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What Manga Are You Currently Reading?

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  On 9/24/2015 at 11:43 AM, Akazora said:

Platinum End

 

Haven't heard of it before?  Well, that's because it was just revealed less than two hours ago.  It's Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's newest work, the same duo who made Death Note and Bakuman.  I usually don't read manga, but I'll definitely be checking this out as it's released.

 

THEY'RE BACK.

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I just finished Orange by Takano Ichigo tumblr_m42quperIZ1r58lid.jpg

 

As glad as I am it didn't drag on, I wish it had been longer. Aside from the main couple and the other guy who... they didn't make a love triangle per se, but I guess but that's the closet thing to call it, but aside from those three, the other three characters were pretty ignored. The main characters are a friend group of six, we only got to know 2 of the guys and the main girl; I only know the third guy's name because he was comic relief sometimes. I don't remember the other girls's names and they weren't really given much to them at all which is a shame. It was pretty cheesy at times and a little predictable occasionally, but it was still really good. I have a couple little problems with it but they're really just nitpicks and didn't keep me from enjoying the story too much. I enjoyed it a lot though, it was a pretty emotional little manga. 

 

Now to go read something a little happier......

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I doubt anyone here has any interest in reading any of these, but to be safe, here's a spoiler warning anyway. Apologies in advance for any and all grammar errors and also sorry that this is so long

 

I read some tragic, gay manga

I recently completed three short, dramatic and occasionally melancholic manga, with strong homosexual themes that are set in European, same sex boarding schools, and were published in the 1970s.

these are compared to Kaze to Ki no Uta a lot because it shares a lot of similarities with quite a few of these and being that I started reading KazeKi almost a year ago, it's just my frame of reference for these things

 

Shiroi Heya no Futari

 

I have no idea what time period this is set in. The main character's parents died in a car accident (the car pictured looked somewhat modern and there are fairly modern airplanes too) but the school and some of the clothes look like they're supposed to be from the turn of the century. And the main character had a dream where her mother told her to cover her shoulders so she wouldn't catch a cold. Her roommate, and love interest, is wearing pants though. The 50s or 60s maybe???? Who knows, but that aside--

It's forgettable. I wasn't expecting to like this one, but this is from way back when both shoujo-ai and shounen-ai were directed at female audiences, so I thought that maybe because of that, it'd appeal to me in ways I wasn't expecting, but this just isn't a good manga to form an opinion of early shoujo-ai on. The art also isn't very good. The characters actually look kinda scary in some panels. The art style being very dated is not in and of itself a negative, but the art here just isn't appealing. It was also hard to follow occasionally. Like the last chapter had a sudden short time skip. The whole thing was less than 100 pages and I guess it was alright for that length. The characters weren't really developed much at all and, to be blunt, they're somewhat similar to Kaze to Ki no Uta's main couple, but that was to be expected.

TL;DR  didn't like it, but it wasn't absolutely terrible

 

Natsu e no Tobira

 

This one's just categorized as one chapter but it's actually only 10 pages shorter than Shiroi, which was split into 4 chapters. This one's by the same author as Kaze to Ki no Uta and gives off a similar feeling which is a plus in my book. I like Takamiya Keiko's art in KazeKi and I like it here as well. I particularly like Jacques' character design. The main character, Marion, kinda looks like Gilbert from KazeKi,  maybe the author just has "a type" when it comes to how some of her main characters look. Personality wise, Marion and Gilbert are very different though, so I can't complain too much. It seems to be set in the same time period and setting as KazeKi, which is in France sometime between the 1870s and 1910s. Also like KazeKi, some of the adult characters are kinda shitty. (the adults in KazeKi are 10x worse but it's worth noting that they're not particularly great in both)

I liked this one quite a bit actually. I'm more than likely biased towards it, but for only being 75 pages, it was surprisingly good. I thoroughly enjoyed all the angst that Natsu had to offer. It felt like too much was going on at times though. The ending also felt very abrupt, but for the most part, it was an enjoyable ride. I do feel that this shouldn't really be considered "shounen-ai" though. Two of the friends are vying for the same girl who has eyes for the protag, and the main character has an "affair" (if you could call it that) with an older, married woman. The implied gay kid isn't even revealed until the latter half of the story and shortly after the reveal, he dies so nothing more really came out of it. I did read this while I was tired though, so maybe I just missed some subtext or gay undertones or something because assuming I didn't, I can't see why this would be categorized as shounen-ai aside from Takamiya Keiko being known for doing manga with gay couples. (I think her best known work might even be KazeKi) 

TL;DR overall, I liked it. Will have to read it again to come to a less biased conclusion though. 

edit: Decided to rewatch the KazeKi ova on youtube and saw in the recommended videos that there's apparently a Natsu ova. I'm assuming it'll be much like KazeKi's ova and not be very good and feel incredibly dated. Unlike KazeKi, Natsu's very short though so maybe the ova will be alright since it'll hopefully have the entire story and not a bastardized version of it.

 

Thomas no Shinzo

Due to length, this one's under a spoiler

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I also read two other short series that would more accurately be described as being under the gender-bender genre, rather than shoujo-ai (or to be more progressive/accurate, these could just be under the romance genre since, at least the one, has a canon transgender protagonist and that makes any and all relationships in the story heterosexual (at least from the protag's viewpoint)). However, even calling them gender-bender could misleading since most things in said genre have cross-dressing, masculine female characters, feminine male characters, traps, etc and basically just characters that say "screw gender roles" and what not. Those characters don't always fall under LGBT+ though, or if they do, they're usually not transgender. Hence, grouping characters that are actually transgender, and are shown to have gender identity disorder, in with characters that are cisgender, is a little confusing. Unlike shounan-ai and shoujo-ai, main characters that are transgender aren't very common so it's understandable why there isn't a sub-genre dedicated for stories with trans characters, and while the gender-bender genre is the closest thing to such a genre, it still seems a little off.

 

under a spoiler because this post is almost unbearably long without one

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Just read Wind Breaker (manhwa) and Shokugeki no Soma, both were pretty amazing.  -_-

And it's amazing how this forum thread survived for 4 years lol.

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  On 11/6/2015 at 9:58 AM, Kjeldahl said:

I am reading Prison School.

God help me ;-;

If the anime doesn't get a second season, I swear to god....  It was an amazing show and I hear the manga is even better.

 

--

Death Note x Mirai Nikki

Platinum End

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Finished reading 2 mangas: Nana and Monster

Nana is not completed. It is such a twisted manga... But I really relate to a character in this manga: Reira. Hope there will be a happy ending because I don't like tragedy b...

Monster... Johan Liebert will be a name that I'll never forget. He put the villain guy in Psycho Pass to shame.

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Anyone reading Boku Dake ga Inai Machi a.k.a. ERASED?

I found out about it through the anime which started airing in January and it reminded me of Detective Conan, only it's the seinen version, but it's really good ;)

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  On 2/16/2016 at 2:06 AM, Patronus Charm said:

Anyone reading Boku Dake ga Inai Machi a.k.a. ERASED?

I found out about it through the anime which started airing in January and it reminded me of Detective Conan, only it's the seinen version, but it's really good ;)

I'm reading it, though I will not spoil myself, I will only read up to the latest episode, I just want to know the differences.

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  On 2/16/2016 at 2:06 AM, Patronus Charm said:

Anyone reading Boku Dake ga Inai Machi a.k.a. ERASED?

I found out about it through the anime which started airing in January and it reminded me of Detective Conan, only it's the seinen version, but it's really good ;)

I'm watching the anime, but I may check out the manga after the anime ends to see some of the differences.  I'll probably still prefer the anime for the superior directing (ep. 2 spoilers).

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Originally, I wanted to do something similar to my previous post, but instead of old, LGBT+ shoujo manga, it'd be with stuff from the gender bender genre. However, it's surprisingly hard to find things in that genre that were fairly short, and actually seemed worth reading, and I kinda lost interest once I realized that. I did read two things that are worth mentioning though

 

Shishunki Bitter Change

 

This one's still publishing, so I can't give any final thoughts, but of the 30 chapters (of the 35 or so that are currently available) I've read so far, I like it a lot! The two main characters. Yuuta and Yui, swapped bodies as 4th graders, and the story follows them trying to live their lives as the other loosely wants it to be, so if/when they're able to switch back, they'll feel as back to normal as possible. To be honest, this is pretty dang cute. Judging by the comments on the manga site I use, it sounds like romance gets thrown into the mix later (I wonder just how that'll work), but as of where I am, it's been mostly them stumbling through adolesence, school, and them giving each other regular updates about what's going on with their social lives, families, etc. The manga itself has a candid air about it, and a lot of the more comedic moments stem from the fact that they are so straightforward with each other. I have a fairly dry sense of humor though, so this kind of awkward and slightly relatable humor connects pretty well with me. It's also really interesting to see this manga tackle the issue of the two mains having trouble being mindful of their switched bodies. Like Yui occasionally forgets that her kindness towards female classmates has the chance of coming off differently than she intended now that she's in the midst of adolesence and in Yuuta's body, and Yuuta sometimes forgets that Yui has a quiet, thoughtful, feminine personality and appearance, and doesn't always think before speaking. It's pretty cool how they have moments where they feel newfound respect/admiration/understanding for the other because they now see things from the other's point of view too. I also think it's really neat that one of the aspects of the story is of them trying to understand the opposite sex, while technically being the opposite sex, especially since they occasionally have moments of not even fully understanding the same sex. It seems like it'll cover sexuality a little bit too since the main characters are both presumably straight, and with their situation, that makes things a bit tricky. The middle school arc focused more on Yuuta adapting to being in Yui's body, and it seems like high school will focus more on Yui dealing with more of the emotional and mental side of things, as opposed to physical stuff, so it'll be interesting to see how everything progresses.

Like this one a lot, really hope it won't drag on for too long because I'd love to stick with this one all the way through. Definitely recommend if you like coming of age stuff

 

Reverisble!

the one sentence long summary on MAL intrigued me and I wanted to see how it would handle the plot

I also wanted to see just how long the main characters would be adament about being 100% straight. hint: not very long at all

And I can't really tell who the targeted demographic is supposed to be. Gay men? Women? The bisexuals? People with school girl and/or guys in skirts fetishes? Who even knows

 

Nothing particularly notable about this one, but it was kinda funny at times. Around the halfway point it shifted tones quite a bit and got slightly more serious. (Not like, "there's an actual problem and things are at stake" serious, but it wasn't as fanservice-y as it used to be and started putting the main focus on the plot) The characters were likable and the occasional "romance heavy" (using that phrase lightly here) scenes were kinda really nice. I'm genuinely confused about the age of the characters though. At one point in the year over the manga takes place, the main characters are intimidated by upperclassmen, but when spring rolled around three of the characters were graduating??? Also, because the school offers both middle and high school, the main character rooms with persumably an 8th or 9th grader and that's kinda weird. And the last chapter has a sudden x year time skip and showed that all the characters are in college, so if the three were 11th graders, and the other kid a ninth grader, and the youngest is described as "now a college student" implying they're a freshman after the time skip, it's been about 4 years then...? Maybe the main character was only at the school one year, and that's why they called it a "graduation" ....? idk, though it bugs me it's not that big of a deal

Ending happened really fast (there's only 15 chapters so that was to be expected), but the main two ultimately became canon so I can't complain. The fanservice was kinda uncomfortable because of the ambiguous ages, but overall, did sorta enjoy

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I plan to finish Gakuen Alice over summer break (I read it around 4 years ago but I never got to finish it because of academic stuff)

I also plan to read Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden (which I also started reading a few years back but never got to finish)

Also Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Shokugeki no Soma, and Tsubasa Chronicles. 

(school often ruins my manga-reading plans)

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Manga I currently read is quite extensive, which includes the following:

 

Detective Conan

A Certain Scientific Railgun

Ancient Magus Bride

Kyokou Suiri

Yona of the Dawn

Q.E.D

C.M.B

Case Study of Vanitas

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Started reading Devilman.

I've only read the first volume, so I don't really have an opinion of it yet, but it's hilarious sometimes, even though it's not trying to be.

 

  On 7/2/2017 at 8:21 PM, Ryo said:

It's been awhile since I started a new manga, if anyone has recommendations, please let me know!

 

Are there any specific genres you're interested in?

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  On 7/7/2017 at 9:26 AM, machine said:

Are there any specific genres you're interested in?

I like mystery, sports, sci-fi, just to name a few. I'm open to different genres though. Also I haven't seen you around here in awhile, nice to see you! :D

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I currently have five manga that are still going that I actively follow.

 

1.) Detective Conan

2.) Seven Deadly Sins

3.) Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc

4.) xxxHolic Rei

5.) Magic Kaito

 

Unfortunately, CLAMP has gotten a little slow with their releases of late, and Aoyama-sensei hardly ever does anything with Kaito, but I at least have Conan and Seven Deadly Sins to look forward to (nearly) every week.

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