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So, as some of you already know, I got the chance to moderate the Best and WOrst Manga of 2008-2009, featuring Manga: The Complete Guide's Jason Thompson, Deb Aoki of manga.about.com, Kai-Ming Cha of Publishers Weekly, Vertical Inc. marketing director and MangaCast writer Ed Chavez, and librarian/manga expert Eva Volin. It was an honor, and it was also a total blast.

We mostly split things up into categories, and I thought I'd share some of our conclusions (and, in rare instances, my own thoughts) on each category.

I may also have some video from the panel later, if my battery lasted a reasonable amount of time, but in the meantime...the categories!

Best Children's Manga

  • Gon
  • Cowa
  • Dinosaur's Hour
  • Happy Happy Clover
  • Fairy Idol Kanon

Best Shoujo Manga

  • Black Bird
  • Song of the Hanging Sky
    Gakuen Alice Vol 1
    Gakuen Alice Vol 1
  • Name of the Flower
  • Nightschool
  • Two Flowers for the Dragon
  • OtoMen
  • Gakuen Alice
  • High School Debut

Best Shounen Manga

  • Black Jack
  • Dororo
  • Cirque du Freak
  • Black Lagoon

Best Josei

  • minima!
  • Nightmare Inspector
  • Honey & Clover
  • Sand Chronicles

Best Seinen

  • Disappearance Diary
  • Oishinbo
  • Red Colored Elegy
  • A Drifting Life
  • REAL
  • solanin
  • PLUTO
  • 20th Century Boys (based on applause, 20th Century Boys is more popular than Pluto, so here's a Pluto picture.)
  • Astral Project

Best Adult

  • Future Lovers
  • Mr. Flower Bride
  • Lovers and Souls
  • Aqua Bless
  • Please Miss Yuri
  • Red Blinds the Foolish

WORST New Manga

  • In Odd We Trust
  • King of the Lamp
  • Ral Grad.
  • Tantric Stripfighter Trina
  • Jack Frost
  • Rosario + Vampire
  • Magic Touch

WORST Ongoing Series

  • Bobobo Bobobobo
  • Sundome (TOTALLY disagree! I'll have to see how it ends, but I think it's really interesting to watch the male lead become a stronger, more confident character-- by being dominated by a yes, compromised and broken young woman.)
  • Alice on Deadlines

BEST Ongoing Series

  • Nana (Yes!)
  • Berserk (Yes!)
  • Emma (OH GOD yes!)

Best Manga - International

  • Goong
  • Night School
  • Johnny Bunko
  • deja vu
  • Yokaiden

Most Anticipated License 2009-2010

  • Hetalia Axis Powers
  • OtoyomeGatari (by the creator of Emma)

Most Anticipated Titles

  • Moyashimon
  • Ooku
  • I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow
  • AX: a Collection of Alternative Manga
  • Kimi no Todoke

We had a really great time with the panel, and the room was jam-packed to boot, and I think it went pretty well. Thanks to the panelists, and thanks to all the attendees! As for the rest of you: do you agree or disagree with these assessments?
16 Comments
Zeouterlimits on July 23, 2009
Cirque du Freak got a best Shonen award?
 I've all the books (signed). Big series for me back in my younger days, guess I should check it out (thought it was more of a Children's manga).
 
Slightly surprised SZS didn't win anything, but oh well. Glad ye enjoyed the panel.
Izandra on July 23, 2009
Nice to see Oishinbo recognized.  I just picked that up recently, and I love it so far.  Educational manga ftw.

Super excited about the upcoming Moyashimon, and maybe one of these days I'll start Emma.  I didn't realize it was still ongoing.
sunflower on July 23, 2009
Lot of good titles there, but Mr. Flower Bride?  Seriously?  Ack.  All those yaoi titles are from the same publisher, Deux.  There was lots of yaoi out  that was good from publishers other than them.  Someone's bias is showing.  The Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy, Let Dai, Love Mode, Love Pistols, Totally Captivated, Tea for Two, Red were all released or finished in 2008, just off the top of my head.

I think Fruits Basket deserves to be under best shoujo.  It's truly an outstanding series.  The rest of my bests for shoujo, seinen, josei are in there.
Schwindelmagier on July 23, 2009
Hetaaaalllliiiaaaaa!! Yey. <3
paploo on July 23, 2009
Was In Odd We Trust all that bad? I could see reasons for the others.....
Guet on July 23, 2009
Some opinionated thoughts on this:
I agree with Berserk as one of the best ongoing manga. (If I knew how to cross out words I'd cross out "one of".)
I'm glad to see some positive marks for Pluto.
I find it odd that Black Lagoon is considered shounen (I thought it was seinen).
There was no mention of Gintama or One Piece (although truth be told I tend to follow the animated versions).
No props for Vagabond?
I'd have to disagree with Rosario + Vampire listed as one of the worst manga. It's much better than it's anime counterpart and a pretty enjoyable read.
Sonata on July 23, 2009
Bobobobo is still going on!?! that series needs to go directly to hell! lol
Baku_Sensei on July 24, 2009
What!? I've enjoyed Jack Frost thus far. Granted, I've only read vol.1, but still...
Karasu on July 24, 2009
Rosario + Vampire was slighted — it's a LOT better than the shitty shitty anime. I enjoyed it a lot … until I got bored — it's great until you catch on that it's not going anywhere.
gia on July 24, 2009
@sunflower: Alas, I hadn't been paying enough attention to yaoi in the last year to offer up any assistance on those titles. (This is exactly why I was the moderator ^_~ I would have given Ouran a best ongoing series nod, at least).
gia on July 24, 2009
@Guet: We actually talked about whether Black Lagoon was shounen or seinen, and it's actually printed in Shounen Sunday GX, so while it definitely skews older than, say, Naruto, it's still considered a "shounen," apparently.
lys on July 24, 2009
Ha, I never thought I'd see a title I enjoyed on a "Worst Manga" list, but I guess someone (everyone?) really didn't like Magic Touch.  I think it's pretty cute though, if a little uneven to start with.  I'm curious to hear some of the discussion that went on in the panel for these choices.

minima! was a nice title to see on the list.  I've seen virtually no discussion of the series online so I assumed most people weren't aware of its existence (the slooooooow slow release schedule probably doesn't help it...)  But I was more surprised it was classified as josei.  Isn't Bessatsu Friend (Peach Girl, Othello, The Wallflower, etc) a shoujo magazine?
ilikewhiterice on July 24, 2009
I don't belive Sundome is very popular but it definately doesn't deserve to be in the worst ongoing series catagory. Perversion and originality on par with Fap Note.
AgentJ on July 24, 2009
@gia: 
@ilikewhiterice said:
"
I don't belive Sundome is very popular but it definately doesn't deserve to be in the worst ongoing series catagory. Perversion and originality on par with Fap Note.
"
I totally agree. Sundome isn't a masterpiece, but it is far more interesting than a number of other manga I have read in the last two years. The same could be said about Ral Grad, though I'm not saying it was good by any means. 
sleepinghour on July 27, 2009
Glad to see both Name of the Flower and Two Flowers for the Dragon get some love; they're great shoujo titles.

@lys Yeah, minima! runs in Bessatsu Friend which is a shoujo magazine... The only title in the "josei" category which actually is josei is Honey & Clover. :P Sand Chronicles also ran in a shoujo mag (Betsucomi) and Nightmare Inspector is shounen.

Black Lagoon runs in Sunday-GX, which is a seinen magazine.
RockmanBionics on July 28, 2009
Emma is still ongoing? Now that I think about it, it was mentioned when they started it IMC that it hadn't been published outside of japan yet.
That was a good series, definetly recommendable. I've only read Vol.1 of Nana but it seems pretty sweet.

Other than those two, Berserk, Black Jack and Gakuen Alice, I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the series on these lists.
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