The world of the 80’s and 90’s mangas

               On the last decades the popularity of mangas has been sure growing on the West, with huge audience successes such as Attack on Titan, Naruto and Bleach. But the tittles that have opened the market and gave the possibility for mangas to sell that well started back on the 80’s, with the largely praised Dragon Ball series.

               Well, looking at the stories of mangas now, of course that Dragon Ball has a lot of plot fails and it may be not as interesting for teens and adults, but for the kids back at the 80’s and 90’s it was surely pretty popular. I myself watched the generation Z of the Dragon Ball anime adaptation even before I turned five, and even now I’m still fond of the series.

               Dragon Ball was first published in 1984 by the very famous Japanese magazine manga publisher: Weekly Shonen Jump – which is still a huge success in Japan, releasing most of the world acclaimed mangas. Dragon Ball tells the story of Goku, a boy that actually came from another planet, and the search for the seven dragon balls, that summons the king of the dragons, who have the ability of making any wish come true.

               Besides Dragon Ball, there are other pretty famous mangas from the past, that probably any kid from the 90’s would know: Sakura Card Captors, Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho and InuYasha – all of them with anime adaptations that were really famous on Brazilian television.

               InuYasha started being published in 1996 and Yu Yu Hakusho back in 1990, both of the manga series were published by Weekly Shonen Jump. Both stories contain magic, death and spirits on their plot, it seems like this kind of story sold well back then. Still, I’ve got to say I collect the Yu Yu Hakusho series proudly, it’s a really fun reading and if you, like me, are into nostalgic feelings, that for sure might be a good choice for you.

               Sakura Card Captors (also known as Cardcaptor Sakura, feel free to call it the way you feel more comfortable with) was published in 1996, while Sailor Moon was already published in 1992, both by Kodansha, another big and famous manga publisher. Both stories are about girls with magical powers, with intro songs for transformation and that have to battle to save the world, while having to deal with some romantic feelings. This seems like another thing that was selling really well in the past. Either way, they are both another fond memory I have from the 90’s mangas. The good part of it, is that Sakura has received a new manga series this year, with an older version of the characters and new troubles to solve – and it was already adapted to anime too, so anyone can watch it and remember the good old times.

               Last but not the least, for sure, I have to talk about the One Piece series, one of my all times favorite. One Piece started being published back in 1997 by Weekly Shonen Jump, and it is still going on until now, with 89 volumes – and I can assure you it’ll pass the line of 100 volumes before finishing. The series also was adapted into anime, which already surpasses 800 episodes.

               One Piece was ran on Cartoon Network here in Brazil, but it was not as successful as it was in other countries. Even so, the manga is the best seller ever in the world, with more than 440 million volumes sold. Crazy, right?

               The One Piece manga series is about Luffy, a boy who dreams about being the Pirate King, and his journey to find the treasure that will make his dream come true, the One Piece. The story also focuses on his crew members, their own goals and the importance of friendship. I can assure anyone that it’s way better than Pirates of the Caribbean, I swear. Though, as a collector, I would say that you have to be pretty persistent to read it since the beginning – I say that based on my experience, since I do collect One Piece. But I still love this story with all my strength. And it has a lot of girl power in it, so another good point for that.