I would go for Blade of the Immortal, the great artwork is enough to put of that without his invulnerability our dear friend manji would be dead in 4 seconds. i also give the mangaka full points for having characters use really wierd weopons but doesn't waste chapters on end for somebody to master this or that attack. And its bloody, wouldn't be samurai if it wasn't bloody.

Kyo and Kenshin are too comic style for my taste. And as mentioned above, the whole different attacks and techniques can be fun, but a samurai should be busy kiling people and not ruining physics.

I haven't read vagabond yet, i really am keeping it as a reserve for a rainy day when i want to read a lot of good manga.

Quote from Diokhan

SDK, started out well. it had an interesting character design, and a good plot, and artwork was fine...... 120+ chapters later, it kinda died down on me. artwork was still great, but the plot became kinda...... uninteresting.

and what hurts the most is the dialogue. you will get characters using the word "destiny", and its just my personal opinion, but i hate it when a character of any manga series say it. if thats not the case, dialogues are so weak. they just have no impact, no feelings at all. scenes that are meant to be sad just doesn't deliver. the mangaka tried TOO hard to express it. an example is Kyo's past. sure, it was kinda tragic, but not so much to the point where it showed everyone who heard it cry. honestly, it was a pathetic scene.

Rurouni Kenshin on the other hand, was great. sure, character designs were weird at times compared to SDK, but it had impact. it had a story to tell. dialogues were well presented, and filled with emotions. action scenes didn't seem repetitive (btw, over time, SDK was) and was fresh. people complain that the hero doesn't kill, but seriously, thats more of a question of preference than it is of whether the series is great or not.

Yes I agree with you on a lot of points but I wouldn't say that where the manga is right now that 'the plot has died'. On the contrary; I'd say the plot is actualy still fully developping. To avoid the use of spoilers lets just say that all we know is that they're on a dangerous mission but we still don't know who we're exactly dealing with (as in the organisation of the opposing group) and how far their connections network trully reaches (what will have probably have influences on the plot I think).

And Rurouni Kenshin is generally better than SDK but there are still a lot of people that prefer it otherwise because they can't put up with the 'saint-like-preaching' character of Himura.

Quote from Zacharias

Yes I agree with you on a lot of points but I wouldn't say that were the manga is right now that 'the plot has died'. On the contrary; I'd say the plot is actualy still fully developping. To avoid the use of spoilers lets just say that all we know is that they're on a dangerous mission but we still don't know who we're exactly dealing with (as in the organisation of the opposing group) and how far their connections network trully reaches (what will have probably have influences on the plot I think).

i'll assume you read the scans. trust me, i've read up to around chapter 200, and, well, it just lost the spark it had earlier.

Quote from Diokhan

i'll assume you read the scans. trust me, i've read up to around chapter 200, and, well, it just lost the spark it had earlier.

Well duh If I'd be able to read Japanese I wouldn't have any daylight at all anymore 😀
You give us a pretty grimm prediction for SDK, let's hope my taste varies; I'm pretty confident I'll be able to hold that 'spark' but who knows ....

There's still nobody else here that seems to have an opinion about Zan. Well if you check it's reading stats it seems that only about 50 M-U members [have read/are reading] it, what is far less compared to all other samurai manga mentioned here. It doesn't contain any flashy-super-technique-moves and if you want blood you gotta look somewhere else, but I thought it was still a nice short story.

someone mentioned peacemaker earlier...i bought a p*#*d copy of the dvd(way popular in my country, so cheap!), so meaning an anime, not the manga, but after like 6 episodes i stopped. it was a big letdown really, the plot is too laid-back for me, and i was looking for a good character development for the kid, it seems like he wasnt the main character really, just about their group/dojo and their fight against opposing political parties..

and one thing i dont like, not being a sexist or anything(just my preference alright?) is that i think its not even shounen or seinen, maybe shounen ai? i mean the only woman i saw there was the cook, and she doesnt even have a love interest, and the good looking heroine there was not even a girl, "she's" a he! 😀

[img]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o69/noside6008/Berserksig-animated2.gif[/img]

someone mentioned peacemaker earlier...i bought a p*#*d copy of the dvd(way popular in my country, so cheap!), so meaning an anime, not the manga, but after like 6 episodes i stopped. it was a big letdown really, the plot is too laid-back for me, and i was looking for a good character development for the kid, it seems like he wasnt the main character really, just about their group/dojo and their fight against opposing political parties..

Is it that bad? hmmm, I was curious about that one... wonder if it's even worth looking at now...

Anyway, as for my favorite sumarai manga, I recently tried real bout high school (borrowed off a friend), that was pretty good. Also, someone mentioned blade of the immortal, tried only the first volume a while ago (havent gone back to it), but it seemed pretty good to.

Quote from melee86

Is it that bad? hmmm, I was curious about that one... wonder if it's even worth looking at now...

Anyway, as for my favorite sumarai manga, I recently tried real bout high school (borrowed off a friend), that was pretty good. Also, someone mentioned blade of the immortal, tried only the first volume a while ago (havent gone back to it), but it seemed pretty good to.

you could still try it, there are some interesting political plots going on, and their opponents seem pretty strong..its just that it isn't what i expected it to be..the story was focused on their group pretty much and their political struggle but not really on the boy's character development, and the shounen ai thing really bothers me...

I didn't finish Blade of the Immortal(stopped arnd vol11), i might get back on it if there's nothing better to read though..i really was disappointed in manji's fighting prowess... >:-(

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Vagabond all teh way. great story etc. kenshin next i guess. its entertaining. then blade of the immortal would be my ranking. i actually like blade of the immortal best but those rape incidents that are thrown in there really put me off. it gets some negative points for that.
samurai executioner isn't bad but its not anything special either. i couldn't get past the 3rd volume. it had no conflict really. just an official chopping off heads depending on the incident...

HUBBY of DUBBY

has nobody read/liked lady snowblood?
a nice remix of kill bill in a episodic japanese setting

I love Rurouni Kenshin! One of the best manga out there...although I thought the ending could had been better, but I love the indepth of the chararcters. One of my all time favorite mangas. I read Samurai Champloo but never had the chance to finish it. I tried Samurai Deeper Kyo but I wasn't really into it for some reason. Next up; I want to read Peace Maker Kurogane (?) and Kaze Hikaru. 😁

Fake Every Thing Until You Make It To The Top

Quote from Merlerna

I love Rurouni Kenshin! One of the best manga out there...although I thought the ending could had been better, but I love the indepth of the chararcters. One of my all time favorite mangas. I read Samurai Champloo but never had the chance to finish it. I tried Samurai Deeper Kyo but I wasn't really into it for some reason. Next up; I want to read Peace Maker Kurogane (?) and Kaze Hikaru. 😁

if a more serious one is ok with you, please try Vagabond..the best out there for me..though its more brutal, again more serious, and have a lesser romantic angle, the character development is awesome, as with the fighting scenes...artwork is commendable too...

[img]http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o69/noside6008/Berserksig-animated2.gif[/img]

Definitely Vagabond !

"As long as we're seeing the same kind of musical vision, yeah, sure. But sometimes when things get hard, you balance out the pros and cons and say, am I being a wimp if I stay or am I being a wimp if I leave?" - D'arcy Wretzky

Does Usagi Yojimbo count? I know it is an American comic (Published by Phantagraphics, then Dark Horse). But it is drawn by a Japanese Mangaka. I think it is one of the best Samurai stories ever. Even if Sakai borrows heavily from the Akira Kurosawa films, Zato Ichi, and Lone Wolf stories. I still think this is one of the best ever.

Life is tough......but it's tougher if you're stupid.
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Ok, I've read more so i can make a better contribution now

1.Vagabond - is absolutely amazing .
2. Samurai Deeper Kyo - From what I've read it seems like it could be a pretty fun story although the combat is a bit over the top.
3. Blade of the Immortal - I'm on volume 16 and so far the only serious problem i can complain about is how its not a Japanese scan so its backwards for what I'm used to. Other than that its a pretty good one.
4. RuroKen - I did not like. not really sure why, i just couldn't get into it. In its defense i only read the first volume, but i remember liking the anime when i was a younger. But for whatever reason i just didn't really like what i read.

thats i think all i've read.

(btw i used to love reading Usagi when i was a kid. i doubt i would like it as much now, but it was kick ass.) 😀

Can't read >_<

lone wolf and cub, cause it is great.

love and peace