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NowonSA
Jul 19, 2013

I am the sexiest poster in the world!
I somehow never connected the dots about Death Note being forcibly extended, maybe because I dug the second half about as much as the first half. I didn't make the connection to the authors voicing their discontent with editorial pressure in Bakuman either as a result, which makes me feel dumb now because BOY was it heavy handed. I recommend both series though, with Death Note being a must read and Bakuman being an enjoyable read.

For anime fans, the Death Note anime is pretty spectacular, and walks the right line between adding in new scenes/content and being true to the source material, in my mind.

By the way, does anyone know why it's been so long since I am a Hero was last updated? Just curious what's going on there.

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PicklePants
May 8, 2007
Woo!
Thank you for recommending OnePunch-Man. That was an awesome read.

Wozbo
Jul 5, 2010

PicklePants posted:

Thank you for recommending OnePunch-Man. That was an awesome read.

If you are a fan of the original artist, I also recommend mob 100.

a kitten
Aug 5, 2006

It's the End of the World As We Know It
----------------------------------------------

Hotel
Humanity is doomed.
Global warming and other environmental catastrophes have ensured that the the biosphere is wrecked and there's no going back. So what to do about it? Can't fix it, can't run from it, can't do a drat thing about it. Some scientists decide to build a Tower, a tower containing a record of humanity and some DNA samples, not as an Ark, not as anything hopeful...just as a monument, a tombstone for some other beings from somewhere else to find.

Something as if to say:
This was us. This is what we did. We're sorry.

Hotel is the story of the AI created to maintain the Tower as guard and overseer and the story follows it as time passes

A lot of time passes.



Read it Here. It's complete and only around 40 pages long, there are some other versions at that link, including the original Korean version and some other stories that apparently expand on the setting a bit. I didn't know those other things existed until making this post so I have no idea if they are good or bad.

All I know is Hotel, by itself, is a great read and doesn't really need anything else to go along side it.
----------------------------------------------

...And I Feel Fine.

Yokohama Shopping Trip / Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

After unspecified disasters: the oceans are way higher, somethings taken a good chunk out of Mt. Fuji, and the population is drastically reduced--humanity is in its twilight years. YKK tells the story of Alpha, an android who runs a small coffeshop in an out of the way coastal town in Japan.

a better summary than I could write posted:

Most chapters of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou are self-contained slice-of-life episodes depicting Alpha in daily activities, either alone, with customers, or on occasional trips through the countryside or into Yokohama for supplies (whence the "shopping log" of the title came). Whole chapters are devoted to brewing coffee, taking photographs, or repairing a tiny model aircraft engine, sometimes with only a few lines of dialogue. Through Alpha's experiences, the author brings out the small wonders of everyday life and makes the reader aware of their passing: the aircraft engine runs out of fuel; her scooter breaks down; the rising ocean encroaches on her coffee shop; the neighborhood children she loves grow up and move away. In evoking a nostalgia for this loss, Ashinano follows the Japanese tradition of mono no aware (sadness for the transience of things).

Though often self-contained, the stories have continuity—relationships grow and change, and seemingly insignificant details reappear later. Ashinano explains few details of Alpha's world, leaving mysteries that engage the reader as the series unfolds in a meandering progression, by turns funny, touching, and nostalgic

It's good.

It's really good. It might be one of my favorite things I've read in print, in fact. Its slow and languorous pace might not be for everyone, but if you think you might enjoy a fairly unique spin on the end of the world with some wonderful drawings you should give this one a look.

It's unlicensed and can be read at this link It's completed and fully translated, and maybe, just maybe someday someone will license it so I can legitimately own it. :gbsmith:


If you want a vision of the future, imagine a cute robot playing a gekkin, by herself--forever.

a kitten fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Jan 1, 2014

cafel
Mar 29, 2010

This post is hurting the economy!

a kitten posted:

It's the End of the World As We Know It
----------------------------------------------

...And I Feel Fine.

Yokohama Shopping Trip / Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou


It's unlicensed and can be read at this link

I don't often get a lot out of the art work for a series, but YKK had a really serene, naturalistic quality that I really dug. Definitely a great series if you're in the mood for something calm and contemplative.

DaveKap
Feb 5, 2006

Pickle: Inspected.



I got addicted to the Attack on Titan anime, read the entirety of the manga the week after the anime ended, then read the entirety of I Am A Hero over the course of the past month... up to chapter 143.

So naturally I must ask, how many more chapters of I Am A Hero exist? From what I've accidentally read, it's past 150 but scanlators won't touch it until the volume is over? Checking on the release dates, I'm afraid I won't get a fix until next year. Also there are no :filez: rules in the OP so I don't know if asking for more chapters is OK or not since legality of foreign works is always up in the air. Also, what other things has that author completed? I keep getting into series that aren't actually done and ended yet. :(

The OP asks for a retrospective from new readers and I'll gladly spoiler one in later but do people still find interest in that or is it old by now? I will say this, at least: I hate zombie poo poo. It's old, tired, boring, and I'm just done and sick of it. Between Andrew W K.uruzu, a nerd with a gun, the migration south, and the hallucinations, this manga reinvents zombies in a way that I really hope pays off in the end. I'm absolutely hooked.

DaveKap fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Dec 30, 2013

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
The other two series Kengo Hanazawa has made are in the OP as well, Ressentiment and Boys on the Run. A couple new chapters of BotR just came out fairly recently and it's almost finished. I still can't tell whether it will have a happy or sad ending. Ressentiment is completed and pretty messed up but also a very interesting look at the future of entertainment, especially considering it's fairly old, almost a decade old at this point. It's an extremely cynical series, so keep that in mind.

In regards to :filez:, the usual stance on it is that once it's licensed in the US, don't link to scanlations anymore, link to places to buy it legally. But until then, people post scanlations since there's literally no other way to read them, legal or not, until they're localized.


I always like seeing new people's takes on the various series in the thread still. By all means, keep at it! Also, give some of the other stuff in the thread a try. My favorite recommendation aside from IAAH is Qualia the Purple because it's super misleading for the first couple chapters and then gets more and more intense until you reach the current chapter, there's like....5 chapters left untranslated. If you give it a read, I want blow-by-blow reactions to it, those are the best part! It's the only series I know of that gets more ridiculous than Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann in less than 13 chapters.

I really need to get around to writing up the third sampler list, maybe during New Year's break.

Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Dec 31, 2013

Lily Catts
Oct 17, 2012

Show me the way to you
(Heavy Metal)

a kitten posted:

Yokohama Shopping Trip / Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

After unspecified disasters: the oceans are way higher, somethings taken a good chunk out of Mt. Fuji, and the population is drastically reduced--humanity is in its twilight years. YKK tells the story of Alpha, an android who runs a small coffeshop in an out of the way coastal town in Japan.


It's good.

It's really good. It might be one of my favorite things I've read in print, in fact. Its slow and languorous pace might not be for everyone, but if you think you might enjoy a fairly unique spin on the end of the world with some wonderful drawings you should give this one a look.

It's unlicensed and can be read at this link


If you want a vision of the future, imagine a cute robot playing a gekkin, by herself--forever.


YKK is one of my favorite manga ever. It evokes the Japanese sentiment of mono no aware, which means "sadness at the passing of things". Alpha is a robot, which basically means she's immortal. She lives in a world where humanity is on the decline (the reasons for which isn't important), and she'll most certainly outlive them. The manga is wistful, but never overly sentimental about this. I wouldn't mind the world ending like this.

Veib
Dec 10, 2007


YKK is my favorite comic ever. It's just so loving good in every way imaginable. A friend I recommended it to sent me a message the following night complaining he can't sleep because he doesn't want to stop reading it.

DaveKap
Feb 5, 2006

Pickle: Inspected.



So here are the things I want to talk about regarding I Am A Hero


Where to even begin...

The hallucinations threw me at first. Because of Volume 1's image of Hideo wearing a mask and holding a shotgun, I immediately thought it was going to be a zombie story. When his hallucinations showed up, I kinda assumed the whole story was going to be set in some supernatural light. It wasn't until the second time someone mentioned a "bite" that I thought it was ending up a zombie story.

The fact that Hideo's had a girlfriend for 3 years, the way they communicated and acted with each other, the fact that she was the assertive type and thought Hideo was amazing simply because of his true talents, it hit home for me and pulled me real far in. I knew she wouldn't get through it alive but it still killed me when he saw her apartment, her note, the things she did for him to make him feel comfortable again. AUGH! It killed me a little bit and really made me sad. The only other time I've felt that way (while reading a comic) was reading Transmetropolitan. Keep in mind that I rarely ever read comics and have never read manga, aside from Attack on Titan.

So, the way this series deals with the zombification is way more interesting than every other popular stupid zombie story out there and I appreciate that. To me, the survival horror genre is not interesting. How the horrors came to be, how they're being used, what the horrors are experiencing; these are all things I'm way more interested in. You can guess why I really enjoyed Cabin in the Woods.

The fact Tekko purposely lost her teeth in order to keep Hideo from getting bitten? Killer. It makes the whole idea that killing these people is necessary all the more painful. These people still have a piece of their mind, they're still experiencing their lives but they don't have control. It's sick and twisted but that's the way zombies get interesting to me. Not the raised dead but rather the infected living. I feel like the story went on just slightly too long without a person saying "everything is hosed, so why worry about laws?" but I was glad when it finally occurred. Too bad it had to be the complete assholes saying it and it still took Hideo longer to come to the proper realization about what was required of him. Still, I'll take this progression over gung-ho man any day of the week.

BTW, "I am a Hero" as Hideo's mantra? I love it. After the first 3 times, I got chills any time he said it. I grin and giggle any time someone else compliments Hideo, mostly because he deserves it and has no idea how to take it.

I love all the really strange and realistic places this story goes. Boob Morning and the creepiness of Hideo's co-workers. The fact that they're working on a pornographic manga and the :effort: way they talk about it. That one editor getting his dick bit off. That other dude jacking it off until it.. came off. Imagine if he was onto something, where climaxing meant being able to stave off the infection? Now there's a hosed up comic...
The way Hideo wants to take care of Hiromi to the point of cleaning up after her, it's like he's taking care of his own child. The realistically stupid way everyone thinks they're going to survive despite obvious signs of infection being all around them. The creep who gropes the tied up zombie woman. The other creep who uses her as a pin-cushion. The perspective of the transgendered woman. The way women are treated in general is, while offensive, quite realistic to what would probably happen in such a scenario. Those trying to seize power and were prepared for the situation are the same people who are loving creeps. Thankfully this comic has, in my opinion, a good "justice to injustice ratio" and the creeps get theirs in the end anyway.

This brings me to a question of a couple translation issues. Is "Zomfags" a correct translation? Is it really correct that so many people say "ow, that hurts" when they get bit? I agree with the person that it's kinda strange they kept up with that. Who wouldn't scream "Get the gently caress away!" when someone got up near them all creepy-like?

Another issue I have is how grotesque the infected look... yet people are still dumb enough to think "oh, that person is fine, it's OK if they start to shamble over into my general vicinity." No, it's not OK. If you look like your face is broken off and you're walking like a spider and have veins bulging all over you, I'm staying far the gently caress away from you. It's also kinda lovely how Hideo barely warns anyone against these types of people. It's also kinda lovely how infection can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 seconds. That one scientific aspect of the series is real bothersome to me.

Hey, why is that one school girl constantly wearing a gas mask and refusing to take it off? And what was she doing when Ezaki went up to get her?

Back to the positives? I love that Kuruzu exists. All 4 of them. I'm super interested in where the story is going to go with them and how they'll be important. Considering we get to see through the eyes of Hideo, Hiromi, and Ezaki and see all the strange poo poo they see, I really wonder if Hideo's got an in-borne Kuruzu strain that mildly shows itself via his hallucinations? The visuals when Hiromi gets the nail taking out of her head gave me goosebumps. I wonder if they'll give a reason for Kuruzu's insistence on not wearing a shirt and being all scarred up. Or perhaps the scars were from his battle with the other Kuruzu(s)? Yes I'm talking about all of the Kuruzus at once.

Ugh, there's just so much to cover. I'm going to take a break for now and if I come up with more I'll post again.

So since there's no licensing on IAAH yet, I can ask: Where the heck are the chapters past 143? They are apparently out there, existing.. is it just that nobody wants to scanlate them?

I'll check Qualia the Purple and blow-by-blow it here for you.

DaveKap fucked around with this message at 02:18 on Dec 31, 2013

DaveWoo
Aug 14, 2004

Fun Shoe
Checked out a few of these over the weekend - my takes:

I Am A Hero/Boys on the Run/Ressentiment - To be perfectly honest, I just couldn't really get into any of these stories. In all three cases, the protagonist is portrayed as such an over-the-top loser that I eventually just stop caring about what might happen to him. I dunno, I guess these kinds of stories just aren't for me. :shrug:

Qualia the Purple - Incredibly weird, but in a good kind of way. Looking forward to finding out what happens next.

The Town Where Only I Am Missing - Interesting mystery, good pacing, really liked the twist where he went back in time to his childhood, and still failed to prevent the murder. Looking forward to the next chapter.

Bonnouji - Very nice, laid-back, fun to read. Feels like it ended pretty quickly, but I guess that's what happens when you don't have a bunch of contrived misunderstandings or forced drama to pad things out. :v:

Hinamatsuri - Another light, fun read, though I kind of feel like Hina is the least interesting character out of the whole bunch.

Suicide Island - Definitely one of my favorites out of the bunch. A great combination of action/adventure stuff and introspective character studies. Can't wait to see what happens next.

I'm In Mari - Liking it so far. It's interesting to see a story that actually puts a different, more serious spin on the tired old gender-swap/body-swap premise.

Assassination Classroom - Decent enough, though the school-related stuff seems a bit cliche to me. Still, it's executed fairly well.

Teppu - Another one of my favorites. I especially like how little fanservice there is in the comic.

All in all, a pretty good set of stories, and I look forward to seeing what Captain Invictus has in store for us in List #3.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
I Am A Hero in particular is more that he's got serious issues before things go terribly wrong, and how he handles things as the story progresses. Honestly, I can see where you're coming from with BOTR and Ressentiment(Ressentiment ESPECIALLY, BOTR less so since he does improve over the course of it though starts slow), but with IAAH it's more that he has to deal with extreme circumstances while also being a paranoid schizophrenic.

And one thing to keep in mind while reading I Am A Hero and such is that Japan is often a society of keeping your head down. "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down", basically. IAAH takes this a little far, but that part is at least based in reality.

a kitten
Aug 5, 2006

DaveKap posted:


So since there's no licensing on IAAH yet, I can ask: Where the heck are the chapters past 143? They are apparently out there, existing.. is it just that nobody wants to scanlate them?

I pulled this off of the site for the guys doing the scans:

quote:

I Am A Hero: No ETA for it atm. The translator (laika) is taking a break from translating and I don't know when he'll be back. If there's a competent translator around that wants to give us a hand, contact me.
It's from Dec 25th
http://www.illuminati-manga.com/

It kinda sucks, but that's how it goes with scans. Real print versions frequently take a lot longer to come out since they mostly work with full volumes, but at least you can look forward every couple of months to getting a new Yotsuba& or whatever.

It's such a bummer when a good, but unlicensed series you're enjoying gets sidelined for some random reason though.

a kitten fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Dec 31, 2013

Epoxy Bulletin
Sep 7, 2009

delikpate that thing!

DaveKap posted:

So here are the things I want to talk about regarding I Am A Hero

"ow, that hurts"


(Sperging ahead, also spoilers for the twist)
This is just a cultural thing that I've seen very consistently in Japanese comics or movies; I equate it with the kind of movie shot where Jason slices some dude's throat or sticks a fence post in their guts and there's that moment of disbelief where they gasp and gape at their own grievous wounds, or gargle up some blood while the rest of their pals look on. Then one of the chicks screams and cries, which snaps people out of it, while the quarterback goes all "it's too late we gotta go!!". You know the scene.

It just seems to be some kind of cultural meme that "oh god it hurts" is how to represent that moment of disconnect between "normal" and "being mauled", and that its all going down so fast that by the time they realize the situation they literally can't do much but scream for help. There's quite a few zombie/monster manga out there, and the same reaction is a pretty universal constant.


The other part of it is normal translation woes, as I can all but guarantee that the majority of those cries are one word, itai, which literally means "pain." It can take on a lot more nuance, however, and its just not always easy to decide if you want to read it "that hurts, please stop" or "someone help me, it hurts" or "what's happening it hurts", etc. it's a concise, but vague way to indicate some serious distress, probably in the hopes that your girlfriend will come to her senses, or some brave soul will come pry her from your jugular.

DaveKap
Feb 5, 2006

Pickle: Inspected.



Epoxy Bulletin posted:

The other part of it is normal translation woes, as I can all but guarantee that the majority of those cries are one word, itai, which literally means "pain." It can take on a lot more nuance, however, and its just not always easy to decide if you want to read it "that hurts, please stop" or "someone help me, it hurts" or "what's happening it hurts", etc. it's a concise, but vague way to indicate some serious distress, probably in the hopes that your girlfriend will come to her senses, or some brave soul will come pry her from your jugular.
This part makes complete sense. I understand that certain things just can't be translated. Knowing that they're just saying "itai" the whole time brings it all together for me. Thanks!

Nipponophile
Apr 8, 2009
A lot of translators can get tunnel vision towards being overly literal with things, so it's probable that you're seeing "itai = it hurts" when more professional translations might have gone "itai = OOOWWWWW CHRIST GETITOFF AAAAAAHHHHH".

Argue
Sep 29, 2005

I represent the Philippines
I read several of the recommendations here and enjoyed them all but got pissed every time I realized they weren't finished. The Town Where Only I Am Missing in particular, because it seems like it's so close to ending, and now I have to wait. D: Which of the series recommended in this thread are complete?

I also read I Am A Hero and boy oh boy, after the very hard to get through first volume, this manga sure got horrifying really fast; I just got to around chapter 50 and oh lord the zombie babies crawling around on the floor of a crowded room aaggghhhhh this is like a cross between Crossed and Junji Ito and I just, gahhh.

Argue fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Jan 1, 2014

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Nausicaa, Masturbation Master Kurosawa, Ressentiment, Bonnouji, Ai-Ren, Wandering Son, Paradise Kiss, Kids on the Slope, and Akumetsu are all completely translated, whether via licensed volumes or scanlations.

Boys on the Run and Qualia the Purple are finished but not completely scanlated yet.

FourLeaf
Dec 2, 2011
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers



Edo period Japan. A strange illness erupts in a small village. Only men and boys catch it, and around 80% of victims die in agony, covered in red boils. This sickness, eventually known as the Redface Pox, spreads throughout the country. Soon the male population is devastated, with 4 women for every 1 man. Japanese society slowly adapts, with women taking on jobs and political positions formerly open only to men, and inheritance being altered to pass through the female line.

Even the Shogun is now a woman. The titular Ōoku (harem) of Edo Castle is filled with the most beautiful men of the land, carefully guarded to ensure the birth of an Tokugawa heir. While men in the outside world have become so rare that marriage is a luxury, hundreds of them live, die, and struggle for political supremacy inside the Ōoku.



Ōoku, by mangaka Fumi Yoshinaga, is an period drama with a twist. It's really good if you're like me and enjoy a) speculative fiction exploring "alternate" societies and b) political fantasy. It's slow-burning, focusing more on deadly palace intrigue and gradual societal change than on epic battles and fight scenes. If you're familiar with the Tokugawa period you'll probably enjoy it even more since Yoshinaga adheres closely to the historical record. It's fascinating to see how she uses the premise to create an entirely new justification for historical events like Japanese isolationism or the revenge of the 47 ronin.

It's licensed, so here's where you can buy it from Amazon.

I've heard people compare this to Y: The Last Man. It's not too similar. Obviously in Ōoku there are far more male survivors than in Y. Ōoku also doesn't focus on a single character as protagonist. It covers one character's life, then centers on another character, then that character's children, and so on. You watch as the Redface Pox slowly changes Japanese society to the point where most people don't know that there were once equal numbers of men and women. It's an extended alternate history.

The only bad thing about this series for me was the translator's strange decision to have the character's speak in faux-Shakespearean English. Luckily once I read it long enough it soon faded into the background. On the other hand, I read a review saying that made it more believable, so it depends on personal preference!

FourLeaf fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Jan 3, 2014

SalTheBard
Jan 26, 2005

I forgot to post my food for USPOL Thanksgiving but that's okay too!

Fallen Rib
IAAH is so loving awesome

Neutral Zone Trap
Nov 6, 2011

It's in the garbage. Where it belongs.
I read I Am A Hero during the Christmas holidays and it was definitely a good read. Not really a fan of anime or manga so "good read" is pretty high praise from me. Last show I saw was probably Cromartie High and that was ages ago.

I don't remember what happened in which chapter so I'll refrain from saying anything speficic but I did read all of it over a few days.

Agean90
Jun 28, 2008


You know Im sure could come up with some technical criticism of Akumetsu, but the series is just so much fun I dont actually care too.

He's basically a flamboyant batman villain who kills corrupt politicians and bankers the only way it could be any better would be if it was in the country I live in :allears:

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Absolutely, Akumetsu is not perfect by any stretch, but it's an interesting take on the vigilante superpower thing. And he's usually just so gosh-darned HAPPY to be doing what he's doing.


In other news, Crunchyroll picked up I'm In Mari, now officially called "Inside Mari". There's a new chapter. It's fuckin' insane and makes me hate that this is a monthly series. Go read it. :stare:

Doctor w-rw-rw-
Jun 24, 2008

Captain Invictus posted:

Absolutely, Akumetsu is not perfect by any stretch, but it's an interesting take on the vigilante superpower thing. And he's usually just so gosh-darned HAPPY to be doing what he's doing.


In other news, Crunchyroll picked up I'm In Mari, now officially called "Inside Mari". There's a new chapter. It's fuckin' insane and makes me hate that this is a monthly series. Go read it. :stare:

And you can blame ^^ this guy ^^ for putting it on their radar (via me). :P

Can't wait for more simulpubs. I'll continue to forward requests to their licensing team every so often, if anything new comes up.

P.S. for informed speculation on licenses, take a look at the publishers. Trends in that alone is generally a pretty good indicator for likelihood-of-license.
P.P.S Given that Crunchyroll doesn't have a horrible business model or awful accounting system, reading the manga in the app or on site will most likely be a lot easier to track and matter more to publishers. If you could do the courtesy of reading the manga in the app (and complaining loudly to their support when the app is doing something annoying), that'd help it improve faster.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
:woop: Yay, this thread/I accomplished something! :woop:

Status on I Am A Hero(or Boys on the Run) licensing, by any chance? That'd be my biggest wish by far, and like 95% of everyone who's read IAAH is blown away by it or at least appreciates how insanely high-quality it is.

Doctor w-rw-rw-
Jun 24, 2008
I don't get status updates on licensing, but it is on the list. If I get the chance I'll bring it up again.

Mimir
Nov 26, 2012
One of my friends keeps telling me to read JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. He's really into manga but not into western comics. I just finished Phantom Blood. It's not exactly the same but I know exactly what to recommend back to him now.

He needs a whole lot of New Gods era Jack Kirby.

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


An interesting non-standard manga series is Ikigami by Motoro Mase. The series takes place in an alternate reality Japan with a totalitarian government. The "National Prosperity Law" has every child inoculated in the first grade with a small percentage randomly getting a nano capsule injected as well. Between the ages of 18-24 anyone with the capsule has a random chance of it activating, killing them. The idea being that the chance of death will cause people to better appreciate life. A person selected gets a notice (the titular Ikigami) 24 hours before the capsule is set to go off.

The main character is Kengo Fujimoto, an Ikigami delivery man and the series follows him as he goes on his rounds. There isn't really much of an overarching plot, instead it focuses on the various people who receive the Ikigamis and how they react to the situation.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
SAMPLER THREE: GO!

Koe No Kotachi - Shonen, drama, comedy, romance(???), school years, psychological



Koe No Kotachi 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 is a relatively new manga that 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.

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 Movies(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.

Squidster
Oct 7, 2008

✋😢Life's just better with Ominous Gloves🤗🧤

Captain Invictus posted:

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.

Listen to the man, it's a fantastic series. It's been licensed by Seven Seas in the states, and the first omnibus ships in November.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Ah, right, I forgot Biscuit Hammer got licensed, shame it's so far away though.

A new chapter of Maou Maoyuu Yuusha just got released(finally, apparently someone's picked up scanlating it again), and it's a fantastic example of why I love the series. Sure, there's fanservice. But the politicking in it and the various factions arguing, as well as the dramatic twists such as the one in this chapter are exactly why I like it so much. The political upheaval that's been brewing in the last dozen or so chapters came to a head in this one, and it's handled masterfully, I had a big doofy grin on my face when I realized what was about to happen.

edit: oh, right, duh, should've waited until I finished the entire chapter, of course. :rolleyes:

Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Jan 15, 2014

cafel
Mar 29, 2010

This post is hurting the economy!

Captain Invictus posted:

SAMPLER THREE: GO!

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer - Seinen, drama, action, comedy, adventure, mystery, growing up



Chiming in to say this is another series I really enjoyed, especially the almost sinister vibes the whole concept seemed to have. It doesn't end up running with it to the extent that say Puella Magi Madoka Magica does, but it's still a nice change of pace.

JosephWongKS
Apr 4, 2009

by Nyc_Tattoo

Captain Invictus posted:

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.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer is a really great series. If you only have time to read one of the recommended series in this thread, read Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Please, I greatly enjoyed it, but don't oversell it like that. It has the benefit of being a completed series, but I would say there are maybe up to half a dozen series in here I'd recommend first. Spirit Circle is already shaping up to be far superior to BH if it continues at its current rate, and Mizukami has clearly improved his storytelling and characters since Biscuit Hammer. And if I had to recommend a single series in here above all others, it would be Nausicaa, no contest. Biscuit Hammer is great after the initial 20 chapter hump, but to suggest it's superior to something like Nausicaa is a bit much.

cafel
Mar 29, 2010

This post is hurting the economy!

Captain Invictus posted:

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.

I forgot to give Teppu it's props. Great to get away from the type of protagonists you usually get in sports and fighting series. Though it's not just the scanlations that are sporadic, the series is already on a once every two months schedule that slow translating exacerbates.

Suben
Jul 1, 2007

In 1985 Dr. Strange makes a rap album.
Actually during the year and a half the author was ill the magazine it runs in wound up switching to a monthly format so the series is monthly now. It's just that the scanlations are behind.

Edit: Apparently because the translator for the group working on it pulled a radium and just plain stopped responding to any attempts to contact them.

Suben fucked around with this message at 09:28 on Jan 15, 2014

Axiem
Oct 19, 2005

I want to leave my mind blank, but I'm terrified of what will happen if I do
So at this point, I've read the first three volumes of I Am A Hero, and ultimately, my reaction is meh.

More detail as to why:

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's terrible. Actually, as far as zombie universes go, it's among the better, I think. I just ultimately don't care much for zombies, both on an aesthetic level, and on a personal level. I tend to stay away from violence/gore because it gives me nightmares (yes, even though I'm almost 30), and general horror for a similar reason. All three of these tend to trigger in zombie stuff; this is no exception. I've already had one semi-nightmare from it, and am pretty much going to be working to forget it so I don't have more.

But like I said, as far as zombie stuffs go, it's among the better I've encountered and bothered to spend any time with. At least, in terms of world and plot.

Another thing that bothers me is that the main character is a mangaka. I tend to have a reaction (admittedly kneejerk) whenever media feature a main character who is an artist of that medium. I tend to feel like things like films about filmmakers and books about authors and songs about singers all tend to border on self-indulgent, and end up being mouthpieces for the author to complain about their industry instead of actual good works of art (but there are exceptions). The blathering in IAAH about manga and mangaka tends to turn me off; really, I couldn't care less.

Hideo also doesn't end up being a sympathetic character to me. It may be some of the Japanese culture causing a divide, but I really don't get any good sense of him as a character from the beginning. Why does someone who hallucinates have a gun? Why should I care about him? Frankly, he feels like a loser--almost like the exact same main character everyone complains about the manga Hideo draws. It feels to me like it's probably describing the author himself. Ultimately, it feels like I'm supposed to identify with Hideo because I'm like him. But I'm not like him.

Not that I'm saying that I only want to watch things about Characters Like Me. I like seeing things with Characters Not Like Me. But the author has to do a little dance to make me want to like someone not like me. Why should I like this character? What about him/her can I identify with, to make me like him/her more? None of this groundwork seems to be laid for Hideo--instead, I should like him because he's nearly 30, a failure in his chosen profession, a loser, has hallucinations, and has a gun. None of this grabs me at all.

If I liked zombie stuff, I'd be willing to look past that to see how the zombie stuff goes down. But between already being averse to zombies, and not liking the main character, I just can't keep going.


Ultimately, I won't keep reading it, though I'll probably still recommend it to people who are looking for a good and different story that fits in its main conceit. Just not up my alley.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
IAAH spoilers: Hideo isn't really supposed to be sympathetic to begin with. He is a loser, that's what Kengo Hanazawa does. His profession as a mangaka is literally irrelevant past the first volume, as the whole world goes to poo poo and it's not really useful for survival. He definitely has mental problems what with the hallucinations, but it also seems like something he's been keeping hidden as best he can, so he likely never told anyone about them or else he'd never qualify for a gun permit in a million years. It is rather unfortunate you're giving up on it, but different strokes I guess. You've not even really made it out of the "prologue" section yet, which sucks, since it really starts getting interesting once some other major characters show up in the latter half of volume 3. It starts to be less about the zombies(though there are certainly plenty of those still) and more about the whole "man is the real monster" scenario, plus scrounging for survival needs as well as just taking in the whole of the devastation. The zombies are much more fleshed-out(har har :v: ) than most other zombie series, really. If you do decide to give it more of a chance, you'll see what I mean. They're not just the walking dead, and if you check the spoilers in this thread about it, you'll notice a lot of people praise things a lot of folks miss, such as Tekko's specific act of ripping her teeth and such out on the door with the last vestiges of her humanity so that she doesn't infect Hideo as well when she bites him, and it saves his life. It's loving heartbreaking and a really powerful moment if you notice it.

Maybe give some of the other series a try then, since aside from Fortress of the Apocalypse, none of them have zombies.

Nipponophile
Apr 8, 2009
I'm another person who can't get into I Am A Hero because I am sick to death of zombies, but there's a lot of other good stuff that's been posted here. Hopefully people will give a few other series a shot and not forget that Japanese manga is at least as diversified as American comics. Just imagine if reading a few issues of Batman put you off of reading Alan Moore's Watchmen, or Grant Morrison's Animal Man, or Carl Barks' Donald Duck.

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Axiem
Oct 19, 2005

I want to leave my mind blank, but I'm terrified of what will happen if I do
Yeah, that makes sense about I Am A Hero, and I have gone and read spoilers at this point. For the kind of story it is, it is fairly well-done, and like I said, for people who like that, it's awesome. I just can't get into it, but it stays on my list of "recommend to other people if I think they might like it".

I have one of the older full printings of Nausicaa on my shelf that I picked up in college. I also have the full set of Akira, which is one that I would recommend. The movie barely touches any of the crap that goes on in the manga, if you're worried about the head-trip part. It's a lengthy series (6 huge volumes), but ultimately pretty cool, I thought. Then again, I haven't read it for a decade.

I've also checked out Boku wa Mari no Naka, and am enjoying it (though I tend to like gender-bender/do-over stories). Though I'm trying to understand what all this about CrunchyRoll is from a bit ago. Does that mean that the only way I can actually read it and keep up with it is if I pay CrunchyRoll some money, or will stuff still show up on like, KissManga?

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