What Is The Best Manga Series? (Part 2)

What Is The Best Manga Series? (Part 2)

Written by: ClayDragon

Welcome to part 2 of the article in which the best manga series is found. All the information about the categories, judging methods and spoilers can be found in part 1 of the article.

Let’s get started.

‘Wham’ Moment

Just in case anyone is unfamiliar with this term, a ‘Wham’ moment refers to the point where things take a sudden dramatic turn. This is that point where things will never be the same again. Whilst not necessarily a plot twist, the two can be closely related. For the purposes of this article, the ‘Wham’ moments will not be the same as the plot twists.

Bleach: The Vandenreich Invasion

Aside from Uryu and Ryuuken, the first Quincies we saw were two Arrancars who were fairly incompetent, and they were both quickly killed off. Based on these two, some people may have assumed that the Vandenreich would have been a fairly low-key threat. That is, until they invaded the Soul Society, destroyed entire areas and killed or wounded a large number of Soul Reapers (including Byakuya and Kenpachi). This culminated in Yamamoto battling Yhwach and losing. And as if simply winning against the old guy wasn’t enough, Yhwach incinerated his remains. Ouch.

Score: 4

Fairy Tail: The Dragon Invasion

Let’s face it; unless you’re a Time Lord or from Starfleet, trying to mess around with the fabric of time is a really bad idea. So the Princess of Fiore should really have known better when she made a gate that would allow someone to travel back 400 years into the past. When the gate was finally opened, the plan changed from ‘send someone back to kill Zeref’ to ‘oh my god there are dragons everywhere what do we do?’. Even though the gate was closed, seven dragons managed to get through and started destroying the city. Good thing there are seven Dragon Slayers on hand, although the damage may turn out to be irreversible.

Score: 3.5

 

Hindsight, thou art a heartless bitch.

Naruto: Neji’s Death

Arguably, it was at this moment that Naruto truly became a series in which anyone can die. When Obito attempted to kill Naruto, Neji threw himself in the way, stating that he saved Naruto ‘because you called me a genius’. And so, Neji’s character development arc came to a close, years after he was beaten by Naruto in the Chunin Exams.  As shocking as this turn of events was, it seems to have provided Naruto with the strength needed to stop the Uchihas once and for all.

Score: 4.5

Tearjerker

A fairly self-explanatory category. Sad moments are often needed in Shonen series, as they can show that it’s not all fun and games. Whilst not exclusive to death, most tearjerkers are related to a character dying. After all, occasionally you need a good death. Without death, there’d only be comedies. Dying gives characters size.

Bleach: Ichigo’s Farewell to Rukia

After the huge fight between Ichigo and Aizen, it became apparent that Ichigo’s victory came at a cost, namely, the loss of his Soul Reaper powers. This included his ability to see spirits and other Soul Reapers, and so he had to say one last goodbye to Rukia. Given that this chapter also included Aizen’s sentencing and Yamamoto punishing Shunsui, Byakuya and Kenpachi for losing their Captain’s Haoris, the farewell scene was surprisingly touching, with Rukia fading away as Ichigo thanked her for everything. Excuse me, I have something in my eye...

Score: 3.5

Fairy Tail: Simon’s Sacrifice

Pretty much every manga character is required to make a heroic sacrifice at some point. So when Erza jumped in front of Jellal’s attack in order to protect Natsu, it was barely a surprise. What was a surprise was when Simon jumped in front of Erza, and gave his life to save her. Given that he was arguably the only likable character in that arc, his death was made even more tragic, and his final declaration of love to Erza was equally saddening.

Score: 3

Naruto: Itachi’s Death

Even though Itachi had been hyped up to be a villain, the aftermath of Sasuke’s last fight with him proved otherwise. The revelation that he couldn’t bring himself to kill his little brother, and the fact that everything he did in his life was for Sasuke’s benefit was made all the more tragic by the fact that Sasuke learnt this after Itachi had died. That, and Itachi’s final actions and words were to apologise to his brother, saying ‘I’m sorry Sasuke, there won’t be a next time’. I’m sorry, I have something in my other eye...

Score: 4

 

And there was not a dry eye in the house.

Awesome Moments

Simply put, the moment that makes you like the series that bit more. I’m aware that awesome moments tend to be subjective, but in every series there’s at least one moment for everyone.

 

Yeah, it's something like that.

Bleach: Ichigo Saves Rukia

When Rukia was sentenced to death in the Soul Society, Ichigo decided to risk his life to save her. And save her he did. Just as she was about to be stabbed by a sword with the power of a million Zanpakutos, Ichigo showed up, blocked the sword, threw Rukia down from the execution stand, beat up three Lieutenants and fought toe-to-toe with Byakuya to allow Rukia time to escape. Considering this was only in the second arc of Bleach, it says something about how strong Ichigo really is.

Score: 4.5

Fairy Tail: Makarov vs. Acnologia

Hades has been defeated, Grimoire Heart is no more and everyone is relaxing after their fights. It’s a nice, happy moment... until a huge black dragon lands on the island and attempts to kill everyone. Even after getting pummelled by Hades, Makarov turns giant and channels Gandalf as he holds back Acnologia long enough for everyone else to escape. This is the same dragon that cost Gildarts two of his limbs and nearly killed him. Granted, Makarov’s attempted sacrifice is undercut when everyone returns to help him, but it was still epic nonetheless.

Score: 4

 

"Go back to the shadow. You shall not pass!"

Naruto: The Return of the Hokages

Rule Number 1: Don’t trust Orochimaru. For whatever reason, Sasuke always turns a blind eye to this rule, but the fact that he did gave us one of Naruto’s best moments: Orochimaru bringing back the first four Hokages so they can give the young Uchiha some much-needed exposition. In fact, Hashirama manages to do in five minutes what Naruto has been unable to do in years. With wisdom and patience alone, he manages to set Sasuke back on the right path. We’re then treated to an iconic shot of the Hokages landing on their respective rock faces as they go to join in the war. Not bad for four dead guys.

Score: 4

Humour

Sometimes, sheer awesomeness and spectacle just isn’t enough to cut it. For those times, laughter is usually what’s needed. And fortunately, some of these series are very funny indeed.

Bleach:

Bleach started off with a number of humorous moments, but as the plot got darker, the funny sections dwindled to the point of being non-existent.  Then the Fullbring arc brought the funny back, except the actual storyline was terrible. The latest arc seems to find a strange balance; being both very funny and very dark at the same time. The main source of humour comes from funny background events or amusing injuries, not wisecracks or jokes. The expressions on some character’s faces definitely cause a laugh as well.

Score: 3.5

 

Double standards at its finest.

Fairy Tail:

Fairy Tail doesn’t take itself nearly as seriously as Bleach or Naruto, so more laughs are to be expected in this series. Whether or not it lives up to this is another matter. There are a number of legitimately funny moments throughout the series, but an equal number of moments seem to purely rely on the fanservice to lighten the mood (more on that below). As a result, the humour seems to pinball between actually being funny, vaguely amusing, and not that funny when you stop focusing on the gratuitous almost-nudity.

Score: 3

Naruto:

Allow me to get this out of the way: Naruto is not funny. Sure, there are small moments that pop up through the series (Hashirama’s personality was definitely a highlight), but for the majority of the series the laughs are very few and far between. It can be said that the series suffers a bit as a result – unlike Bleach, there are no funny bits to ease the tension, and so the only way to lower the tension is to move away from the action, which no-one really wants. There are occasional laughs, but they aren’t as good as those in the other two series.

Score: 2

Fanservice

Done correctly, fanservice can be good. It provides another way to relieve the tension of a series, and it provides some eye candy for readers. However, it seems to follow a path similar to the graph shown below, in that too much of it can be a very bad thing.

 

Note that the values on the axes are arbitrary.

Bleach:

Most of the fanservice in Bleach comes from either Orihime or Rangiku, but even then there isn’t a lot of it. Most fanservice-y examples are in the art spots for the start of a chapter or volume, and very little occurs in the main body of the manga (with one or two exceptions). Honourable mention goes to Charlotte Chuhlhourne,  who manages to provide a spectacular example of fan disservice, especially when he goes into his Resurrección.

Score: 3

 

Chapter 199: The most fanservice-laden chapter in Bleach history.

Fairy Tail:

The amount of fanservice in Fairy Tail can be summed up in three words: Far. Too. Much. Almost every single chapter has at least one instance, be it from Lucy’s obligatory clothing damage, a shower scene, or an art spot at the start of the chapter. It ends up removing too much focus from the story, and the plot suffers as a result. If all fanservice panels had been cut, we’d be much further into the story by now.

Score: -2

Naruto:

In a similar vein to Bleach, Naruto has very little fanservice. Aside from Naruto’s infamous jutsu in the first few chapters, fanservice moments have all but vanished as the series goes on. This is most likely due to Naruto taking itself far more seriously than Bleach and Fairy Tail. Even though a few dashes on fanservice can be good, this series in no way suffers from the lack of fanservice.

Score: 3

The Verdict

Finally, we get to see which manga series has the most points and is therefore crowned as the best manga series. For those of you who thought ‘Too long, didn’t read’, the scores for each series are listed below in this handy table:

Category	Bleach	Fairy Tail	Naruto
Protagonist	3.5	3	4
Antagonist	4	2	5
Plot	3.5	2.5	4
Main Plot Twist	5	2	3.5
Best Fight	4.5	4	4
‘Wham’ Moment	4	3.5	4.5
Tearjerker	3.5	3	4
Awesome Moment	4.5	4	4
Humour	3.5	3	2
Fanservice	3	-2	3
Final Score (Out of 50)	39	25	38

And there you have it. In third place is Fairy Tail, with a decent score of 50%. In second place is Naruto, with a very respectable score of 76%. And just scraping past Naruto is Bleach, with a final score of 78%. We have proven (scientifically) that Bleach is the best Shonen series out of ‘the big three’. 

ClayDragon:









ClayDragon is currently studying Physics at university, and is constantly bewildered by it. The main method of contacting him is his Gmail account at kyleroulston1993@gmail.com. The alternative is his Skype account at kyleroulston1993. When not playing games or reading, he can be found with his head in his hands whilst trying in vain to understand quantum physics.