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Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
:siren: Volume 1 now available in English on Amazon! :siren:


Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa, or My Monster Secret in the English version, is a high school romcom/harem series by Masuda Eiji, and seems to be their first major work to run for more than five volumes. It follows a cast of total dorks in high school, including a vampire, an alien/frankenstein, a demon, a werewolf, and other supernatural creatures-turned-highschoolers. The takes on these characters are fantastic, and the humor is great. Vampires don't disintegrate when exposed to sunlight for example, they just get really, really bad tans. Fanservice is next to nonexistent as well which is a plus(outside of one character, whose entire MO is fanservice).

Meet Asahi Kuromine. He's you're typical oblivious harem protagonist, a Tenchi-type, sans ancient alien superpowers. He is The Man Who Cannot Lie.

Kuromine has a crush on Youko Shiragami.

Shiragami's a quiet, attractive girl in his class. She also happens to be a vampire. If her secret is ever found out, her father, a vampire lord, will force her to return home. This becomes a problem when the likes of Akemi Mikan, the sadistic school reporter and childhood friend of Kuromine, takes an interest in her.

Nagisa Aizawa keeps her in line as the class rep, but also has her own share of secrets. She's a space alien piloting a "giant" robot version of herself.

Eventually more characters show up to complicate things, including Shiragami's childhood friend, Shirou. They are a werewolf. Shirou is one of my favorite characters in the series.


This series formerly dwelled in the Surreal Daily Life manga thread, but it's honestly so abnormally fantastic for such a tired premise that I decided to make a thread for it. It's a silly, hilarious romp, for sure, and all of the major characters get plenty of time in the spotlight and lots of character development/humor. If nothing else, the series is fantastic for the character development, surprises, and humor. And the faces, oh the faces.

Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 10:37 on Jan 14, 2016

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DrSunshine
Mar 23, 2009

Did I just say that out loud~~?!!!
Another alumnus of the SDLM thread! I love the facial expressions in this one, it's so friendly-looking and fun -- such huge, huge mouths!! As we're fond of calling, it's ":haw:-the Manga".

Though I guess it's more like :drac:-the Manga, isn't it? Hah!


EDIT: I also think it's worth comparing this to a certain other Vampire romcom manga. Specifically, the reason why it's funny and not rather rote and bland is entirely due to the execution, even though the premise of "supernatural harem" is really similar.

DrSunshine fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Jul 6, 2014

boredsatellite
Dec 7, 2013

Also the fact that it manages to avoid being creepy as gently caress as the mentioned manga is another reason why this is superior.

Nate RFB
Jan 17, 2005

Clapping Larry
It's done a very good job of toeing the line between absurd comedy and romance, though obviously it's focused more on the former than the latter. I look forward to any other supernatural/sci-fi creatures it can throw at us.

And the faces/expressions as well...

ZepiaEltnamOberon
Oct 25, 2010

I Failed At Anime 2022
I think that a part of what makes Truthism work is that it's slice-of-life as opposed to a battle manga. I also dig the art style. Can't explain why, just do.

Also, I haven't read Rosario, but wasn't it filled with a bunch of fan service?

The greatest disappointment I experienced today was finding out that Korea doesn't have official translations for this series yet. I can only hope for it to get made into an anime, because pretty much anything that gets an anime adaptation gets brought over. And also because this series is loving amazing and deserves an adaptation.

EDIT: I think one reason Truthism doesn't fall into the cliche that other harems (supernatural or otherwise) fall into is that the heroines don't revolve around Asahi. I mean, sure, some of them are crushing on him, but they've got their own interactions with other characters, especially Aizawa.

ZepiaEltnamOberon fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Jul 6, 2014

DrSunshine
Mar 23, 2009

Did I just say that out loud~~?!!!

Nate RFB posted:

It's done a very good job of toeing the line between absurd comedy and romance, though obviously it's focused more on the former than the latter. I look forward to any other supernatural/sci-fi creatures it can throw at us.

My money is on "Zombie girl" next, personally.

As for Rosario, I've only really read the first 10 volumes that were available at my local library, but it didn't have that much fanservice. It was just really really repetitive: "Bad guy is introduced, bad guy turns into monster, hero gets saved by vampire girl turning super-saiyan." And the art style felt really bland too.

Nate RFB
Jan 17, 2005

Clapping Larry

ZepiaEltnamOberon posted:

Also, I haven't read Rosario, but wasn't it filled with a bunch of fan service?
Yeah. Its gimmick was also that it went from "harem comedy with a spineless lead" to "Dark And Serious Hardcore Action Extravaganza with a spineless lead". Both were pretty bad; I have no idea why so many people got on board with the action phase because it was just another flavor of the same blandness.

ZepiaEltnamOberon
Oct 25, 2010

I Failed At Anime 2022
It's weird looking back on the first chapter and remembering that somehow, before she met Asahi, Shiragami was the cool and quiet kind. Her dream of being a cool beauty is getting further and further away from her.

boredsatellite
Dec 7, 2013

ZepiaEltnamOberon posted:


The greatest disappointment I experienced today was finding out that Korea doesn't have official translations for this series yet. I can only hope for it to get made into an anime, because pretty much anything that gets an anime adaptation gets brought over. And also because this series is loving amazing and deserves an adaptation.

Yo dude seriously what is up with that. I was really upset when I found that out too. Hell I don't even know what people in Korea call it because of the actual title being "The Truth Is, I Am" is a nightmare to search through in Korean.

ZepiaEltnamOberon posted:

It's weird looking back on the first chapter and remembering that somehow, before she met Asahi, Shiragami was the cool and quiet kind. Her dream of being a cool beauty is getting further and further away from her.

And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


I read through some of this a while ago! I remember liking it a lot, and I'm glad there's more chapters to cover. I agree re: the faces being the best part of the manga.

ZepiaEltnamOberon
Oct 25, 2010

I Failed At Anime 2022

boredsatellite posted:

Yo dude seriously what is up with that. I was really upset when I found that out too. Hell I don't even know what people in Korea call it because of the actual title being "The Truth Is, I Am" is a nightmare to search through in Korean.


And we wouldn't have it any other way.


Jesus Christ, this so much. Was trying so many variations at Kyobo.

"사실은..."
"실제로..."
"나는..."
"정말로..."
"진짜로..."

Also tried "마스다 에이지" and "마수다 에이지" for the author, still couldn't come up with it. The only thing I managed to find was one thing on Naver with the first version of the name, and that result called it "실은 나는". And that was only because I'd gotten a hit for an auto-translated version of 2chan for some reason.

This is literally the only Korean site I can find with a mention of the series. Searches for "실은 나는 만화" don't show up anything else related, and "마스다 에이지 만화" or "마수다 에이지 만화" only show up manga by people whose names contain Masuda OR Eiji, never both. Tragic.

boredsatellite
Dec 7, 2013

ZepiaEltnamOberon posted:

Jesus Christ, this so much. Was trying so many variations at Kyobo.

"사실은..."
"실제로..."
"나는..."
"정말로..."
"진짜로..."

Also tried "마스다 에이지" and "마수다 에이지" for the author, still couldn't come up with it. The only thing I managed to find was one thing on Naver with the first version of the name, and that result called it "실은 나는". And that was only because I'd gotten a hit for an auto-translated version of 2chan for some reason.

This is literally the only Korean site I can find with a mention of the series. Searches for "실은 나는 만화" don't show up anything else related, and "마스다 에이지 만화" or "마수다 에이지 만화" only show up manga by people whose names contain Masuda OR Eiji, never both. Tragic.

Holy gently caress I totally understand your pain. And holy crap that page is the only one I found as well. Like it seems unreal that I can't find any other Korean sites with the mention of the manga but it seems so. Hell http://mirror.enha.kr/wiki/FrontPage generally is good for stuff like this and it's drawing a blank.

It this bloody manga unknown in Korea at all? Like I'm pretty sure there are people scanning and translating this, it wouldn't make sense if they didn't but it seems that way.

It's loving depressing.

Terper
Jun 26, 2012


I really like this series, and so should you!

.Clash
Apr 10, 2009
I am super glad the latest chapter is trying to make newspaper girl better. Because I've found her super annoying so far. Especially with the amount of time spent on her that could have been used on far more interesting characters.

ZepiaEltnamOberon
Oct 25, 2010

I Failed At Anime 2022

boredsatellite posted:

Holy gently caress I totally understand your pain. And holy crap that page is the only one I found as well. Like it seems unreal that I can't find any other Korean sites with the mention of the manga but it seems so. Hell http://mirror.enha.kr/wiki/FrontPage generally is good for stuff like this and it's drawing a blank.

It this bloody manga unknown in Korea at all? Like I'm pretty sure there are people scanning and translating this, it wouldn't make sense if they didn't but it seems that way.

It's loving depressing.

I dunno if Korea has that big of a scanlation scene. The only scanlations I found back when I read manga in Korean were scans of raw Korean manhwa, scans of official Korean translations (which is why most Korean scans are the 2-page types) and scans of the popular stuff like Bleach or HxH (back in the Chimera Ant arc, Furuba, etc.). And you got those from mIRC or Pruna (is that thing even still around?). I'm not even sure if Korea has manga readers like Batoto or Mangafox or Mangareader or what have you.

At least Kyobo has the original Japanese raws for Truthism, but I can't read Japanese so there's no point. Also I'd have to wait like a week to get them shipped. At least I wouldn't have to pay for shipping. Seriously tempted to buy the raw of the last volume of Scumbag Loser cause I'm really curious to see how the story goes but the scans come out so infrequently.

.Clash posted:

I am super glad the latest chapter is trying to make newspaper girl better. Because I've found her super annoying so far. Especially with the amount of time spent on her that could have been used on far more interesting characters.

I dunno, I like the Mikan-centric chapters cause most of them deal with her getting knocked out of her comfort zone. Also she brought the Chou a la Creme to this manga, and I can overlook a lot of things cause of that.

Also.

Wittgen
Oct 13, 2012

We have decided to decline your offer of a butt kicking.
I just got to the werewolf. What the hell? This manga has some really unique takes on various supernatural characters.

I think a big reason the harem angle doesn't grate is that it's not a bunch of women in love with a boring hero for some mysterious reason. The robot doesn't like him so much as she's jealous now that he's moved on. The vampire isn't romantically interested so much as really happy to finally have a friend. The newspaper girl is a childhood friend to scared of losing him to be honest and change the status quo. None of it is exactly super complicated or original, but there is a degree of nuance to each person's feelings, and they make sense in the situation.

Also the hero actually has a personality. That makes everything a lot more enjoyable.

DaveWoo
Aug 14, 2004

Fun Shoe

Terper posted:

I really like this series, and so should you!





Yeah, it's a pretty fun comic.

7c Nickel
Apr 27, 2008

.Clash posted:

I am super glad the latest chapter is trying to make newspaper girl better. Because I've found her super annoying so far. Especially with the amount of time spent on her that could have been used on far more interesting characters.

I like Mikan just because she has the best crazy faces.

chumbler
Mar 28, 2010

This series is great because everyone except the teacher is dumb as hell (Shiragami especially so), and that's how you get the best comedy out of these. Also I like how the main guy's friends actually are bros who try to help him out.

I don't really see it going the route of adding more horror movie monsters. The cast we have already seems pretty solid and has plenty of room for the characters to grow.

Also yes, some of the best faces out there.

chumbler fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Jul 6, 2014

ActionZero
Jan 22, 2011

I act once more in
imitation of light
Holy poo poo this rules. Why did I not pick it up before now?

Deliciouscesium
Apr 10, 2012

DaveWoo posted:



Yeah, it's a pretty fun comic.

I lost it at this image, especially with the lead-up before it.

Just finished the recent chapter, and I was so happy to see the glasses make Nagisa Aizawa confess . It felt like pulling teeth waiting for an awkward moment of that caliber to happen.

HiveCommander
Jun 19, 2012

Looks interesting, I'll have to check this one out later.

Dark_Tzitzimine
Oct 9, 2012

by R. Guyovich
Hard to believe that this:


And this:


Are the same characters.

In any case, this is a great series that diferentiate itself from other supernatural rom-coms thanks to the way it solves a lot of cliches, endearing characters and even more adorable artstyle.


ZepiaEltnamOberon posted:

Also, I haven't read Rosario, but wasn't it filled with a bunch of fan service?

The first part of Rosario is pretty bland, the artstyle was pretty meh, 'monster of the week' plots and Moka was your classic bland female lead. It started to pick up the pace by the end though.

Now the second part is where it got good, the tone shifted from harem manga to full shonen with an overarching arc composed by smaller arcs, a more somber and action filled plots, a MASSIVE improvement on the art and characters better developed. It had somewhat of a lovely ending.

chumbler
Mar 28, 2010

Whatever group is doing the translations for this made a good choice with the southern accent for Shiragami (which I gather is what the Kansai accent is more or less equivalent to anyway). It works really well for the type of character she is. It's hard to pick a side, especially with Mikan's sudden rush from behind now. Mikan also has cool boots.

Also, if you like the comedy and light romantic stuff in this series, also check out Nyankoi. It's pretty similar in tone, though be warned that updates are very rare nowadays due to health issues or something with the author. Some of the characters are really similar. Also, cats.

chumbler fucked around with this message at 04:06 on Jul 7, 2014

Folt The Bolt
Feb 21, 2012

Nothing exciting to see here. Move along.
I love this series. :haw:-the Manga is a joy to read, in part because of the absolutely hilarious facial expressions and Chou a la Creme. :allears:

chumbler posted:

Whatever group is doing the translations for this made a good choice with the southern accent for Shiragami (which I gather is what the Kansai accent is more or less equivalent to anyway). It works really well for the type of character she is.

I agree with this, though I suspect that they don't speak English as a first language in part due to the fluctuating quality, which kinda makes it more impressive. Then again, I probably shouldn't say anything.

John Carstairs
Nov 18, 2007
Space Detective

7c Nickel posted:

I like Mikan just because she has the best crazy faces.

The principal really only has the one crazy face, but it's a pretty good one:

ViggyNash
Oct 9, 2012
I don't think this is amazing, but it is a fun read. Standard rom-com fare for the most part, with the whole vampire/alien/werewolf thing being the main joke.

KoB
May 1, 2009
The normal running joke about anime and manga is the gigantic eyes, but this one really takes the cake.

But I still love it, it works so well with the expressions.

Desuwa
Jun 2, 2011

I'm telling my mommy. That pubbie doesn't do video games right!
I picked this up because a friend recommended it and was surprised to find a thread for it. This is a really fun, charming series.

Drutten
Mar 30, 2011
This was a great find, thanks for the thread! I almost dismissed it out of hand when it looked like another story about a spineless guy adoring an unattainable ice queen from afar, but then she turned out to be a fun, goofy idiot who just happened to be a vampire and it got awesome. I especially love the class rep and her militaristic approach to everything from sunlight avoidance to making curry. The entire cooking chapter was amazing.

DoubleDonut
Oct 22, 2010


Fallen Rib
I just now discovered this series. Jesus Christ, what a page to leave off on.

Captain Invictus
Apr 5, 2005

Try reading some manga!


Clever Betty
Oh boy oh boy, a new chapter!

http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Jitsu-wa-Watashi-wa/Vol-004-Ch-026--Just-Accept-It-?id=202920

Terper
Jun 26, 2012


*shoves ice cream into eyes* "My god, I'm in love with this man."

Nate RFB
Jan 17, 2005

Clapping Larry
Oh, we're meeting the parents already?

chumbler
Mar 28, 2010

Nate RFB posted:

Oh, we're meeting the parents already?



The snoozing person in the red shirt is I guess the teacher, but I wonder who the blonde in the back with the sword will end up being.

Rexides
Jul 25, 2011

This thread needs an index of the chapters who are actually about monsters and aliens going to school and not just being generic awkward harem comedy. Not that it's bad generic awkward harem comedy, but it feels like it can't handle it's own premise.

Nate RFB
Jan 17, 2005

Clapping Larry
I actually rather like the romance this time around, to the point where I even posted about the series at one point in the Shoujo/Romance thread. I think the series balances its components quite well.

Soylentbits
Apr 2, 2007

im worried that theyre setting her up to be jotaros future wife or something.

Nate RFB posted:

I actually rather like the romance this time around, to the point where I even posted about the series at one point in the Shoujo/Romance thread. I think the series balances its components quite well.

I'm ok with it because this chapter features the one coupling I'm irrationally rooting for. Otherwise it's generally better as a pure gag comic.

Dark_Tzitzimine
Oct 9, 2012

by R. Guyovich
Oh man this chapter was wonderful :swoon:

Been a while since I've read a romance manga where every girl is really interesting and endearing.

A really needed change after the 'gently caress this world' that it was GTO: Shonan 14 Days' ending :smith:

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DrSunshine
Mar 23, 2009

Did I just say that out loud~~?!!!
Actually, this chapter was redeemed solely by:



-- while hugging. It's the little touches to subvert the cliche that make it, in this manga.

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