Postby Kireihana » Sat Feb 14, 2004 9:11 pm
I'm a subscriber to Shonen Jump, and it does have some really great manga. However, that doesn't mean there aren't some things to watch out for.
Yu-Gi-Oh!
This manga was NOT written for little kids. Some chapters are very dark, and the whole story line (or the part that's running in the US SJ as of right now) is centered around Kaiba's plots to kill Yugi for defeating him in a prior duel. There are a few sexual references, some strange ones which involve Honda (Tristan)'s nephew, who's only a toddler, hitting on Anzu (Téa) and making crude remarks or gestures. Jonouchi (Joey) curses a lot. Also, a lot of emphasis is put on "The heart of the cards" like a supernatural or spiritual force. It's a good manga overall, and pretty funny in some parts, but don't mistake it for a Pokémon parallel.
Once Piece
Hardly any problems with this one... very little swearing, moderate violence (but in slapstick comical way) and occasionally blood. This manga's really funny, I quite enjoy it.
Naruto
This one's good as well, but be warned that there is a lot of violence as the whole story is about ninjas and occult ninja techniques. The characters use chakra, or spiritual forces to perform moves and magical illusions, but the themes for the story are about good vs. evil, friendship, loyalty, and perserverance. One of the male characters both dresses and looks like a girl, but does nothing openly homosexual besides the aforementioned cross-dressing.
Dragonball Z
I came into this story while it was already far underway, so I can't say too much about it. The same old good vs. evil, action story with supernatural powers and karate-type moves. A lot of Buddhist references are in there, as well as futuristic technologies like cloning (or maybe not-so-futuristic) and creating androids with human-like emotions, etc. I think this manga's okay if you understand that it's only fantasy. There's practically no gore, and no language that I can recall...
Shaman King
Definitely the most occult manga in the magazine. Shamans are people who can channel dead spirits, or even become possessed by them. The main character and several others have a "personal ghost" that they integrate with to fight each other. A lot of spirit priest/priestess sort of things are involved. Putting that aside, there are some good points: Yoh and Anna, while engaged (at the age of 14!) and living in the same house, don't sleep together or do anything remotely sensual - in fact, they act more like arguative brother and sister. The ideas of friendship being more important than power, giving people second chances, and being kind and merciful to your enemies and rivals are major themes. I don't particularly like this manga or find it very entertaining, but it's a fairly interesting read if you remain concious towards the objectionable material.
Hikaru No Go
I love this manga. It's clean, funny, and interesting too. It does involve "spirits", but doesn't delve any farther into other aspects of pagan religions (or at least so far, it's only been running in SJ for a couple months) Sai was a professional Go player way back when in an early Japanese period, but when he lost a game to a cheating opponent, he was so distressed that he commited suicide, and somehow his spirit got trapped in an old Go board. Centuries later, 6th grader Hikaru finds the board in his grandfather's attic and becomes possessed by Sai, and then becomes an avid Go player under Sai's instruction. Hikaru's not the most honest boy but Sai acts almost like a concience to him, and their antics together are extremely amusing. The only wierd thing is that Sai looks very girlish. He has dark lips, long shiny hair, and is often holding a fan. In fact I thought he was a girl for the first whole chapter.
YuYu Hakusho
Sigh, I must say that I love this one as well, even though it's based on the "Spirit World" and the "Demon World", and non-Christian afterlife beliefs. Some parts are just too funny. The main part of the plot involves Yusuke, a spirit detective for the Spirit world, fighting demons so they don't endanger humans on earth. A LOT of supernatural/spiritual powers, violence, and Yusuke swears often. There are of course the usual good moral themes as well, nothing new. I'd like to hear what others have to say about this manga.