I wasn't sure where to put this, the lounge or Book Discussion, but I figured that since Manga is a kind of comic book it made more since to put a discussion thread about it here in the Discussion board. Mostly I'm just curious if anyone else and if so how many other members read manga. I read it more than I used too, often going to One Manga or Box Manga to get scanlations (scanned images of a manga page that have been translated into english) if I can't get the manga locally or if getting it would simple cost a ridiculous amount of money. I recently finished reading Love Hina after a friend suggested it. It was ok but I found the series dragged a lot towards the end and Narusegawa became increasingly annoying after about chapter 90. Right now I've been reading Claymore which I'm liking a lot. The manga version is much better than the anime (why should that surprise me...). I'm nearly done with Suzuka which I am loving. It's the only romance manga I love thus far because it's the only one that seems to take the content seriously and that doesn't contain massive amounts of fan service (which I've personally always hated). I don't know. I jsut find that romance manga's come in two kinds. The kind that is over the top with annoying characters slap stick comedy and random insanity (which i don't like in romance stories) or the kind that really doesn't seem to know what it's doing and fumbles itself all over the place. Suzuka is about the only one I've found that seems to approach this genre in a mature or realistic fashion (as realistic and mature as can be expected of fiction of course). Recently I found a nice manga called Until Death Do Us Part, which is probably the best one I've read in a long time. Right now I'm waiting on Scanlations to be finished (only 22 chapters are available in English translation right now, and it's not available at all for retail in the US, which is a shame). It's a manga that takes a really awesome sci-fi take on the blind swordsmen idea, throws in delta force commandos, terrorists, conspiracies and a girl who sees the future and seeks out the blind guy to save her "till death do us part." The opening really impressed me with it's immersion and the art quality is some of the best I've seen in a long time.
Heh, have about 7 manga series on my "to read"-list at this moment, Claymore being one of them. Did watch the anime, loved the art, wasn't so bad, was it? To bad manga are hard to come by, not to mention ridiculously expensive where I live. But I'll be visiting the states next summer, so I'll get to renew my (meager) collection. So far, I sticked to the series of which I simply couldn't watch the anime; Death Note, Bleach and Naruto. To buy; - Claymore - The next 15 episodes of Bleach - Blood+ - Devil May Cry etc etc..
im currently reading ayashi no ceres which is okay kinda cool. i read claymore and watched the manga and the manga is so much better as is the case with alot of manga to anime productions. i recommend elfen lied. its really good but really sad...stupid thing had me teary eyed by the end.
Right Elfen Lied's also on my to do list, but not a priority... although a number of people did recommend it. Is it really that good? Anything I can compare it to?
i tend to stick to yu-gi-oh gx and, my current mild obsession, naruto. i don't watch the anime though (yay for farmer's vision tv!). naruto just has everything in my opinion, romance, adventure, friendship. perhaps i'll have to broaden my horizons.
Elfen Lied is ok. I give a total 10/10 for heart jerker endings that don't leave me pissed off which is pretty hard to pull. It opens pretty well and the concept is sweet. There's a good deal of fan service (correction, a lot of fan service) so just be ready for that if it isn't something you want in your manga. The art work is generic but it's not bad. I haven't read any of the Yu-gi-oh mangas. The anime never caught my interest so I figured the manga would be the same. I'm torn for naruto. On one hand I find the idea of a ninja in florescent orange a stupid idea (though it really does reflect the character). The fighting is well drawn and easy to follow, I find most of the characters reasonably likable, and though the artwork is horribly generic there are some moments of brilliance and it's far from an eyesore to look at. For me Naruto has just hit the same streak as DBZ. Battles that drag on and on with over the top and inconsistent levels of power from various characters and a rather predictable plot line. I will give the Sasuke Retrival arc a pass on that though it was brilliantly executed. I also will give the creators a thumbs up for some rather nice character designs minus the stupidity of ninjas wearing orange and various shades of red of course. I think it's a most people will love it manga but quirky people like me will hate it for these little nit picks here and there that throw us off.
I could never hope to afford to buy manga. Luckily, my library has a really good collection. I enjoyed reading Kare Kano for a while. It's pretty funny.
wooo~ manga~ i have up to 21 in fruits basket, and it's so much better than that little anime they did for it. it's also the only girl manga i have. (liked the nana movie, not really into the manga version though) need to go back to japan and buy up the rest that have made it to print so far. i also have up to about 10 in death note, but only read up to number 6. need to study more before i continue reading. because i heart death note most and want to make sure i'm actually reading it right. bleach was super-easy to read, though i don't know when i'll get much chance of using the vocab i learned from it. hehe. yay for manga~ boo for my lack of language ability
I need to learn to read Kanji. Then I won't have to wait for scanlations with english or the 3-5 year waiting period that it takes for manga to make it to the US (if it makes it to the US at all). That would be nice .
that's why i like manga so much~ (much more than trying to read a young adult novel) you don't have to really know much kanji! they have lots of cheats on the side... except in death note... not as many cheats so a bit harder than the other you can do it!
I love rurouni kenshin! Right now I'm reading Tail of the Moon,(romantic comedy) Descendants of Darkness,(slightly comedic action) and Kaze Hikaru (historical fiction, but really awesome.)
I've never read the Ruroni Kenshin manga. I might want to look into it some time. I just have trouble going back and reading old mangas that are really long and I'm pretty sure Kenshin ended it's run quite awhile ago and is really long (isn't it well over 150 chapters?). I make exceptions every now and then. I made one for Love Hina, as bad an experience as that was .
So, I just wiped clean my to-do-list as far as Manga's are concerned; What should I buy? I'd prefer shonen, excuse me for not knowing how to out the ^ on the o, something with a good mix of action and humor (think Bleach, Black Cat, etc).
Has anyone here read Basilisk. I'd seen the Anime and was interested in the manga, and well, I must say. It's really sad . It's such a tragic story but the characters as a group are one of the coolest bunches I've ever seen in a story line, and they were characterized incredibly well. The only flaw I can find is that there may have been too many introduced and focused on too quickly. It was hard to keep track of everyone.
