Let's talk manga! ^_^

I’m on volume 3 of Twentieth Century Boys and am really into the story. I always enjoy stories that jump about in time and I really like the new characters who’ve been introduced. I’m going to resist getting any volumes beyond 7 for now but if it can keep this level of entertainment up I’m in to the end.

I know I said this last time, but I'm about to start volume 3 of the Perfect Edition of 20th Century Boys, especially now that my wife got me volume 4!

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I've been distracted finishing Food Wars!, but now that I've read the last volume (number 36, for those of you keeping track), I will definitely continue with 20th Century Boys!

I’m reading the perfect editions as well. Nice and chunky.

They are sooo nice. The size is just perfect. Plus, I like the extra white space near the binding so that you don't miss any details from the drawings. So, so nice.

I just finished reading volumes 3 and 4 of the Perfect Edition of 20th Century Boys, and I thought they were great. I love the time jumps and how new characters keep being introduced and we follow them for several chapters and then we see how they are connected to everything else. Also, I really like Urasawa's style --it is so dynamic, expressive, and full of energy! I'm sure this is not the case at all, but it almost looks like he's drawing everything as fast as he can using a pen and nothing else, not caring whether or not the thickness of the lines changes, or whether or not something looks "right." That said, everything looks right, and I love how the characters look so different from one another without having to resort to clothes and hair to differentiate them. Everyone's face is distinctive and unique, and you always know who is who, both when they are young and old, which is very important in the narrative. Such a good series!

Also, I read the sixth volume of Persona 5, and I thought it was a blast. I'm at a point in the game where I've almost caught up with the events depicted in this volume, and it's been great to see the characters both on and off the page. Even if you haven't played the game, I recommend the manga!

The creator of Berserk has died. I have yet to read that manga but it sounds like it was extremely influential.

In Kentaro Miura's Berserk, the main character loses everyone he loves and sets out on a futile and self-destructive quest for revenge.

Meanwhile, minor character Rickert forges a sword for every person he's lost and creates beauty from tragedy.

Before I ever lost anyone, Miura taught me how to grieve.

RIP Kentaro Miura.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E11VqaWUcAA0GOw?format=png&name=900x900)

sh*t.

Whelp, now I want to read Berserk. Only ever saw the OG anime.

garion333 wrote:

Whelp, now I want to read Berserk. Only ever saw the OG anime.

That is the correct Berserk anime to watch. The OVA movie trilogy is... fine, but just an abbreviated adaptation of the same content the OG anime already adapted. The less said about the 2016 adaptation, the better.

Very sad news.

hbi2k wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Whelp, now I want to read Berserk. Only ever saw the OG anime.

That is the correct Berserk anime to watch. The OVA movie trilogy is... fine, but just an abbreviated adaptation of the same content the OG anime already adapted. The less said about the 2016 adaptation, the better.

More or less what I've heard. Shame they can't do it justice.

All the manga is fair game?

The 1997 anime is basically a long trailer for the manga, which is incredible. It's a great shame that the story will almost certainly never get an ending now, but it is well worth it for the journey. And so much happens in the manga that's not covered in any adaptation. It's the only way to get as much of the story as you can.

Berserk is one of the best manga I never feel comfortable recommending.

It's not for everybody. Besides the violence, which is copious, it deals heavily with trauma, including sexual trauma, including sexual violence against both sexes and small children. It's not for the faint of heart.

It's also capable of being quite beautiful, both in its art and in its themes. It started my lifelong love affair with stories that are dark, not for darkness' sake, but so that every drop of hope feels earned and all the more precious for it.

I'm reading the Ghost in the Shell manga after finishing the anime, and it's quite interesting how different The Major is in it. She's 50,000% more expressive and emotive in the manga, although to be fair, literally, everyone is.

It still annoys me a bit, however, that literally everyone who isn't Section 9 is broadly incompetent and incapable of planning or intelligence or just posing any kind of actual threat.

I just finished reading the seventh volume of Persona 5. Written and drawn by Hisato Murasaki, this series is, of course, an adaptation of the game. The Futaba storyline starts in this volume, so if you've played the game you'll know exactly what that means; and if you haven't, I understand because the game is quite long, but it is also awesome and you should check it out. The manga as well.

Earlier in the month (I posted about it in the comics thread but not here) I read the first volume of Gunsmith Cats: The Revised Edition by Kenichi Soda, which I think collects the first three volumes of the series, and I had a great time. For those of you who don’t know anything about this classic (says the guy who just read it for the first time), it stars two girls that own/work at a gun store and are also bounty hunters. The story is packed with cars, car chases, cars being destroyed, cars being shot, and some assorted cars here and there, as well as lots of very detailed guns, non-stop action, and some funny moments. Even though I thought I liked it but didn’t love it when I finished reading it, I can’t stop thinking about it, so chances are I’ll continue the series soon. Plus, there are only four volumes in the Revised Edition, so it sounds pretty doable.

Gunsmith Cats is also set in Chicago, I think? But it’s Chicago as imagined by a Japanese author so it’s a very interesting depiction. The car and gun porn in Gunsmith Cats is next-level. If you like guns and you like cars, that’s the manga for you. You’ll love the trigger discipline.

Yes, it takes place in Chicago... or at least Kenichi Soda's Chicago. It's an interesting place full of bounty hunters!

A Man and his Cat came on my radar recently, and I borrowed the first volume from the library. It's not particularly original (old widowed man buys the cat nobody wants and they have a nice relationship), but it's still very charming and warmed my cold, nearly-dead heart. Reading it with one of my cats on my lap just made the whole thing better, and made me appreciate the two cats I live with even more.

Will definitely grab the original in Japanese whenever I can stop postponing this (second) trip to Japan I've been meaning to do since 2019.

It sounds like a sweet read!

I just finished volumes 5 and 6 of 20th Century Boys: The Perfect Edition by Naoki Urasawa, and absolutely loved them. The more I read this series, the more I like it. I can't wait to see what happens next! (And lucky for me, I have volume 7 on my shelf!)

I must get back to reading all the manga I bought in lockdown.

Yes, you should!

I just finished volume 7 of 20th Century Boys, by Naoki Urasawa, and it was as wild a ride as the previous volumes. I am completely mesmerized by the story, and I can't wait to continue with the series. I don't have the next volume yet, so it might be a few weeks until I resume, but what a ride!

As a funny side note, I thought the series was published much earlier than it was, so when I saw some characters with cell phones, I thought Urasawa had been prophetic! But no. As it turns out, it was the early 2000s, so he was aware of cell phones, haha.

I also read volume 8 of the Persona 5 manga by Hisato Murasaki, which just came out, and while I enjoyed it quite a bit, I confess that now that I've finished the game and know where the story is going, I am not as riveted with the book as I was when I hadn't started the game. Still, a fun time.

I finished volume 4 of A Man and his Cat yesterday, and I still love it! The stories get gradually more involved, and we learn more about the man and his history. It's just lovely and wholesome, and I can't wait for volume 5 (which I have reserved at the library)!

bobbywatson wrote:

I finished volume 4 of A Man and his Cat yesterday, and I still love it! The stories get gradually more involved, and we learn more about the man and his history. It's just lovely and wholesome, and I can't wait for volume 5 (which I have reserved at the library)!

Five just came out and it's good.

This episode is really cool:

Just got this in the mail!

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So excited!

I can't believe it's been over a year since we posted on this thread! I've been reading a ton, but I won't bore you with the details. Instead, let me highlight three series I'm currently reading:

1. DanDaDan
I'm reading volume 4, which came out yesterday, and I have to tell you this series is fantastic. It's wacky, it's funny, it's inappropriate, it's unpredictable... And the art is amazing. It's both written and drawn by Yukinobu Tatsu, and if you like aliens, demons, romance, action, and humor, you should check it out!

2. Spy x Family
I just finished volume four, and I adore this series. Every volume has been an absolute delight so far, both in terms of the story and the art, both by Tatsuya Endo. I'm a little late to the series, so you might already be familiar with it, but if you're not, the story is about a super spy that has to put together a fake family for his latest mission, and ends up with a wife that's secretly an assassin, and a daughter that's secretly a telepath. And don't even get me started about the dog! A super funny series you should check out!

3. Dragon Ball
Yeah, the original Dragon Ball written and drawn by Akira Toriyama. I watched the anime when it first aired in Spain back in 1990 or so and stayed with it through Dragon Ball GT, but I never read the manga despite loving Toriyama (see my previous post from over a year ago). So I just finished volume three, and boy what a blast this series is! Toriyama is funny, creative, pervy, and he was clearly having a great time coming up with stuff for the book. If you've never read it, you should check it out!

Arise!

So, I'm not a huge manga fan, because the stories I want to hear generally aren't what I see being talked about online.

But my goodness, I came across a random recommendation for My Brother's Husband and wow.

I'm only like a third of the way in, but it's just so.... wonderful. Such a perfect, heartbreaking story being told.

Like, I'm not against Manga, because there are too many different stories being told within it to say that. It'd be like saying "I don't like television." I just wanna find more stuff like this, that tells stories about life in Japan that are honest and real, and that I probably won't find in the average Isekai.

Also, on ProZD's recommendation, I grabbed See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, which I haven't started yet but looks very cute.