What Manga are you reading?

[AngelicTotoro]

I finished Rurouni Kenshin today, and it was fantastic!
The final fights were great, I liked the fact that all of my favorite characters were there.
[spoiler]I felt a little sad when Megumi left, and then right after that Sanosuke suddenly leaves too... Poor me, I shipped them as a couple. W'ever, I still do. [/spoiler]
Oh, also...
[spoiler]Even though I could totally see it coming, I really liked the fact that Kenshin and Karou's kid looked just like him. Kenji is a real cutie, just like his daddy. [/spoiler]
Anyway, I would have liked maybe a little more clarity with a few of the relationships, I mean I also believe in leaving stuff up to the readers imagination... but still; I don't like having to try and read between the lines a bunch. [spoiler]Aoshi and Misao basically end up together, riiight?:eyebrow:[/spoiler] I'm a super Shojo freak, I look for it in anything. It doesn't matter what genre show it is, if it has some sort of romance in it, I always end up caring about it.
(I am such a sucker. )
I did read the 7 page special 'Haru Ni Sakura', and it was nice to kinda see what happened to a few of the characters.
[spoiler]I loled when they were reading Sanosuke's letter, I actually said out loud, 'Yep, that's just like him.' (my sister was like, 'just like who??)[/spoiler]

I give the manga the same rating I gave the anime series, 10/10. ^^

[FllMtl Novelist]

Finished Pluto. I don't think I totally "got" it, so I guess I'll have to reread it sometime in the future.

[ST. Attidude]

Just finished Fushigi Yugi volume 2... Yuu Watase's expressions are as lively as ever! X) the story is kinda strange but nothing too unique.

[uc pseudonym]

I love the characters, I love the insanity, and I LOVE the names joke (won't ever get old). JBA also kept me guessing concerning the characters' ultimate outcomes until the final pages. Really good stuff.

Definitely continue on to Battle Tendency, then. When people make lists of their favorite parts, it is generally near the top. Also, while JJBA tends to have powers that are either static or change randomly, the second arc has actual development. That was something I missed in the series until Steel Ball Run, where the powers develop logically (that is, there's a progression to the insanity).

While I haven't finished 20th Century Boys yet due to money, I'm curious why you like Monster more than Urasawa's other stuff.

I'll start with genre, actually. Urasawa writes thrillers with a focus on characters; it's what he does. So you can assume there will be numerous mysteries and chapters ending with ominous moments. The characters tend to be one of the stronger elements, but I think the thriller aspect tends to pull his work down - it's interesting going through, but sometimes they feel like quick ploys to hold attention.

Monster is the series where I felt the various mysteries fed into the primary theme most strongly (recall in 20CB how many chapters were devoted to the Friend logo vs the storybook). They also struck me as more relevant because of the overall story structure. Pluto and other works have basically one core question and by the time it is answered the story is nearly done - in Monster there are answers, but the answers lead to more questions. It has the plot I felt developed the most.

It also has my favorite final segment (not necessarily conclusion). The best comparison for that is 20CB, but I guess that doesn't work for you. But the final physical conflict in Monster impressed me: no Nazi conspiracies, no dramatic arrivals, and an innocent bystander playing a major role. The series was about evil and humanity, and the ending was absolutely appropriate for a serious look at that instead of cartoon heroism.

And yes, I like it because of its ambitions. 20CB and Pluto were attempting to do different things, and comparing them is in a sense apples to oranges. But Monster was the series where I felt Urasawa was reaching furthest and I think by the time the series got past some mediocre conflicts in the first two acts, it succeeded.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

[quote="uc pseudonym (post: 1493123)"]I'll start with genre, actually. Urasawa writes thrillers with a focus on characters]This seems like a fair assessment. I'm thinking about starting a blog and opening with a post about why I like a cast like that of 20th Century Boys over that of Monster, so I won't talk about why I'm a bigger fan of its characters, but for the most part I can agree to disagree. I did forget to mention that for all the crap I gave it, it did have a pretty excellent final two volumes, so perhaps one reason people remember it so well is because of the endgame.

[Atria35]

Gakuen Alice 1-15- Somebody license this again! ><" I wanna know what happens next! MAJOR cliffhanger! I forgot how much I love this series, a little more with each volume. I really felt for Sakura in this last two, since I've also been the victim of cruel and untrue rumors.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Getter Robo

I was telling HatandClogs the other day that my tastes in anime and manga have been noticeably changing in the past year or so. I have been gravitating towards stuff that is progressively more and more insane. This is how I ended up at Getter Robo.

Do you want a manga that pits a giant combining robot against an empire of dinosaurs? Have you ever thought that you'd like one of the protagonists in the manga you're reading to be completely psychotic? Would you like to encounter such things in the pages of a manga as a half robot, half dinosaur WITH COBRAS FOR ARMS followed by MECHA TORNADOES? Like your heroes fighting evil with a stomach wound? A fan of drills? Severing of body parts both human and reptilian? If you've answered "yes" to these questions, then Getter Robo is the manga for you!

Now, I know this sounds like perfection, but there are a couple of flaws in this apparent-masterwork (can you believe it?). One of the heroes' personality shifts really drastically with no real development process worked out on the pages. In chapter 9, the art style completely changes, though this isn't necessarily a flaw. It can be a bit jarring, and, even if you grow to like the new art, it just changes back after chapter 9. That's right. For one chapter, the art is totally different. I have no idea why...maybe Go Nagai let Ken Ishikawa have a chapter to himself?

I mentioned Nagai, and this manga is one of the infamous "Father of Comics" most well-known and beloved works. It's got his distinctive character designs, which turn some people off (though, can I say, the guns, tanks and mecha are INCREDIBLY detailed), and, being a work of the 1970s, the plot isn't what you'd call groundbreaking.

But, so what? It's got giant robots cutting up dinosaurs! Come on! Read this!

[the_wolfs_howl]

Tsubasa Chronicle chapters 51-53. Are...Are they in the red light district?! x.x

[Goblinator]

Getter Robo

I was telling HatandClogs the other day that my tastes in anime and manga have been noticeably changing in the past year or so. I have been gravitating towards stuff that is progressively more and more insane. This is how I ended up at Getter Robo.

Do you want a manga that pits a giant combining robot against an empire of dinosaurs? Have you ever thought that you'd like one of the protagonists in the manga you're reading to be completely psychotic? Would you like to encounter such things in the pages of a manga as a half robot, half dinosaur WITH COBRAS FOR ARMS followed by MECHA TORNADOES? Like your heroes fighting evil with a stomach wound? A fan of drills? Severing of body parts both human and reptilian? If you've answered "yes" to these questions, then Getter Robo is the manga for you!

Now, I know this sounds like perfection, but there are a couple of flaws in this apparent-masterwork (can you believe it?). One of the heroes' personality shifts really drastically with no real development process worked out on the pages. In chapter 9, the art style completely changes, though this isn't necessarily a flaw. It can be a bit jarring, and, even if you grow to like the new art, it just changes back after chapter 9. That's right. For one chapter, the art is totally different. I have no idea why...maybe Go Nagai let Ken Ishikawa have a chapter to himself?

I mentioned Nagai, and this manga is one of the infamous "Father of Comics" most well-known and beloved works. It's got his distinctive character designs, which turn some people off (though, can I say, the guns, tanks and mecha are INCREDIBLY detailed), and, being a work of the 1970s, the plot isn't what you'd call groundbreaking.

But, so what? It's got giant robots cutting up dinosaurs! Come on! Read this!

Hello, I registered just to clear the confusion. The Getter Robo manga was written and drawn by Ken Ishikawa. Go Nagai came up with the concept but he was too busy with other projects at the time that he left everything else in the hands of Ken Ishikawa. The artstyle change is is still actually still Ken Ishikawa's style, just his late one. Every arc of the manga (original, g, go, shin, ark) were compiled and pages were added for the Getter Robo Saga version years later (contains all the getter robo arcs in one big book) to make the manga more coherent. As for the personality change, you'll probably talking about Hayato. His personality never switched. He only acted like he did because he was scared of the reptilians. Otherwise, he's the calmest member of the group usually.

Again, Go Nagai had very little to do with the Getter Robo franchise. In fact, Ken Ishikawa even left Go's company (Dynamic Pro) and went on to draw Getter Robo Go by himself in 1990. (He came back later) The plot does get pretty great in that arc, so go read it.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

Hello, I registered just to clear the confusion. The Getter Robo manga was written and drawn by Ken Ishikawa. Go Nagai came up with the concept but he was too busy with other projects at the time that he left everything else in the hands of Ken Ishikawa. The artstyle change is is still actually still Ken Ishikawa's style, just his late one. Every arc of the manga (original, g, go, shin, ark) were compiled and pages were added for the Getter Robo Saga version years later (contains all the getter robo arcs in one big book) to make the manga more coherent. As for the personality change, you'll probably talking about Hayato. His personality never switched. He only acted like he did because he was scared s***less of the reptilians. Otherwise, he's the calmest member of the group usually.

Again, Go Nagai had very little to do with the Getter Robo franchise. In fact, Ken Ishikawa even left Go's company (Dynamic Pro) and went on to draw Getter Robo Go by himself in 1990. (He came back later) The plot does get pretty great in that arc, so go read it.

I responded to your MAL message, and I will paste that response here as well:

Hey, thanks for all the info. I appreciate it.

I knew the Getter Robo franchise was really Ishikawa's in spirit, but I didn't know that it started out that way. I assumed that Nagai at least had a hand in the original manga but drifted away for the sequel series. Maybe the lack of sexual content should have been a clue that Nagai wasn't involved.

The explanation of the art style change make sense except, well, can Getter Robo really be coherent? =)

Even before he met Ryou or the Reptilians, Hayato seemed a much more volatile sort of personality than the calculating utilitarian he becomes in the second volume. I should go back and read his introduction, though, because I read chapters 1-4 a while back and then read 5-14 this past week, so I could be misremembering.

I will check out Shin and Go soon. Should I read Shin or Go first? MAL claims that Shin is next chronologically; however, Go seems to be next on your list. I can't find G, Ah(Ark?) or a completed Hien Earth Suicide, though, which is disappointing.

Again, thanks for all the information. It's nice to hear from a true mecha fan on the matter.

[Sheenar]

Just finished Chapter 11 of Silver Spoon . I've fallen in love with this series because it reminds me SO much of my coursework in the Agriculture department at my university.

[AnimeGirl]

Not too long ago I finished the Abducted by Demons Arc in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series. This....was....SCARY!!!!! I really want to read the Answer Arc for this one, kyaaah!!!

[spoiler]And it really SUCKS how Keichii died by clawing at his own throat >.<[/spoiler]

[bakura91]

Been getting alot of manga cheap from the used book store, been reading Rumiko Takahashi stuff like Ranma and Inuyasha.

[MangaRocks!]

Quite a bit recently...

Bamboo Blade, vol.'s 1-9 so far: A decent enough read; I'll go ahead and finish this one via the library as the last few vol.'s are released.

Dengeki Daisy, vol. 5: Same comments on this series as always (in other words, it's often a bit too edgy in dialogue/etc. for me to be able to freely recommend it, but otherwise it's been quite good in terms of plot and characters).

Bakuman, vol. 6: Interesting bit of drama in this volume, and a pretty nasty cliffhanger, too. As expected, this is still excellent.

Otomen, vol. 11: I really wish I could post some of this volume's best panels/lines, but that would totally spoil the hilarious moments when you actually see them in context. So I'll just content myself with saying that it's also the same as always-- in other words, irresistible! :thumb:

Also, Gin no Saji (a.k.a. Silver Spoon), chapters 11-12.

[ich1990]

I would never say that ambition is by any means bad, I mean, I just made a thread about The Tatami Galaxy trying to get people to go watch it because I would like to reward ambition, and I think Masaaki Yuasa is shows both ambition and talent in The Tatami Galaxy. I do, however, dislike the idea that both ambition and certain genres are mutually exclusive.

Not necessarily. More that ambition is harder in certain genres than others. It is hard to be original and grandiose in a genre that has been flooded with other works.

For instance, you seem to imply that if a work is a part of a popular genre it is less ambitious and therefore has less potential than a work that is not part of a popular genre. Do you then dismiss Macross and Patlabor for coming out during a time when robot shows were popular? Both shows are unique and innovative both now and when they came out, and I would still call both of them classics. I'm not saying that a school-based comedy is better than the complex thriller by any means]Nope. Macross and Patlabor were ambitious in their day. Heck. Even after decades of robot shows every once in a while a truly great one comes out (like Giant Robo). I just contend that is much harder to be ambitious when in a genre were almost everything has already been done before.

Did it set out to be a Deep Meaningful Show? I guess that depends on what you mean by ambition. Kamichu! had a ridiculous amount of creative talent go into making it an excellent show, and it shows when you watch it.

I wouldn't really call that ambitious, although I can't say for certain since I haven't seen the show. I am using the word ambitious as something that is somewhat analogous to "ground breaking" or "bites off more than it can chew, and chews it anyway".

I mean, most people when describing Baccano! mention that it is something like a blend of Highlander, The Godfather and Pulp Fiction, so it isn't necessarily "original" if you want to use the term. I absolutely love Baccano! because I love the characters, I love the plot, I love the pacing and execution of the show, regardless of our differing opinions on how deep the characters are. If Kannagi or Toradora! managed to match that level of talent and execution, I would easily love the shows just as much.

Nothing wrong with a well made show, regardless of the genre. I just think that trying to push creative limits should count for quite a bit, regardless of execution. Also, I have been limiting my criteria for "original content" to anime. If you want to expand it to all forms of entertainment then, well, Solomon said it best "there is nothing new under the sun".

I see that you're a huge fan of the film 5 Centimeters per Second, so much so that you list it as your very favorite on MAL. While the genre of depressing films about distance is pretty small in anime, would you call it ambition for Shinkai to repeat much of the same concept over again? Or would you say 5 Centimeters per Second is the perfection of the ideas originally contained within Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in Our Early Days?

Not only depressing viewpoints about friendships not very common in anime, but Shinkai's sub-section of it is pretty special. Ambitious even. 5cm Per Second is the latest and best iteration of the ideas that he has been working on throughout his career. It is both ambitious and well executed. Although Shinkai is getting close to wearing out his little niche genre.

While I never said anyone was disliking Yotsuba&!, I rarely see people calling it one of The Greatest Manga Of All Time, something I often see for Monster.

That is fair.

[SIZE="1"]
(pssst, as a side note, I want to make sure that while I enjoy discussing this, I'm not thinking less of you or anything)[/SIZE]

Likewise. My dilatory responses are entirely the product of my hectic school term.

[Htom Sirveaux]

I haven't read any manga in a long time. But I am now reading Magic Knight Rayearth, which I picked up at Otakon in a single-volume edition.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

The first volume of Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix was a fantastic read. For anyone that has read his masterpiece, Buddha, Phoenix maintains the same standard of quality. Tezuka tackles tough questions about existence here, and he even lands a hefty blow for feminism! He also manages to not only deal satisfyingly with the characters I enjoyed the most but also incorporate the characters I cared about least into a stunning and awesome ending. This is more of Tezuka at the peak of his fantasy storytelling powers.

A bit of info on the series as a whole: Phoenix is Tezuka's life's work that he sadly did not get to finish. It began publication in 1967 and the 12th and last volume was published in 1988, but Tezuka worked on the project for over forty years. It's 12 self-contained but inter-connected stories. Volume one begins at the dawn of human history (or Japanese history at the very least). Volume two picks up near the end of time and the universe. Volume three takes place a century or two after volume one, while volume four takes place a thousand years before volume two. The best way to think of it is that he makes one "past" volume and then a "future" volume, gradually getting closer and closer in time, and the final volume was meant to bridge the two time segments together. Phoenix was supposed to span the life of humankind and their universe. Again, it is terribly unfortunate that Tezuka died before completing Phoenix.

A bit earlier in this thread there was discussion about ambition. This, friends, is ambition. We'll see if the series can deliver.

[Kaori]

Vampire Princess Miyu v. 3-5. Well, this puts me halfway through the series, but I don’t have all that much to say about it; I found it to be pretty average. Volume 3 has a story that succeeded in being mildly creeply. Volume 4 is notable in that it has one story arc that carries through the entire volume instead of four short stories like most of the other volumes. Volume 5 begins with a story centering around a sakura tree and ends with a story featuring a plum blossom motif, so those stories are very pretty, especially the former. The artwork is fairly good and is Kakinouchi’s main selling point, I believe; in this series, she makes great use of light and shadow for some visually compelling moments. Overall, not outstanding but not bad; I may even finish it someday if I get an opportunity to pick up the rest of the volumes used somewhere.

Shaolin Sisters v. 1. I read this because I was wondering whether any of Kakinouchi’s other stuff is any good (she has a fairly substantial oeuvre), but I was really not impressed by it. I only read the first volume out of five, but it seems pretty shallow and cliché.

Natsume no Yuujinchou (Natsume’s Book of Friends) v. 1-2. This has the warmth of iyashikei combined with the excitement of knowing that the main character is in real danger of being eaten by youkai. As UC mentioned, Midorikawa Yuki is a mangaka who always wanted to draw fantasy but was steered by her editors into drawing school life manga when she first started her career. With that in mind, it’s very satisfying to see her being given free rein to draw all sorts of weird monsters (based on Japanese mythology).

If this were shounen, every chapter would be about a battle to the death with the monster of the day. However, since this is shoujo, we get a non-angsty, non-melodramatic focus on relationships: Natsume’s relationship with his foster family, his relationships with youkai, the relationships of youkai with his late grandmother, the relationships of youkai with other humans, the relationships between youkai. “Youkai are people, tooâ€

[MangaRocks!]

Pandora Hearts, vol. 6: Okay, this volume just cemented it-- aside from some occasional wince-worthy images (which honestly only take up about 2-3 pages per vol., and they're easily skimmed over), I really like this series.

There was some great character development this vol. in regards to [spoiler]the main character, who-- thanks to one of the two excellent new 'good-side' {...I think? Well, for now, at any rate } characters (and did I mention I really liked them? )-- finally comes to terms with a huge issue he had. And aside from that and the rest of the plot being quite good in themselves, I was also highly amused by that brilliant 'fan discussion' skit that occurs when Oz and Elliot meet. Seriously-- that was definitely one of the best (and most accurate ) parodies of a fan discussion (applicable to any fandom, BTW) that I've ever seen-- and it was done pretty naturally within the story, too. Best of all, while I obviously enjoyed this whole volume, along with its focus on the main character, right at the very end I thought "Ah, there still could have been just a bit more of Gil in it, though..." ...And then I read the first bonus page about the in-story novel series that Oz and Elliot had been discussing-- which was apparently tailor-made to parody that precise line of thought! ROTFL!! :lol:[/spoiler]

[mysngoeshere56]

Currently going through Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, volume 7. ^_^

[blkmage]

I just started reading the best manga ever and it is called Suugaku Girl (Mathematical Girl). It is a seinen romance about three characters with varying degrees of interest and skill in mathematics. Now, you might think, 'math, they had math in Summer Wars', but no, this is real math, even more than was in Q.E.D.

In addition to various topics (sequences, prime factorization, etc) which it gets into with some substance (there's a page that's just deriving the double angle formulas from rotation matrices among other things), there's some discourse on the more meta aspects of mathematics, like what variables are supposed to mean or what makes a definition a definition and why we define things.

This is my wish come true. Thank you, Japan.

[mysngoeshere56]

Started xxxHOLiC, volume 2. ^_^ Checked it out at the library.

[MasterDias]

Shingeki no Kyojin vol.'s 1-4: So, if you haven't heard of this by now, you probably will within a year or two. It was supposedly rejected by Shonen Jump originally. So the author took it to Kodansha, and its now a best-selling series in Japan. It's a dark and surprisingly compelling story. I think Claymore fans will like this (as well as fans of gritty seinen fantasies like Berserk maybe).
Also, Mikasa is awesomeness.

[Atria35]

NG Life v. 1-2- One of the more hilarious manga I've read.... ever. A teen guy remembers his past life in Pompeii.... and while he recognizes the souls of those close to him, their roles on his life are all mixed up. His rival and baby sister are now his mother and father, his best friend is now a girl (who's seriously crushing on him) and his former wife? A guy and rival for his friends' affections! Watching him deal with his lingering attraction for his wife (except he's not homosexual in the least- serious confusion on attraction ahoy!) is absolutely hilsrious, and his friends aren't about to make life easier for him!

But it also manages to be pretty heartwarming, too. All three of them loved eachother so much that they managed to come together after nearly 2000 years, and have just as deep bonds as they did then. It's a shame it's only 10 volumes long- I think this is going to be a serious contender for favorite series of mine.

[uc pseudonym]

There was a new chapter of Hunter x Hunter. You can always count on Togashi to decide the first chapter of months of hiatus is the best time to do something that doesn't make a lot of sense.

Knights just finished. Not the most dramatic of climaxes but solid overall. It was nice to read something that felt substantially different from the usual.

Shingeki no Kyojin vol.'s 1-4: So, if you haven't heard of this by now, you probably will within a year or two. It was supposedly rejected by Shonen Jump originally. So the author took it to Kodansha, and its now a best-selling series in Japan. It's a dark and surprisingly compelling story. I think Claymore fans will like this (as well as fans of gritty seinen fantasies like Berserk maybe).

As far as comparisons go, that has my interest, and upon reading the premise I realized that I've already had this recommended to me offhand. I'll try to read it when I have time.

[GeneD]

I am really close to the end of 20th Century Boys and at this point the end can't come soon enough. I am sad to say that this manga is seriously frustrating me at the moment.

Somewhere after [spoiler]Friend saved the Pope, I realised that the "good guys" in the story have pretty much accomplished nothing and this, while realistic, kinda just killed any interest I had in them. The Third Year of Friend stuff is really dragged out and feels like a chore to get through. The only interesting bit to me is Kenji's travels. I am getting tired of the "any new character = conveniently long forgotten childhood friend" shtick. I also think I got mixed up with some of the chapters or something, since I'm at a bit now that I'm sure I've read before and when it first appears I was really confused because they seemed to just skip a whole important reveal and mention it randomly in conversation. And I don't mean like the other stuff they skip and tell you later.[/spoiler]Anyway, maybe I'll reread this end part that is irritating me some day and get a better view of what's going on. Right now I just want to get it over with and move on to something else.

[Edward]

I just read the first volume of Gunslinger Girl. I have to say, it was very good, and I hope to pick up some more volumes if I can find them. I've also been reading voulume one of Gin-Tama a few chapters at a time, and it's pretty good too.

[raider~joseph]

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya....After years I finally got around to reading the manga.People have been telling me I should read it.Thought it looked stupid.I was wrong.I REAAAAALLY like it.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Legend of the Strongest Man Kurosawa volumes 1-11

He truly is the Strongest Man.

Mushishi volume 6-10 were absolutely fantastic. A great series absolutely worth your time and/or money, though it is regrettable that it is becoming difficult to find. Easily deserves its spot on my top 9 chart. Fantastic artwork.

The first Shingeki no Kyojin volume was surprisingly brutal and it was awesome. I am going to have to start a thread or something for this because this is a perfect series to have another current reading thread for. Need to go catch up on the rest of this ASAP.

[Song_of_Storms]

[font="Garamond"]
The manga I've been getting lately all follow a certain pattern... I think I've found my preferred niche. *3*

~ Natsume's Book of Friends vol. 1 - 2

Finished them~ I'm loving this series. I enjoy how it's episodic in nature. (and overall very enjoyable) Natsume has become one of my favorite series and characters. ^~^

~ Kannagi : Crazy Shrine Maiden vol. 1

I had to get this, once I (suddenly) found out it had been serialized! I adore Kannagi; it's one of the few series where I love all the main female characters. (and the main guy isn't so bad)

~ Sugar Sugar Rune! vol. 1

I love this series, and actually need to finish my collection before THEY FALL OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH!! O^O

My "local" (as in two hours away) bookstore stopped carrying "Haruka: Beyond the Steam of Time"... which means I'm going to have to buy them online. T~T [/font]