Here are a few more great anime and manga that didn’t make the initial cut for our “best of manga, worst of manga” master list.

Anime

ONGOING RELEASES

• Hikaru no Go (Viz): This is one of my favorite anime series of all time.

• Death Note (Viz): I’ve only seen a few episodes, but the anime seems like a great adaption. It’s even available on iTunes!
• Welcome to the NHK: This was one of my favorite shows of 2007. It’s surprisingly suspenseful for a show about a guy who’s stuck in his apartment most of the time…

TOO EMBARRASSING TO ADMIT I LIKE

• Peach Girl (FUNimation): I really loved the Peach Girl anime. I’m so ashamed! I’m a sucker for the love triangle! Sae is so evil!

• Baki the Grappler (FUNimation): Definitely not for everyone, you’ll know if it’s for you based on your reaction to this: Baki’s dad is so tough he fought a polar bear shirtless in a snowstorm.
• Girls High (Media Blasters): This sub-only release that will only appeal to fans of the manga. I love this manga (titled High School Girls)! The anime is pretty good, I swear!

CLASSIC RE-RELEASES

• Gunbuster (Bandai Visual USA, $64.99): Everyone should own Gunbuster.

• Golden Boy (Media Blasters, $19.95): Golden Boy is a unforgettable, hysterically funny classic which you should own.
• Dragon Half – Puni Pui Poemy (ADV, $19.98) Two of the craziest comedy OVAs ever in one cheap set?! This is a great!!
• Ranma 1/2 (Viz, $49.98): The first season of Ranma is the best one, and a classic! It’s now more affordable than ever.
• Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (Bandai Entertainment, $19.98) Look, don’t show Jin-Roh at a party or anything, but you should really watch it. So should I…

I HAVEN’T ACTUALLY WATCHED IT… YET

• Black Lagoon (Geneon): I’ve heard so many good things about this!

• Mushi-Shi (FUNimation): Mushi-Shi is supposed to be really great, accessible, and the episodes are stand-alone… I’ve seen part of the first one.
• Cat’s Eye (imagineAsia TV) This super-cheap, sub-only release of a much older show is really remarkable. I just haven’t seen it…
• I Shall Never Return (Media Blasters, $19.95): I just read the manga of this yaoi series! It was amazing! I’ve got to watch this!
• Zipang (Geneon): A modern warship is sent back in time to change the course of WWII, y’know, or not. I haven’t seen it.

Manga

TOP SERIES I HAVEN’T ACTUALLY READ
I know I need to read these series – they are all either critically important or historically classic. They’ll appear on other people’s end-of-year lists, but for one reason or another, I haven’t gotten around to actually reading these books yet.

1. Phoenix (Viz)
2. Buddha (Vertical, Inc.)
3. Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (Last Gasp)
4. Andromeda Stories (Vertical, Inc.)
5. To Terra (Vertical, Inc.)
6. Dr. Slump (Viz)
7. Emma (CMX)
8. Mushishi (Del Rey)
9. Drifting Classroom (Viz)
10. Hikaru no Go (Viz)

I read the first few volumes of Hikaru no Go, but fell behind. It’s one of my favorite anime series.

NOTABLE SERIES ENDING

• Iron Wok Jan (DrMaster, 27 vols.) The penultimate volume of Iron Wok Jan really knocked my socks off. I haven’t read 27 yet.

• Love Roma (Del Rey, 5 vols.) I haven’t read volume 5 yet, but I loved 1-4…
• Genshiken (Del Rey, 9 vols.) Genshiken came to an immensely satisfying conclusion.
• Kare Kano (Tokyopop, 21 vols.) I may have said the end of Kare Kano was like a knife to the face, but at least now I know how it ends.