Re: Weekly Shounen Jump [2009] - Discussion & TOC Talk v.3
Got a silly question on my mind considering that we're talking a bit about it on Arlong Park. Apparently they're finally opening a manga museum in Japan, which somehow in my head probably should have been done years ago (akin to the European comic museum in Brussels...which is really cool BTW, heck I heard they just opened a museum for just Herge himself in the same country, and he's an institution of European comics akin to Tezuka in manga) And 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:
-Go Nagai (though he is known for many other series that are more graphic or that he would probably be known for more, two of his most crucial, "Harenchi Gakuen" and "Mazinger Z" were both Jump series...no contest really for him)
-Osamu Akimoto (you can't run "KochiKame" for over 30 years and not get noticed...nuff said)
-Masashi Kurumada (yeah, most would say he just would get in for "Saint Seiya" alone, but "Ring ni Kakero" is massively important as well for defining a lot of sports and battle manga)
-Akira Toriyama ("Dr. Slump" changed gags, "Dragonball" changed...well, Jump, period)
-Buronson (Pretty much "the" name in more "mature" storytelling in Jump history, not just for "Fist of the North Star" but for "Doberman Detective" before it)
-Yoichi Takahashi ("Captain Tsubasa" by itself essentially made Japan a soccer nation and became a massive inspiration worldwide...that has to say something)
-Takehiko Inoue (Probably one of the biggest names to emerge from the 90s in storytelling and style via "Slam Dunk")
Other major considerations:
-Hiroshi Motomiya
-Keiji Nakazawa
-Yudetamago
-Akira Miyashita
-Tsukasa Hojo
-Tetsuo Hara
-Hirohiko Araki (probably belongs above due to the massiveness and importance of "JoJo", but somehow something in me prevents me from saying he'd get in on a "first vote")
-Masakazu Katsura
-Yoshihiro Takahashi
-Masanori Morita
-Yoshihiro Togashi (like Araki, I could see Togashi making it...but after some others get in first)
-Takeshi Obata
-Kazuki Takahashi
-Hiroshi Gamou (if he and Tsurugi Ohba are the same person ;p)
-Nobuhiro Watsuki
-Kyosuke Usuta
-Eiichiro Oda (only after OP is said and done over...then he gets in immediately)