Best Action Manga of 1997

Gol D. Roger, a man referred to as the King of the Pirates, is set to be executed by the World Government. But just before his demise, he confirms the existence of a great treasure, One Piece, located somewhere within the vast ocean known as the Grand Line. Announcing that One Piece can be claimed by anyone worthy enough to reach it, the King of the Pirates is executed and the Great Age of Pirates begins. Twenty-two years later, a young man by the name of Monkey D. Luffy is ready to embark on his own adventure, searching for One Piece and striving to become the new King of the Pirates. Armed with just a straw hat, a small boat, and an elastic body, he sets out on a fantastic journey to gather his own crew and a worthy ship that will take them across the Grand Line to claim the greatest status on the high seas.

In an enormous steel labyrinth riddled with horrifying creatures, humanity is forced to isolate itself in small enclaves while living in constant fear of its annihilation. In this dystopia, only a strange young man known as Killy is brave enough to traverse its unforgiving territories. Possessing superhuman strength and a rare Graviton Beam Emitter, Killy fights off bloodthirsty beasts and other fiendish forces in his desperate search for a human with the Net Terminal Gene—genetic information that holds the potential to restore the corrupt world. The dark world of Blame! follows Killy as he meets new people, sheds more blood, and draws closer to finding the Net Terminal Gene. Through these exploits, the true nature of the world is slowly pieced together.

For centuries, many secret organizations have taken part in exterminating various types of dangerous monsters. One of them is the England-based Hellsing, run by its cunning leader, Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. Her greatest hunter, and trump card, is Alucard, an unbeatable vampire genetically modified by her father. Despite him being one of "them," he swore to be her protector and servant. A new crisis begins and with the help of Seras Victoria, his recently turned vampire partner, Alucard has to uncover the truth behind the mysterious vampire attacks. Not every human is bound to be his ally in this battle, and he will not hesitate to kill anyone who stands in his way.

In the panic surrounding a worldwide pandemic which kills 15 percent of the population and cripples many more, a secret organization, the Propater, topples the UN and seizes control of much of the world. A boy and a girl, raised in an abandoned virology research center, immune to the virus, are attacked by the Propater and escape. Twenty years later, the boy is the most powerful drug lord in South America. He aids his son from behind the scenes as he evades and eventually with the help of mercenaries from Nomad (some of them former Propater operatives) fights the Propater. As the plot develops focus shifts away from the main character and develops many sub-plots dedicated to terrorism, Human-improvement, the struggle of the developing countries and the power battles between the drug cartels and Propater. Based strongly on Gnostic mythology, all major characters are named after gnostic deities, and have analogous roles.

Red is just a normal kid living in the rural Pallet Town, when he decides to go out on his own adventure, along with his rival, Green. In this world of Pokémon, he makes many friends, humans and Pokémon alike. However, all is not well. Team Rocket is trying to capture Mew, a very rare Pokémon, and is performing experiments on other Pokémon, trying to increase their power. Red and his friends must battle against Team Rocket to stop their cruel experiments and unlock the secrets of Pokémon.

Much of the damage attributed to "Vash" is caused by the activities of bounty hunters who are after the 60,000,000,000$$ (sixty billion "double dollars") reward on Vash's head for the destruction of a city called July. Vash does not clearly remember the destruction of July, and only wants "love and peace", as he puts it; though he is a gunfighter of inhuman skill, he uses his weapons only to save lives wherever he can. As the series progresses, more is gradually learned about Vash's mysterious history and the history of the human civilization on Gunsmoke, the desert planet the series is set on. The series is often humorous in tone, but at the same time it involves very serious character development and especially in later episodes it becomes quite emotionally intense. Vash is occasionally joined by a priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who is almost as good a gunfighter as Vash himself, and later is targeted by a band of assassins known as the Gung-Ho Guns for reasons which are mysterious at first. Trigun evolves into a very serious discussion of the nature of morality, posing questions such as: What is the nature of morality? Can we judge different moral codes? If a person is forced to betray their moral code, does that betrayal invalidate that moral code, and can the person still try to live up to that moral code? Can the person find redemption from their wrongs, and if so, how?

It's nearly the end of the century, and one girl has been breaking the news: Kaitou Jeanne, a phantom thief supposedly sent by God, has been stealing paintings all around the city. Her real identity is Maron Kusakabe, a 16-year-old rhythmic gymnastics enthusiast and student at Momokuri Academy— something unknown to all, even her best friend Miyako Toudaiji, who is in charge of the police chase for Jeanne. Hidden inside the paintings Maron steals are demons sent by the demon lord, who plans to weaken God's power by having his minions possess human hearts. Assisted by the minor angel Finn Fish, it is up to Maron as the reincarnation of Jeanne d'Arc to assume her alter ego, hunt down the cursed paintings, and seal the vile demons away. However, the tough job of balancing this duty with her lonesome high school life only proves more challenging when a mysterious new phantom thief makes his appearance—Kaitou Sinbad.

Since its creation, Tougenkyou has been a place where both humans and youkai live in peace. However, following the breach of a taboo in an attempt to revive the villainous youkai Gyuumaou, the "Minus Wave" unleashes throughout the land. With this ghastly force at large, the youkai begin to lose their self-consciousness, causing them to devour the townspeople. Tasked by the Three Aspects—the messengers of the heavens—to stop Gyuumaou's resurrection and restore peace, Sanzou Genjou rounds up three old comrades, none of which resemble the definition of ordinary. Being half-human, Gokuu Son, Hakkai Cho, and Gojou Sha are the only youkai with the power and spirituality to withstand the Minus Wave. Despite being skeptical about trusting them due to their mixed blood, Sanzou heads to the west with his companions to eradicate the growing threat.

In the year 1863, a time fraught with violent social upheaval, samurai of all walks of life flock to Kyoto in the hope of joining the Mibu-Roshi—a band of warriors united around their undying loyalty to the Shogunate system. In time, this group would become one of the greatest (and most famous) movements in Japanese history... the Shinsengumi! Into this fierce milieu steps Seizaburou Kamiya, a young would-be warrior who, though lacking in combat experience, possesses a fiery enthusiasm to both aid the Mibu-Roshi in their mission and to avenge his wrongfully murdered family. One of the Mibu-Roshi's most gifted (and immature) swordsmen, the legendary Souji Okita, agrees to take Seizaburou under his wing. What no one suspects, least of all Souji, is that Seizaburou is actually a girl named Sei Tominaga in disguise!Included one-shot: Volume 45: Ooedo Shinsengumi!

Gene Starwind and his partner Jim Hawking run a small business on the backwater planet of Centinel 3. But all that changes the day that Hilda hires them for a bodyguard job. Now, thrust into a mystery they don't fully understand, they're on the run from the cops, the pirates, an angry alien, and a mysterious assassin. But they've got one thing going in their favor - they have the galaxy's most advanced ship, the Outlaw Star. Gene Starwind dreams of life as an Outlaw, and fate smiles on him as he seems to suddenly wind up with a great job. But as things go awry, and he finds himself the new owner of the fastest, most technologically advanced space ship in the galaxy. Unfortunately, it's stolen and the owners want it back... Along with his partner Jim and the lovely Melfina, Gene must fight his way across the galaxy battling pirates, aliens, and assassins as he attempts to discover the secrets of the Outlaw Star. \[Summary of Outlaw Star TV series, taken from ANN; there are significant differences between the anime and manga plots.\] *Note: Chapters 18-21 were never released in volume form, and only through magazine serialization. As of January 1999 the manga has been on an indefinite hiatus with no update on when it will be continued.*

A collection of short stories from the original Rockman universe.

In the previous "Kung-Fu Boy" series, Chinmi became the master of Kempo at Dairin temple, where he trained disciples. When they lose contact with Kyorinji, a temple of the same sect, Chinmi is dispatched to the Kanan Autonomous region to investigate. He tries to enter Kanan with Pushin, a swordmaster whom he met traveling to Kanan. But they are attacked after trying to enter Kanan and pursued by the Border Police who chase them into a waterfall. A fisherman saves them and aids their entrance into Kanan. The people of Kanan are forcibly oppressed by the government. Chinmi befriends the people and makes the big decision to free them with his Kempo. Sorabi Boru, Lieutenant of the Border Police and Jirai, the evil king of Kanan attack Chinmi...

In ancient China there exists an alternate dimension called Jusenkai, whose inhabitants, the Senkaijin, possess tremendous powers. One of them, YanLang, fled to Earth along with his rebel army after being defeated during his attempt to overthrow the Emperor. In order to capture the fugitives, the Emperor sent his elite soldiers to Earth after them. LiFang has been traveling alone to find his father’s murderer when he picks up a sick and injured man. That aloof man, TuoRen, turns out to be one of the imperial soldiers sent to earth to hunt and capture the Senkaijin rebels. While his comrades work in pairs, TuoRen prefers to be alone. That is, until the strangely powerful human, LiFang, decides to follow him on his quest…