who doesn't love a good manga?

who doesn't get irritated by a BAD one?

who counts manga as an essential part of them?

who holds one series, one character, one manga moment close in teir heart?

who doesn't spill milk outta their nose when thinking of a HILARIOUS moment in one of their favorite series....

If your at tokyopop.com, chances are, you're in love with this sequential art, just like everyone else here. Just about everyone here has 1 common goal: to be apart of this amazing manga world.

Some of us may aim for manga stardom and therefore end up as the editor of an art magazine.

Sure, it's not what they aimed for. But chances are, as an adult, they're happier as an editor than they would be as a manga artist.

Some may become an assistant for a more talented and successful manga artist. Once again, it's not what they aimed for. But they've come very, very close to this amazing world, and pretty much ARE an manga artist since THEY effect the final product. Very good.

Some may become manga artists but die broke on the streets (scary). Some may get published, but aren't successful enough to continue their dream, and therefore hafta quit.

But every once in awhile, without ever expecting it... a new talent blooms.

You can't ever predict when it will happen. But it will. It always does. It could be you who blooms, or the person who's art you're commenting. It could be a strange person who didn't know they could draw or tell stories and has never even read "Garfield."

However, sure enough, it will always happen. It always does. And when it does, well, you've seen what the results bear...

Let me countdown a few of the most single influential manga artists right now.

(erm, they're all pretty much shojo b/c I'm such a shojo freak XD maybe I'll do a shonen one later...?)

Tavisha/Rikki Simons, Shutterbox

The great thing about Shutterbox is that it's so intelligent. Like any good book, it keeps you wondering months after you've actually finished a volume. There's always room for interpretation in this amazing fantasy series,  which makes it a gleaming gem in "no-thinking-necessary" world of shojo manga. Tokyopop calls the series a "romance/fantasy," but really, we all know the truth: It's something far too ahead of it's time to be bound by our silly story labels.

Natsuki Takaya, Fruits Basket

How can you summarize Fruits Basket? Amazing. Touching. Nostalgic... the truth is, I was a manga skeptic when I first picked up Fruits Basket. I thought the art was horrible and the characters were just too strange. But by the end of the first volume, Fruits Basket did what no other manga series could ever do: It touched my heart. Takaya's storytelling skills combined with her description of emotions is precisely why no one has been able to put this series down after 8 years. I'm positive that it's a story that will always be enjoyed by generations to come.

Ai Yazawa, NaNa/Paradise Kiss

Of course, ANY shojo fanatic cannot go far w/o talking about Miss Yazawa-sensei. Just short of a manga goddess, her art... is impeccible. Her characters? Original. Realistic. Totally believable (no manga cliches here...) And the stories...? Well, anyone who's read her stories knows that you can't fully interpret a Yazawa story until you are done reading the entire series. That's part of the reason people keep reading her stories, to see what sort of surprises are found at the ending. And trust me... whatever she has in store is worth the wait.

Thank you for reading! Comment me and I shall comment you and we shall be manga commetn buddies!! (critics ar welcome w/ open arms!!)

Thanks again!!