Classics: Vagabond

“Focus only on the leaf, you will never see the tree. Focus only on the tree, you will never see the entire forest.”

Takehiko Inoue made himself a household name in his line of work with Slam Dunk. He would prove himself that he had more to share for us and his next working title would be Vagabond. Vagabond is yet another series that I found my brother reading, but rather this was one of the older series he found and started to read. This was around, my middle school years before he went off to college. This was the penultimate series he would read as far as I know, he hasn’t been reading anything that isn’t related to Berserk as of late.

Classics: Slam Dunk + Short Analysis on Sports manga

Truly, one of the greatest sports manga ever made

You have been reading most and if not all my classic reviews, you would learn that a lot of old manga series are discovered by me thanks to my brother’s reccomendations. If I remember well enough, this was probably his very first manga series and definitely his favorite (next to Berserk, but that takes f*cking FOREVERRRR). It was probably the very reason he took basketball with such a passion during his highschool years. Now this was a long time ago, and he always told me, firsthand to read this manga if I was ever going to read a sports manga. So now, my time has come and I finally did read this and, wow. That was one hell of an inspirational joyride.

So whats the series about anyway? Judging from the title and the fact if you knew anything about the basketball world, it’s about basketball. The story is about the Shohoku Highschool’s average basketball team that rises to one of the top schools for basketball in the nation, thanks to a team of rowdy teammates that constantly fight and annoy eachother. Spoilers! but it’s a sports manga! 

Classics: GTO-Great Teacher Onizuka Review-

“To become truly great, one has to stand with the people, not above them”~Charles de Montesquieu

(Note: No character list, just Onizuka and his awesomeness)

Great Teacher Onizuka or rather, GTO was one of few mangas I saw my brother read. Most of what my brother read, i have read as well and I have fairly enjoyed them. First manga I read thanks to my brother was Ichigo 100 which i already talked about. Then I read Vagabond and then Slam Dunk. I didn’t read Berserk because of how long it is and I plan on reading Fist of the North Star soon too. But GTO gets the spotlight for now as one of the greatest mangas I have ever read.

Eikichi Onizuka, blonde, 22 years old, ex-bike gang member, chain-smoker, 2nd rate Karate master, and most of all a virgin. Who expects a man like this to ever become a teacher? Let alone gain the title of “Great Teacher”? Onizuka spent most of his younger years with his buddy Ryuji(who shows up a few times in the manga) trying to get lucky with beautiful women but has failed in many aspects. Now 22 years old, Onizuka spends his days trying to get lucky while peeping up girls skirts. It all changes when day when a girl actually finds some interests in him. Onizuka pulls some stunts gets on “date” with the girl. It all goes well before the crucial momente at a love hotel. His attempts fail as the girl’s “boyfriend” an old and unattractive teacher happens to be the girl’s boyfriend. Seeing this, Onizuka realizes the power of the teacher over the minds of highschool girls and decides to become a teacher himself. After much hardships and finally graduating out of a shifty college he eventually gets hired by a kind old lady who happened to be a chairwoman of a private school. Standing in between his goals of becoming a teacher is the reputation from his students and his fellow teachers. The students vow to drive Onizuka out while the teachers will try to root Onizuka out as he is not a “real” teacher  Onizuka confronts his class, student per student and he is about to give them a lesson that they will NEVER forget.