Manga Gift Guide 2013

Since Hanukkah is well underway and Christmas looms on the horizon, I thought I’d put together a list of what I’d likely buy manga loving friends, as well as what I’d like to get for the holidays!

Sweet Rein

I wrote when I reviewed it first that Sweet Rein was a great feel-good manga for the holiday season, and I still think that several weeks later! Sakura Tsukuba is an old favorite from the CMX days, so being able to read another series of hers was a real treat. Sweet Rein might be a little TOO sweet, but this is a shoujo manga about a high school girl Santa Claus falling in love with her mystical reindeer boy, so what would you expect? This is a perfect stocking stuffer for a shoujo manga fan.

Vinland Saga

I loved this manga. Sometimes you just need a narratively complex, exquisitely drawn manga about Vikings being Vikings. The deluxe hardcover makes an ideal gift, and the combination of innovative action scenes mixed with great character development makes this manga appealing to anyone who likes things that are good. I feel like this would be a great crossover manga series as well, as Yukimura’s art isn’t too manga-ish, so it might make a great gift for someone who is mainly into western comics but who wants to give manga a try. Plus, if you are starting to feel frustrated by all the holiday good cheer, there’s nothing like a few viking beheadings to serve as a stress release.

Gundam: The Origin

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You know what another good Christmas gift is!? Char Aznable! Just picture him at your family gatherings smirking in Machiavellian glee, sowing the seeds of destruction wherever he goes! OK, maybe that wouldn’t be so great for your continued health in 2014. But I feel like Vertical gave a wonderful gift to manga fans everywhere by publishing these deluxe editions of Gundam: The Origin. If you enjoy drama and giant robots fighting in space, you can’t go wrong with this series.

Sailor Moon Box Sets

Sailor Moon! In box set formats! If you don’t have them already, buy them in boxes! Actually, I’m thinking of picking up the second box set to finish up my collection.

The box sets have STICKERS! SAILOR MOON STICKERS! By the Power of the Moon, I will decorate your laptop!!!!

Manga by Kyoko Okazaki

I haven’t read Pink yet, but I’m putting it on this list because it would be a great present for me!!! I want to read it! Helter Skelter was so cynical and bonkers, I’m looking forward to reading any of Okazaki’s work.

I think you could induce whiplash in someone by giving them both Sweet Rein and Helter Skelter, but why not? Reading this jarringly cynical take on the fashion world was entertaining, even if I did sometimes feel like I needed to bleach my brain a tiny bit afterwards.

Josei Disguised as Shoujo from Viz Media

I’m pretty stoked that Viz is releasing Happy Marriage and Midnight Secretary under their Shojo Beat line. And really, what could be more festive than vampire bosses who are harsh and demanding feeding on their secretaries and falling in love with them due to their awesome blood or secretaries forced into a marriage of convenience with their strict and stuck-up but secretly caring bosses? There might be a bit of a repetitive theme here, but I love it!