Re: What Manga are you reading?
PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2015 4:01 pm
Still haven't gotten much farther in Galaxy Express 999 (only one volume), but I've read a bunch of stuff in English.
Joou no Hana ch. 10A. Cunningly devised and executed military strategy.
Mahou Tsukai no Yome ch. 1-24 (shonen). This is really good. Really beautiful at times, particularly the wisdom from dragons.
I know this comment was ages ago, but in response to the complaint about the cat story arc, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I'm pretty sure that the husband went crazy because of something that that young-looking villain did to him. I didn't think that the manga was glorifying his obsessive behavior at all; I thought that originally he was a good person who loved his wife, and it was because the villain cast some sort of spell on him or something that he started killing cats, i.e. it wasn't his real personality and that Chise restored him to his true (non-evil) self.
Otome Youkai Zakuro ch. 1-44. Seinen. Also really good. Youkai, hanyou, historical setting, romance, spirited female lead, solid artwork. Recommended if you like any of those things I just listed.
My Shining World ch. 1-3 (manhwa). The premise is that the female lead can see people's ill-will and malice towards others (people with those emotions turn black), and this causes her to have crushing social anxiety and to avoid interacting with people. Then she meets a guy with whom she just happens to be able to interact with naturally and whom she feels at ease around, we can all see where this is going. I find the premise about her ability and the psychological difficulty it causes her to be interesting, but the way she just happened to meet this guy with whom she is miraculously able to get along with really well seems facile to me. I personally also find myself really thrown off for some reason by the Korean cultural setting and the way it is a little bit similar to Japanese culture but also really different (i.e. that it's a bit overlapping but not at all the same). This hasn't been the case with previous manwha I have read, just this one for some reason. Anyways, with such a mixed reaction to this manwha I perhaps won’t read more.
Lien no Tou Yori ("From Lien's Tower"). Josei oneshot. This is about a girl living in a post-apocalytic underground setting who is attracted to a boy who is an android robot. It's a beautifully-written and -drawn story that is ultimately about the comfort of staying in a familiar place and the risk and beauty of pressing forward and starting life in a new place.
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (Kaguya wants to be confessed to: the geniuses' war of love and brains) ch. 1-4. Seinen. The premise is that there are two students who are incredible geniuses, and they both are interested in dating each other but both feel like being the first one to confess means that they "lose" the "battle" and take a submissive role in the relationship. So instead of confessing to each other they play elaborate mind games and tricks to try to get the other to concede. The male lead is unbearably proud, the female lead is unbearably cunning and fake, the mind games are just not intellectually interesting at all, and it strikes me as being very unrealistic psychologically, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Aozora Yell ch. 1-6. Have only read a little bit of what’s available so far, but this is a school life manga by the author of Koukou Debut. It’s about a girl who enrolls in a high school known for its baseball team and wind ensemble because she wants to learn to play the trumpet and cheer on the baseball team. She meets a guy who is on the baseball team who is also a new freshman, and they are continually encouraging and supporting each other in their respective goals, the guy’s goal of playing at Koushien (location for high school baseball nationals) and the girl’s dream of being able to become good enough to be one of the musicians cheering on the baseball team there.
The female lead is one of those shoujo heroines whose main thing that she has going for her is that she tries hard—but she is also pretty nice. The male lead is incredibly, mind-bogglingly kind and encouraging. Overall it is very heartwarming and abounding in warm fuzzy feelings; I would very much recommend it to anyone looking for a romance with a male lead who is actually nice (since this seems to be a category that is sought after from time to time).
Galaxy Express 999 v. 15 (Japanese). This volume is the first volume of the second story arc of this manga. The first arc was written from 1977-1981, and the second arc began in 1996, so there is a pretty big time gap between the end of the first arc, which was intended to be the final end of the series with no plans for a continuation, and the second arc, which despite being sequel that was originally not planned for does have a great bit of continuity with the first arc and seems like it might tie up some loose ends that were not previously resolved (e.g. it seems likely that Maetel might SPOILER: Highlight text to read: recover her original body).
So far, it seems like Matsumoto was pulling out a lot of stops to ramp things up compared to the first arc. For example, there are some new characters, a female android robot body for the train’s engine (which previously had an AI but not a separate body) and Tetsurou’s pet cat. There’s also another cameo appearance of Captain Harlock, and skimming ahead in other volumes it looks like he will be putting in pretty regular appearances. Also there are lots of explosions, including exploding planets (a frequent occurrence in the first arc).
Again, this is just “so far,” since I am basing this on only one volume, but it seems like in this second arc there is a stronger overriding goal and a stronger resolution and forward push towards that goal (confrontation with a villain mastermind whose identity is not yet known), and the tone seems more serious and intense. In the first arc, there was an overall goal that Tetsurou had in mind, but that was mostly in the background and the manga was more of a bildungsroman and a leisurely episodic travel narrative, a series of vignettes that could be at times reflective and elegiac and at times comical or pulpy. But in the second arc, the existence of the enemy (whose identity is so far unknown) that Tetsurou wants to face off against is an ever-present reality that readers are continually reminded of. Basically the characters are embroiled in battle from the very beginning.
Overall, compared to the first arc, it very much remains true to the spirt of the first arc while being a flashier and more ramped-up, but also more serious and focused, continuation; I enjoyed this volume have high hopes for the rest of the series (six more volumes remaining).
By the way, fan translations of this series are now on v. 3, for those who are interested in reading this classic manga (and don’t mind reading scanslations).
Joou no Hana ch. 10A. Cunningly devised and executed military strategy.
Mahou Tsukai no Yome ch. 1-24 (shonen). This is really good. Really beautiful at times, particularly the wisdom from dragons.
I know this comment was ages ago, but in response to the complaint about the cat story arc, SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I'm pretty sure that the husband went crazy because of something that that young-looking villain did to him. I didn't think that the manga was glorifying his obsessive behavior at all; I thought that originally he was a good person who loved his wife, and it was because the villain cast some sort of spell on him or something that he started killing cats, i.e. it wasn't his real personality and that Chise restored him to his true (non-evil) self.
Otome Youkai Zakuro ch. 1-44. Seinen. Also really good. Youkai, hanyou, historical setting, romance, spirited female lead, solid artwork. Recommended if you like any of those things I just listed.
My Shining World ch. 1-3 (manhwa). The premise is that the female lead can see people's ill-will and malice towards others (people with those emotions turn black), and this causes her to have crushing social anxiety and to avoid interacting with people. Then she meets a guy with whom she just happens to be able to interact with naturally and whom she feels at ease around, we can all see where this is going. I find the premise about her ability and the psychological difficulty it causes her to be interesting, but the way she just happened to meet this guy with whom she is miraculously able to get along with really well seems facile to me. I personally also find myself really thrown off for some reason by the Korean cultural setting and the way it is a little bit similar to Japanese culture but also really different (i.e. that it's a bit overlapping but not at all the same). This hasn't been the case with previous manwha I have read, just this one for some reason. Anyways, with such a mixed reaction to this manwha I perhaps won’t read more.
Lien no Tou Yori ("From Lien's Tower"). Josei oneshot. This is about a girl living in a post-apocalytic underground setting who is attracted to a boy who is an android robot. It's a beautifully-written and -drawn story that is ultimately about the comfort of staying in a familiar place and the risk and beauty of pressing forward and starting life in a new place.
Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (Kaguya wants to be confessed to: the geniuses' war of love and brains) ch. 1-4. Seinen. The premise is that there are two students who are incredible geniuses, and they both are interested in dating each other but both feel like being the first one to confess means that they "lose" the "battle" and take a submissive role in the relationship. So instead of confessing to each other they play elaborate mind games and tricks to try to get the other to concede. The male lead is unbearably proud, the female lead is unbearably cunning and fake, the mind games are just not intellectually interesting at all, and it strikes me as being very unrealistic psychologically, so I wouldn't recommend it.
Aozora Yell ch. 1-6. Have only read a little bit of what’s available so far, but this is a school life manga by the author of Koukou Debut. It’s about a girl who enrolls in a high school known for its baseball team and wind ensemble because she wants to learn to play the trumpet and cheer on the baseball team. She meets a guy who is on the baseball team who is also a new freshman, and they are continually encouraging and supporting each other in their respective goals, the guy’s goal of playing at Koushien (location for high school baseball nationals) and the girl’s dream of being able to become good enough to be one of the musicians cheering on the baseball team there.
The female lead is one of those shoujo heroines whose main thing that she has going for her is that she tries hard—but she is also pretty nice. The male lead is incredibly, mind-bogglingly kind and encouraging. Overall it is very heartwarming and abounding in warm fuzzy feelings; I would very much recommend it to anyone looking for a romance with a male lead who is actually nice (since this seems to be a category that is sought after from time to time).
Galaxy Express 999 v. 15 (Japanese). This volume is the first volume of the second story arc of this manga. The first arc was written from 1977-1981, and the second arc began in 1996, so there is a pretty big time gap between the end of the first arc, which was intended to be the final end of the series with no plans for a continuation, and the second arc, which despite being sequel that was originally not planned for does have a great bit of continuity with the first arc and seems like it might tie up some loose ends that were not previously resolved (e.g. it seems likely that Maetel might SPOILER: Highlight text to read: recover her original body).
So far, it seems like Matsumoto was pulling out a lot of stops to ramp things up compared to the first arc. For example, there are some new characters, a female android robot body for the train’s engine (which previously had an AI but not a separate body) and Tetsurou’s pet cat. There’s also another cameo appearance of Captain Harlock, and skimming ahead in other volumes it looks like he will be putting in pretty regular appearances. Also there are lots of explosions, including exploding planets (a frequent occurrence in the first arc).
Again, this is just “so far,” since I am basing this on only one volume, but it seems like in this second arc there is a stronger overriding goal and a stronger resolution and forward push towards that goal (confrontation with a villain mastermind whose identity is not yet known), and the tone seems more serious and intense. In the first arc, there was an overall goal that Tetsurou had in mind, but that was mostly in the background and the manga was more of a bildungsroman and a leisurely episodic travel narrative, a series of vignettes that could be at times reflective and elegiac and at times comical or pulpy. But in the second arc, the existence of the enemy (whose identity is so far unknown) that Tetsurou wants to face off against is an ever-present reality that readers are continually reminded of. Basically the characters are embroiled in battle from the very beginning.
Overall, compared to the first arc, it very much remains true to the spirt of the first arc while being a flashier and more ramped-up, but also more serious and focused, continuation; I enjoyed this volume have high hopes for the rest of the series (six more volumes remaining).
By the way, fan translations of this series are now on v. 3, for those who are interested in reading this classic manga (and don’t mind reading scanslations).