What Manga are you reading?

[Vii]

Silver Spoon 78: Ask her out! Ask her out! Ask her out!

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: SHINGO GOT MARRIED?! O_O

[SierraLea]

Are there any shoujo romances with nice guys?

Dengeki Daisy. Not sure it's the nice guy you're looking for, but it's certainly not as bad as Black Bird.

[mysngoeshere56]

Currently Tsubasa Chronicle, volume 27.

[Panda4christ:3]

Full metal Alchemist omnibus 2

Decided to switch from the show XD I'm finding this more enjoyable lol

Edit: Totally forgot i also read Blue Exorcist, or at least a couple pages XD (i didn't have much time lol)
But i enjoyed it a lot :3 Definitely gonna try to read more >u<

[ClaecElric4God]

Currently Tsubasa Chronicle, volume 27.

Tsubasa! Reading for the first time? What do you think of it?

[mysngoeshere56]

Currently Tsubasa Chronicle, volume 27.

Tsubasa! Reading for the first time? What do you think of it?

It was my first time reading the whole thing all the way through; I've read some volumes multiple times on and off throughout the years though.

And, I adore it. But that didn't surprise me in the slightest. I've loved it from the start and I've always been a huge fan of CLAMP.

Now I'm on Dengeki Daisy, volume 2. The first volume was a pretty good start, so we'll see how it develops (for me, at least). It definitely has a lot of potential.

[MangaRocks!]

Got a nice group of chapters from continuing series *plus* some excellent brand-new stuff this time!


As for the continuing stuff:

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 78: LOL, Tokiwa was actually useful for once! SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (...Well, initially, anyway. ) Also, BWAHAHA at that bombshell Hachiken's brother just dropped on him (and the readers)!

Karneval "Gareki's side story" part 2: Nice wrap-up of the side story.

Taiyou no Ie chapter 23: Oh dear... SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Chi-chan's visit was pretty amusing at first, but then it quickly turned quite inappropriate (and really awkward). (Although it did go back to funny again once Hiro accidentally heard some of that conversation... ) *Ahem!* That stuff aside, Mao's visit home went pretty much exactly as I'd been expecting-- in other words, it was pretty bad between her and her dad -- although at least her step-mom was trying. All the stuff with Mao and Hiro after that was pretty adorable, though.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun chapter 42: Lots of awesome friendship in this chapter. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: And the Natsume x Sasayan stuff was so sweet, too!

And Zetsuen no Tempest chapter 26: You know, I love the fact that there can be an entire chapter here solely dedicated to SPOILER: Highlight text to read: four people standing around talking about how to find out who Yoshino's girlfriend is (the identity of whom the readers have already known for quite a long time )-- well, plus a few flashback scenes here and there-- and it's still interesting! I'm also continuing to really like Hanemura -- the way that he's so perceptive of certain things because he's looking at them from the outside made for another great deduction on his part at the end (and a great absolute-stunned-silence-in-response final panel/cliffhanger, too, LOL ).



And as for the new stuff:

Hibi Chouchou chapters 1-27 (so far): This is such a sweet manga. The main guy is very nice, and talkative enough around other guys (...unless they're bullies, in which case it'll end with them running away from him in fear, LOL! ), but is actually *very* shy of talking to girls... and the main girl was born with such extraordinary beauty that she's been both harassed and put on an unapproachable pedestal for it her entire life, with everyone but her closest family and friends seeing her only for what she looks and sounds like on the surface, eventually driving her to close herself off from nearly all expression and communication whatsoever (...though, surprisingly, she can actually be quite assertive about what she wants when she manages to get out the words ). Putting these two characters together makes for a very well-matched, but also very shy and awkward, couple. Yet, even though they're way more shy and awkward with each other (especially in terms of conversation!) than, say-- picking the nearest example I can think of here, though the personalities are different-- the main couple in Kimi ni Todoke, somehow this relationship is moving way faster than that one (and, as you might imagine, that is definitely *NOT* a complaint! ). Really, this couple is seriously adorable. Plus, all the friends of both main characters actively support them and encourage their progress, as well as try to help them gradually improve their communication abilities. And the sole 'rival' present is not only mostly comedic (though somewhat sympathetic later on), but has no hope nor chance of interfering, and (thankfully) creates no angst whatsoever. In other words, this is just a sweet and cute and innocent and adorable romance. Looking forward to the next chapter!


Also, Tenken: Whoa. This was another recommendation from Kaori, and it was fantastic! It's a one-volume indie manga which uses the legend of "Yamata no Orochi" as both its introduction and its base, the main part of the story taking place in a post-apocalyptic future. I really liked everything about it-- the brushy style of art; the interesting legend, and how it was woven into the 'real world' later on; how the monster itself was genuinely, chillingly powerful (to the point where you wonder how it could even be fought at all); the great, strong main characters, and their equally strong bond with each other; the great suspense; and, of course, the great ending! Really, it was just all-around excellent. I am so glad that One Peace Books released this here, and that Kaori alerted me to its very existence-- this book is so unknown it's criminal (seriously, only 40 people on MAL other than myself even have this on their list right now? ), when really everyone who enjoys a great story with great art should give it a read!

[the_wolfs_howl]

Silver Spoon chapter 78 (finally!) - I love how Arakawa-san takes the seemingly useless characters and makes them able to do something no one else can In FMA, it was Yoki, and now it's Tokiwa! Also, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: SHINGO GOT MARRIED?!?!?!?! a;dlkgjs;dlkfjds;lfkj *falls out of chair* That was HILARIOUS! XD

[SierraLea]

Now I'm on Dengeki Daisy, volume 2. The first volume was a pretty good start, so we'll see how it develops (for me, at least). It definitely has a lot of potential.

You're going to like it. The first volume just gets better, my friend.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck on one of the biggest cliffhanger volumes in history, Eyeshield 21 volume 35. Seriously, how could they do this to me?!

[Vii]

Silver Spoon 79:
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: "Let he among you who has never once visited an erotic site be the first to cast a stone at Nishikawa"
I died. That was perfect.

Aww, Aki got Hachiken a present.

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 42:
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Misunderstaaaandings. Normally they would annoy me, but this one is decently written and not overly dramatic, so it's alright.

Aww, Sasayan x Natsume moment.

Kimi ni Todoke 80:
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: You know, it just occurred to me; what if this series continued following Sawako and Kazehaya past high school and into college/work life? Sort of like a Clannad: After Story for Kimi ni Todoke. If it's done right, it would definitely set it apart from other shoujo romance manga, as most of them tend to end either right after a relationship is formed, or when high school ends. (Not that Kimi ni Todoke isn't set apart already...)

[Kaori]

Noel: a sweet little one-shot with stylish art and a really weird take on Santa Claus.

Boukyaku no Shirushi to Hime ch. 1: Humorous and very, very cute first chapter of a manga about a princess who falls in love with and marries a headless king.

Ozu no Kakashi Tsukai v. 1 (complete): Also cute, although I'm not very fond of the master/servant dynamic. The story is about a witch who takes a scarecrow as her familiar and gives him a human appearance, and their subsequent run-ins with other witches.

Land of Silver Rain vv. 1-7 (complete): Apparently Lee Mi Ra is a big name in manwha? I'm not sure whether Korean manwha is marketed to specific demographics the way that manga in Japan is, but it is basically a girls' comic. The art style was nice, but it was kind of painful to read until near the end, first because of all the terrible things that kept happening to the female lead, and then because of the way that she was such a jerk to the male lead who is utterly devoted to her. It did have a SPOILER: Highlight text to read: blissfully happy ending, however.

Assassination Classroom is fantastic. An overpowered alien threatens to destroy the earth in a year. But, before he does that, he offers to teach a high school class and allows them to attempt to assassinate him during that time. Also, he's a really good teacher.

Assassination Classroom (Ansatsu Kyoushitsu) ch. 1-24: When I first started reading this, I thought it was pretty awesome, but as I've read further the plot structure has been a very run-of-the-mill monster-of-the-week plot (or rather, assassin-of-the-week), with each successive assassin being stronger than the next. Although I enjoyed the humor for the first few chapters, it has sort of worn off since then, and I also really didn't appreciate the sexuality around ch. 9.

But Korosensei is a really good teacher, and I will probably keep reading to find out whether the plot develops anything beyond the humdrum assassin-of-the-week stuff.

Genkaku Picasso v. 1: This is a manga about a boy artist who is miraculously saved from an accident and subsequently has to use his drawings to help people. The way he does this is by drawing pictures of what is inside people's hearts and then going into the pictures himself. Well, with things like the topic of sadomasochism coming up, suicide attempts played for humor, and jokes about Picasso’s figure drawing book being a “pornography” book, this manga is probably not for everyone. I also am not all that fond of the way that the manga features things like S&M, nude drawings, and that sort of thing for the purpose of titillation. However, I do like some aspects of this manga a lot: its occasional meta, the psychoanalytical aspects, and the fantastical surrealist artwork. Will read more if I get an opportunity to do so.

Also, Tenken: I am so glad that One Peace Books released this here-- this book is so unknown it's criminal (seriously, only 40 people on MAL other than myself even have this on their list right now? )

Yeah, the fact that it's One Peace Books that licensed it is not particularly helping it become well-known; apparently it's only the second manga title they've ever released. Maybe if Tenkensai had been licensed by someone like Viz or Dark Horse more people would have read it just by virtue of running across it in their local bookstores and deciding to see what it's like. But I'm glad you liked it. ^^

really everyone who enjoys a great story with great art should give it a read!

Quoted for emphasis.

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 79: LOL, of course that's what they'd start complaining about. And oh my gosh the whole website thing was so funny. Also: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: "Victory!"

Kamisama Hajimemashita, a.k.a. Kamisama Kiss, chapter 77: Ah! You know, I always wondered why SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Tomoe didn't interact with (time-traveling) Nanami just after he had gotten that eye-- and now it's been explained. Nicely done. Now all that's left is to see... uh... Yukiji's end , and then what exactly it will take for Nanami to undo Tomoe's curse...

Pandora Hearts chapter 85: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Ah, interesting-- so that's what was in the box. (...Though, really, I'm just glad they found that poor page, LOL. ) Also: Oh crap... they're finally going to go through with that kill-the-hostages-to-make-Oz-come-back plan. And unless either/both Duke Barma or Oz (...and/or possibly even Ada, given that scene with her near the end?) do something very quickly, I think at least one of the hostages really will die...! Man, the wait for the next chapter... Just please, please, please don't let it be Break or Sharon!

Skip Beat! vol. 31: Some interesting stuff here with SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Ren snapping and Kyoko consequently piecing together the clues she's gathered so far in regards to Ren's hidden side/past. Also, ROTFL at the end of Lory's phone call, Sho's message, Ren's bubble bath, and that hilarious "...Are you hitting on me?" bit.

And the Ni no Hime no Monogatari one shot: Yet another Kaori recommendation , this was a great little historical-fiction/romance. The setting was good; the two main characters suited each other quite well (and shaped each other for the better over the years, too); and I also liked the realistic-yet-still-really-happy ending SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (in that, in the end, they didn't get what they had earned-- for Ninohime to rule as Queen-- but they *were* able to get what both she and Seisui truly wanted, instead-- which was a life with each other ).

[SierraLea]

I finished Eyeshield 21. I wish that series could have gone on forever! I'm really gonna miss Sena and Hiruma. I do wish we'd gotten to meet Hiruma's dad, though.

[skreyola]

I've finally gotten some new manga. I'm reading Pearl Pink vol. 3. I had forgotten what a (sort of) cliffhanger was at the end of vol. 2, so it'll be interesting to see how this turns out.

[mysngoeshere56]

Bakuman, volume 11.

[GeneD]

Speeding through a lot of The World God Only Knows to catch up with the new anime season. This weekend I strongly empathise with Keima just wanting to be left alone to do his own thing.

[Panda4christ:3]

Fullmetal Alchemist 27&28 :3

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 80: LOL at the super-secret SPOILER: Highlight text to read: teachers' party. And the praise alone for all that freshly-made-food made me hungry on the spot. Also, the phone conversation with the newest member of the family and Hachiken's reaction afterwards were adorable... and the punchline(s) that came a little after that were great, too. Also, great ending to the chapter!

Hibi Chouchou chapter 28: GAH THIS COUPLE IS JUST TOO ADORABLE~!


Kamisama Kiss, a.k.a. Kamisama Hajimemashita, chapter 98: ...Well, that was unexpected. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I'm pleasantly surprised that it looks like Yukiji's alright (...well, for *now* anyway, I mean ). And I was also pleasantly surprised at how funny the chapter was-- Tomoe was ridiculously, adorably ignorant and awkward about the whole thing, and his initial reaction to the child was priceless. And then that last page was actually really touching.


Taiyou no Ie chapter 24: LOL, this chapter was hilarious! Between the brothers' interactions with each other, Mao and Daiki being as funny together as they always are, and Daiki's reactions to the school and the people in it, I was very amused.


Natsume's Book Of Friends, a.k.a. Natsume Yuujinchou, vol. 14: Excellent as always. I loved the huge cloaked bird-thing (so cute!), and that story with the little SPOILER: Highlight text to read: girl yokai and the towel she wanted to return was nicely touching. And there were a few more interesting little hints about Natsume's grandmother sprinkled throughout the volume, as well.


The Dissociation Of Haruhi Suzumiya (novel #9): Man, the Haruhi novels have just been getting better and better! This particular one was quite fascinating in that certain things that have been building up for quite a while throughout the series seem to have begun to come to a head here with the help of a quite surprising catalyst-- SPOILER: Highlight text to read: new character Sasaki (who was, interestingly enough, a rather close middle-school friend of Kyon's...), and the revelation that she is apparently Haruhi's opposing counterpart and may in fact have somehow been the original owner of Haruhi's powers. (Which, again, keeps making me think interesting things about Kyon...) Also fascinating is the way this particular novel is structured-- once it hits a certain, seemingly-innocuous point, the story suddenly SPOILER: Highlight text to read: splits into two separate timelines, which are interwoven into the text in labeled, alternating sections. And then the end of the book actually leads straight into the next two (!) volumes (The Surprise Of Haruhi Suzumiya parts 1 & 2, though thankfully they're going to be published together as one volume over here ) without much of a pause-- so, as you can imagine, I'm *really* looking forward to Surprise.


And the Kizumonogatari novel (Monogatari series book #3): This is the prequel to Bakemonogatari, focusing on Koyomi's 'devastating' Spring Break when he SPOILER: Highlight text to read: met Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade (later known as Shinobu ) and became a vampire. Not sure why this hasn't been animated yet, as overall it's really quite important to the plot, and is referenced often besides (plus a proper understanding of some of the character interactions in the later stories really depends on knowing what happened here). Not to mention that it's just plain good on its own SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (...for example, even though I knew the characters would be alright, I actually teared up a little bit towards the end-- that's good writing). Though, granted, one of the best lines in the novel-- and it's repeated several times -- is "this is totally unsuitable for an anime" (LOL!!! ), and, indeed, some of it is (...seriously, good grief, those 'manual-remember' scenes ... and that one meal... and that last fight ... not to mention the fanservice, which in comparison to what I've seen so far of the series' anime adaptations actually appears to be more tolerable when it's animated than when it's described in text at length and in detail ... yeah, insert usual Monogatari-series content warnings/disclaimers that it's certainly not for everyone here )-- but, even so, oh my goodness do I want to see it adapted. (Movie when??? )

[Panda4christ:3]

Fullmetal alchemist 45-I am loving this series soooooo much >u< And i just realized my sister actually owns volume 12...*goes to read when she should be sleeping*

[SierraLea]

Hetalia volume 1. I cannot stand it! The art is so sloppy and undefined and it reads like a bunch of comic strips!

[Panda4christ:3]

Fullmetal Alchemist 58-60.

[MangaRocks!]

Amatsuki chapters 81-94: HOLY CRAP *FINALLY* NEW TRANSLATION SCRIPTS!!! I'm serious, I've literally been waiting for well over a year for this!! (On a cliffhanger, no less! ) And yes-- it was worth it!


SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Ha! Hashita was 'inside' (sharing bodies with) Utsubushi. And now that they're separated, the 'real' Utsubushi is an adorable little black thing. (Oh my goodness all the reactions in that chapter were funny. ) Also, nice deduction there by Toki on everyone in 'that' world all really being from the 'real' world!

There was also some great stuff with Tsuyukusa after that (and is it just me, or is he a bit nicer in bird-tree form? Plus even more totally awesome, as well, haha! ). That flashback during that section was really sad, though. (And really sweet, too, actually -- but still really sad. ) And just that little bit of dialogue from Byakuroku explained a lot. I do have to say, though, as serious as all that stuff with Tsuyukusa was, the unexpected choice of 'vessel' for him at the end there totally made me LOL. (And the Jellyfish explanation was pretty funny, as well-- plus, it's so nice to see Bonten actually laugh! )

The memory-world bit with Kanzou and Kuchiha was really good, as well. And on a sidenote, that was really smart thinking there by Toki when they were confronted by the wolves-- I didn't even think about his bite actually being a 'mark' until he mentioned it! (And regardless of whether he truly thought that or if that was just an ingenious bluff, it actually makes total sense that it really *was* just a 'mark'-- because, if the Inugami had actually been trying to kill him, it could have very easily ripped him to pieces or simply sliced clean through his neck right then and there; but, instead, it just bit deep enough to stop him from following... and to leave a permanent 'mark.' In fact, now that I think back to that particular scene and look at it in *that* light, it becomes even more interesting...)

Finally, WHOA-- I was not expecting the... uh... *original* Kon to show up there, and especially not to his... uh... other self-- I mean, all this time I thought that he had been overwritten!

...That's quite the cliffhanger. Let's just hope it won't be another year now before the translator gives us more scripts...

[Kaori]

Yowamushi Pedal v. 7 (shonen cycling manga): Rivers of sweat. Manly tears. Everything is made to be extremely exciting and intense. For example, in this volume a big deal is made of the fact that Onoda finally gets a pair of cleats (why no one had told him before now that he should use cleats is a mystery). Also, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I feel really sorry for the second-years, which of course is exactly what the mangaka was going for.

Joou no Hana [The Queen’s Flower] up to ch. 3c: I don’t know what is up with these weird chapter numbers, and I also don’t really get why everyone was telling Aki that she wasn’t allowed to go into battle and then they all changed their minds and told her she must go into battle. But anyways, this is a much more intense version of Ni no Hime no Monogatari, or rather, Ni no Hime no Monogatari is like Joou no Hana lite. Many of the plot elements, like the setting in a historical pseudo-China and the relationship between a princess and her male retainer (slave in this case) are the same. However, the political intrigue and battle tactics which we only get very briefly in Ni no Hime are developed at more length here, the story is significantly darker, and there’s occasional carnage, like in chapter 3c when SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Hakusei cuts off a guy’s arm and Aki accidentally steps on it in her confusion and fear. Also, it is not every day that you see a shojo heroine SPOILER: Highlight text to read: kill a man in order to save her guy’s life. Actually, off the top of my head I can’t think of a single other manga in which that happens, shojo or any other demographic, though it happens the other way around all the time.

Kamisama ga Uso wo Tsuku [God Lies] ch. 1-3: This is a seinen slice-of-life manga by Ozaki Kaori (the mangaka of Immortal Rain). Very, very Japanese in its attention to details of everyday life. Also sort of bittersweet, and reminiscent of Ghibli in its innocent love between pre-pubescent kids. I am not really into this sort of genre and wish that Ozaki were doing another action or sci-fi or fantasy title, particularly because her action scenes and paneling in Immortal Rain were so much cleaner and easier to follow than most action in shojo manga. However, it is really interesting to read this after reading everything else that Ozaki has done, because I can see that her ability as a mangaka has significantly improved over the course of her career. In particular, the manga has a sad and foreboding tone, and this is established not through what has happened to the characters (because nothing particularly sad has happened to them in the course of these chapters) but rather through visual and symbolic details and things happening around them.

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu [Assassination Classroom] up to chapter 36: I liked the baseball arc. Some of the other chapters have continued to have strong sexual innuendo and to be monster/assassin-of-the-week-ish, but this arc was free of Irina-sensei (except for one panel in which she was reading the baseball rulebook), and it gave the plot some much-needed variety. I also have to comment that despite what the manga says about the board chairman being a good educator, his painting classes A-D as being the “chosen ones” and having intrinsic merit that they do not have to work for is NOT a good educational technique, and you get much better results in a classroom if you emphasize that success is the result of hard work rather than purely due to inborn ability. But if he did that then a large part of the premise of this manga could not exist.

Donten Prism Solar Car v. 1-2 (complete): So this is a manga about an unsociable guy who hates cars because his father died in a car accident when he was 10, rides his mountain bike everywhere, and works at an ironworks factory desperately trying to save up enough money to go to college someday. His uncle who runs the factory has to cut costs, so he reduces Shouta to part-time status and asks him to use his spare time to help a team of university engineering students make a solar car for their solar-car-building club and then compete in a race. Basically, it’s a shonen sports manga about solar car racing. Yeah, something like that exists.

That said, it was a pretty okay manga. I like the premise a lot, especially the part about Shouta being someone who likes to ride his bicycle (that is no small part of the reason I decided to read this manga). However, it was a little disappointing for something that had such a unique premise. It would have been nice if there were more details about the process of engineering and building the car, and there was way too much drama, and the drama was way too far-fetched: specifically, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: the father of Junko, the club leader, was the man responsible for the car accident that caused the death of Shouta’s father. I get that the mangaka was aiming for that sense of people’s lives being made better through their club activities, but it wasn’t really all that effective. Besides being too far-fetched, a lot of developments happened too suddenly (e.g. the way Shouta’s personality brightened up when he started helping the solar car club), so it might have been better if the manga were longer because that would give it a chance to delve into more technical details and to develop things going on in characters’ lives at a more realistic pace.

The artwork was reasonably good. I enjoyed the detailed and non-messy drawings of bicycles and solar cars (you cannot make a manga about solar car racing and then skimp on drawing the solar cars themselves). Also, a lot is conveyed through gestures and facial expressions, so that was pretty enjoyable to see.

Imuri v. 1 (still only available in Japanese): Speaking of things that no one on MAL has read, only 20 people on MAL have this in their lists, and it looks like most of those people have it listed as “On-hold” or “Plan to read,” meaning they haven’t read it yet.

This is a sci-fi seinen and a 2009 Japan Media Arts Festival Excellence Prize winner, so why nobody has translated it yet is beyond me. It’s about a group of people called Karma, who inhabit two neighboring planets, and presumably also about the Imuri, who lost a war to the Karma a few hundred years ago and whose existence is pretty mysterious so far. Also, people have an ability called sairin, which is mind-control that allows you to do stuff like compel people to give truthful answers when you question them or even temporarily control their actions. (The main character’s dad routinely uses this technique to question him . . . talk about a domineering parent!)

In the first few chapters we’re gradually introduced to the world and its concepts as Dulk goes through his everyday life as a new candidate, which is a pretty effective way of introducing the reader to the society and the mind-control abilities of the sci-fi world by showing concepts in action rather than info-dumping. However, those first few chapters are sort of like being pulled up the first hill of a roller coaster, and in the second half of the volume we go down that first big hill and through the first loop. In other words, things really take off. Found out what that scholar Rald (my best guess for the Romanization of his name) is scheming SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (to make Dulk the ruler of Roon) and why he hasn’t advanced past the rank of scholar SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (he has slave-blood). The Karma (ruling race) are doing some bad things, mainly SPOILER: Highlight text to read: using their mind-control powers to enslave people, which is a sort of permanent brainwashing that completely erases the victim’s personality and emotions, and Rald wants to change the Karma society, but since he can’t become the ruler himself he has decided to try to make Dulk the next ruler, or at least that’s what he says.

The main character is a generally nice and unassuming guy, although he started out as comfortably oblivious to the evils of his society which were constantly going on around him; the scholar Rald is interesting in a “I want to know what this guy is scheming” sort of way but not at all personable; and it looks like the manga is shaping up to largely be about power struggles between people, maybe even extending to dramatic political upheaval having to do with clashes between the governments of the two planets. Pretty excited to read more of this.

[drill]

Pokemon Adventures Chapter 268

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapters 81-82: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: It's nice to see Komaba again. And LOL at the stuff with Okawa (poor Hachiken). Also, bwahaha at the stuff with the entire box of fortunes (and them still all being bad) and the wallet. It's also neat to see Hachiken take on a different meat-making job this time simply because he's never done it before.


Kamisama Hajimemashita, a.k.a. Kamisama Kiss, chapter 99: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Ah, so there it is-- I knew that wasn't going to last long , and I was pretty certain that was the price of using the Eye, too (since it's been obvious for ages that Nanami's a descendant of Yukiji, and the Eye had gotten passed down into each generation, etc. Now that it's out of her, however, I'm sure she'll have kids just fine ). LOL at the contract and Nanami's reaction to it, though-- I had kinda forgotten about the whole "contract = kiss" thing myself until just then. (And also LOL at his way of {...eventually } returning the hairpin to her. ) Looks like the poor guy wasn't all that bad, really. Man, though, HOLY CRAP with the furball at the end. And YES-- now that everything's in place and she's going back to the present, I can't wait to see how she breaks the curse (etc.)!


Pandora Hearts, chapter 85.5: ROTFL! This was a hilarious (...and, in the end, really sweet ) half-chapter. MAN this series is good!


Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, chapter 43: This chapter was pretty adorable, LOL. The talk they had was nice, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: although it did get partially interrupted by the bell. And poor Yamaken just does not know when to quit , but I don't blame him; he didn't ask to fall in love, after all. The obvious spying on them was funny, though. (Oh, and on a sidenote, I loved how everyone's drawings during their art class were absolutely terrible. )


Until Death Do Us Part omnibus vol. 4 (Japanese vol.'s 7-8): SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Ha, I was not expecting Genda to have had a history with Mamoru (and in sword training, at that). The little classmate-rescue bit was interesting, too, weaving in a couple of previous characters that I had not expected to see again plus providing a little character development (especially for Haruka). Also, that discussion about the reactions and the brain was fascinating. And there was an excellent cliffhanger, too.


And I also finally read Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (new Kodansha version) vol.'s 1-12 (complete): I'd always heard that this was basically *the* classic magical girl series, so I went ahead and gave it a read. I do have to say that it was a little silly at first, and the bad guys were pretty much all one-dimensional "I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR CRYSTAL AND RULE THE WOOOOORLD!!" types + little groups of cannon-fodder minions (and each group having their own respective, slightly weird gimmicks, as well); but there's actually kind-of a reason for that (explained at the end), the stakes were no joke (especially as it went on), and it did get a lot more interesting and involving fairly quickly anyway (especially after the main guardians had been introduced and it started getting into the stuff with the SPOILER: Highlight text to read: past lives, etc.). And the end was actually kinda epic, too. And most importantly, of course , Usagi and Mamoru's relationship was not only an integral part of the plot, it was also *really* romantic, which was quite an attractive element in and of itself. <3 So yeah, it was definitely worth the read for me.

[ClaecElric4God]

Pandora Hearts, chapter 85.5: ROTFL! This was a hilarious (...and, in the end, really sweet ) half-chapter. MAN this series is good!

Agh, I really need to read this series. I loved the anime.

[SierraLea]

My current bookshelf is
Alive, the final evolution. 1-2. Whoa! The violence is done so realistically! That stuff doesn't really bother me. The powers so far are all pretty unique, except for the main character's. This is a storyline I want to look into deeper.
Eyeshield 21, 37. This will probably be my favorite sports manga of all time. It has everything I liked in the other ones, but put together with a lot of great characters and growth. It actually got me interested in the sport, something I swore I would never do!
Hetalia, 1-2. I am so glad this is all I can find. This was so horrible.
Inubaka, crazy for dogs. 3. I have yet to read it, since I have to look for online volumes 1&2. Looks sweet, though.
Naruto 10 & 18. I originally started reading this again to furbish info for my story, but rediscovered my love for it so I'm reading the whole series again, not just the parts I needed to look at. That I've already done.
Swan 1-4. This is a lot more dramatic than I remember, over-the-top so. Although, I suppose it is about Ballet, which is very dramatic in and of itself. Masumi is such a crybaby, it's not even funny!
Swans in Space, 1. Again, I have yet to read this.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Silver Spoon chapters 78-79 - Loooool, Arakawa-san's brand of humor is as great as always

[GeneD]

I caught up on Silver Spoon yesterday and I'm really glad I did. There were more than a few laugh out loud moments and it's simply a lot of fun to read. Man, Hachiken's dad is a grade A class jerk.

[mysngoeshere56]

Read the 9th volume of Ouran High School Host Club.