The end of the January is drawing near, which means it’s time for the first manga giveaway of the year! In my excitement for its release, I accidentally managed to end up with two copies of the second omnibus of Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga. But my mistake is your gain—this month, you all have the opportunity two win a brand new copy of the volume! Already it’s one of my favorite manga of the year. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide.
So, where I currently live in Michigan, it has been an extremely cold and snowy winter. It’s seems oddly appropriate then that Vinland Saga, Omnibus 2, with the snowstorm on its cover, was released this season. Perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising, seeing as the series is about Vikings and all, but there’s actually quite a bit of snow in Vinland Saga. It’s not just there to look pretty or save on inking, either. Snow, and winter, has a significant impact on the story itself as battles are waged in the cold and people going about their day-to-day lives simply try to survive the elements. This got me to thinking about other manga that I’ve read in which snow plays an important role. CLAMP’s Shirahime-Syo: Snow Goddess Tales, series like Baku Yumemakura and Jiro Taniguchi’s The Summit of the Gods, and some of the stories in Yuki Urushibara’s Mushishi immediately spring to mind, but there are definitely more snowy manga out there.
So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Vinland Saga, Omnibus 2?
1) In the comments below, tell me about your favorite scene in a manga that either involved or was set in snow.
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).
It’s really that easy. For this giveaway, each person can earn up to two entries. There will be one week to submit comments. Entries may also be sent via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post them in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on February 5, 2014. Best of luck to you all!
VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.
Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Vinland Saga Giveaway Winner
Hmm, well, the first one that comes to mind for me is Fruits Basket when Tohru and Hatori have their “What does snow become? Spring!” conversation. And as I was writing this I realized I had some music stuck in my head, the second ending them to Natsume and the Book of Friends which features the cast walking through the snow, how appropriate!
https://twitter.com/WanderinDreamr/status/428522237277122560
As a fellow Michigan resident (Holland, West MI), I can commiserate as far as favorite scenes with snow took me a while to come up with one but I would go with the end of the title story in Nishi, Keiko highly unappreciated Love Song.
One of my current favorite manga series right now is Summit of the Gods, about half of which takes place on Mount Everest. I don’t know that I could narrow things down to a single favorite scene that involved snow, but Jiro Taniguchi does a FANTASTIC job of conveying all the snow/cold that are shown throughout the whole series. Absolutely gorgeous work!
1) One of the first things that comes to mind when thinking of a manga scene with snow would be chapter 71 of Maison Ikkoku, “A Message in Snow.” Godai and Mitaka fought so much over Kyoko’s attention that they both end up in the hospital. Kyoko’s still trying to sort out her feelings over both of them while visiting, when all of a sudden both guys start getting female visitors who fawn over them, making Kyoko frustrated and a bit jealous. She leaves the hospital and, in the snow right outside their window where both guys could see it, writes “IDIOTS (BAKA)” in big letters with her umbrella, and goes back home. It was just so silly that it’s something I still remember.
2) I retweeted your info about the contest to my twitter, @bunnycartoon!
My favorite scene from a manga with a snowy setting is from One Piece. It’s from the Drum Island arc(a Winter island), and involves main character, Monkey D. Luffy, protecting the sanctity of his friend’s pirate flag from cannon fire, while standing on top of a snow covered castle.
https://twitter.com/MatthewCycyk/status/428598911209467904
Ahh, can I go for an entire arc? I love the Briggs arc in Fullmetal Alchemist. If I had to go for just one scene for that entire arc, I suppose I would Ed’s fight with Captain Buccanear (geez, how do you spell his name… the bear with the mohawk.)
Hmmm, winter scene… for comedy, I remember the scene in Maison Ikkoku where Kyoko is leaving the hospital after Mitaka and Yusaku act like slobbering dogs for her attention and on her way out, she writes, in huge letters “idiots” in the snow.
For drama, can I switch to anime with Macross at the very very end? I don’t want to spoil anything there though.
Oh, thought of another one! In Palette of 12 Secret Colors, which takes place in a tropical island that gets zero snow ever, they still celebrate an X-mas like holiday. So, for the occasion, our heroine makes “snow” out of petals and there’s an awesome two page spread and everything and it just feels really magical. Might not be real snow, but the wonder is still there!
I can’t really think of anything better from my collection (I forgot what exactly happens in each title I read) but there are multiple scenes of I”s (Masakazu Katsura) that has snow in them. I remember Ichitaka trying to confess to Iori where Hachiko’s at (near the place probably.) Then in the last volume, Ichitaka saves Iori from the guy who always wanted a video tape of Iori stripping. :-/ I need to reread a lot… :(
My favorite had to be “Spring and Falsehoods” from Mushishi. Ginko looks into the case of Miharu who as fall into a coma like sleep during winter and doesn’t wake up until spring after finding a false spring like area in the middle of the winter snow.
My favorite snow scene is in Aria, Volume 2, Navigation 06: “Snow Bug”. The series is a calm, reflective, and inspiring slice-of-life story about a gondolier in Neo Venezia, a future utopia. The series always warms my heart and soul. In the chapter, the protagonist Akari is getting ready for the arrival of winter. While gathering firewood, she makes friends with a snow bug, an insect that appear near the start of winter. The snow bug insists on following Akari around. As night falls, the snow bug joins the others in leaving to find new shelter. After a poignant farewell, Akari is surrounded by a blizzard of departing snow bugs. And then, the first snow fall begins.
Hmm, most memorable snow scene? For me, I would say it’s the Celes arc of Tsubasa, especially Fai’s back story. I thought that was one of the high points of the series, and Fai’s history is one of the most tragically memorable of all that I’ve read in manga.