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Sampler Part 4 is here! Samplers 2 and 3 can be found in the second post. Welcome to the Manga sampler thread! This is part of a joint effort between ADTRW and BSS to introduce each other's users to series they might otherwise skip over due to preconceptions about their respective mediums. Western comic fans might think all manga is Naruto and Bleach, while manga fans might think all comic books are superhero dreck. These threads are here to help introduce you to new series you might enjoy but otherwise not be exposed to. Some you've probably heard of, others may be more niche, but the goal of this thread is to collect excellent series in one place for people to try out, with places to buy them whenever possible. Western comics are read left-to-right while manga is usually right-to-left. ADTRW Comic Book thread BSS Manga thread Places to buy manga as well as subscription services: https://www.amazon.com - slap in a given series's name and go Crunchyroll - a subscription service(anime membership also comes with manga membership) Shonen Jump - a subscription service that also sells collected volumes of various series -----  If you have not heard of I Am A Hero, do not google it(nothing but spoilers), just click this link to read the first volume before you do anything else in this thread. If you start reading it, don't give up on it until you've finished the first volume. Seriously. And don't skip around the first volume, though it's okay to skip over Suzuki's crazed ramblings and rants if you don't want to read all of that. Feel free to post a retrospective after you finish the first volume, those are always amusing.No untagged spoilers for I Am A Hero in this thread, and I mean anything, whether it's chapter 5 or chapter 150. Tag any spoilers with the chapters it takes place in, please, or just mark spoiler posts that deal with the series as a whole with "I Am A Hero series spoilers".  I Am A Hero is a series started in 2009 by Kengo Hanazawa, who has hit it out of the park with all three of his long-running series. He is EXTREMELY GOOD at what he does and is also an amazing artist. This is one of the most gorgeous and unabashedly detailed series I've had the privilege to read. It's currently over 150 chapters long, and, for the most part, very few chapters have been wasted. It is very slow, dramatic, atmospheric, methodical, with an inevitable pace and incredibly expressive and dramatic artwork. This is a story of Hideo Suzuki and the struggles he has to endure as he encounters many impossible obstacles in his normally stressful-but-tolerable life. It is a tale of love, loss, fear, violence, insecurity, and what it means to be one of the few owners of a shotgun in Japan. It should also be said that this is absolutely not a series for children. -----  Qualia the Purple(drama, psychological, sci-fi, supernatural) is a relatively new series that get s exponentially more insane every other chapter, with 12 chapters currently released. It starts out with agirl who sees every living being as robots, and some cliche stuff in the first couple chapters. But it rapidly changes pace and goes in unexpected directions with every few chapters. It also is a series that explains many quantum mechanics in layman's terms(mostly), which makes the  aspects of it slightly easier to follow. There are only twelve chapters but it's easily one of the most surprisingly good series I've read, considering how generic it begins with. Has very little fanservice.-----  Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (drama, fantasy, sci-fi, action) is a series made in 1982 by Hayao Miyazaki, most famous for his Studio Ghibli movies. It is a much more in-depth and frankly better story than the movie of the same name. Humanity, in its hubris, has precipitated a devastating environmental disaster. Flourishing industrial civilizations have been swallowed up by the Sea of Corruption, an enormous forest of fungi that releases a miasma of poisonous spores into the air. Nausicaa, a compassionate young princess, and her allies battle to heal a wounded world and its inhabitants. The entire series(7 normal volumes) in two hardcover volumes can be had for only $42 with free two-day shipping from Amazon Prime. That is a steal! -----  Spirit Circle (supernatural, tragedy, action, comedy, romance) is a series by ADTRW darling Satoshi Mizukami, author and artist of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, another good one. It's about a regular boy with a weird mark on his cheek, who encounters a new girl at school who seems to recognize him. Turns out they knew each other...before. Can get preeeeetty hosed up at times but is a surprisingly emotional and dramatic series. -----  Masturbation Master Kurosawa (psychological, drama, seinen, mental issues, school, slice of life) No, this is not a joke recommendation. MMK is about broken people, hard choices, narcissism, psychological abuse, selfishness, redemption, and growing up. Probably in the top 10 manga I've read, pretty hosed up but surprisingly well made, story moves at a solid pace and the characters show genuine change(good or bad) throughout instead of it being yet another status quo hell. -----   Yotsuba&! (comedy, slice of life, shounen) is a manga series by Kiyohiko Azuma, who basically created the "high school girl hijinx" genre with Azumanga Daioh. It's a story about a single dad and his daughter Yotsuba, who is infinitely curious about absolutely everything. The tagline for Yotsuba is "Enjoy Everything!", and that's what she does! Together with her neighbors, the three sisters of the Ayase household Asagi, Fuuka and Ena, they go on lots of adventures like catching cicadas, going to the beach, or reenacting an action movie. Has next to no fanservice and is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable series I've ever read. Definitely in my top 5. Currently there are 11 volumes on Amazon, with a 12th available for preorder and it's definitely worth it. Yotsuba's a great example of a little kid done right. The artwork improves drastically from volume 1 to volume 11 as Azuma is constantly evolving his skills. Don't let 4chan using Yotsuba as their mascot deter you from reading it. -----  Boys on the Run (drama, comedy, romance, seinen, mature) is another Kengo Hanazawa work about a loser working at a capsule toy company. He's pretty fuckin' goony. Hell, most of Kengo's main characters are "goony". Tanishi, the main character, is a cowardly fool who never puts his all into anything. There's a girl he likes that he works with, though. He also manages to get into ridiculously absurd situations because of his cowardice, poor decision-making, chivalrous attitude, straightforwardness, or just plain bad luck. It's a pretty funny, heartwarming, infuriating, dramatic series at times. It gets pretty intense as it goes on, and it's not yet fully scanlated, only up to chapter 87(out of 10 volumes, I think 10 or 12 chapters per volume). I like this series almost as much as I like I Am A Hero. -----  Ressentiment (drama, mature, seinen, romance, comedy, sci-fi) is Kengo Hanazawa's third long-running series in this list and the first series he ever made. It's set in the not-too-distant-future and is about a total loser(shocker) shut-in who works at a paper company. One day his friend tells him about the "Unreal", the virtual world, what gaming has evolved into. If he's lonely, he should just buy a virtual girlfriend since artificial intelligence is a field that has had many breakthroughs, and so he does! And that's where the story starts. It's a pretty depressing, slightly frightening and very cynical look at where social outcasts and commercial pandering are headed. Also, every single character is a loving hideous caricature. Like an entire series of MAD Magazine covers. This was kind of a turn-off for me but I enjoyed most of the rest about it. -----  ERASED (drama, tragedy, mystery, seinen, supernatural) Fujinuma Satoru is an aspiring manga artist who always get his manuscript rejected, and told that "you're not putting enough of yourself in it". He gets through his day by working as a pizza delivery man. One day, while delivering pizza, he "sensed" something and got into an accident. This series is like a gut-punch in comic form. Update: This series has finished, and it finished quite strong. -----  Bonnouji (Seinen, slice of life, romance, comedy) is a very lighthearted slice-of-life romance series by Aki Eda. It has a very natural, easygoing flow to the events in it. The characters are fun and have their own problems, but the story largely keeps the drama off to the side. It's got kind of a Yotsuba-like appeal, but for a more adult audience. It's like "take it easy" the series. -----  Ai-Ren (seinen, psychological, sci-fi, tragedy, romance) Ikuru is a boy who doesn't have long to live. Growing up questioning the purpose of his life and the reason for his impending death, he's constantly confused and lonely. After learning that he doesn't have much time left, he requests that a special "girl" called a AGH-RMS (Artificial Genes Human Regenerated for Mental Support) be given to him. These people are genetically made so that they help heal and ease the mental burdens of the terminally ill. This manga is cute, sad, and ultimately a story about life, death, and humanity. If you've experienced significant death or tragedy in your life, make sure you're in a good mental state before giving this a read. And the apocalypse subplot is pretty much irrelevant. -----  Maoyuu Maou Yuusha(The Demon King and The Hero) (comedy, shounen, action, adventure, fanservicey) this series is what would happen if you took a semimodern world-level of agricultural and technological knowledge and put it in a Dragon Quest-style fantasy world. In fact, the characters don't have names, their class type IS their name. So the Demon Queen is called Demon Queen, Hero is Hero, the merchant is Young Merchant, etc. It's a very fun and not really serious series except when it wants to be. Can be almost educational at times. The artist absolutely loves his fanservice, but is also extremely talented at other things, as the above spread of a wide variety of characters shows. -----  Hinamatsuri (comedy, action, seinen, supernatural, sci-fi, slice of life, drama, school) is a series about a bumbling Yakuza who would be better suited to deskwork than roughing someone up. One day a weird egg-shaped object falls on his head that contains a young psychokinetic girl. Said girl is extremely powerful and also a lazy brat. Others start to appear as the series progresses and it's a pretty hilarious take on the "single dad" genre. Hitomi and Anzu are the best. -----  Wandering Son (drama, romance, transsexualism, school years) is one of the best manga I've read, period, deals with lots of real issues pretty realistically. Follows a young boy who identifies as a girl, a girl who identifies as a boy, and their struggles as they grow from elementary school kids to middle school, high school and beyond. Deals with conflicts with bullying, discrimination, and identity crises better than most series. There are some flaws but overall one of the most open-minded series I've read. Seriously top-notch book quality, to boot. -----  Paradise Kiss (romance, fashion, comedy, drama drama drama) is one of those series that when being introduced to a genre, is one of the first most folks would suggest. Very dramatic, very romantic, very well-done art(though my one major gripe is the AyeAye-like spiderfingers people have), and also very very funny at the right moments. Lots of twists and turns, some unexpected. Doesn't overstay its welcome and is very solid throughout, a real showstopper in only five volumes(three in the US). ----- Terms: Shounen: Usually for younger readers, but not always. Often has fighting, comedy, or low-level romance. Violence is often bloody, but not gory. Shoujo: Light girl stuff. Usually drama, romance, girly girl etc. Seinen: For adults. Can contain graphic violence, death, softcore sexual content, or just more mature themes. I'd love to hear some outsider perspectives on some of these series, especially I Am A Hero(remember to spoiler tag stuff about it!). And of course, there's plenty more where that comes from. I'll use the second post as a repository for other series, this is, again, just a sampling. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 03:19 on Oct 18, 2016 |
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Sep 6, 2013 02:26
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Sampler, Volume Two! Suicide Island(Drama, mature, psychological, seinen) - The Japanese government passes a law that anyone who is on the suicide recidivist list will be banished to "Suicide Island", an island where their citizenships are revoked and they cannot leave. Here they must make the decision of whether they will try to live, or finish once and for all what they started. It's kinda like Survivor, if Survivor was incredibly good. Also pretty educational! It's a pretty intense series but definitely up there in my list of favorites. I found myself really getting attached to a lot of the characters way more than I thought I would. -----  Attack on Titan(Shingeki no Kyojin)(action, drama, horror, fantasy, mystery, shounen, supernatural, tragedy) - Attack on Titan is one of the biggest anime series in decades. It's become an unstoppable financial juggernaut, a Colossal Titan of the industry you might say, with how incredibly good it is in only fifty chapters. It is the dusk of mankind. Humanity has been besieged and devoured by massive, mindless, human-shaped monsters called Titans. Behind the 50-meter-tall Three Walls, the last bastion of humanity survives. Eren Jaeger and his friends are spending a normal, quiet day together when suddenly a Titan so colossal that it can stand and look over The Walls kicks a hole in the wall and Titans begin streaming in. It is the last days of humankind, and what happens now will decide if we go extinct or survive. This is one of my favorite series. It is the author's first series, and it shows, because man, his artwork sucks. He can't draw people for poo poo in the beginning. This is both a blessing and a curse, as his inability to draw proper human anatomy leads to INCREDIBLY HORRIFYING TITANS. This is a very bleak series that balances hope and despair perfectly. The author is extremely good at suspense and making absolutely every detail count. It's a series that gets better on subsequent read-throughs. The anime version was extremely popular with non-anime fans, it was basically this generation's Cowboy Bebop. -----  Kids on the Slope(Sakamichi no Apollon)(drama, romance, slice of life, musical, historical, school life) - It's 1966 in Japan. Nishimi Kaoru is constantly moving from town to town due to his father's job. He settles down in his new school, but winds up actually befriending some interesting people instead of being an outcast. He discovers to his surprise that he loves to play jazz, a largely foreign sound in Japan. It's a wonderful, laid-back series about music, love, and ~DRAMA~. I haven't seen the anime yet but it's on Crunchyroll, I would imagine as a music-centric series that hearing the music in action would be better than reading it. ----- ONEPUNCH-MAN(action, comedy, seinen, supernatural) - Onepunch-Man is easily one of, if not the most gorgeous and detailed series you'll ever see. There are entire chapters that can, and have been, animated. Check this poo poo, yo:     Onepunch-Man is about Saitama, your average jobless loser, who one day decides to become a superhero. Except now he's become so powerful, that no matter what, every fight ends with only one punch. He is beyond Superman. This series is pretty god drat hilarious, both with Saitama's incredibly bland reaction to everything from cyborg gorillamen, to a cross between Namor, Cthulhu, and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the humanized form of Mother Nature's Wrath Itself, A Giant loving Meteor, etc and with his unwanted pupil's incredible brooding seriousness in every situation. Every fight is a foregone conclusion, but it's still an amusing, gorgeous, and hilarious ride perhaps all the funnier BECAUSE you know how it ends. Simulpublished in Weekly Shonen Jump. -----  I'm In Mari(drama, seinen, gender bender) - One day, Isao, a shut-in, finds himself in the body of the high school girl he's been following home from the convenience store every night. He's bewildered by this turn of events and does not...handle it well. The author of Flowers of Evil, a series that is apparently as cringeworthy and brutal as it is good, takes on the cliche of the "gender bender" genre. This series is very slow, VERY brutal, and goes in directions I was not expecting at all. I really wish I hadn't found it when I did, because it's really hard waiting for new chapters for it since so little happens per-chapter. It's unsettling and is a pretty interesting and realistic take on "what would you do if you were in the body of another person? How would people react to this person acting completely out of character?" -----  Assassination Classroom(comedy, shounen, action, school life) - This classroom has been commandeered by a strange octopus creature. He calls himself "sensei" and he is a cosmically powerful being who destroyed over half the moon in a single blow, and plans to destroy the earth in March the following year. He has completely stymied the world powers, can move at mach 25, regenerate, is far more intelligent and quick-thinking than any human and is basically unstoppable. He has given earth one chance: allow him to teach this specific class of students in both schoolwork and assassination skills. If they manage to kill him before next March, earth will be spared! If not, earth will be destroyed! This series is a pretty interesting one. It's also pretty god drat hilarious, Sensei is an amazing character and he makes incredible faces. His quirks and the way certain things react to his body composition lead to actually entertaining shenanigans. The storyline's moved at a fairly brisk pace, and I can't wait to see where it goes! It's one of the top-rated manga series in Japan right now, even managing to dethrone One Piece on one of the weekly sales charts, which is almost unheard of these days(One Piece can and often does outsell positions 2-5 combined). I just hope it doesn't fall into the serialization trap and drags on forever. The Attack on Titan guy at least made a concrete end for his series at 20 volumes, hopefully Assassination Classroom's author will set a finish line too. -----   Akumetsu(action, seinen, mature) - What would you do if you had supernatural powers? Would you use them for good, or evil? This is the story of Shou Hazama, who takes justice into his own hands as the masked vigilante Akumetsu to clean up the corruption that has completely destroyed Japan's economy. This series can get a little long-winded, but Akumetsu's antics and the developing story behind him and his powers is actually pretty interesting for a "superhero" type story. It can get pretty loving graphic(exploding heads are a routine occurrence), so be warned that it's very graphic. It's not a perfect series and a lot of the side characters don't show up for sometimes 40 chapters at a time, but overall I think it was pretty great! -----  Fortress of the Apocalypse(Apocalypse no Toride)(drama, action, horror, tragedy, psychological, seinen) - Imagine if Left 4 Dead's small party of survivors mixed with Resident Evil's balls-crazy mutated zombie monsters. You'd have Apocalypse no Toride. Yoshiaki Maeda is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and is sent to a high security juvenile prison. Soon after, the Zombie Apocalypse happens. Everything outside the prison walls is soon aflame, in ruins, or crawling with infected. That's when Maeda's cellmates decide to break out, of course. This series gets pretty loving insane as it goes. It's not a really serious series, it's definitely more grindhouse than psychological thriller, but it's got its moments of brain-thinkin'. Extreme violence and hosed UP ZOMBIE MONSTERS are the name of the game with this series. Good poo poo. When the grinning human-dogs showed up it got a legit "WHAT THE gently caress!" out of my mouth. ----- VOLUME THREE: GO! A Silent Voice - Shonen, drama, comedy, romance(???), school years, psychological   A Silent Voice is about a deaf girl, and the bullying she endures during elementary school, as well as the main bully, who has his own share of troubles. It's pretty gut-wrenching, but surprisingly frank and the characters develop rapidly in interesting ways. This manga first began as a oneshot and was so well received it bloomed into a full-blown weekly series! One of my favorite newer series, for sure. It's a wonderful and sometimes sorrowful story about bullying, redemption, forgiveness, and friendship. It has since been completed. Pokemon Adventures - Shonen, comedy, adventure  Nope, this isn't a joke recommendation. Pokemon Adventures is the manga adaptation of the game series, not the anime. Yes, the whole game series. Connected. It's played completely straight, and is pretty outstanding even to someone who hasn't been into Pokemon since the original Red/Blue. It's shonen, and reinvents a lot of characters in such interesting ways that the head writer of the games gave it his seal of approval because he liked the directions they took things so much. It begins with the story of Red and Green(Ash and Gary, essentially) and eventually continues into Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Sapphire, Ruby, etc. It's just a dumb fun romp where a character might make a hang-glider out of pokemon shooting jets of water behind them because why not? It's been running for basically forever(since the original games came out) and has like 500 chapters. A good timewaster! Unfortunately I don't think Viz has translated all the volumes, not entirely sure though. Cheese in the Trap Cheese in the Trap is a Manwha(Korean manga) about Hong Sul, a college girl who attracts the eye of Yoo Jung, the seemingly perfect rich guy at college. It's a romance/comedy/drama with some mystery elements that I've wound up completely hooked on. The translation javascript is super handy and the group scanlating it has been putting out a chapter every few days. The chapters are pretty significant in length, and while the artwork might not be the most detailed, I find it charming. The expressions are good and I think the artist is really good at doing the low-detail comedy faces. Hong Sul reacts to stuff in great ways, and a lot of the characters are flat-out hosed up, with multiple cowardly, deceptive people, straight-up manipulators and sociopaths, stalkers, etc but also obviously plenty of normal folks. The story moves along at a fairly brisk pace, and it's interesting to see some characters redeem themselves or burn every single bridge they've got over the course of the 90 or so chapters I've read. I like a lot of the side characters like Bora, Eun Taek, and Hyung(HONEY~). I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a fairly lighthearted romcom/drama(at least, to begin with, it goes into some pretty dark places eventually). Teppu - Action, comedy, martial arts, high school, sports   Teppu's about Natsuo Ishido, a tall, abrasive, and violent high school girl who gets wrapped up in the world of MMA. She has natural skill in fighting, but will her hubris be her undoing? I love this series for the detailed and sometimes unflattering view it gives the world of professional and amateur fighting. People may be champions, but that doesn't mean they can quit their day job. The near-total lack of fanservice is a big plus, too. Not a panty shot to be seen in this series. Characters are sometimes pretty ripped, but that's to be expected when you're an MMA fighter. The series can also be really drat funny at times, I love the interactions between Natsuo and her teacher. It's a shame that scanlations for it are pretty sporadic. Ketchup Ninja - Comedy, "drama", action       Ketchup Ninja's by a Japanese dude who lived in Jersey for a while. It's a cavalcade of stereotypes of every single nationality and revels in it. It's absurd and stupid and I love it even if it's disjointed and manic a lot of the time. Almost every frame is able to be singled out as crazy, funny, or ridiculous. It plays off a lot of misconceptions various countries have about each other, and is pretty strong for most of its run. The ending is kind of a wet fart though. Bonus content includes a very "educational" page after each chapter about American culture, slang, etc. It's a short run at only 26 chapters. And Yet The Town Moves(Soredemo) - Comedy, slice of life, romance, shonen, school life   Rivals Yotsuba for my favorite slice of life/comedy series. It loosely follows a bunch of characters in a small town(but mostly focuses on one particular airhead and the "maid cafe" she works at), and also happens to contains some of the most realistic kids I've seen in a manga. They just act exactly like kids do, it's great. Occasionally gets a little...out of this world, but the surrealness of the series is part of the charm. Very laid back, and can be extremely funny. Some of the mysteries are actually pretty clever. It was licensed by Jmanga, but Jmanga exploded and all their licenses flew into the aether, so I'm linking to scanlations instead. Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer - Seinen, drama, action, comedy, adventure, mystery, growing up    Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is by Satoshi Mizukami, ADTRW darling and author of another series in this thread, Spirit Circle. It's his first major series and it shows, it's not perfect, but it's absolutely satisfying by the end of it and has one of the most excellent endings of any series I've read. It takes about 20-22 chapters to really hit its stride, but once it does, it never really stops. The characters that it introduces over time are excellent, and the protagonist starts out wholly a terribly person but grows over the course of the series. The art is pretty rough, as expected of an early series, but some of the monster designs are outstanding. The plot is absurd at first glance but at least makes sense by the end of it. Definitely a good read, it's funny, it's dramatic, and there's plenty of scenes you probably won't expect. It's a good, completed series. I'll do more at another time, but for now, enjoy! Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 05:01 on Feb 20, 2015 |
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Sep 6, 2013 02:27
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How could you not include Good Night Punpun, or Welcome to the NHK? There's not enough utter misery here.  Seriously though, this sampler is rather nice. Thanks for posting this here!
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Sep 6, 2013 06:40
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I didn't post Attack on Titan, Berserk, One Piece, or other really good series either. A sampler is a smattering of delectable tidbits, but is not the entire meal! Also I've not read Goodnight Punpun and only read a few chapters of WttNHK when it was first being scanlated, I don't think I'll read Punpun anytime soon, either, based on the overwhelmingly depressing reaction to it. Besides, the OP has enough misery at the moment with the likes of Ai-Ren, I Am Missing, and Ressentiment in it. If you don't feel miserable during at least a quarter of Ai-Ren, you might not have a soul. Same with I Am Missing. Ressentiment is miserable for different reasons than Ai-Ren or IAM, probably similar reasons to Punpun and NHK. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 07:32 on Sep 6, 2013 |
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Sep 6, 2013 07:29
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This is a fantastic thread. I am sure that people who are ingrained in US comics would find some manga refreshingly different. People should really consider trying some of these. This is a badass list, too. I'll post my own thoughts on good starting series later.
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Sep 6, 2013 14:59
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So I'm assuming 1-11 is the 'first volume' for "I Am a Hero"? Alright, I'll make a prediction: He's going to end up killing someone in the first volume. Knowing nothing about the comic and all that. And now to actually read it. Some guesses that are probably going to be hilariously bad in hindsight. Gonna split them by the chapter I've read by the point I'm making the guess. Chapter 1: The other guy is either a ghost or a paranoid delusion thing. Something like that. Maybe an 'past self' kind of thing. Something where he's not 'physical'. Since he seems to be just randomly disappearing. The fire thing is kind of ominous. I'm assuming that Suzuki is the 'main character'/guy with the gun. At least the character that is being focused on here. Unless that's some other guy introduced later. So Suzuki is at least involved in the fire. If not outright caused it. I'm assuming he's afraid of the ghosts from that accident. Whether or not ghosts actually exist in this series. Chapter 2: Alright, so nothing really jumps out at me for this one. Except for now I'm thinking that whatever he hears on the news comes to haunt him. Chapter 3: Still nothing comes to mind. Except for maybe that 'ghost guy' seems to have some semi-physical body? Also 'dangerous to go outside at night'. Chapter 6: That... was a thing. Chapter 10: Last page. Is that the assistant that got killed? Chapter 11: ...what? What? Did... she die of sickness? Is this some sort of outcome of the virus that was talked about? Also that text message is kind of ominous, now that I've seen whatever the hell that is. Also SDF is containing what looks like some kind of zombie virus? What with the 'stay at home, lock your doors' thing. And I guess I was wrong with my prediction. Only slightly. I mean, in my mind he was going to use the gun to kill someone. But it looks like it'll happen in chapter 12. And it's more of a re-kill thing. And here I was starting to think that him killing someone wasn't going to be the case at all.
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Sep 6, 2013 18:43
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Captain Invictus posted:I didn't post Attack on Titan, Berserk, One Piece, or other really good series either. A sampler is a smattering of delectable tidbits, but is not the entire meal! Hehe, fair enough, fair enough. I actually just read Bonnouji on your recommendation in the OP, and wow, as fun as flawed characters are, I have to admit that it was a REALLY refreshing change of pace to have a series where everyone is just so agreeable.
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Sep 6, 2013 19:33
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The only thing really wrong with Onani Master Kurosawa is that the translation is really, really bad and I wish someone would go and redo it some day. It's an absolutely amazing series otherwise though. The artist also did a series called Molester Man (adaptation of a 2ch thread about a guy who's initially mistaken for a perv when he tries to goonily "save" a young woman) which is really great as well.
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Sep 6, 2013 20:34
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Kgummy posted:(Volume 1)Also SDF is containing what looks like some kind of zombie virus? What with the 'stay at home, lock your doors' thing. I really wanna see some Qualia the Purple opinions. That was probably the most surprising series I've read in a long time, and that's only with 12 chapters. It's really just ridiculous in a Gurren Lagann-style absurdity ramp-up and unexpected things. Also managed to teach me a thing or two about quantum mechanics.
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Sep 6, 2013 21:44
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Just read through I Am A Hero and I predicted the zombie stuff pretty early on from the news reports on the TV but the way it was drawn out and only hinted at while focusing heavily on the lives of the characters until the last possible moment was very well executed. Also, Captain Invictus told me what Hideo's deal was, I thought it was some kind of ghost story at first. He was extremely well written!
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Sep 6, 2013 22:56
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So I haven't started a "new" manga since they brought JoJo west and nowadays I just read Battle Angel Last Order to it is really good to see this list. I will definitely check some of this out. Thanks! Also, I am really glad to see Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind get some love. I don't want to be a dick, but as much as I have enjoyed comics, it is the only comic book I have read that can stand on a shelf next to literature.
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Sep 6, 2013 23:41
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Captain Invictus posted:(Volume 1)Surprise! That entire first volume was largely setup and misdirection. It's actually a blow-by-blow of the initial days of a zombie apocalypse, and also is somewhat of a mystery series! But really good even though it's a tired premise. I also came across "The Town Where Only I am Missing", rather recently. Didn't know that was the translated title though. Read all 15 chapters. I'm a bit terrible with names though. I guess in a way, that had the title's namesake come as more of a surprise. Though I'm kind of wondering if the setting has all 'imposters' able to have some sort of 'redo' thing. Or at least some sort of connection between Pizza delivery girl and the first kidnapping victim. Also the dramatic irony where it seems like it's the wrongfully imprisoned guy's father (that was the relation between the two, right) was the kidnapper. Hell, the curtained books probably belong to him. Also apparently the mother of the first kidnapped kid was involved in the kidnapping, apparently? And I'll do some Qualia the Purple, since I haven't heard of it. Chapter by chapter, as I come up with stuff. Chapter 1: Already I'm wondering if Yukari is a robot. Or it's a twist where everyone is a robot, without knowing it. Well except for Marii, but she doesn't seem to think she's a robot. ...And then it turns out that she does think everyone is a robot, what with the swimming pool scene. Or not, considering just a few pages later? Chapter 2: And of course one of the characters says what I was thinking. Well minus the alien invasion bit. Though the second one was more in line with my guess. Huh. Also ominous person standing around. I guess she also has purple eyes, or something? Something like that, at least. And gas mask wearing Yukari. And some sort of ventilation tubing? And I'm not sure if the gas mask vanished, or she took it off in between panels. Chapter 3: Oh, she just took it off. Oh hey, ominous person is the killer? Didn't think she would come up so soon. Especially not that last page of 'yes, totally the murderer'. I guess it being so short has to do with it. At least I think that's the same person. Other thoughts: I'm guessing that the 'perfect for her' plastic model robot is going to be how Yukari sees her? Or similar to, at least? Chapter 4: Oh hey, philosophical zombie. I came across that in a fiction book a few weeks ago. Or at least a similar concept. It was more of a zombie 'drives' the body, while the person oversees kind of thing. 'Mindscan' if you're curious about the book. It was only a passing reference to it, though. Although come to think of it, it does kind of have a similar kind of thing. Uploading your mind into a robot body, and all that. Just don't read the back of the book blurb/summary, since it kind of spoils something that only happens way late in the book. Oh poo poo ominous girl. And I'm really thinking she also has the same thing Yukari has. Oh hey, I was right. From the very first time I saw her. Huh. Though I guess it was the fact that the art was shown similarly. Still it's black and white, so that is kind of impressive. Wait, did she cut her arm off? Good god. I'm guessing this kind of behavior is the whole 'scariness' of Yukari. And I'm going to guess that while Yukari treats objects the same as people, ominous girl treats people the same as objects. To mirror the earlier dialog. Also it's almost to the 'beginning' scene. Chapter 5: 'Meat sacks'? I guess that's the big difference between the two. What. A bunch of living plastic models. I... did not expect anything like that. Not even with the lines before that. Chapter 6: Oh god what. So Ominous Girl is a robot? Or Yukari knows how to take apart people without killing them? This is kind of amazing. She put the cell phone in her arm? Is it even the same arm? I'm wondering if Yukari can bring back the dead with whatever the hell this is. Oh hey, it was just the cell phone made into her arm. I was thinking that might have been it, but then thought "No, it can't be that. That'd just be too strange." Oh this was a book before becoming manga? Huh. Chapter 7: Nothing jumps out at me. Except for what is probably yet another purple eyed person. Though the 'forgetting' things was kind of interesting. I wonder if it was less 'forgotten', and more 'changed by someone else'. Chapter 8: Last page: Wait what. "Was me."? Cell phone arm that can speak to the past! Chapter 9: Oh, it's a quantum hand-phone. Interesting. Chapter 10: Point of no return? That can't be good. It's going to be where she tells herself that Yukari is going to die, isn't it? Or it could just be Quantum investigation. Okay then. Chapter 11: Well, that's different. I'm not sure what to say about that. It's kind of similar to ideas for stories I've had, but still completely different. Chapter 12: Kind of strange seeing English and English there. Oh hey, branching from the 'present' to the future and the past. I had a similar idea ages ago, but this is so much clearer than what I put thought to. And I reached the end. Darn.
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Sep 7, 2013 00:03
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If Kissmanga isn't being cooperative with loading pages, try something like Batoto, that's usually a good place to go, it just doesn't have KM's incredibly convenient all-on-one-page style. Don't read comments on there though, they're usually rife with spoilers. Qualia the Purple 1-12 spoilers: I don't know if you missed that Yukari died at the end of chapter 9, but she did. The next three chapters are Gaku's incredibly badass/terrifyingly determined attempts to find out the truth and if she can fix it. Then she just realizes that she's far more powerful than she originally thought and alters reality to revert back to a time before Yukari was sent to JAUNT in the first place and stop her from leaving. Really, that Gaku is perfectly willing to throw her infinite alternate lives into all sorts of absolutely horrific and suicidal situations just in the hopes of finding new information was really powerful and also pretty drat scary. This isn't just shounen determination, this is something more than that. What happens at the end of 12 is extremely ominous though. At this point the series is about half over(it's based on a complete light novel series apparently) and I am INCREDIBLY curious as to what will happen from here on, because we've seriously reached (Gurren Lagann spoilers)Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann using-galaxies-as-weapons levels of insanity only halfway through. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Sep 7, 2013 |
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Sep 7, 2013 00:20
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Captain Invictus posted:If Kissmanga isn't being cooperative with loading pages, try something like Batoto, that's usually a good place to go, it just doesn't have KM's incredibly convenient all-on-one-page style. Don't read comments on there though, they're usually rife with spoilers. Oh, I did notice that. I was referring to the part where she got a message from (one of?) her future versions. The one that convinced her to get Yukari to JAUNT. Though I suppose it could have been one of her selves that didn't try to talk Yukari into going, and JAUNT just outright killing Yukari. I wrote/thought that before I had read the whole plane death thing that got undid by Gaku. There wasn't much I could think of to say about what Gaku could do/realized that she was able to do. It's really disturbing in any case. All the horrible things done, simply because one version of Gaku 'had' to do it, just in case it was the shortest path. Though I do kind of wonder what the 'extra' stuff is. Just pictures?
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Sep 7, 2013 01:07
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I haven't read Japanese stuff in a longass time, the only one of the series in the OP I'm familiar with is I Am a Hero. Which, while I keep hearing really good things about, kind of irritated me. I only read about a dozen chapters, so maybe I just missed the point where it gets good, but the main character is just such a goddamn loser. Maybe that's the idea, but drat it got annoying watching him consistently fail to do anything useful. Maybe because his depiction hits too close to home?  I am grateful for the recommendations in the OP though, some of those series look quite interesting- looking forward to learning about quantum mechanics via Japanese comics! 
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Sep 7, 2013 01:28
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All of Kengo Hanazawa's three major series involve worthless losers in their mid-20's-30's. Whether they make something of themselves or not is dependent on the series. I would say it's worth continuing with I Am A Hero to see how Hideo evolves as a person through the story, honestly. You didn't even make it past when he got back to his girlfriend's place, it sounds like. It takes a few volumes for him to (slight spoilers for chapters 13-30 or so)realize he's not actually having another schizophrenic episode but it is, indeed, a zombie apocalypse, so he can stop trying to act normal despite all the INSANE poo poo happening around him.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:46
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Okay, now I've been reading volume 2. Dang, it just keeps getting crazier. I'm going to guess shadow-y ghost thing is the same thing as the other ghost thing? And I just went straight on to Volume 3: Oh god, did he think he took out the gun? He did. Chapter 24: Ahaha. He just turtled up. And it worked. And I just kind of... kept reading, since there's not really much to say. poo poo just keeps piling up, and no real 'twists' to react to. Though he keeps trying to keep the teeth. Even though it seems he lost them now.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:59
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There was a similar thread a few months back, so I'm just going to pirate my post from that, for this. Takako Shimura's Wandering Son tells the stories of two young people just on the cusp of adolescence. I'll let the official Fantagraphics page tell you why it's good though: Fantagraphics posted:A sensitive masterpiece from Japan's most prominent creator of LGBT manga. Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy. Shimura portrays their journey with affection, sensitivity and humor. Not only is it a touching story about a couple of LGBT kids, it's one of the best stories about adolescence I've ever read. The US version is crazy high quality too: hardcover, great paper, nice binding and a great translation. Shimura's art starts out a little plain, but soon develops into a really nice, delicate style with some absolutely fantastic line-work.  Check out all the details and long list of glowing reviews on the official page. http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/wandering-son.html?vmcchk=1 ------ There's a good chance you've heard of Hayao Miyazaki, the master animator and director from Studio Ghibli. Well, way back when the studio was starting out he had to do a manga version alongside the film version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The film and the manga's stories diverge pretty drastically early on and the comic is one of the best science fiction epics I've encountered in any format. Strongly written characters and fantastic art make it exciting, thoughtful, and moving.  It also just got a wonderful new hardcover English edition, with a bunch of new color pages and a fancy box to keep the two volumes in.
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Sep 7, 2013 04:04
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I'd like to draw some attention to Naoki Urasawa's mystery/suspense works. His three big ones, in my opinion, are: Monster (Guillermo del Toro is a fan!), 20th Century Boys (spins into 21st Century Boys towards the end), and Pluto, with a fourth currently ongoing (Billy Bat). I've read them all, but Pluto is probably my favorite (very narrowly edging out Boys), and I think it serves as a good introduction to Urasawa as well. For one thing, it's tidily contained in eight volumes, unlike the much-longer running Monster or Boys, and even though it's technically adapted from an Astro Boy plotline, I'd say it does a good job of showcasing Urasawa's strengths as a creator in his own right. If you like intrigue, suspense, and smart, compelling characters, one of these could be the manga for you!
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Sep 7, 2013 04:09
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Just read the first volume of I Am A Hero. I'm the type of person who, in a lot of stories, will often spend a lot of time looking for the trick, trying to figure out the twist, so for me the insistence on avoiding spoilers in the OP really piqued my interest as you might imagine. From the first panels, I guessed the twist was gonna be horror themed, no reason in particular, just something about the tone said that to me on some level. For a while after that, I was convinced it was going to be about ghosts, or at least Suzuki's delusional ghosts, despite a couple hints dropped in the background about bites and so on. It wasn't until the first time I noticed people in medical masks that I started thinking zombies. Despite figuring it out probably a little earlier than intended (I guess it's just hard to slip some secret zombies in now that we're so inundated,) the manga threw me for a loop a couple times, and I really enjoyed the mysterious tone. The art was good, faces looked a little bizarre at times, but Tekko at the end was loving spot on terrifying. I'm still not convinced we haven't just moved from Suzuki hallucinating ghosts to Suzuki hallucinating zombies, but I'm definitely hooked. I think I'm gonna go read some more now.
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Sep 8, 2013 01:47
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What I thought of the first volume of I Am A Hero: While I've never read a manga before this, and only remembered after a while that it's read from right to left so I had to go restart, it really caught my attention. I'm the kind of person that would rather just watch something than read it, too. (Spoilers for the whole volume 1) The horror plot was pretty easily guessed, catching me off guard at first thought -- what with the guy appearing from under the bed, then vanishing again. The main character having so many issues is kind of interesting as well. Being schizophrenic, scared of everything, insecure, etc. Him repeating "I am a Hero" to get himself through the day is great, just really adding some flavour to the character. The flu/virus was kind of expected as well, although I thought of something more along the lines of Crazies instead of Zombies, since the first news report talked about a old man setting his old folks home on fire. The art is great as well, and I love the main characters albeit goofyness such as when he randomly starts dancing for his oudon, him pissing on that chubby-guy he always imagines, and a bunch of other stuff. While I did expect his girlfriend to end up being sick, I didn't actually expect him to well, run into her so early on. No idea what happens in the next volume, but I'd guess he probably shoots her, so it's neat in a way that the author is ready to straight up kill off the main characters girlfriend, if not albeit dark. Overall, I enjoyed reading through that and will probably read the rest. Haven't looked at any of the other suggested Mangas in the OP thought, should probably do that.
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Sep 8, 2013 06:57
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Yeah, my #1 wish for an anime adaptation would be I Am A Hero. I don't know if it'd ever happen, but man, it would be loving INCREDIBLE in the hands of the right studio, KyoAni, Production I.G., possibly even Bones. There are so many things that would lend themselves to high-frame/detail animation that it would just be mindblowing.
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Sep 8, 2013 07:59
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So after Captain Invictus pointed me this way, I picked up I am a Hero first and have just finished binging the whole lot. Spoilers for the entire current I am a Hero run:So like others in the thread I too thought it was going to be a ghost themed horror manga. Even when the Zombie elements started cropping up, I still feel the schizophrenic delusions were by far the creepiest part, though one of the hallucinations saying Hideo was merely dreaming before he killed his girlfriend was just  It was quite enjoyable to have the protagonist act like a (arguably more realistic) panicked coward when it came to intense situations instead of a gung-ho survivor hero. The highlander-esq 'super' humans thread cropping up in the main and side story seems pretty cool too, I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out. Story aside, Kengo Hanazawa artwork is great. From the surrealist nightmare that comes from Hiromi's point of view to the depressing landscape vista's, he really manages to capture an apocalyptic feeling throughout the story. This extends to the Attack on Titan-ish zombies, who really capture that uneasy feeling; there's just something wrong about them. Also the faces, my god the glorious faces (and dancing).Two critisims cropped up though. One was maybe a translation issue, where those being bitten were always saying 'That hurts  ' and 'what is going on here '. Second were the panty shots  . Apart from that, as someone who rarely reads manga/watches anime, I can't wait for the next chapter to come out. p.s. sorry if this is a bit rambley, kinda got no sleep due to reading every chapter of this .In summary: 
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Sep 8, 2013 08:15
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Okay goddamn so I was supposed or study for exams this weekend, but then I am a Hero and Ressentiment happened. Since everyone's already got a pretty good idea of how amazing I am a Hero is, I just finished Ressentiment and I'll admit it is probably one of the most awkward, uncomfortable and incredible things I've read. Ugh, on a certain level I have no idea how to react to a thirty-five year old openly admitting to wanting to screw a twelve to fourteen year old , but despite how disgusting and downright offensive sakamoto is, he's just so pathetic it's hard to really actively hate him. If you think about it, this is basically Chobits, but with the target audience of Chobits actually playing the main character. What did it for me though, is right at the end when the Fuhrer turned out to be a six year old chimpanzee whose Unreal world avatar was of his zookeeper. Its an insane twist, and yet somehow it still seems....right. Also that Sakamoto stayed the slightly reprehensible human being he's always been instead of turning into a Hero with a Heart of Gold, therefore averting disaster, getting the (real world) girl and atoning for being such a gross pervert. And I think the crazy faces mentioned in the OP really add to the whole flavour of this series. While the whole story seems to have wrapped up neatly, I'm still kinda confused about the whole Noah thing and what happened to the AI that thought it was God. And what happened to the scientist creator? Was he still actually walking around in the Unreal? Or was that guy who turned into a chubby goon just someone else? Either way, Maria is my new favourite character. I suppose I could finish off my Kengo Hanazawa reading with Boys on the Run, but I'll save that for next weekend.
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Sep 8, 2013 10:23
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Boys on the Run isn't finished being scanlated anyways, so you can hold off on that for a while yet if you don't want to be blue-balled. Also I got my Nausicaa box set that I ordered off Amazon and just opened it a minute ago. I am not exaggerating when I say this is a MUST-BUY ITEM. Forty-two dollars(18 off the retail price of 60) nets you all seven volumes put into two MASSIVE volumes measuring 10.4 inches by 7.3 inches each, nearly two inches thick each as well, with very high-quality paper and multiple full color artwork pages inside. Both volumes fit inside a gorgeous box that also houses a large poster of Nausicaa. For 42 dollars this is an INSANE deal for what is an iconic and extremely powerful series. You should go buy it, the link's there in the OP. I'm actually tempted to, when I have some more cash, buy a few more sets to give out as gifts, it's just that good a deal for a classic series. Man, I am really just dumbstruck by the quality of this, I am definitely not used to this level of quality with manga. It's fancy but tasteful. Someone on Amazon did a rundown of various aspects of the box set: quote:- The format is over-sized (like Akira's volumes), with a trim-size much larger than the one we are used to for mangas: the books are 10,4 by 7,3 inches. This gives you a much better appreciation of the art, and that's exactly what you want, being Miyazaki's pages so full of detail and wonder. Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 10:38 on Sep 8, 2013 |
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Sep 8, 2013 10:35
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Here's a picture of the Nausicaa box set. And here it is on my Nerd Shelf:  (Not pictured: Yotsuba&, Paradise Kiss, Sailor Moon) The only thing I don't like about it is how sound effects are handled. Putting the translations for all of the them in the back of each (huge) volume is actually more annoying than if they didn't even bother translating them at all. Redraw them or stick it in the gutters; no one wants to flip to the back of the book to see if those characters mean "vrmmmmm" or "whooooosh" It's the only thing I miss about the old Perfect Collection, which (other than the translation, which is the same) is a bit worse with its way smaller format and flipped artwork.
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Sep 8, 2013 15:26
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That Azumanga Daioh omnibus is probably one of the best comic investments I've ever made. It's like 20 bucks for almost 700 pages of funny comics. And oh my god why does it always feel like a new volume of Yotsuba&! is so far away. It seems like every time I check amazon the date moves back another month.
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Sep 8, 2013 16:05
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I don't think I can ever bring myself to buy the omnibus because 4koma is a format that I just plain do not find funny. It always seems like I'm reading an incomplete joke. That said the anime is kind of the originator of the "cute girls doing cute things" format and it's easily still the best show of that type too.
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Sep 8, 2013 18:25
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Loving I am a Hero. Juxtaposition of Hideo's phenomenal just not getting it with all the horror that is unraveling around him. Like going into the rant about elitist manga writers in his girlfriend's apartment after she put his head through the door. Also oh man this guy:  So loving creepy!~ (Just got to where Hideo arrives at the studio/ post girlfriend's apartment) Edit: I don't really get the whole way women are treated in this though. Like a lot of grossness and I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. Yeah even though the art style is amazing, this was not for me. Wookie Bouquet fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Sep 9, 2013 |
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Sep 8, 2013 18:39
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Qualia the Purple is setting up some serious omniscient omnipotent yandere endgame . I'm just frustrated that I found out about it halfway in, so I have to wait like a year for it to finish up.
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Sep 10, 2013 01:45
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I AM A HERO Goddamn, the art direction is incredible. I know that balancing between realism and cartoonish expressionism is a staple of a lot of manga but I've never seen it done so seamlessly before. The facial expressions remind me a lot of Boulet's work :3 Man, reading a realistic zombie narrative set in Japan really drives home how eager Americans are to kill each other. Virtually every Hollywood zombie film is a wet dream of chainsaws and katanas but in I Am A Hero people are just trying to uphold the law and act considerate towards their loved ones
snucks fucked around with this message at 04:51 on Sep 10, 2013 |
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Sep 10, 2013 04:46
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snucks posted:I AM A HERO For me Japanese survival horror always seemed to have people go into self-preserving selfish bastards astoundingly fast.
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Sep 10, 2013 05:17
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Mr Wind Up Bird posted:That Azumanga Daioh omnibus is probably one of the best comic investments I've ever made. It's like 20 bucks for almost 700 pages of funny comics. I think they're missing the anniversary comics though. Shame really.
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Sep 11, 2013 00:50
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So I ended up finding out why Qualia the Purple's translation is taking awhile. The main translator went on a marathon of 'Sora no Kiseki' games, which apparently has seven (eight?) games in the series? All before the new one comes out this month. So if the next chapter translation isn't released before the 26th, don't expect it for awhile, I suppose. I have no idea how long those games are, though. The 'main translator', Moogy, apparently joined starting with chapter 8. He's apparently read the novel, as well. And he talked about information that was in it, but not the manga. Either shuffled around, or just plain dropped. Read it at your own risk, but I think as of chapter 12, it covers most of what is in there. Except for some backstory of a certain character that I'm not sure will be mentioned at all. Though the notes were attached to chapter 9/10, they kind of have spoilers for 11/12. Moogy posted:
Also some translation notes that Moogy had for Chapter 8, paraphrased, as it was kind of wordy/talking about the existence of the book in general: 'Super unified theory' is not the grand unified theory, apparently. But something even 'bigger'. The text apparently has one more character in front of it than the Japanese for 'grand theory of everything'. Which seems to mean 'exceed'/'surpass'/etc., at least according to google translate. Not knowing Japanese, I'm not sure what it actually is. Nor do I have the background to try to figure it out. I'm guessing it's just literally a theory that goes beyond the grand unified theory. A term that apparently is only used in Japanese. And the book mentioned a few pages later in the manga is "The Stars My Destination", Though Moogy did say that the scientific explanations are accurate, at least as far as he knows. And that he's been getting some help from a grad student in Quantum to confirm the terms and such.
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Sep 11, 2013 04:23
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Kgummy posted:
This is one of my favorite scifi stories and I couldn't have been more surprised by running into it during this story.
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Sep 12, 2013 00:35
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One series I'd suggest too is Gunka no Baltzar. It's a series set in post-Napoleonic/post-HRE Europe although, even though it's explicitly Europe, all of the countries are instead fictional counterparts. It's about an officer for Weissen (Prussia) named Bernd Balzer getting shipped off to become an instructor at the military academy for Baselland (Bavaria), which has just recently entered into a military alliance with Weissen. It very quickly, however, turns into a story about realpolitik and the struggle between modernization and resistance to it as more countries and political players are introduced. The translation effort can be a bit slow some times but other than that it's a really engaging series if you're looking for military/political intrigue.
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Sep 12, 2013 01:07
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I've begun reading this thing called Magical Girls of the End and three chapters in it's basically WHAT IF MAGICAL GIRLS(like Sailor Moon) WERE SUPER-ZOMBIE THINGS AND ALSO NIGH-UNSTOPPABLE HERALDS OF THE APOCALYPSE??? It's definitely a parody playing it completely straight. Complete with (probably not long for this world) fanservice character and death flags aplenty. It's so loving absurd that I think I'm loving it. It's horrifically gory so be warned about that! Magical girl's pet dog vomiting magical sparkle-stars from transformation sequences to regenerate the charred husk of its master's body is really something else. I don't know if it can keep this pace up, though, so it might go to poo poo after three chapters. edit: after catching up, it's so ridiculously over-the-top in every way but played straight, that I can't help but love it. It's unfortunately got something really off-putting in a fanservice way with the requisite Creepy Raper Guy part of the survivor crew, but other than that the ~magical girl mystery~ is pretty great. The fanservice character is so absurd to the point of not being titillating(and actually kind of a decent character on her own), the violence and attempted shocker scenes are absurd, and the magical girls themselves are especially absurd, of course. The whole thing is absurd. I still want to see where this goes, especially with what's happened in recent chapters. The point I knew I would love this was when some characters were decapitated and gigantic torrents of blood probably bigger than their entire bodies came shooting out of their neck stumps. It's THAT sort of series and I hope more scanlations get completed soon. 
Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 12:45 on Sep 12, 2013 |
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Sep 12, 2013 04:02
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Currently reading I Am A Hero and what can I say, this is an awesome series. I'll be sure to check out the others you've linked too Captain, thanks for the recommendations!.
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Sep 13, 2013 23:29
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Qualia the purple chapter 13 is out now. Just a heads up.
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Sep 17, 2013 02:27
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Okay I've been dragging my feet on this but I'm finally getting off my lazy rear end and writing up my thoughts on Qualia the Purple. Well, this manga certainly doesn't lack for shock value. Pretty much every chapter ends in a twist, and each twist makes you go "Well poo poo, nothing can top that" and then the next twist does. I found it pretty amusing how the manga looked like it was going for a pretty typical yuri romance but then promptly took a running jump off the deep end with robots and evil organizations and poo poo. Captain Invictus was audience to a running commentary of my reactions as I read the first twelve chapters and I'm sure he chortled mightily at how many times I gave various iterations of "holy poo poo." I also found it pretty amusing to see concepts from my long forgotten university philosophy course rear their heads in a manga. I like the direction the manga is going, especially the hints that Hatou is going to forsake her humanity for the sake of her goal, and that her obsession with Yukira might turn out to be exactly that, an obsession, rather than ~*true love*~. THAT SAID, in retrospect it didn't stick with me as much as the shock value suggested. It was pretty wordy, in the not good way, which I suppose was unavoidable since it's based on a novel and introduces lots of scientific/philosophical theories that the reader might not know and so has to explain them. I didn't like certain aspects of the art, which reminded me at times of the simplistic style of an anime. I dunno, I enjoyed it, but it didn't really grab me and I admit I still haven't read the most recent chapter, or made more than a token effort to find the raws/the novel. Also read I Am a Hero, it rocks. Boys on the Run, too (I actually like it most out of Hanazawa's works).
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Sep 18, 2013 05:16
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