I was browsing my local bookstore for Drawn and Quarterly and whatever other obscure comics I could find when this caught my eye:



It wasn't all tiny like the other mangas, no it was big glossy and printed on a high-finish paper (8"x12" or something to that effect) and it pretty much took up half the shelf space. I walked over and it leered at me, peering into my soul almost KNOWING that I wanted to open it...

I looked at one page and read a single word balloon and immediately plopped down $20 for it.



This "manga" (and calling it that might be an understatement) is gorgeous. It's about two children, the violent and realistic (yet still noticeably kiddy) Black and his younger, more whimsical brother (yet still noticeably violent) White who protect their wacky rendition of Tokyo from the evil Yakuza and other gangs. The story isn't nonsensical on an FLCL level and the characters are certainly more dynamic and evolving, but everything is just so surreal and insane that you can't help but love the world that is created. The story itself is about how people grow up and leave behind their childish innocence, but in this case Black and White are homeless orphens that take on the responsibility of adults and are battling to keep their innocence.


(this is from the anime because there's seriously no scanned work on the internet...)

It was originally serialized as a "seinen manga" (I think that's it... it means "adult manga" or something) back in 1993 although it didn't see any time outside the states and it had a small audience. The art style is fantastic; Taiyo Matsumoto studied comics in France for several years and his style shows. It's still noticeably "Japanese" in style yet he foregoes thin lines and SUPER TONING (as I call it) as well as exagerrated eyes and mouths to create this super thick, imprecise style reminiscent of indie comics. The effect works, and even among western comics the insane perspective and attention to detail stand out as a work of art among both worlds.



So yeah, this is pretty top-of-the-line on my list and it's the most enjoyable manga I've read since Battlechasers. It came out pretty recently, so look for it on the shelves of your local bookstore. It's 2x the size of a normal manga so you honestly can't miss it!

There's also an full length movie out based on it that's directed by some American guy who lives in japan (Mike Aria or something). I haven't seen it yet, but I'm definitely going to buy it.

Yeah, I've been dying to watch the movie. Will be released on DVD soon so I'll check that out. If I like it, I'll give the manga a shot..

that looks pretty cool , i like that city scape a lot , kind of looks like my home town , but a littl e more crazier , i'm going to BookOff tommorow !! wooot

What's the anime movie called? I'd like to suggest it for my anime club.

I wasn't a big fan of Black and White, possibly because I kept comparing it to 'Domu' for some reason, the entire way through. But 'Ping Pong' was absolutely brilliant and even if someone were to stick their noses up at Black and White, it's impossible to disregard Ping Pong because it is really, that freaking good despite being essentially a manga about table tennis. There's also a live action movie of Ping Pong. I'm not sure how good it is though. Too bad english translations of his work are fairly rare, hopefully if the Black and White film is well loved, more will become available.

Good choice, Taiyo Matsumoto is certainly a top innovator in his field.

Wow that looks really cool. I really wanna try it.

Yeah, the Tekkon Kinkreet movie is good. The amount of fine detail filling the background of every frame is astonishing. It's very different from most anime. You won't be disappointed. It was about 15 minutes too long for me, but I say that about every movie that runs more than an hour and a half.

Not to mention that it's 3d ^.^

We were talking about the anime recently in the TD

The Movie is made in 3d, that's all I'm saying. It's impressive o.o

Ah finally an opinion.
Better check it out ^^

Calling it a manga is an understatement!? You've never been to Japan honey. There's a lotta cool stuff like this if you go to Japan. Just doesn't get translated as often... such a pity....