Best Artwork

[destiny4ever]

Greetings The MangaHelpers Manga Awards 2010 was concluded just a few days ago, and I'm sure all of you have had ants in your pants waiting for the results. Thanks to your nominations and votes, we now have our winners! Which manga won the award of Best Artwork? First, let us turn back the pendulum to when the Awards first began...

The nominees we had in this category were: Bleach, Berserk, D.Gray-Man, Vagabond, Tegami Bachi, Nurarihyon no Mago, Vinland Saga, Fullmetal Alchemist, Blame!, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn!, Ultra Heaven, I''s, Mahou Sensei Negima!, REAL, Umineko Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch, Claymore, Hajime no Ippo, Me and the Devil Blues, XXXHolic, Blade of the Immortal, The Breaker, Trinity Blood, Air Gear, Ao no Exorcist and Oyasumi punpun!! Bleach led the pack once again with 7 nominations, with Berserk coming in a close second with 5 nominations.

The votes were terribly close, but only the top 5 made it to the voting round. Joining Bleach and Berserk we had... Vagabond (4 nominations), Tegami Bachi (4 nominations) and Vinland Saga (3 nominations)!

Before I tell you who actually won, let me tell you what our STARs and STAFF decided! STARs is our brand new ultra-cool term for our resident Scanlators, Translators, Artists and Reviewers!!! The MangaHelpers Staff includes MangaHelpers, Global Moderators, Administrators and MH Senpai! Interestingly, both these groups of people (votes counted separately) decided that the manga with the Best Artwork is...

Spoiler

A TIE BETWEEN...
[sizept=20]VAGABOND!!![/sizept]

AND...
[sizept=20]BERSERK!!![/sizept]

​

Alright then, let's get down to business proper! So without further ado... You, the invaluable members of the MangaHelpers community (by the way, this includes both the STARs and the STAFF) have cast your votes!! And the winner of the [sizept=15]BEST ARTWORK[/sizept] category is...!!!

Spoiler

[sizept=30]VAGABOND!!![/sizept]

Congratulations to Inoue Takehiko for his breathtaking artwork in VAGABOND!! Vagabond truly deserves the title of Best Artwork, having won in all categories be it the STAFF, STARs or overall votes! You can watch a slideshow of Vagabond's great artwork here! Thank you Mr. Prince!

"Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye."
-Miyamoto Musashi​

To all the members of MangaHelpers who nominated or voted, thank you so much for your participation in this project! This project would not have been possible without you!

Till next time!

 

[Roflkopt3r]

It's such a tough choice imo. Berserk, Vagabond and Vinland Saga look so awesome each of them! Almost impossible to choose for me

I admit that D.Gray-Man and Bleach do have good styles. But imo they just cannot keep up with a monthly -or even slower- release pace and the resulting level. Vinland Saga greatly improved when it changed to a monthly release for example.

 

[zelllogan]

I don't see what D.Gray-Man & Bleach have at artword level that Air Gear or Tenjou tenge don't have. IMO, Oh!Great is as good a drawer as Kubo Tite. Bleach & D.Gray-Man are not original. It's good, even great but it's "dejà vu".

Berserk & Vinland Saga is not my cup of tea at graphical level . I gave my vote to Vagabond by default. Always Great artwork by Inoue

 

[Riku]

Bleach has a cool style, but not really that impressive or original. Also lot of focus on characters design doesn't equal to awesome art. Backgrounds in Bleach are just lacking.

D. Gray-man looks good too, but sometimes a bit messy and hard to follow. With monsters (or well, akuma), it just doesn't stand a chance with Berserk. Also I checked the newer chapters, and I don't really like the style the drawings has changed into.

Berserk look very good, but still doesn't really appeal to me too much. Few doublespread I've seen look spectacular.

Vinland Saga has terrific art, and it really helped when the serialization was changed to monthly magazine. I like the way the characters are done. However, in my personal opinion, it just doesn't match Vagabond.

Inoue is art-wise my favorite mangaka. His very realistic style is technique-wise just unbelievable. His skill with brushes is what really inspires me. It's very striking, when he strenghtenss the effect of certain scenes by using brushpen. And the brush really fits the Sengoku-era setting perfectly. Use of watercolor in his coloring is godlike, and the Vagabond mural he painted in a american comic shop just leaves me speechless.

 

[Mr. Prince]

My 2 cents for this category:

Bleach
I don't understand what people see in its artwork. It's nothing to write home about, seeing how it has diminished to the point where not just backgrounds but even basic things such as shadows (i.e. proper hatching or tones) are done in a very shallow/sloppy way.

Berserk
It is indeed one of the works with the best artwork in manga. But considering how long it takes Miura to create all of it I don't think I can give my vote to him. I adore his style but just compare what Miura has done in 20 years and what Inoue created in the same time frame. I know it's about quality and not quantity but I can't blank that fact in my voting.

D.Gray-man
Well... what's most impressive about DGM's artwork is IMO how often it reinvents itself. Some people may love that and others may miss consistency. All in all it just can't play in the same league as the other three big boys.

Vagabond
I nominated the series and I still think Inoue is one hell of an artist. - And that means not just mangaka. He started using a calligraphy brush for this series 8 or 9 years ago which is extremely difficult to master but the man did it. He stated himself that he never adds changes to his pictures, it's sink-or-swim everytime! And nevertheless he continues to create some of the most amazing and overwhelming pictures I have seen in manga.

Vinland Saga
Yukimura is another a very talented man. What I really love in Vinland Saga is the way he captures mimic (especially those wrinkled old men with their weather-beaten faces, brilliant!) and some of his architecture. Another great plus is the historical accuracy which lives in details such as clothing, dishes and tableware, etc.
I still don't see him on the same level as Miura and Inoue yet for the simple reason of experience. He debuted about 10 years ago while the other two are drawing much longer. But(!) I can definitely see him get there.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

and the Vagabond mural he painted in a american comic shop just leaves me speechless.

Wow I haven't even seen that yet, it's amazing
I think the best thing about Vagabond some of the faces actually. Kojiro really looks as awesome as the people in the story describe him, which is a rare thing for such a character in a manga imo.
The amount, quality and style of the colour panels are great as well.

I see your point about Berserk, but imo it has an incredible amount of super cool shots all over the story, even though few of them are double spreads.
Didn't you even only read the first two volumes? I don't know how much you've seen of the latest chapters, but approximately in between volume three and six, the art improves greatly. Which really is quite early given the fact that Berserk has over 30 volumes over two decades.

 

[Riku]

M(especially those wrinkled old men with their weather-beaten faces, brilliant!)

So, so true!

And yeah, I'm a really bad judge with Berserk. I've seen some of the newer art too, and it really looks splendid. Still doubt it'll ever take Inoue from my personal top place.

 

[CBlitz]

nothing can top Berserk in terms of art! Though I will admit that Vagabond does give it a hefty run for its money. Objectively I'd say they're about the same in terms of technical brilliance so it really boils down to style for me. I'll take Berserk's art simply its more appealing and has the liberty to be more creative with its imagery.

Vinland Saga is a hell of a runner-up though. It probably has the most dynamic art but that's something else. No clue why DGM or Bleach are here

 

[ruggia]

I never really understood why people say Bleach art is good, so that's no.
I would have voted for D.Grayman, but it's art went down too much these days....
and I don't read Vegabond or Berserk, so my vote goes to Vinland Saga

 

[Roflkopt3r]

I never really understood why people say Bleach art is good, so that's no.
I would have voted for D.Grayman, but it's art went down too much these days....
and I don't read Vegabond or Berserk, so my vote goes to Vinland Saga

You should really take a look at Vagabond and Berserk them, they look totally awesome

One thing which I really haven't seen done any better than by Inoue, is the display of movements and agility. Swordfighting really looks incredibly graceful in Vagabond, I was very impressed:

Spoiler: Images

Old man Yagyu practicing
Takezo swinging a blade
Random panel
A portrait of young Kojiro

 

[Koen]

[koen]Please keep in mind that forum rules are still valid during these votings. Nominations have been done by the members and respect them. Try to avoid spammy one liners which don't contribute anything to the thread. These will be deleted. Take an example of Mr. Prince's, Ustegius', Cblitz' and other members' posts in which they reasonably give their opinion[/koen]

 

[Castriota]

all the art in these manga are fantastic but some can be taken with a grain of salt. my vote though, must go to bleach. even if the story telling can be kind of lax at times, the artwork on this manga is utterly fantastic. everything goes into so much detail that it is highly deserving of the title best artwork. if only the story could match the art at times and then this could be one of the best.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

all the art in these manga are fantastic but some can be taken with a grain of salt. my vote though, must go to bleach. even if the story telling can be kind of lax at times, the artwork on this manga is utterly fantastic. everything goes into so much detail that it is highly deserving of the title best artwork. if only the story could match the art at times and then this could be one of the best.

I don't mean to critise your choice as itself, but when compared to a work like Vagabond, I cannot see how Bleach could keep up in the depth of detail of all things.

I think that especially in the category of details, Vagabond and Berserk are far, far beyond anything Shounen displayed as far as I know.
Pages like this (and this is any random example) are not special, but just standard for Vagabond. It really impressed me that Inoue almost always shows a full sized full detailed background, it must be so much work!

Spoiler

Or let's take Berserk, Miura never lets out even the slightest detail of complex stuff like Guts' armor:

Spoiler

 

[Castriota]

oh no, you have every right to criticize really. bleach was just one of the first manga i actually read so it had a different impact on me you know. not saying the art isn't magnificient in those two as every manga has its day but bleach just stood out to me as a shounen with good art that can be compared to those seinen you know. but you're right, at certain parts it cannot compare.

 

[Hystzen]

saying bleach artwork sucks because of lack of background is bad reason. yea it not the best ever but it got style of characters which is its art style which people find it is successful with.

so bleach artwork is successful in the fact its priotority is characters.

and you are comparing a seinen to a shounen different age groups want different art style

then again it not the best artwork i seen

 

[doggygirl_10]

I think that Bleach is the best, personally. (D. Gray-man was second, hahaha. XD)

That is to say, the others are wonderful as well. But, to me, the details are a bit overbearing and take away from the characters, who are already somewhat bland. Kubo once said something similar, about not drawing backgrounds to put more focus on the characters, if I recall. In my opinion, just a simple lack of a background does not mean horrible art. And, when Bleach does show backgrounds they are quite amazing themselves. Plus, the characters are wonderfully designed and unique. Even if the shinigami all wear a uniform, you can still tell them apart easily. And then you have awesome effects, such as the power-ups and fight scenes.

 

[Roflkopt3r]

saying bleach artwork sucks because of lack of background is bad reason. yea it not the best ever but it got style of characters which is its art style which people find it is successful with.

To quote myself:

I don't mean to critise your choice as itself, but when compared to a work like Vagabond, I cannot see how Bleach could keep up in the depth of detail of all things.

All I said is that I disagree that Bleach has an extraordinary depth of detail, nothing more, I did not rate the overall quality nor said that it would be any bad in other areas than the amount of details.

About the backgrounds I specifically praised Vagabond, because it shows more backgrounds than any other contestant here, including Berserk and Vinland Saga. I don't know a single other manga showing that many - and so very detailled - backgrounds. It's not ment as a deficit for other manga, but as an extraordinarily good point for Vagabond.

I don't think that it takes too much focus away from the characters either, although that's a personal point. In many panels Inoue left a slight white aura around the characters, to distinguish them from the background. He did that pretty well imo, it looks really nice. Here's a really extreme example for it, usually it's smaller:
http://i576.photobucket.com/albums/ss203/T33_K3SS3LCH3N/Anime Manga/vagabond-1019746.jpg

 

[benelori]

Age groups shouldn't affect the art...of course the violence or certain details, yes...but the details of the background, of the characters, great characters are or should be independent...

 

[street_san]

I'm not going to vote in that section since I only read Bleach (yeah ima shonen-atic xD, but I'll start some of those Seinen manga, they do seem interesting)

But i just want to point something bout bleach since for me, with Fairy Tail, they are the best artwork in the Shonen category.

As some of you mention, it is true that the background of Bleach are quite basic. Nothing really spectacular. But the beauty of the art of Bleach rest in the characters design. I mean, each aspect of the character, human or hollow, are exagerate in a way that give us the possibility to understand the depth of the character, simply by looking at him. Before even hearing what he has to say, the reader is able to grasp a little bit of the philosophy of the character by his design. I don't really know how to explain this, but even though there's not a lot of text in bleach chapters, the art of each character speaks a lot, and give us, the readers, a lot information.

For me, the best artwork isn't only define by the beauty of the art or how much orgasm the image give to our eyes, but it should also be define by the essence of the image, and if that image speaks to the readers or not, and I think that Bleach succeed in that aspect

 

[Mr. Prince]

Re: Best Artwork - Vagabond

Since the Mods asked us to do so, I mashed some randomly chosen pics from my HDD together and put them together. Here is the slideshow:

http://img708.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=057m.png​

I tried to give a little overview of the variety that can be found in the masterpiece known as Vagabond. (Though I have to admit I couldn't cover all aspects of Inoue's art or I would have ended up with 30-50 pics. Especially his more abstract/experimenting stuff didn't make the cut here...)

What I tried to display was the generally high technical level of the art: atmosphere, characters, expressions, movements (fights!), backgrounds, architecture and some color pages to show how Inoue handles colors and how brilliant his sense for composition is.