by Tonkyhonk » Wed May 11, 2011 3:08 am (how does the copyright thing work on these sites, if i may ask? ←not meaning to report illegal, its amazing)
i never had an opportunity to read otoyomegatari before, but heard it got a huge number of enthusiastic fans. i guess its time for me to start reading it! (i always buy or peek at stores, never thought of reading whole thing on internet xD makes me feel im getting real old now.)
i checked the site a bit, let me add a bit more historical ones ive read and enjoyed from those i could find there.(might have missed some, its hard to find them with different titles in english.)
BUDDHA
you know who Buddha was
you can learn what buddhism is from this if you havent already.first 1, 2 volumes may be a bit lame to some of you, but let me assure it will get better and better.
his art may not as fancy as other comics, and you may find some of his jokes interrupting, but its his style.
without Tezuka, this artist, our manga/anime culture must not have prospered this much this day.
his another work on Hitler is excellent too, but couldnt find a link for free reading.
Rose of Versailles
maybe a bit too "shoujo" to many musculine readers out there and very old, but this is where most japanese girls learned about Marie Antoinette and French Revolution, and the european history around that time. parts of stories shown here are still played repeatedly at theatres here in japan by Takarazuka (women-only acting).
there are many other historical works by her, especially on European history. The Window of Orpheus is another outstanding work of hers that taught many Japanese about German, Austrian and Russian history in the beginning of 20th century, though i couldnt find a link for free reading.
Ouke no Monshou / Royal Emblem
aye, another a bit too "shoujo", but so many Japanese, no matter what gender, leanred about Egyptian history through this manga. believe it or not, even some famous archiologists claim so in public, and a big illustration of this manga (the artist's original drawing) is said to be decorated on the wall of Japan embassy in Egypt.
there are many inaccurate and unrealistic drawings and stories/plots, like students getting inside a newly discovered tomb first hand and taking back a piece of clay board without permissions, but if you can just ignore those, you can enjoy the drama. some names are spelled wrong in english, e.g. the pharaoh's name is supposed to be "Memphis" and his sister queen "Isis" isntead of what you see there.
(there are many more manga based on Egyptian history and more accurate, but couldnt find in english.)
Sangokushi / Romance of the Three Kingdoms
this manga is from Chinese most famous historic novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but the artist based it on a japanese rewritten novel on it, so some may differ a lot to its original texts. im pretty sure many of you know the story from games instead, so ill skip explanations. there is another comic based on the same story which i actually read first and enjoyed more, but couldnt find it in english.
Merginal
well, sorry, this isnt historical, its actually Science Fiction and fantasy, but if you enjoy historical comics, you would love this, one of our best gems. (actually another one of her work is even better, but couldnt find anywhere.) the buildings and clothings remind you of those of ancient days. the politics and beliefs shown in the story with complicated but convincing plots will give you lots of thoughts to ponder upon.
(if you like "easy-reading", you may not like it, its pretty confusing if you dont read it carefully.)
this artist is also famous for her work of mangalizing many Ray bradbury's short stories.
there is another great historic comic on T.E. Lawrence that made me learn about the conflicts in middle east and how europe messed it up, too bad it is pretty hard to find it anywhere on net.
*edit*
to parapheen on 1st page,
i could write a long essay on that, but i see you havent logged in for quite a while.
let me know if you still hang around on the forums to hear it
