What Manga are you reading?

[AnimeGirl]

Let's see....

"Higurashi When They Cry: Cotton Drifting Arc [Vol.2]"
My friend lended this to me 'cause it's one of her favorites and she wanted me to try it out! I was a little bit hesitant, not because it's a horror story (I like scary stories, actually), but because I heard it was sort of violence. Sure, it IS TRUE, but it wasn't as bad as I thought! (For me, Tsubasa still ranks as the most violent I've read, bloodshed wise. But Higurashi is more graphic with dead bodies). And this manga IS SCARY! The final page especially made me jump!

"Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol.1"
When I went to the bookstore to purchase some manga, I decided when I saw this "I've been putting off checking this out for way to long, I'll just buy it and read it!!" so I did, and fell in love with it! Ed is so cool!! <3

"Kimi Ni Todoke, Vol.1"
When I was at Anime Expo AX, at the "Manga Cafe" I read the entire Prologue of this, and really loved it! And finally, I decided to buy it so I could finish it, and so far it's become one of my favorites. It's cute, innocent, and sweet!

[blkmage]

I just spent the weekend reading Hoshi no Samidare / The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer. It's kind of a strange chosen ones getting supernatural powers saving the world story with a twist: the two main characters want to destroy the world themselves (hence, Lucifer, becoming the devil) after preventing the main big bad from doing it himself (using the Biscuit Hammer to smash the earth). It's a very delightful read, watching everyone growing from their unsure selves into awesome people doing awesome things.

[ich1990]

A rainy afternoon.
Radiohead plays softly.
Reading Mushishi.

Transcendent.

[AnimeGirl]

I'll be barrowing the first volume of Vampire Knight from my mom (I got it for her birthday) tonight and read it. We plan to watch the anime, but I wanna at least read the first volume so I can compare!

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]Sailor Moon Vol.15 - Act 41 - Dream 8 - Dead Moon Dream.[/color]

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Buddha Vols. 1-4 (of 8) by Osamu Tezuka

One of Tezuka's most beloved works, this historical epic is as joyfully humorous as it is quietly philosophical, as poignantly tragic as it is distinctly hopeful. As a storyteller, Tezuka is at the top of his game, flawlessly weaving together historical lore with his own creations. Dozens of wonderful characters, real and imagined, get their chance to shine brightly.

Ode to Kirihito and Dororo explore human depravity and indifference. But in Buddha much more than in the former works, Tezuka shines a light upon human goodness and challenges us to change both the way we think about the world and the way we live...just like Siddhartha himself did centuries ago.

Can't wait to read the second half!

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]Sailor Moon Vol.15 - Act 42 - Dream 9 - Earth and Moon Dream.[/color]

[AnimeGirl]

Last night I bought vol.2 of Kimi Ni Todoke and read it all the way through. I'm really loving this series! It's so cute, and a nice change from the usual manga I read.

My mom is letting me barrow from her volume 1 of Vampire Knight. I read all of the first chapter so far, and am surprised at how much I like it. When I am done, she'll lend me volume 2.

[blkmage]

So I finally finished Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and it was fantastic. I was expecting a sort of Aria-ish series, but it definitely distinguishes itself in a number of ways.

For one thing, it's a lot more bleak than Aria is. The tone of Aria is a lot closer to Yotsuba&! in the sort of discovering things every day is a happy and fun adventure way. YKK is a lot more mono no aware than Aria is and that's largely because YKK's future is a disquieting post-apocalyptic setting rather than Aria's happy-fun times colony on Mars.

The other reason for this is that YKK does the passage of time a lot better (or more, I guess) than Aria. Aria was focused on the growth of Akari as an Undine, while in YKK, years pass and we only get snapshots of various points in time. The world and characters in YKK change very noticeably since we're not with them for a contiguous amount of time and this lends itself to the sort of passing of things feeling that I mentioned above.

It's also quite different from, say, Kino's Journey or Mushi-shi, since YKK largely takes place at one location and Alpha doesn't do too much travelling. The characters that we meet are pretty much the same ones throughout the entire series, so it's not episodic in the sense that each chapter is a new adventure or something.

I can't say that there's a series that's quite like it.

[Davidizer13]

Read vols. 2 and 3 of Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka. So far, it's interesting, seeing these two influences - the whiz-bang retro sci-fi stories of Astro Boy and Urasawa's deep, heavily-plotted stories - mix together. It's doesn't feel like a perfect combination (or maybe, not yet), because they're so seemingly opposed to each other in my mind. The Urasawa part is trying to tell this serious tale of a past event and how it's affected all these characters as they go through the main plot of the story, much like 20th Century Boys, but it feels like it's being confined by its Astro Boy influence.

Part of this might be my inexperience with Tezuka and Astro Boy - besides the (brilliant) GBA beat-em-up AB:Omega Factor, which references/uses characters from almost all of Tezuka's work, I haven't seen him in action, so to speak. However, that little bit of experience makes it more interesting when characters from it or start showing up in the manga.

Less charitably, I attribute the mismatch more to the fact that the Astro Boy universe and its stories haven't aged well - nowadays, it's hard for me to take its concepts and stories seriously, because they've been gone over so many times, in works that do it even more seriously. It's a sign of how much comic book/manga storytelling has advanced since its inception, I guess.

Still, it isn't half bad; I'm really interested in seeing what Urasawa's going to do with what he's been given, and it sounds like he's got a ways to go.

Also, I read One Piece vol. 20. The Alabastra arc is coming to its conclusion, and in typical One Piece fashion, it's going to just keep piling on the absurdity/awesome as it gets there. Fortunately, this is one of the series' strengths - being to add more and more crazy characters and situations and get away with it.

[AnimeGirl]

I've started on Vampire Knight. I'm gonna watch the anime with my mom, so I wanted to read it first, so she let me barrow volume 1 (she's loving it so much she bought volume 2!). So far, after the first chapter, I am quite surprised I really like it. And the art's good.

[Atria35]

I've started on Vampire Knight. I'm gonna watch the anime with my mom, so I wanted to read it first, so she let me barrow volume 1 (she's loving it so much she bought volume 2!). So far, after the first chapter, I am quite surprised I really like it. And the art's good.

Even though I don't think the manga's anything special, the manga is better than the anime by 10.

MW vol. 1 and 2- Wow. I'm really impressed by this. I won't have a full idea of what I think about it until I finish it, but right now, I think this is really good.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Battle Angel Alita Vol. 1

90s cyber-punk universe + cyborg-on-cyborg violence + a good dose of existential thought = a win for TSD.

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]Sailor Moon Vol.16 - Act 43 - Stars 1.[/color]

[ich1990]

Browsed/Re-read Blade of the Immortal vol. 1-10

The series is pretty heavy, no denying that. But it seems to use that weight to drive philosophical inquiry or character development rather than to pummel the reader for no reason. By the end of the tenth volume, I was asking myself why I ever dropped it. Then I got to volume eleven and remembered. Yeah, that is too much. Shira, I hope Manji finishes what he started. Or, better yet, I hope Taito takes that other arm of yours followed by your head. Because I don't think I have ever met a villain I despise more.

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]Sailor Moon Vol.16 - Act 44 - Stars 2.[/color]

[Atria35]

Kaichou wa Maid-sama vol. 1- gave it a shot due to someone I know liking a lot. And.... ick. Stalking isn't cute. Blackmail isn't cute. Attempting to teach her a "lesson" about attackers isn't cute (she obviously knows what the dangers are already) and I am disgusted by the casual use of attempted rape as a method to add drama, even if she is able to kick their butts. Overall, this manga creeps me out by attempting to pass off these behaviours as 'cute', 'endearing', 'protective', and 'sweet'. No, I'm not creeped out- I'm rather sickened by it.

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]Sailor Moon Vol.16 - Act 45 - Stars 3.[/color]

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Browsed/Re-read Blade of the Immortal vol. 1-10

The series is pretty heavy, no denying that. But it seems to use that weight to drive philosophical inquiry or character development rather than to pummel the reader for no reason. By the end of the tenth volume, I was asking myself why I ever dropped it. Then I got to volume eleven and remembered. Yeah, that is too much. Shira, I hope Manji finishes what he started. Or, better yet, I hope Taito takes that other arm of yours followed by your head. Because I don't think I have ever met a villain I despise more.

Shira is a monster and shows us that those sadistic villains should never be lovable.

I still need to read volume 10. Stupid people who steal from the library...

So I read Tegami Bachi 42. Which is super awesome. You should all go read this series.[spoiler]Gauche shows us how awesome he is, so I'm imagining some more plot from here on, since we now have for Reverse, the people who took Lag's mom, and the government all for baddies! Now that Gauche is back, I'm imagining Lloyd, Thunderland, Aria, Gauche, Sullivan, and maybe Jiggy Pepper are going to come together and begin plotting. I doubt they'll include our power trio of newer Bees, but I highly doubt Sullivan showed up in 41 just to do something trivial.[/spoiler]

[AnimeGirl]

So I finished volumes 1 and 2 of Vampire Knight and am surprised...it's pretty good (so is the anime). Not what I'd call my favorite, but the concept of a school with a Day & Night class is a rather cool concept, and I love their uniforms!! ^.^ I am curious to see where this story is gong. Mom is going to buy volumes 3 and 4 so we can read it before we get disc 2 of the anime. She wants to play comparison! She's loving this series that much to view both (my mom really loves vampires XD!!!).

[That Dude]

So I finished volumes 1 and 2 of Vampire Knight and am surprised...it's pretty good (so is the anime). Not what I'd call my favorite, but the concept of a school with a Day & Night class is a rather cool concept, and I love their uniforms!! ^.^ I am curious to see where this story is gong. Mom is going to buy volumes 3 and 4 so we can read it before we get disc 2 of the anime. She wants to play comparison! She's loving this series that much to view both (my mom really loves vampires XD!!!).

You're mom sounds pretty rad. Mine is kinda "eh, whatever" about anime and manga, she thinks some are good, but really couldn't care either way.

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]Sailor Moon Vol.17 - Act 46 - Stars 4.[/color]

[Sapphy]

One Piece vol. 1

[AnimeGirl]

You're mom sounds pretty rad. Mine is kinda "eh, whatever" about anime and manga, she thinks some are good, but really couldn't care either way.

Yeah. It's my fault she loves anime XD!!! So far, VK is the only one she views both manga and anime. So far, it's the only manga she reads. As far as anime, she also likes Angelic Layer, Tsubasa Chronicles, and xxxHOLiC. AND whenever I watch Fullmetal Alchemist when I'm in the room, I see her paying attention!!!

Speaking of FMA, I bought volume 2 and read it last night! The manga is really great!!! I think I'll follow it equally as I follow the anime!

[blkmage]

So, I finished Ouran and I've come to the conclusion that I haven't really enjoyed it as much ever since the end of the ski trip arc. I've written at length about the series a few times, so I guess that's all.

[Lilac#18]

[color="Plum"]Sailor Moon Vol.17 - Act 47 - Stars 5.

Sailor Moon Vol.17 - Act 48 - Stars 6.[/color]

[blkmage]

Finished What a Wonderful World, which means that all I have left on the Asano Inio pile is the rest of Hikari no Machi (if the scanlators ever get around to finishing it) and Oyasumi Punpun. WaWW is a lot like Hikari no Machi and Sekai no Owari to Yoakemae in that it's a series of short stories, about one per chapter. It's also a bit like Nijigahara Holograph in that the characters are kind of connected, but not to the extent that it forms a single coherent narrative. It's actually kind of neat because there are transitional panels that move from the end of a chapter to the beginning of the next. As for what it's about, it's your standard Asano Inio themes involving the everyday struggle of life.

[steenajack]

Currently in the process of reading +Anima volume 4. This manga is so cute and funny! XD! And at the same time somewhat serious. I have a feeling that I'm going to REALLY enjoy this as the story gets deeper. :3!

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Buddha by Osamu Tezuka. Vols 5-8, Complete

*sniffle*

Hang on...just got something in my eye...

OK, there.

I can't add all that much to my earlier post about this series. It delivered on each and eveyr promise it made. The story-telling is remarkable. Also, I can totally see the impact this manga (and Tezuka in general) had on Urasawa. The way the characters are handled feels really similar. Ending was great; emotional even though you know it is coming. Glorious book, Read it!

[Atria35]

In between classes or during free time in class I've been pulling out Death Note - read the first 4 volumes so far. I prefer the anime version. It seems so much more dynamic than when it's on the page.