GetBackers

I remember they used to sell like a thousand volumes of this in Borders. If I wanted a reference point to finding new things, the safest way I could put it is "find me the OPPOSITE of Getbackers." It's pretty much as much of a mindlessly pumped out cynical product as a series can get; very slick, professional art, but mostly used to emphasize full page "fanservice" (that's what kids today call tits and lady underwear, right?). Plot's neither here nor there for the most part, things are obviously made up as the story goes along, but without the grace of even the most generic 100+ volume action titles. Characters couldn't get much more stock, like, there's this "dark and mysterious" guy with a fedora and a black coat who uses little surgical knives. His name is... Raven or something? Raven McCrow? Am I describing a real character, or your roleplaying forum character you made when you were 11? FUCK GETBACKERS.

Get Backers it's a great manga, the anime adaptation fell short to caught up the spirit of the manga, the final arc is one of the best arcs i've seen, there are wonderfull new characters, back story for the known characters, epic fights, and a great ending explaining the world they live in and what the characters seek and enjoy. Overall a enjoyable manga, that shows the bonds of friendship and thrusting one another, give it a shot!

Ok everyone: take a sit and listen up. This be one of my all time fav mangas (and animes) right here-- has been since I was in middle school. But I don't rec it to everyone because of a couple reasons, so here we go:

Story: 10

I love the story, what can I say? There's action, there's comedy, there's plot twists, and some serious stuff going down. I love the supernatural powers, the inclusion of historical aspects (like WWII and witch hunting), I loved the inclusion of tarot cards (in a later arc)-- it's fantastic. A main reason I don't rec it to some of my friends who really enjoy supernatural and action genres and who I know would really enjoy the involved plot and amazing story writing, is the ecchi. If you can't handle some ecchi, you probably won't like Get Backers. No matter how great everything is, if you can't get through the bountiful panty-shots and gravity defying boobs, you won't make it through Get Backers.

Characters: 10

Holy crap, I love the characters. You learn about the characters all throughout the series, as if you were slowly becoming friends with them. While this is a supernatural and action manga/anime, I'd say the main component in Get Backers is character development. While the main characters (Ginji and Ban) seem to be pretty stereotypical characters to begin with, the more you read, the more you find out about them, the more complex they get as characters. Their relationship in particular gets more complex. If you live for slowly finding out about characters' dark pasts, then you've come to the right place. If you want immediate gratification, this isn't the manga for you.

Art: 7

I'm going to just come out and say it: the art isn't the best. It looks and feels old (which is what some people really enjoy, but I tend to avoid). Especially in the beginning of the series, the proportion is strange. Small heads on large bodies is the main thing. Kind of think CLAMP, but not that extreme. That being said, I really enjoyed watching the mangaka improve. As I continued to read the series, I really became attached to the art style. You see later the proportions become better, Ban and Ginji don't look quite as young, and the art in general undergoes an impressive transformation. All in all, it's really endearing to me (which may also be from nostalgia since this is one of my long time favorites). If you're really put off by old art, this isn't for you.

Overall: 9

If it was me just judging this based purely on my enjoyment, this series would be a 10, but I'm not. Just because this series was my cup of tea, I know it's not everyone else's. By no means is this manga perfect. Basically, if you don't mind old styled art with ecchi and moe, and love a fantastic, involved plot with supernatural and action (heavy on the supernatural), and love becoming emotionally attached to characters via character development and past unveiling (yeesss dark pasts), then this is manga for you. If you don't like just one of those traits, you may want to look else where =)

ill skip the summery since we can all read the above. Anyways 10 out of 10 best manga series ive read. The story has many connections to real life it talked about the christian bible and jesus. It talked about the story of god and his archangels in one part. It made connections with world war 2 in another part. It even has the witch hunt and many others. The art work is very unique its not like a beautiful painting like in series such as ai yori aoshi but are very detailed sketches. Many of the setting are in slums and allyways that is very hard to draw in detail and still he did an amazing work. The character are also top notch u have the two main characters Ginji and Ban. Ginji is ur tipical hero very friendly and always happy loves making friends however hes preaty stupid which actually makes him really popular to readers. Ban on the other hand is cool smart and above all cocky and arrogant. From my point of veiw ban is the coolest character ive seen in all the mangas ive read. A true god among man. To all those that saw the anime id say the manga is many times better.

I could talk about the story, the characters, even the art, but I guess my colleagues here could sum up pretty well everything I could say. One thing that I'd like to point out - and it is what really draw me to the manga - is the amount of subjects that they bring (I, myself, am re-reading the manga and I am writing down all those mentions). Do you wanna know about art? There's an arc about Van Gogh and Venus de Milo (and if you are willing to search everything they say you will have to search about Cezanne, Gaguin...). You want to know about classical music? Mozart is mentioned and the legendary violin made by Stradivarius (which is not so amazing after some researched I've done about it). There are biblical mentions, witch hunt, there is seriously too much to know about here, if you are a curious person, if you like to learn about the most random things (and you are willing to search further everything that you read in the manga) I'd recommend you to read it.

so this manga at first was like blaa with the weird looking ginji during the first few chapters but the story gets better and better as it goes on that I believe it's better than the anime (but then again, most mangas are better than the animes). anyways, the Eternal Bond arc wasn't so interesting to me at first cause I really wasn't interested in Shido's story and I thought it wasn't so important so why that big arc just for Shido's story but later I was proven wrong because of the details and the new characters that turned out to be important to the story. it really is one of the greatest manga I read so far and at first you think it's a fictional world like a lot of other mangas and animes but just like the original full metal alchemist anime, at the end they end up showing you exactly how that world links to our usual everyday world.
((spoilers alert!)) this manga didn't just show the importance of friendship (even though it did focus on that a lot) but I felt like the mangaka wanted to show his point of view on the "developed nations" and the "third world nations" as he compared the two worlds at the end. the world that created Get Backers' world represented developed nations and the Get Backers' world represented third world nations (or so I felt) when Akabane from the real world told Ginji that everyone lives with no problems or poverty while Ginji's world lives in great poverty and hardships everyday but the weird fact is that the real world has a lot of suicide cases meanwhile Ginji's world has barely any suicides and that's when Ginji thought "even though we live struggling everyday but we never thought of ourselves as being unhappy". idk but it did remind me of the differences I saw when I moved from a third world country to the US. like where I lived everyone struggles to live everyday but the suicide rates are not that high at all but in America people are living comfortably but they still commit a lot of suicide.(end spoiler)


anyways that manga is awesome and the mangaka seemed to have a mature plot line to it and not just battles all throughout it and a whole lot of different kinds of information, myths, theories, and other general knowledge throughout the arcs and you can tell the mangaka is very knowledgeable and made a lot of research for every single arc.

if you're don't have a strong heart for a lot of important facts pouring in on you at once (like I did cause it was too much feelings for me I was like akjsgdhsjkdf when all the sad stories and facts came up so close together), look up some background histories of the characters before you get to the last few volumes. I felt like the mangaka is a procrastinator since he gave us some history about the characters gradually but during the last few volumes he was like "oh shit not enough time to give the full sad stories for everyone so I'll just put them all together and make fangirls' hearts die all at once" and it was very overwhelming to me to know all the sad stories at once.

the art of the manga wasn't so good to me at first but it gets better and better and it is very extremely detailed that when I read shaman king right afterwards I was like DA FUQ IS DIS SHIT Y NO DETAILS. so I really applaud the mangaka for the great art work.

and for perverted guys: this manga is the one for you since the mangaka is a pervert and likes to draw girls naked the whole time (it was weird to me that the guys will fight with all their might but only their sleeves and occasional places on the shirts would rip while the girls miraculously rip everything while they're fighting leaving no clothes on themselves at all lol you'll like it if youre a pervert)

overall: it's one of my most favorite mangas of all time :D

I cam to Getbackers from the anime. A shoujo girl at heart I couldn't believe that my anime club was showing me this series about battling. And yes, it is a series about battling, and retrieving, and all that jazz. But at its very heart it is about relationships, and friendships, and honour.

The story follows the Getbackers, Ban and Ginji. There is an underlying sense of the story moving towards and end, with some completion in mind. Whilst there are a few episodic adventures, the stories are primarily multi-volume, intense and detailed. You learn a lot about the people, their histories, and their friendships. I found the stories related to Infinity Fortress the most interesting, and where I am up to in the manga, I think we are gearing up for a big one!

The art is.. not beautiful, but it suits the story- the topic and the pace - and it is very detailed. You get a great sense of where you are (and the story covers many, many settings). The characters are all quite distinct, no small feat given how many quite major characters are involved in the story. The facial expressions are great, and I will be honest - I love it when Ginji slips into chibi - it is completely appropriate for the character as well. The fight scenes are also well illustrated - and given all the different skills, methods, magics etc, it is really well done.

Ah character! the thing which makes or breaks or breaks a series. Here, the characters are wonderful. Ginji and Ban as our two intrepid heros are wonderfully portrayed, and I find myself cheering for them the whole time. But they are not the be-all and end-all. There are a whole host of secondary characters, all beautifully described - the volts crew, the (evil and terrifying) Dr Akabane, the other retrievers and transporters, the infinity fortress crew.. the list goes on and on. Many of them are memorable in their own right, and definitely contribute to a wonderful story.

So! Overall I highly reccommend this series. It is incredibly funny, it is cute, and it is packed with action.