What Manga are you reading?

[ich1990]

Vinland Saga vol. 1-11

While North-Western Europe is no stranger to bloodshed and war, perhaps some of the most violent years were when the Danish (vikings) took on the English on their home turf, finally subjugating the entire area after centuries of raiding and quarreling. The man to finally conquer the entire area was King Canute. But while this story does chronicle Canute the Great's rise to power, that story is just the background for a far more personal journey, that of a young viking named Thorfinn. While Thorfinn's story initially seems to be a cut-and-dried revenge sequence, it morphs into far more than that as he ages and the weight of his actions catch up with him. I won't spoil it for you, just don't be disappointed if it seems simplistic at the beginning.

This is the epitome of what I want in a manga. The characters are diverse and complicated; the politics are conniving and historically accurate; the art is meticulously drawn; the fights are brutal, intense, and strategic; and a multiplicity of viewpoints and philosophies are thrown together and shaken around, never making it clear who is really the good guy or the bad guy.

The content warning will be of no surprise to anyone familiar with the concept of vikings: this manga is incredibly violent and terrible things happen to good people. If you can get past that (or better yet, acknowledge that this sort of thing really did happen back then), it is highly recommended. 10/10.

[Cadence]

Vinland Saga vol. 1-11.

Ah, I've been meaning to read this for a long time. Your words make we want to hurry up and get around to it!

Anyway, I'm kind of late to the party, but over the past few months I've been reading Magi (and am currently through volume 9). It wasn't something I really liked at first, but has grown on me. The world building is surprisingly good and the conflict is on a larger scale than I ever expected. It's a bit predictable, but is extremely likable nonetheless. The characters are a mixed bag, but there are a few I've really come to love (Morgiana is fantastic, Ja'far is...moe), so I will be sticking with it in the future.

Amatsuki volume 13 was insane. I'd noticed it wasn't particularly well received when it came out in Japan, and was waiting for a translation to appear before I attempted slogging through it. And now I understand completely how the Japanese fans felt. This volume was...weird. Even by Amatsuki's standards. Jellyfish? Mirrors? Tooryanse? I don't even know what to think. There is an unusual amount of plot crammed into one volume and executed in a very odd way. I can't say it was bad, because it wasn't. But it was weird. It didn't do anything to kill my enthusiasm for the series, however - I'm more excited than ever for volume 14 (Tsuyukusaaaaaaaaa!!).

[MangaRocks!]

Some great stuff recently:

Two Flowers For The Dragon, a.k.a. Ryuu no Hanawazurai, vol. 7 (finally! ): I'd read the first 6 volumes of this series a little over a year ago-- even knowing that the last volume had never been published in English due to the demise of the company that had been publishing it-- because I figured that *someone* had to have translated the final volume. As it turned out, I was indeed correct that someone was translating it, but apparently I had been about a year too early to read the end, LOL! :grin: Anyway, I decided to wait to read the last vol. until the entire thing was up, and the last chapter was just released the other day, so now I finally got to read the end; and it was quite satisfying.

Bakuman vol. 10: This volume was fantastic!!

And Amatsuki chapters 73-80: LOL, yeah, now that I think about it, I guess it was a bit insane. But still as awesome as ever-- and what a cliffhanger!! Totally can't wait for more!!! :jump:

[Atria35]

Astro Boy 3-8- I did not expect the pretty dark bit about the Vietnam War. That was heartbreaking. The whole time thing... Dark and depressing, but managing to do it in a fairly kid-friendly way.

[Atria35]

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service v. 12- I've been waiting a YEAR to be able to read this baby! That's how far the printing was pushed back! I love this series. While the last story in the volume wasn't as strong as the other two (and the middle story was most definitely the strongest of the three), it still managed to really be touching and connected with a member that usually doesn't get much focus. I'm betting a few more stories going into the personal issues of the members are coming up. That's what happened the last time around with this. The first story was pretty solid, not as fun as some others. Thankfully, for the most gruesome bits I just compared it to Harvey Half-face, and it wasn't so bad. Still a little gruesome, but comparable to Harvey. The sexual content was a little odd, though. Thankfully brief. The middle story was definitely the strongest. I like seeing Karasu's powers growing and him becoming more confident with them. I'm hoping to see him and the Service go head-to-head with the ones causing spiritual mayhem pretty soon! The story managed to recall the various miscelaneous adventures of before, but with a little more focus on the vicitims this time, which gave the story some weight. I thought the two sharing dreams and comedy was pretty awesome. And the guy wasn't a pervert- bonus! Still was a fantastic addition to my collection.

And, as always, your body is their business!

Edit: Oh, yeah, read NOW v 5-6- And NOW I can be disappointed in the library having no more volumes. This was really shaping up to be terrific!

Crescent Moon v 1-6 (all)- Decent. Nothing special, but good fun.

[Vii]

I got volume 1 of Cross Game a while ago when Viz Media was having some "download our manga app and get a free volume one of your choice to download!" thing. I finally got around to reading it and...woah...
I was expecting it to be good, since I'd heard a lot of good things about it, but it was a lot better than I was expecting.
[spoiler] I thought that when Wakaba promised Ko she would go to the festival with him after swimming camp, she would just have gotten hurt and not been able to come, or better yet nothing would happen and they would go the festival. I didn't expect her to DIE. T_T [/spoiler]

[MangaRocks!]

Spice & Wolf (novel #4): To my pleasant surprise, I had no complaints at all with the handling of the faith stuff in this particular installment (in fact, considering the plot, I was actually rather impressed)-- and, IMO, it was the best novel of the series so far.


Also, Kieli (novel #6): This is the second half of the story that had been left on a cliffhanger in the previous novel. [spoiler]There are a few things I could mention about the plot-- like how interesting it was to see certain characters interacting, and etc.-- however, the one thing that really must be commented upon is that epic tease! I mean, I knew right away what Kieli had asked Harvey to promise to do, and not only was that request an absolutely perfect one , but I also loved the fact that she was bold enough to just bluntly ask it. :jump: And then came the scene where he had to keep that promise, which was again absolutely perfect... right up until a certain thing, which was so well-done that I just had to laugh.

Well played, Kabei-sensei. Wickedly well played. [/spoiler]

[Neane]

Finished 21st Century Boys.

[Atria35]

Shaman King v 6-8- Yeah, this is still pretty engaging, and I'm rather excited to continue it.

Sailor Moon v 1-3-...Where is all the character development? I'm filling in the blanks with memories of the anime from my childhood! It's still a great series, and my score is higher because of lack of monster-of-the-week filler, but this took it to the other extreme with nothing there to flesh out the characters or really make me care about all the sacrifices that they're making.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Gin no Saji chapter 36 - The puppy is so cute! And giving me massive Fury deja vu XD

I also finished Tsubasa Chronicle! I was getting nervous for how it would all end, but I thought it was a very satisfactory conclusion! Plenty confusing, but I think I got the basic gist. I just don't appreciate how parts of it seem like they'd only make sense if you already know CLAMP's other works. Well, what happens if this is your introduction to CLAMP? Anyway, I was satisfied with how the characters ended up, and now I can just try to imagine what they'd do from now on.

[Atria35]

Lady Snowblood v 1- This is off to a very strong start!

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 36: LOL, during the clean-up part, those little easter eggs of what people were finding in the background were great; and that 'snack money' thing was hilariously genius!



Dawn Of The Arcana vol. 3: Okay, the political elements and the time-arcana elements are both starting to ramp up a bit now; it should be interesting to see where this goes.



Arisa vol.'s 1-7 so far: This is an interesting series, and one I'll definitely continue following. [spoiler]I'm looking forward to the explanation of *how* the King did certain things, as well as the final reveal of who he/she really is (and how he/she is stopped, and the rest of the class de-mob-mentality'd {whoa, that was an awkward made-up word, LOL-- but you know what I mean }). Though, as for the 'who it is' question, after many "Okay, it's gotta be this person; no, it's gotta be that person; no, it really wouldn't make sense to reveal them that early..."-type twists, it appears that there's finally only one (pretty unhinged ) character who could be the current King-- though, if that really is the case, there are still some things that don't quite seem to fit yet, so I refuse to trust the only other character it could conceivably be, no matter how nice that character appears...[/spoiler]

Dengeki Daisy vol. 9: Excellent! I love how this series turns cliche's on their heads, and it did so again during this volume. Also, I couldn't stop laughing during that scene [spoiler]where Teru gets Kurosaki to chase her. Oh my gosh, that was *perfect*!!! [/spoiler]

Finally, Pandora Hearts vol. 9: Ah, this series... it always leaves me desperately wanting to read the next volume! [spoiler]Though I gotta say, Vincent is terrible! I know I've mentioned that more than once, but seriously, the guy mercilessly uses people; and, to top it all off, is quite certifiably insane. *shiver*

Anyway, though , there were some good little bits of info and development with the plot and some of the other characters, and much grinning was had on my part when Leo and Elliot appeared (though I'm still a bit worried for them, considering those ominous little hints that were dropped the last time we saw them... but I like both of their characters quite a bit, so I enjoyed seeing them again, nonetheless ). Feels like some more rather important plot points will probably be revealed in the next few chapters, too, so I can't wait for the next volume's release![/spoiler]

[Neane]

Finished the manga version of No Longer Human. I am having a hard time deciding whether the the novel or the manga is better.

[Atria35]

Lady Snowblood (compete) - That was very beautiful in many ways. I can see Lone Wolf and Cub in it (sama mangaka, no wonder!), but I enjoyed how it made its point in only 4 volumes.

[Vii]

Kimi ni Todoke - 67

Silver Spoon - 36

[Neane]

Currently reading A Falsified Romance. It is based upon Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.

[Neane]

Read volume 9 and 10 of Gunslinger Girl and volume 5 of Blood Alone.

There were a few times when I felt like throwing the manga of GG against the wall. Never thought the day would dawn when GG would cause such a reaction.

BL was still good. I seriously needed it to be after GG.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Gin no Saji chapter 37 - Vice President is so cute! X3

I started Shoukoku no Altair, which I kind of have to like on principle (I grew up in Turkey). It seems to be pretty well researched in terms of architecture and stuff, though I'm not quite sure on historical accuracy, and there's no way a native Turk could have blonde hair like Mahmut. I've only read the first two chapters, so it's still a bit early to tell if the story is any good, but I'm interested!

[Neane]

I started Shoukoku no Altair, which I kind of have to like on principle (I grew up in Turkey). It seems to be pretty well researched in terms of architecture and stuff, though I'm not quite sure on historical accuracy, and there's no way a native Turk could have blonde hair like Mahmut. I've only read the first two chapters, so it's still a bit early to tell if the story is any good, but I'm interested!

Well, it is a historical shonen political drama set in a Turkey that exists in an alternate universe, so of course there is some details that are not really accurate.

Now, if some here starts reading the hidden masterpiece that is known as Olimpos, then I will be very happy.

[Neane]

The Clover omnibus manga was very good but kinda plain in art.

[Neane]

Read Witches, it was just plain awesome.

[Kaori]

Galaxy Express 999 v. 4-5. Volume 4 had some truly great moments and is my favorite volume in the series thus far. Most notably, there was a beautiful and profound scene where Maetel holds a tiny nebula in her hands, which then allows the two leads to discuss the brevity of life and whether there is someone else looking at our own galaxy the same way. The same volume also had a chapter that caused such a strong emotional impact that it almost made me shed a tear. Volume 5, compared to the previous four, was just so-so, but I was amused by the appearance of local trains making short trips from one planet to the next and by how very closely interstellar travel in this manga resembles Japan’s present-day rail system.

[SIZE="1"]For the record, it just so happens that this is my 999th post.[/SIZE]

[seaglass27]

I had no idea there was a GE999 manga!

[the_wolfs_howl]

Gin no Saji chapter 38

Shoukoku no Altair chapters 3-4

[Atria35]

Fairy Tail v 1-13- This is right about where I had left off when I stopped reading, about... oh, 2-3 years ago. It's still very good. Unabashedly shounen and with some fantastic powers.

Fake v 1-5- Surprisingly cute, for a cop-story shounen-ai (yaoi? Not that far yet, but has gotten a bit lewd in parts). Surprising twist to the story? Dee grew up in a Catholic orphanage. Heartwarming part? Where Bikky and his gf work out their relationship.

[MangaRocks!]

I Am A Piano one shot: This was a beautiful little story, and it was very well-told (even more so considering it was only 8 pages!). Also, the art was brilliantly stylish, and I loved its use of color, as well. Easily the best one shot I've read so far!

[Neane]

Hands down, Ookami no Kuchi: Wolfsmund is one of the most depressing manga I have ever read. There's not a shred of hope in this manga.

[Neane]

Read not simple by Ono Natsume. It was great stuff.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Guys guys guys. I have started this 90's shoujo manga you may have heard of called Basara on a whim, and it is so good. It took me about two volumes to get into it but I am really, really loving it now. It is sweeping, powerful, interesting, and epic in the real sense of the word. Really fantastic stuff.

[Neane]

^The same person who made that manga also made 7 Seeds.
It is really good.