The vast majority of the
manga published in the U.S. today is geared toward readers age 13 and older. But from the looks of things, publishers have caught on to what parents and librarians have been clamoring for:
manga that's suitable for all ages, or at least kids under 12. That's what the
2008 Best New All-Ages / Kids' Manga Poll tried to recognize, by nominating 10 graphic novels that you can recommend to younger readers without blushing, or at least without having to explain what 'fanservice' is....
And the winner here? None other than Nintendo's intrepid adventurer, Link in
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Akira Himekawa from VIZ Kids.
The Legend of Zelda comics have the built-in advantage of being immediately loved and recognized by several generations of video gamers. Himekawa brought readers lots of fast-paced swords and sorcery action that was kid-friendly, but still enjoyable for older readers too.
Second place went to my personal pick for the best bet in this category,
COWA! by Akira Toriyama from Shonen Jump /
VIZ Media.
COWA! is a fun and funny adventure of a group of monster kids and a retired sumo wrestler on a road trip to save their village from an epidemic of the monster flu.
Third place honors went to
Suihelibe! by Naomi Azuma from
CMX Manga.
Suihelibe! is kid-friendly comedy from Flex Comics, a cell phone
manga publisher that has partnered with CMX. It's also a cute sci-fi comedy about a boy, an alien girl, a middle school biology club and a bunch of escaped alien critters whose existance, if known, would turn many principles of biology on its head.
See the rest of the nominees and see how they placed at the
Best New All-Ages / Kids' Manga poll page, and
view the full results of the voting. Also, see the rest of the results in all of the
2008 Readers' Polls. Thanks for voting! Coming next: the results of the Best New One-Shot Manga and Best Manga Magazine polls.
02-02-2009, 06:54 PM
2008 Best New All-Ages Manga Readers' Poll Winner: The Legend of Zelda
It sounds great!
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