What Manga are you reading?

[Kaori]

Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa vv. 1-11 (complete): This is a manga about a middle-aged construction worker who is stuck in a dead-end job and just wants to be respected by his peers but whose efforts to gain respect and popularity completely fail. Then he gets into a fight with some middle school delinquents who bully people and extort money from them, and the rest of the manga is mostly about his getting into a lot more fights with middle school students, for similar reasons, usually while considerably outnumbered. It is extremely depressing for the first dozen or so chapters, but starting somewhere approximately around chapter 13 it picks up and gets into the parts about fighting with middle schoolers.

I think that with some exceptions the average male reader is going to get a lot more out of this manga than the average female reader--it just seems like the issues like needing to have something to fight for (literally in this case) and finding the meaning to life through that sense of battle are going to resonate more with men, and probably most women readers will have a harder time relating to Kurosawa's life and the things that are important to him. Also, as a content warning, the manga is sometimes crude. It is a well-told story, though, so I guess read it if the idea of a middle-aged construction worker gaining respect and meaning in his life by fighting middle school students who like to beat up people and steal their money appeals to you.

[MangaRocks!]

Amatsuki chapters 95-101:

HOLY CRAP x2!! First, that a new batch of chapter scripts got released again so soon-- and second, at what's happening in the story!

Super major spoilers ahead (...I'm serious, please read the chapters first before looking at this )! SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Oh my gosh, so the 'mind-wiped' Kon that we've been seeing for all these chapters *wasn't* Kon at all, but rather another poor kid just made to look like Kon instead! That actually makes perfect sense, but the reveal was still quite a surprise to me. I feel sorry for poor Kosen now , though that was a really nice little backstory on him, and Toki eventually ended up kinda helping him a little anyhow. Really intrigued as to what the real Kon is up to...

Also, LOL at the whole thing with Toki finally figuring out where the demon paths actually are. And that flashback with young Toki and Suou was adorable.

AND HOLY CRAP, AONIBI AND WAKASA!! I mean, I had actually guessed long ago that Ainezu was Aonibi; but I hadn't pegged Susutake as Wakasa at all!!! (Also, ROTFL at Wakasa's reaction to "Kacchan"-- that's pretty much the exact same reaction I get every time I see him now. He's just so cute, I almost can't handle it! ) Anyway, I was sure that all the 'real' people-- the ones that you connect with, as opposed to just the "NPC's" (as real-Kon called them)-- had to be real people in the real world; so I loved that whole Aonibi/Wakasa reveal and the huge discussion it spawned among the characters, because they were finally talking about the real world and the technological stuff and the conspiracy again, and soooo many fantastic connections were made to stuff shown much earlier on in the series, so that was pretty satisfying. And speaking of surprise revelations, HOLY CRAP, CHITOSE IS THE SHOGUN??!!! That... puts a whole new perspective on things-- it means that any of the 'real' people inside Amatsuki could literally be *anyone* from the real world, regardless of their true looks (or even true gender-- and that's something I hadn't even considered until that rather shocking Chitose reveal)!

Finally, wow, that was a nice little bit of character growth on Toki's part at the end there-- and it was rather moving, too-- as he was finally able to believe in himself and his powers enough to rescue Kuchiha (YES! ), and also tell her just how much she means to him. <3 Also, it seems that Kosen got some closure after that, too, finally willing to give up his fake life as 'Kon' (though I do hope he can still keep his memories, or at least his friendship, afterwards).

And uh-oh, not liking the looks of those dolls at the cliffhanger...

I love this series so much.

[DecooPunk]

Chi's sweet home 1, 4, 9 <3
That's a library for you skipping books in a series.

[skreyola]

Chi's sweet home 1, 4, 9 <3
That's a library for you skipping books in a series.

You're more flexible than I am. I won't skip books in a series. I have about four volumes of a manga I won't read because I haven't read the ones before them.

I've been re-reading volume 10 of FMA, because I broke down and got the omnibus trio for 11 and 12 and couldn't "waste" the volume 10 by not reading it again. Just as well, I needed the refresher on the story.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Silver Spoon chapters 80-82 - I burst out laughing about the phone!

[PandaPop]

This is sorta lame but, I needed a new purse so I was looking on ebay and found this cute cheap one with a cute cat on it and it said Café Kichijyoji on it, so I looked it up and found out it was a really short Manga only 10 chapters. So I read it in a few hours, found it surprisingly entertaining then bought the purse lol. The Chibi parts were probably the best!

[GeneD]

So I finally caught up with the Goddesses arc in The World God Only Knows, though now I have I'm not sure if I want to start the 3rd season of the anime immediately, but I'll definitely keep reading either way. The way Keima still becomes totally useless every time Yui shows up is really hilarious.

I finished Ohikkoshi a few days ago and well, it's definitely not bad but not really my kind of thing.

[skreyola]

I've been reading FMA volume 10 recently, now starting on vol. 11.

[LupoRedgrave]

I just finished the final book of Gunslinger Girl.
It was....amazing...and....I just....
What a way to end....

I've just started 'Are you Alice?'...it has me hooked.

[NovaCammy]

Currently reading Attack on Titan, Gourmet, Birdy The Mighty, Cage of Eden and Future Diary.

[MangaRocks!]

Baccano! novels 1-7 (so far):

I dove into these right after watching the anime, so I'll be commenting on both the novels as well as the anime's adaptation of them.

First, the adaptation:

Actually, the anime did an astonishingly good job with this-- in fact, it was pretty darn impressive to see how well the anime managed to adapt the bulk of three entire books *plus* a few bits and pieces from multiple others (!). I mean, yes, there were some differences in scenes, some sequences of events were simplified a bit, and some characters were excluded, etc.; but overall, the material it covered, it covered quite well indeed. (In fact, I think the anime actually did certain scenes even *better* than the original novel versions-- and, as I'm sure you all know, I don't say that often!) The only thing I *do* think they could have adapted a little more faithfully was the Eve/Dallas Genoard stuff; actually, that whole thing was really kinda butchered in the anime, to be honest. I mean, I know the big drug plot and the extra characters and etc. that went along with it would've been a bit much to try and stuff in (...understatement! ), so I have no problem whatsoever with *that* all having been cut out-- however, the whole feud with the Runoratas was much better portrayed, and both Luck Gandor and (in particular) Eve Genoard were *much* better characterized, in the original novel version. That one somewhat minor issue aside, however, yes-- the anime was an excellent adaptation of what it covered!

As for the novels themselves:

Even if you've already seen the anime, the material that it covered is still well worth reading, of course, because there are a lot of extra little details and explanations, as well as a lot of extra thoughts by, backstory on, and general fleshing-out of all the characters and events. (Also, I loved how the first novel was framed with that SPOILER: Highlight text to read: 'modern Japanese traveler' getting the stories from Firo. ) There are even a couple of really fascinating little discussions on how the immortality itself (as well as the accompanying rules) might work, as well.

Speaking of characterization, I have to say that not only have the novels been great at fleshing out all the characters, they've also done a pretty amazing job at really humanizing even most of the scariest ones. As just one example: I was truly surprised to discover how understandable Tick Jefferson was. I mean, he's still just as terrifying -- but now he actually feels human, and his thought processes are at least understandable. (And, to my even further surprise, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I was actually even kinda rooting for that little romance of his, too! ) Indeed, *everyone* benefits a lot from the novels' characterization.

And then, of course, there are all of the novel-only characters and plots, which are all quite excellent as well.

So, yeah, I'm really, really loving this franchise right now. Can't wait for the rest of the Jails/Chains arc to be translated so I can continue reading!

[Kaori]

Fushigi Yuugi vv. 1-18 (complete). Okay, confession time: actually, the first time I tried to read Fushigi Yuugi I got about 2/3 of the way through it, but around v. 12 where SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Miaka and Tamahome first return to Miaka's world I got tired of it and stopped. I did finish this time, though, and I found out that in hindsight the place where I stopped was a pretty unfortunate place to have done so, because if I had read just a little bit further I could have gotten to a nice, conclusive resolution at the end of Part 1.

Anyways, aside from the fact that everything MiakaxTamahome is extremely cheesy, the story was pretty decent. I thought that Part 1 was stronger than Part 2, but it was still worth it to read Part 2 because Chichiri. In terms of content, there was a lot more nudity than I remembered there being. >.> Also, although I can't say the characters come across as being particularly realistic (a couple of them in particular come across as being inhumanly perfect except for one minor foible that seems like it was slapped on just to prevent them from being perfect), they are highly likeable compared to most of the other manga I've been reading recently, and the Suzaku warriors in particular have a really good group dynamic. Overall, it isn't going to go on my list of favorites or anything, but I am glad I got to the end this time.

Minami Kamakura Kokou Joshi Jitenshabu [South Kamakura Women's Cycling Club] ch. 1: a shonen manga about cute girls riding bicycles. All that happens in the first chapter is that first character we’re introduced to tries to ride a mamachari (utility bike) after not having ridden a bicycle since she was a little kid and rode a bike with training wheels, and she apparently doesn’t know that she needs to push the pedals with her feet. On her way to her first day of school, she meets a girl from her new school that she’s just transferring into, and the other girl repeatedly and persistently encourages her and helps her from behind so that she can finally actually pedal the bicycle herself. In other words, the manga gets off to a really slow start.

If more of this had been translated, I might try to persevere through a few more chapters at least in hopes of seeing those nice-looking full-carbon bikes in action, but since there was nothing compelling about the first chapter and it is way too sugary and cute for my taste, this is definitely not something I'm going to bother reading in Japanese.

WOMBS v. 4 (currently untranslated sci-fi military drama seinen about women in the military who gain the ability to teleport themselves and others when they have alien organs transplanted into their wombs): The pace picked up a lot in this volume because there was a really huge, desperate last-ditch effort of a military operation taking place, so that took up most of the volume and added a lot of action to the story. Other than that there's not a lot I can say about it that isn't a spoiler. But on a non-story-related note, there is a good handful of darker-skinned characters in this story, which is somewhat rare in manga, and it's nice to get to see that variety in skin tones. Also, Sergeant Armeia looks awesome dressed as a trucker; this mangaka seems to like drawing women in what are traditionally men's roles (female construction worker in Tenkensai, female soldiers and a female trucker in WOMBS).

EDIT: One final noteworthy thing about this particular volume of WOMBS is that there are several pages at the end (the atogaki) each of which has an illustration and a brief story in which the character narrates an anecdote from her past. These are really interesting and give a lot of additional depth, particularly to the minor characters. For example, one of the women, Shedd, had been training to be a fighter pilot before she was drafted into this special unit, and apparently she was quite good at it. Anyways, these six little narratives flesh out even further the characterization which was already a strength of the manga to begin with.

[i'mmangacrazy]

Bleach chapters 490-495....the beginning of the last arc...

[GeneD]

So a couple of late-ish nights later and I have finished, as far as I know, the Goddesses arc of The World God Only Knows, which is vol 19 for anyone who wants to know. While the arc is generally more exciting than the normal "conquest" formula and I can see why they skipped ahead to it for the anime adaptation, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: there were some things that bugged me. For one being that the big draw for the series and keeping it from becoming a straight harem series, is that the girls forget the conquest when it's over, and that not being the case anymore is kinda unfortunate. However I thought using the fact that some girls remember as a way to find the goddesses was clever. The last bit of Ayumi's re-conquest when they were running all around town was dragged out too long though.

I'm interested in how everyone deals with the aftermath though. Already, I think it's good that Keima is shown breaking down (a bit) over how cruel he was to Chihiro. As much as I'm not a fan of the straight harem thing, here's me hoping they don't find a convenient way to remove the goddess girls somehow. What I would like to see is them all sitting down for a long discussion with Keima about everything and then deciding to move on with their lives since he only did what he had to and doesn't in fact love any of them. Also Haqua needs to get over her tsundere crap and stop getting herself and everyone else into trouble by having bad judgement about who to trust. She did redeem herself at the end there though and yay Nora turned into a surprisingly shrewd ally, which was cool. I hope to see more Elsie in the near future, I missed her.

[Panda4christ:3]

Soul Eater 113-I'm a little late with this but >.>;;
Dear Ohkubo,
Why are there two pages dedicated to giant boobs that look like they were made in MSpaint?
Why?
sincerely,
I honestly thought better of you

Other than that, I think I'm one of the few people that actually likes this chapter XD;; It could've focused less on the fanservice but...it was good enough for me lol. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Though the part where Kid finds out about shingigami's death was poorly done.

Also reading FMA, not sure what chapter I'm on though >.<'' *too lazy to check*

[the_wolfs_howl]

Silver Spoon chapter 83 - Only Hiromu Arakawa could make cheese and sausage so hilarious

[SierraLea]

Someone help me! I've read all the available Swan volumes and they ended on a massive cliffhanger. I cannot find the rest anywhere! Please, tell me what happens after the 15th Volume!

[Koneko-chan]

Just started reading D.N Angel. C:

[ClaecElric4God]

Just started reading D.N Angel. C:

Yes! Another D.N.Angel fan! *high five* What do you think so far? (In my opinion, the manga is way better than the anime; although I love both)

[Panda4christ:3]

Reading Ouran vol.7 &15-
I found these at a local thrift store and was like, "why not?" XD so far, pretty good >u<

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 83: LOL, Okawa. And SPOILER: Highlight text to read: the fails when they were trying to make the sausages.


Taiyou no Ie extra + chapters 25-27: LOL, loved the little extra with Daiki on his way home. As for the main chapters: Whoa, Sugimoto looked really different when she first started at that company. LOL at her first impression of Hiro, and even more LOL at her way of handling her fears (oh gosh... ). It was nice to see both Hiro and Daiki trying to protect Mao's feelings, too, plus Sugimoto finally realizing SPOILER: Highlight text to read: that she might be hurting Mao as well, and that if she's going to confess, she should do so soon. Also, LOL at Daiki's crafty attempts to get closer to Mao , and ROTFL at the "things in secret" bit and his reaction to it. Finally, as for the Birthday party-- well, Mao's father is still a jerk , but it was so sweet to see Mao's efforts with her sister pay off, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: and that she was able to connect with her thanks to what Hiro had done for her as a kid. <3 Also, it seems her relationship with her step-mom is improving, too.


Bakuman. volume 20 (end): What a great finale! SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Since this was the last volume, I knew that Miho would win the role, of course; but that whole section was still tense and exciting. The meta with the characters ending their own series was brilliant as always. Takagi's 'wedding present' wish, and Mashiro's thank-you to Kaya, were adorable. And, once again, I love how Eiji and Ashirogi are total rivals, but still good friends. And then the whole finale with the (official ) proposal and kiss... yeah, this was a great last volume.


Kimi ni Todoke volume 17: Finally! This volume featured some really nice progress with all three couples, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: including that great end-of-volume scene-- I guess Kazehaya really *couldn't* control himself once he started, LOL, because he didn't just kiss her once, he kissed her multiple times!


And Otomen volume 16: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: "So... how did this happen?" And heh, as silly as that director was, making the play an improv and using items from the building and audience matched with each of the guys' personalities/talents was pretty ingenious (and hilarious, of course! ). Yamato's one-liners were as amusing as ever, too. And the conclusion was pretty sweet. (Well, I mean, aside from Asuka's mom... ) Also, "Future Goal: Ryo Miyakozuka's bride"-- ROTFL!!! And the whole ranch thing was extremely adorable. Then, at the close of the volume, the series entered its endgame, with (to use a videogame term) just the final boss to defeat. Two more volumes to go...

[GeneD]

Silver Spoon ch 83: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Does anyone else also think that Okawa is going to end up with a permanent job at the school? Or at least just staying on indefinitely doing odd jobs.

[Kaori]

Shutterbox v. 5: For those who don’t know what it is, Shutterbox is a quirky little gothic OEL manga. It’s written by people who clearly love words, so things like references to literature, explanations of the metaphysics of the manga’s fictional world, and a detailed history of the word “gothic” come up, along with fantasy creatures like banshees, flying cats, and a dragon. The manga was published by Tokyopop for vv. 1-4, and I just now discovered that the manga has survived Tokyopop’s demise, and all of the previous volumes plus v. 5 can be purchased as digital copies (PDF) on the authors’ website. I don’t really have any comments about v. 5 particularly, though the authors have said from the beginning that it was intended to be a 6-volume story, so it is nearing completion, probably; however, I thought I would give this manga a shout-out now that it is actually easily available. Back when Tokyopop first published it, it was awfully hard to find, but it’s a pretty enjoyable gothic fantasy if you don’t mind its distinctly non-Christian worldview.

Immortal Rain Complete Strategy Guide (メテオ・メトセラ完全攻略本): This is a doujinshi written by Ozaki Kaori about her own professionally published manga Immortal Rain, and the “Complete Strategy Guide” title is amusing because it’s the kind of title that guide books for video games often have in Japan. This is scanslated now, so anybody can read it, but with two stories about the Immortal Rain characters as high school students and one side story about Zol (Machika’s “grandfather”) and Kona (Machika’s mother), it is really only of interest to people who are already Immortal Rain fans. But then, if you aren’t an Immortal Rain fan you should try reading Immortal Rain itself and giving it a chance, especially now that the Touhou Shinigami gaiden has been translated, because while Immortal Rain is good, Touhou Shinigami is awesome. Tokyopop released vv. 1-8 of the 11-volume series in English, and everything else has been fan-translated.

Imuri vv. 2-3 (Japanese only, someone needs to translate this already): Continues to be awesome and has the most plot twists per volume since I read the second volume of The Music of Marie. The plot is extremely gripping, and these two volumes have quite a bit of political upheaval (as I predicted last time) and some other really huge things going on even besides that. So far the manga seems very promising in its political and sociological depth; the special powers of the various races are also fleshed out more in these volumes, and like in v. 1 the author is doing a pretty good job of spreading out information (as well as conveying ideas about the society by showing them in action) and not infodumping too much all at once. Also, while in v. 1 the reader is still trying to figure out Rald (one of the major characters) and what he is up to, in v. 2 particularly the reader gets to see a lot more sides to him, and by this point there’s a much more settled sense of what he is like and what his goals are. The main character, Dulk, is pretty much still the same nice but somewhat sheltered-and-ignorant upper-class kid that he was at the very beginning of the manga, though I suspect that’s going to change.

[SierraLea]

My current bookshelf is
Alive! 6-8. This was extremely good, because while most mangas that have characters with twisted pasts ONLY have characters with twisted pasts for no apparent reason besides coincidence, there's actually a reason in this one why all the characters are like that, because that's the reason they ARE main characters. I also liked the Alchemic reference with the main's abilities.
Cirque Du Freak, 1-3. I actually got back into this series because I read the prequel and wanted to see all those characters in the Daren Shan arc. Still waiting for the main vampire arcs, the ones in the mountain, but these earlier stories have their good points as well.
Hack: legend of the twilight. 3. Holy smokes, this was so shallow. The thing I liked most about it was actually Sr. Comlin the Third. While he looked like he had a huge nose most of the time, he did have his strikingly beautiful moments. I also liked how his character changed a little towards the end, although the rest of the characters were sooooo shallow and sweet it was more than a little boring.
Kanpai! 1. I'm actually hoping I don't get super hooked on this because this is the only volume I can get my hands on. Haven't read it yet.
Kare Kano 17-20. After the alternative storylines about all the other characters' we're finally back to the two mains. The storyline about his dad's past was particularly good at showing just what a bad idea premarital sex can be, which was then flatly contradicted by the mains. Still, at least Sojichiro does right by her after all that. Can't wait for the last volume, although almost everything is tied up already.
Me and the Devil Blues 1. Again, I have yet to read this and I'm not entirely sure that it's even a good idea.
Naruto 62. I accidentally got this one from the library again. Now this is a little boring, since Naruto can apparently do ANYTHING.
Swan 7-15. This has got to be one of my favorite dance mangas of all time. It also inspires me in so many ways, it's the reason I got back into dancing and will be taking classes again in the fall. That aside, it is over-the-top dramatic with so much of its art, and if you're just an audience member, your face tends to get super messed up. I appreciate its cleanliness and good understanding of the art.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist. As far as strategy games go, this is one of the best, even if it could never happen in real life. I also happen to love every time he changes from Yugi to Yami, and Vice Versa. Despite the fact that it's the same sequence every time, the two characters set each other off very well and I enjoy both personalities. I'm also just a sucker for that kind of thing.

Sorry if this was long-winded, but I hadn't done this in a while and got a little carried away.

[ClaecElric4God]

Beast Master

I love this manga. Which is saying a lot, because I'm not big on romance. I thought it was well done, had an intriguing enough plot for being only two volumes, and gave me plenty of laughs. I enjoyed this manga so much. I want a pet Leo...

[KazeShiki]

So Ken Akamatsu's new manga UQ Holder! is out. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I wasn't expecting it to be a sequel-esque story to Negima but with Eva as a MC, I'm not complaining (yet). Touta is the grandson of Negi and he also has Konoe blood flowing through him so he's already set up to have a ton of hidden potential for a typical battle shounen. I have my suspicions about the plot turning out well if he's going to make the lineage a major point at any time. I would much rather see random Eva spinoff, but I did enjoy her taking on a motherly role while still being awesome. That said, I was disappointed she was defeated so easily, and I'm worried Akamatsu will continue using gimmicks to keep her from being OP and solving situations in a couple panels.

[Koneko-chan]

Just started reading D.N Angel. C:

Yes! Another D.N.Angel fan! *high five* What do you think so far? (In my opinion, the manga is way better than the anime; although I love both)

*Highfives* I think it's pretty awesome so far, surprisingly Satoshi is my favorite right now. XD It's definitely my favorite manga right now. (Sorry I answered so late ^^' c: )

[ClaecElric4God]

*Highfives* I think it's pretty awesome so far, surprisingly Satoshi is my favorite right now. XD It's definitely my favorite manga right now. (Sorry I answered so late ^^' c: )

Yes! I love Satoshi! Yeah, it's definitely on of my favorite mangas, too. (Don't worry about it. )

[Candle7]

D.N.Angel is amazing! The manga is definitely better than the anime, though both are great. *sighs* Satoshi is amazing...

[skreyola]

I got vol. 1 of Tokyo Mew Mew from the library, so I've been reading that. I hope I don't get hooked on it, because they only had the one volume.