Re: Weekly Shounen Jump [2009] - Discussion & TOC Talk v.3
@Ruggia: I meant Bakuman. Typo. Pay no mind.
it made me wonder: if they could induct mangaka into the museum akin to a "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame", what Jump ones would make it in? Off the top of my head, I pretty much came up with seven who would make it in with no problems:
Brilliant question. Three who must be in or invalidate the hall of fame: Toriyama, Go Nagai, and Inoue. All three have been mentioned already but they changed the medium. Toriyama for bringing action back to a lighter, more Tezuka style. Go Nagai for many, many things but did invent ecchi (Harenchi Gakuen) and mecha (Mazinger Z). Inoue changed sports manga during his time at Jump, after leaving Jump he modernized action with Vagabond. Trying reading the battle of the 70 arc without immediately realizing Kubo and Kishi stole his layout and style.
Slightly below those three but very prominent:
1. Takeshi Obata: Developed a generation of Jump mangaka and has drawn many brilliant series.
2. Hojo Tsukasa: City Hunter is one of the classic pre - DBZ series. It's spin off Angel Heart is a brilliant, under appreciated series.
3. Nakazawa Keiji: His resume is a bit slight but Barefoot Gen is one of the few gekiga influenced comics from the early days of Jump.
4. Usutu Kyousuke: Elevated the gag manga to an art form.
5. Araki Hirohiko: JoJo's may be an erratic mess, some parts are great, others not so much but it is one of the most beloved series in Japan. In reality he would be in quickly.
Maybes:
1. Buronson: Fist of the North Star is one of the defining modern shonen but what has he done since? More Fist of the North Star. Gaiden, bangai, adaptions, etc.
2. Oda: Only one series but it's 12 years long and the all time bestseller. If OP is still as good at chapter 700 he's in.
3. Katsura Masakazu: Brilliant mangaka who may fly to far under the radar. I"S, Video Girl AI, DNA^2, Zetman are all brilliant manga that don't get the hype of some of his buddies. He desrves to be in but in reality it would probably take a few tries.
4. Ryu Fujisaki: Houshin Engi, a bunch of short series, and the coolest art of the '90's. Houshin was the best thing about the dark ages. Kind of borderline based on career out put but a hall of fame would be all the better for having him.
No, but they will get in anyway:
1. Togashi Yoshihiro: An over hyped mangaka. Has made two good but not great series that get hyped as classics. I'll probably get flamed for that, but whatever. Can HxH or YuYu really be compared objectively to the best of the mangaka I listed above? Not really. But perception is greater than reality and he is viewed as a great mangaka.
2. Watsuki Nobuhiro: Rurouni Kenshin is a classic, not just when discussing Jump but all manga. Everything he has done since has been garbage. Between the classic debut and his famed assistants he would get in over my vote.