Outlanders by Johji Manabe is quite possibly the greatest sci-fi manga of the past 20 years. It's emotinal depth rivals that of Nausicaa, The Phoenix, even Neon Genesis Evangelion!
The basic story line is this....
Princess Kahm, the sole heir to a galactic empire, falls in love with a Japanese photographer named Tetsuya. As the two lovers slowly explore there relationship, they have to deal with a galactic war of epic proportions!
I'd put more, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone!
Some people may have seen the OVA based on this work. Well, forget about it. The OVA doesn't do the manga justice!
Give it a try! And if you have reade it, reply and tell me what you think!
Underrated Manga, Part 4: Outlanders
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Underrated Manga, Part 4: Outlanders
"That which is not dead can eternal lie, and in strange aeons, even death may die..."
-H.P. Lovecraft
-H.P. Lovecraft
-
ziritrion
- Hatamoto<Special Retainer>
- Posts: 617
- Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 7:46 -0700
- Location: Barcelona, Spain
Outlanders is hilarious. Absolutely recommended! One of my ex room mates had it and I was tempted to buy it from him, since he was getting rid of pretty much everything (I ended up buying "Appleseed" by Masamune Shirow from him, but I regret not having bought Outlanders.)
The plot is pretty shocking and unexpected. I'm not going to spoil what happens, but as Angelcake said, it's epic! But what really gave the story a great feeling was the tons and tons of humor from the relationship with Tatsuya and Kahm (or is it Kalhm? If I recall, that was her name in the Spanish edition), as well as the rest of the characters. I can't recall their names, though
.
However, I don't consider it to be a sci-fi manga, but rather a fantasy-adventure one. There's a certain sci-fi feeling all over it and it introduces very interesting concepts (did you think that the spaceship from "Farscape" was cool because it was alive? Outlanders had it first,) but the story is focused on the relationship of Tatsuya and the rest of the gang dealing with the conflicts and themselves rather than the consequences of new technology on the human race (my own definition of sci-fi
.) If you're looking for good sci-fi manga, you should read anything by Masamune Shirow ("Appleseed" and "Ghost in the Shell" are amazing, although pretty dense) or Yukito Kishiro's GUNNM, which I think had its name changed to "Battle Angel Alita" in the US.
Still, if you ever have the chance to read Outlanders, don't miss it. If you do, I'll find out where you live and beat you up
. And if you read it and don't like it, you can always come here to Barcelona and beat me up 
.
These posts are awesome Angelcake, keep them coming!
The plot is pretty shocking and unexpected. I'm not going to spoil what happens, but as Angelcake said, it's epic! But what really gave the story a great feeling was the tons and tons of humor from the relationship with Tatsuya and Kahm (or is it Kalhm? If I recall, that was her name in the Spanish edition), as well as the rest of the characters. I can't recall their names, though
.However, I don't consider it to be a sci-fi manga, but rather a fantasy-adventure one. There's a certain sci-fi feeling all over it and it introduces very interesting concepts (did you think that the spaceship from "Farscape" was cool because it was alive? Outlanders had it first,) but the story is focused on the relationship of Tatsuya and the rest of the gang dealing with the conflicts and themselves rather than the consequences of new technology on the human race (my own definition of sci-fi
.) If you're looking for good sci-fi manga, you should read anything by Masamune Shirow ("Appleseed" and "Ghost in the Shell" are amazing, although pretty dense) or Yukito Kishiro's GUNNM, which I think had its name changed to "Battle Angel Alita" in the US.Still, if you ever have the chance to read Outlanders, don't miss it. If you do, I'll find out where you live and beat you up
. And if you read it and don't like it, you can always come here to Barcelona and beat me up .These posts are awesome Angelcake, keep them coming!
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Actually, Johji Manabe's one flaw, if you can call ilt that, is that he usually uses a similar formula for all of his work(i.e. it always involves a violence crazy female wearing next to nothing and carrying a huge sword).
The unique thing though, is the atmosphere and the way he goes about it.
For example, Outlanders is alot more science fiction oriented, since it includes actual earthlings.
Drakuun, on the other hand, is much more fantasy based.
Caravann Kid, however, is a bit more counter-culture like( it even has a hippie-like protest singer!)
No matter how much of a reseamblance each work has, the artwork and the writing makes it seem like a fresh experience every time.
"That which is not dead can eternal lie, and in strange aeons, even death may die..."
-H.P. Lovecraft
-H.P. Lovecraft