Best Adventure Manga of 1998

In 16th-century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive. After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto. Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself.

"Secret treasure hoards, undiscovered wealth... mystical places, unexplored frontiers... 'The mysterious unknown.' There's magic in such words for those captivated by its spell. They are called 'Hunters'!" Gon Freecss wants to become a Hunter so he can find his father, a man who abandoned him to pursue a life of adventure. But it's not that simple: only one in one hundred thousand can pass the Hunter Exam, and that is just the first obstacle on his journey. During the Hunter Exam, Gon befriends many other potential Hunters, such as the mysterious Killua; the revenge-driven Kurapika; and Leorio, who aims to become a doctor. There's a world of adventure and peril awaiting, and those who embrace it with open arms can become the greatest Hunters of them all!

Shamans are extraordinary individuals with the ability to communicate with ghosts, spirits, and gods, which are invisible to ordinary people. The Shaman Fight—a prestigious tournament pitting shamans from all over the world against each other—is held every five hundred years, where the winner is crowned Shaman King. This title allows the current incumbent to call upon the Great Spirit and shape the world as they see fit. Finding himself late for class one night, Manta Oyamada, an ordinary middle school student, decides to take a shortcut through the local cemetery. Noticing him, a lone boy sitting on a gravestone invites Manta to stargaze with "them." Realizing that "them" refers to the boy and his ghostly friends, Manta flees in terror. Later, the boy introduces himself as You Asakura, a Shaman-in-training, and demonstrates his powers by teaming up with the ghost of six-hundred-year-old samurai Amidamaru to save Manta from a group of thugs. You befriends Manta due to his ability to see spirits, and with the help of Amidamaru, they set out to accomplish You's goal of becoming the next Shaman King.Note: This entry is for the original printing of Shaman King. Please see Shaman King (Kanzenban Edition) for the chapters not included in this edition.

America in the Roaring 20s. On the surface, it's a positive, peaceful time after the violence of the Great War. But lurking in the shadows is a dark element ready to snatch that peace away. Sister Rosette Christopher, an exorcist working as a part of the Magdala Order, has a duty to fight the demons which appear and cause destruction. But along with her companion Chrno, she usually ends up causing more destruction than the demons themselves! On one particular mission, they meet a young girl with a beautiful voice named Azmaria, who is being targeted by her own stepfather. As Rosette and Chrno work to save her, more is revealed about the relationship between them. There is more to these two than meets the eye.

Rain Jewlitt, known as the Methuselah, is a spaced-out, immortal, 624-year-old man dressed in priest's clothes. He's got eternal youth and a large price on his head... put there by those questing after the secret of his immortality. Machika Balfaltin is a tomboyish, energetic 14-year-old girl who, upon the death of her grandfather, sets out to kill Methuselah, the one bounty her assassin grandfather, Zol the Grim Reaper, couldn't kill. Instead, however, Machika ends up being saved by Rain again and again from other aspiring bounty hunters attacking them both.

In this grim and realistic take on classic fairy tales, Prince Ludwig, a female corpse collector, is ordered by his father to find himself a wife more suitable than the women he often brings into the castle. Along with his servant Wilhelm, they travel across the land in search of fair maidens from classic stories in hopes of finding Ludwig a wife.

Yongbi is a bounty hunter without fear or reproach. Especially without fear, actually. Despite his greed and his penchant for drinking (fortunately shared by his faithful horse) and women, Yongbi is still a charming young man. And when a boy carrying a medallion, source of much envy, finds himself under the protection of the adventurer, those who cross their path must prepare for the worst!

There are times when the ambitious nature of human beings has led them to commit unthinkable acts against their fellow men. Red—a young boy of the Wisa Tribe—knows this all too well, having been left behind as the lone survivor after his tribe was massacred by American troops. Determined to avenge those dearest to him, Red sets out on a journey, during the course of which he encounters Ierou Itou, a Seinan War deserter who made his way to America in hopes of forgetting the people he left behind; and Angie, a young and charming prostitute who has her own share of secrets. Together with his newfound companions, Red wanders the land, seeking to hunt down those who once treated him as prey.

In this universe, Taichi is involved in a V-Pet tournament, where he is told he cannot play because the Digimon in his V-Pet isn't recognized as being a real Digimon; however, after the tournament is over, Taichi plays the winner of the tournament, a boy named Neo Saiba, and their battle ends in a tie—something that is supposed to be impossible. Later, Taichi is summoned to the Digital World by a digimon called Lord HolyAngemon, and there he meets the mysterious Digimon in his V-Pet, Zeromaru the Veedramon.Included one-shots: Volume 2: C'mon Digimon Volume 7: Frontier Generation