Akira Toriyama makes Oricon's Top Manga-ka Poll List

[Innagadadavida]

People, this is Japan were talking about. Not America. They know the difference between "Influential Classic" and "New/Popular."

Are you sure? Because having Oda on the list tells me otherwise. And honestly, does Toriyama really belong in number 2? Dragon Ball is great, and he definitely belongs somewhere on the list, but is he really number 2 to Tezuka?

[Cowboy Dev]

People, this is Japan were talking about. Not America. They know the difference between "Influential Classic" and "New/Popular." Then again, Oda's on here...

Are you sure? Because having Oda on the list tells me otherwise. And honestly, does Toriyama really belong in number 2? Dragon Ball is great, and he definitely belongs somewhere on the list, but is he really number 2 to Tezuka?

There. I fixed my mistake.
Yes of course Toriyama deserves that spot. He has one of the most unique styles and his career and legacy have inspired three generations of future manga-ka and billions of other people around the world... and still is.

[B]

People, this is Japan were talking about. Not America. They know the difference between "Influential Classic" and "New/Popular."

This is a pretty loaded statement. Again, Nagai's not on this list, and the man basically pioneered fanservice, if you could perceive such a thing as being possible.

[Cowboy Dev]

People, this is Japan were talking about. Not America. They know the difference between "Influential Classic" and "New/Popular."

This is a pretty loaded statement. Again, Nagai's not on this list, and the man basically pioneered fanservice, if you could perceive such a thing as being possible.

I apologise. I understand the concern of Nagai-sama missing from the list. It isn't perfect.
Anyway, about my statement, I've always been under the impression that most American anime fans just tune into Adult Swim, watch an episode of Bleach and go "That's cool I guess." Next thing you know they worship the show as the be-all, end-all of anime.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

Screw the list! Toriyama is always been the number 1 Manga-ka for me!

Osamu Tezuka is a freakin' genius, man! You should read his work (especially his later stuff, like Black Jack, Swallowing the Earth, MW, etc.). He is "The God of Manga," truly #1!

[Herms]

Osamu Tezuka is a freakin' genius, man! You should read his work (especially his later stuff, like Black Jack, Swallowing the Earth, MW, etc.). He is "The God of Manga," truly #1!

Don't forget Phoenix, The 3-Eyed One, or Buddha! And you pretty much have to mention Astro Boy, Kimba, and Ribbon Knight. There's no doubt that manga and anime as we know it today wouldn't exist without Tezuka.

Also, shouldn't Leiji Matsumoto be on here somewhere?

[Kaboom]

What's with the hate for Oda? Seriously, his work, One Piece in particular, may be classifiable as the "(relatively) new hotness," but it's not at the top of the charts and massively popular world-wide for nothing. It's a good series, he puts a lot of care,effort, and love into it, and he deserves the acclaim for that.

[Piccolo Daimaoh]

People, this is Japan were talking about. Not America. They know the difference between "Influential Classic" and "New/Popular."

This is a pretty loaded statement. Again, Nagai's not on this list, and the man basically pioneered fanservice, if you could perceive such a thing as being possible.

That is weird. Personally, I would have put both Kishimoto and Nagai on the list. As far as influential Manga go, Devilman really takes the cake.

[Chuquita]

1. Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy, Black Jack)
2. Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball, Dr. Slump)
3. Hiroshi Fujimoto & Motou Abiko (Doraemon)
4. Eiichiro Oda (One Piece)
5. Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk)
6. Shigeru Mizuki (GeGeGe no Kitaro)
7. Fujio Akatsuka (Tensai Bakabon)
8. Machiko Hasegawa (Sazae-san)
9. Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
TIE:
10. Osamu Akimoto (Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen Mae Hashutsujo)
10. Naoki Urasawa (Monster, 20th Century Boys)

I have no complaints about this list. While I haven't read/watched (#6 through #10) or heard of (#7) a few listed here, I'm still alright with it.

For some reason I want to mention "Akira" and "Fist of the North Star" because I know they both were really big, but I've never seen/watched them either so I'd be no good as a source for them.

And if I had to pick from the currently running Shounen Jump big three to stick in the list, it'd definitely be One Piece I'd choose. My personal opinion aside, it enormously outsells the other two of the three in Japan.

[Herms]

What's with the hate for Oda? Seriously, his work, One Piece in particular, may be classifiable as the "(relatively) new hotness," but it's not at the top of the charts and massively popular world-wide for nothing. It's a good series, he puts a lot of care,effort, and love into it, and he deserves the acclaim for that.

I don't think it's hate per say, it's just that this is supposed to be a list of manga artists who have "changed manga history", and simply having an extremely popular series doesn't necessarily mean you fit that requirement. Of course, by the same token you could argue that Toriyama doesn't really deserve the #2 spot.

[JulieYBM]

Aren't Oricon polls typically based on results from the public? From their perspective, then, these authors would have changed history.

Although if Go Nagai did do what he did...he really should be on here.

[Cowboy Dev]

What's with the hate for Oda? Seriously, his work, One Piece in particular, may be classifiable as the "(relatively) new hotness," but it's not at the top of the charts and massively popular world-wide for nothing. It's a good series, he puts a lot of care,effort, and love into it, and he deserves the acclaim for that.

I don't think it's hate per say, it's just that this is supposed to be a list of manga artists who have "changed manga history", and simply having an extremely popular series doesn't necessarily mean you fit that requirement. Of course, by the same token you could argue that Toriyama doesn't really deserve the #2 spot.

Again, I think Toriyama deserves his spot on the list and Oda doesn't. Not only is Dragon Ball a hit, it's fallen into the rank of classic and has inspired many. One Piece is still way too new and is mostly driving off of the fact it's extremely popular and frankly, nothing else.

[Innagadadavida]

Dragon Ball is popular and influential, but I wonder if its even been around long enough to be considered a true classic. Also, what else had Toriyama done that was as influential as Dragon Ball? His other bigger work, Dr. Slump, was a hit, but is it really influential? Is there anything that he wrote after Dragon Ball that influenced anybody?

I find it hard to believe that there's nobody more deserving of the number two spot. Tezuka has a bunch of influential works (Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba, Buddha, Pheonix), is very passionate about his work, and dipped his hands into all kinds of manga and anime production. Toriyama may have one influential manga, but he cares more about whats in-between his toes than what most consider his magnum opus.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

Osamu Tezuka is a freakin' genius, man! You should read his work (especially his later stuff, like Black Jack, Swallowing the Earth, MW, etc.). He is "The God of Manga," truly #1!

Don't forget Phoenix, The 3-Eyed One, or Buddha! And you pretty much have to mention Astro Boy, Kimba, and Ribbon Knight. There's no doubt that manga and anime as we know it today wouldn't exist without Tezuka.

Also, shouldn't Leiji Matsumoto be on here somewhere?

I haven't read any of those other series yet, except for "The Strongest Robot in History" storyline of Astro Boy (after I finishes reading Urasawa's Pluto, of course). I'm still waiting for somebody like Vertical to license The 3-Eyed One, as it was never fully translated.