No. 3099Anonymous 4th December 2010 Saturday 11:09 am3099I don't know about manga here
But can we get a discussion on the genius that is Tetsuya Saruwatari? A man whose comics should be popular, but aren't due to obscurity, they seem to be the only comics aimed at men (inb4 "I read/watch manly manga/anime for manly men such as myself", I hate that) in Japan that don't pander to paedophilic obsessions. They're dumb at times, but they're intensely entertaining and have some delicately detailed artwork.
Saruwatari is most famous for his manga Riki-Oh (he illustrated it, I have a hunch the guy who wrote it was only an alias) being adapted into the crazy Hong Kong live-action movie Story of Ricky, and Internet talk mentions how his manga Dog Soldier features Ronald Reagan being punched along withh heavyset middle eastern terrorists being fought along with psychic Russians.
I don't know the manga myself, but your recommendation of it seems to revolve around something wacky happening with famous people, which all too often is the only reason people read it. Like that taliban thing further down the page, I just don't see the allure.
The thing is, this one is totally serious and is more or less an odd look at things that were the present at the time of its publication - apparently later on it leads up to an anti-AIDS vaccine, because AIDS will be the deadliest thing on Earth by 1989, go figure. It's not "LOL WACKY" like that Taliban thing on this page, just imagine an 80s action film, filtered by Japan, and done in print form.
Saruwatari's other stuff is a bit different, his recent comics have less to do with OTT spectacle and are more hard-assed mafia stories with one comic being about cagefighting.
And you're only half a man if you talk about "Comcis for Men" without even thinking about mentioning Jiro Taniguchi. Those are manly comics dealing with men and their stories rather than just being trashy and entertaining action comics.
Tough, god be my wittness, I love me some Mad Bull 34 and I'Ve read all of Riki-Oh, even though it's really terrible once the prison-arc is over.
