2016 is finally drawing to close. It’s been a tumultuous year for me personally, with all sorts of ups and downs, but one thing at least was constant–2016 was great for manga. But before the is completely over, there’s still time for one more manga giveaway to celebrate all of the great releases. This month you all have the chance to win TadatoshiFujimaki’s first Kurkoko’s Baskestball omnibus published in English by Viz Media. And as always, the giveaway is open worldwide!
The licensing of sports manga have recently become more common; there are more, but the three major series that are currently be released are Yowamushi Pedaul by Wataru Watanabe, Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate, and Kuroko’s Basketball by Tadatoshi Fujimaki. Each series features a different sport–cycling, volleyball, and basketball respectively–but one of the many things that they have in common are the stories’ competitive natures. Competitions and tournaments provide a ready-made narrative for a series. Tournaments aren’t limited to sports manga, and not all sports manga have tournaments although most of the ones that I’ve read certainly do. When done well, tournament arcs can be very exciting events. When done poorly, they seem to drag on and seem to serve little purpose. Kuroko’s Basketball dives into it’s initial tournament game very quickly. I haven’t read much of the series yet, but so far the manga has been pretty entertaining.
So, you may be wondering, how can you a copy of Kuroko’s Basketball, Omnibus 1?
1) In the comments below, tell me a little about a favorite tournament manga or favorite manga with a tournament arc. (If you don’t have one or haven’t read any, simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).
It’s as easy as that. Everyone participating has one week to submit comments and can earn up to two entries for this giveaway. Comments can also be submitted directly to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com if needed or preferred. The comments will then be posted here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on January 4, 2017. Best of luck, and happy new year!
VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, 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: Kuroko’s Basketball Giveaway Winner
Argh, tourney manga…. I mean, for sports, I’ve really enjoyed Yowamushi Pedal this year, but for an actual competition tourney sort of thing, I’ll be cheating and saying the Yuri on Ice anime. There’s four competitions during the whole 12 eps (the Yuri vs Yuri, Cup of China, Rostelecom, and Grand Prix Final), yet the show still has room for character development and interaction (especially important as I think the character development is the main reason for the series’ rewatchability). And it has episode 10, episode 10 is amazing for other reasons. But if you want awesome routines set to good music, the anime has you covered there too. I actually don’t think it’d work well as a manga, due entirely to that. And no, I still can’t tell the difference between any of those jumps (except Axel, I learned something!). I would not mind more original anime based on sports (juggling, anyone? Please? No one cares about my obscure sport….)
Haha I’d have to say the Hikaru no Go final arc with the Hokuto Cup where Hikaru plays against Ko Yongha brilliantly in a Go match.
Another good one was the Ballroom e Yokoso arc in the latest volumes where Tatara and his dancing partner train until they finally sync up and he learns how to finally LEAD his partner (who has a strong personality and is used to leading).
I’m not really big on sports but I fell in love with ‘The Prince of Tennis’ I don’t know why but once I started reading it I couldn’t stop! Ever since then I’ve kinda loved tennis.
I’d have to say the Grand Magic Games arc of my favorite manga/anime Fairy Tail.
Another good one would have to be Yu Yu Hakusho. It had several tournament arcs. It had the the tournament for Genkai’s successor, the Dark Tournament, and the tournament for the new demon ruler.
Finally, any of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga/anime. (I don’t feel like naming off all of the tournament arcs in all of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series.)
Posted on behalf of Catherine:
I loved the tournaments in Eyeshield 21 and Slam Dunk. They both had tons of great characters, both on the heroes’ team and on rival teams (Hiruma!). The art in both is amazing. Both offer lots of comedic moments to make things more fun. And the pace never felt drawn out for the sake of serialization – even when Slam Dunk spent an entire volume on, like, two minutes of game time, everything was still moving quickly.
I’m not really big on sports but I adore Ping Pong by Taiyo Matsumoto it is amazing he is my favorite Mangaka
If we are talking about normal tournaments and sports manga…i have very soft spot for the Prince of Tennis. It’s easy and fun read with lots of memorable characters. And i like that for once the main character is actually a genius at the sport.
If we are talking about unconventional tournaments…then the Dark Tournament ark in Yu Yu Hakusho wins.
(RTed @busha69)
Happy New Year!^^
Happy New year! I absolutely adore Haikyuu! However, it was Yowamushi Pedal that allowed me to fully appreciate the sports humor, which is so exaggerated it was so adorable and funny.
Kuroko’s Basketball. I love all the match between Seirin and all prodigies Generation of Miracles. When I saw Kuroko’s determination to beat his former teammate in middle school, I overwhelmed with excitement. The most memorable tournament is the match between Seirin and Rakuzan, how powerless and desperate Seirin team makes me felt the feeling too. I hate to admit but Kuroko crying when his friend Ogiwara came to support him, I did too. I’m moved with their friendship. I can’t believe how arrogant Akashi could be but I’m applaud with his determination. I really hope all Generation of Miracles member could be a temporary team again and plays against others team with the reasons of friendly match for former Generation of Miracles. I’m really happy with the ending, they simply can’t give up their game. This manga simply tells us to never give up for anything we loves because the effort will shows even its take longer. This makes me want to buy basketball and plays with it even though I’m not an outdoor person. Its leave me with indescribable feelings.
I completely love and adore Haikyuu!! & Kuroko’s Basketball, but it was Eyeshield 21 (E21) & Crimson Hero (CH) that first showed me what the sports manga can be. I don’t care much for football, but completely enjoyed E21. It was so funny how much detail about football was thrown in and same goes for CH. I just love the team camaraderie and I sometimes miss being part of an athletic team. >_<
I haven’t delved into sports manga… yet, but this looks good.