seemingly-emotionless boy described as a robot by everyone who knows him, plays "to kill time". Hoshino, the passionate, out-going, charismatic 'hero' who Tsukimoto idolized during their childhood, plays because he "loves ping pong and hates to lose".

How will the cold, cruel world of competitive sports treat these two who are so different? And what will happen upon their inevitable meeting as contenders for the High School Men's Singles Trophy?

Adapted to a feature-length film by SORI in 2002.

Number Five

Serialized In: Ikki (Shogakukan)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Mature, Sci-fi, Seinen
Japanese Status: 8 Volumes (Tankoubon - Complete), 4 Volumes (Bunkoban - Complete), 8 Volumes (Collectors' Edition - Complete)
International Release:
Online Status: 7 volumes
Age Ranking: Older Teen

In a world that has become 70% harsh desert, the Rainbow Council of the International Peace Keeping Forces, a team of super-powered global security guardians, have a growing crisis on their hands. No. 5, one of their own and known within the council as their top marksman, has left his post and gone rogue. It's up to the other guardians to track him down--but No. 5, with his mysterious companion Matroshka, won't go down without a fight.

Tekkon Kinkreet

Serialized In: Big Comic Spirits
Genre: Action, Drama, Psychological, Seinen
Japanese Status: 3 Volumes (Complete)
Online Status: 3 Volumes (Complete)
Age Ranking: Older Teen

Orphaned on the mean streets of Treasure Town, lost boys Black and White must mug, steal and fight to survive. Around them moves a world of corruption and loneliness, small-time crooks and neurotic police officers, and a band of sadistic yakuza who have plans for their once-fair city. Can they rise above their environment?

Won the Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Japan for the Eisner Award in 2008.

Sunny

Serialized In: Ikki (Shogakukan)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Seinen, Slice of Life
Japanese Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Online Status: 12 Chapters
Age Ranking: Older Teen

The story of an orphanage, the children who live in it, and the beat-up old Nissan Sunny 1200 which provides them with a means of escape from their boring everyday lives.