With the amount of manga that is released in English, it is easy to think that we have access to pretty much everything that Japan has to offer. However, while we have seen the release of many classic manga lately (the release of Rose of Versailles in English is particularly noteworthy), there are still plenty of mangaka whom I’d like to see more of their works released in English.
Speaking of Rose of Versailles, I’d like to see more titles from the Year 24 Group released for English speaking audiences. I’ve mentioned the Year 24 Group before but for those unfamiliar with them, the Year 24 Group are a group of female mangaka who redefined Shojo manga in the 1970s and tackled taboo subjects such as gender and sexuality in their titles. While we have seen titles such as Rose of Versailles, Heart of Thomas, Toward the Terra and more translated, I would love to see their works continue to be released in English.
I’ve spoken before about how much I love Osamu Tezuka’s manga and I’m sure it won’t surprise you to hear that I would like to see more of his works in English. Counting by Japanese volumes, I estimate that I own close to 100 volumes of Osamu Tezuka manga. However, this pales compared to his catalog of over 700 manga series and, while it appeared that Digital Manga Publishing intended to release his full catalog through their kickstarter campaigns, delays and problems within Digital Manga Publishing themselves seems to have made that possibility less likely.
Another important mangaka whom I feel has too little of their catalog available in English is Shotaro Ishinomori. Originally an assistant to Osamu Tezuka, Ishinomori was eventually given the Guinness World Record for “Most comics published by one author” with an estimated 128,000 pages of manga being drawn. His most famous series is undoubtedly Cyborg 009, a series that saw cyborg soldiers fighting against a villainous organization. It is interesting to note that Comixology licensed his catalog back in 2012 but looking at their page, it seems that the vast majority of his works have yet to see a release in English.
A few years ago, I read a delightful series named “Cross Game” written by a mangaka named Mitsuru Adachi. Despite being a sports manga (I’m not a fan of sports), the pleasant artwork and emotionally charged story engaged me from beginning to end. Unfortunately, it seems that the rest of his works are unavailable in English. This is a shame as I have heard nothing but good things about his series “Miyuki” and “Touch”.
Sazae-san is one of the most popular anime in Japan, running since 1969 and has an enormous cultural footprint. While it is unlikely that we will ever see the anime released in the West (with thousands of episodes), I would like to see the original manga by Machiko Hasegawa translated and released. Some bilingual volumes of Sazae-san have been released but the series has never seen a complete English release.
There are still so many incredibly influential mangaka that have seen little to none of their work released for English speaking audiences and I can only hope that we will see their works translated someday. Let me know your thoughts on these mangaka, their works and what other mangaka you’d like to see get more attention from English manga publishers.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!