What Manga are you reading?

[skreyola]

Insanely glad I checked Get Backers out of the library instead of buying it. It was horrible. The art is difficult to follow, and the writing, unless the translation is unbelievably bad, is lackluster at best. I won't be buying any of this series.
Finished the first volume of Pita-Ten, and Misha gives me a headache, but there are a few intriguing bits. I probably won't continue reading this, but I haven't made up my mind.
Next up: Skip Beat.

[CrystalChalice]

Fairy Tail - SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Fairy Tail may have won the Grand Magic Games, but it looks like the Eclipse 2 plan is going to bring the celebration to a stop soon.

Koe no Katachi - This manga is incredible. It touches on the subjects of bullying and disability (in this case, deafness) well, and I am glad that this is getting serialized.

Silver Spoon - I'm a bit afraid of what's gonna happen next when SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Aki said that she won't join the family business.

[skreyola]

Started Skip Beat. So far, kind of meh, and I don't like Kyoko much so far. But it has potential.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Last night I finished "Fullmetal Alchemist". I'm about to begin "20th Century Boys".

[Atria35]

Slam Dunk! - This is a really hilarious, awesome manga. Can't believe I didn't pick it up earlier!

Bride's Story v 4 - What MangaRocks! said.

Oresama Teacher 1-6- BAHAHAHAHA! xD A shoujo that really has -no- romance, and it's flipping hilarious! ^.^

[syphon]

Just started volume 6 of death note today. Im enjoying so far.

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 68: Awesome-- Hachiken gave Mikage SPOILER: Highlight text to read: the strength to finally stand up to her family about her dream! Can't wait to see their reactions to this...


Karneval chapter 54: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Aw, the scene with Nai comforting Karoku in spirit was so sweet. Other than that one really sweet little scene, though, this was actually a pretty amusing chapter overall. LOL at all the things the others were thinking when Karoku was staring at that piece of food. Also, poor Yogi, hahaha. And that was a hilarious way to end the chapter.


Finally, The Misfortune Of Kyon And Koizumi (which I didn't finish): Meh. This was a misc. short story anthology by various artists that I looked at simply out of curiosity (since I love the Haruhi novel series + the Disappearance movie), but after reading most of the first chapter and skimming all of the rest, I didn't even bother finishing the volume. Not only was the art pretty meh overall (IMO), but it was kinda boring, too. (Oh well. Guess it's back to the novels for me... )

[SierraLea]

My current bookshelf is
Whistle! 2-4. This Is a Good Sports Manga. Sometimes they can be too high handed, with not enough struggle and just a bunch of awesome moves, and other times the players rarely get to shine. This one has an even balance of both, so far. It doesn't hurt that Sho, the main character, is a very likeable character and adorable. Masato reminds me of Naruto's Guy, not sure why.
The Prince of Tennis, 22-27. This is one of those sports manga that is too high handed, but has otherwordly matches and keeps it interesting with sports-related story elements.
Naruto 60. Invincible Naruto is sarting to get old. I liked him better when he was wounded and lonely.
Dragon Knights 16-17. I might give this one up.

[skreyola]

Now reading Pearl Pink, because it was the only thing at the used bookstore that looked interesting. I couldn't find anything about its content before I bought it, so I'm not sure how much I'll like it, but I needed something to read.

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 69: This was a great chapter. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I really liked the fact that instead of there being a bunch of drama as you might have expected, her family was just really surprised however were not only *not* against her pursuing her dream, but (her father in particular) immediately started trying to figure out how it could happen. And, of course, more sweetness from Hachiken, and more amusing stuff between him and her dad. It seems like he's taken on quite the task there with her grades, though...

Yotsuba&! vol.'s 10-11: More cute and quite amusing antics, as usual. (And the "Bubbles" chapter was downright hilarious. )

And Liselotte to Majo no Mori chapters 1-8 (so far): Well, Fruits Basket is still to this day my #1 favorite manga, so as you can imagine I've been wanting to read this new ongoing series by Takaya-sensei for a while now. However, I was waiting to start reading it until someone picked it back up for translation again-- and now that has finally happened (with a considerably better translation, too, I might add ), so I was finally able to begin. Anyway, this has been quite good so far. I like the fact that this time she drops you into the story midway-- with an already-established couple SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (though their relationship had actually been interrupted by a certain event long before, and has only just restarted as of the beginning of the manga), and the apparently rather intense backstory before, during, and after the event SPOILER: Highlight text to read: that got Liselotte banished being told bit by bit throughout the chapters, with far more yet to come. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

[skreyola]

I finished volume 1 of Pearl Pink, and I'm sorry I started it, but not because I didn't like it. No, because I liked it a lot more than I expected to, and a lot more than I would have thought if someone had told me the type of content it contains. I probably wouldn't have started reading it, but now that I have, I want to read more, and I haven't seen any more volumes here in town. *pout*

[the_wolfs_howl]

Gin no Saji chapters 67-68 - Since I'm watching Clannad these days, I'm noticing a lot of similarities between Tomoyo and Hachiken. They have the same selfless drive to help everyone they see in need, without much of a clear vision of what they want for their own future. I love how Hachiken is getting more involved in Mikage's life; this is so much more than just a silly high-school crush.

D.Gray-man chapters 140-148 - This bit continues to surprise me. I think they may actually let some people die for once Oh, and I absolutely adored the short but agonizingly tender interaction between Lenalee and Komui

[This is Song]

right now i am reading Sailor Moon! I could never read them before cause the only versions in english were those awful Mixx versions that were read left to right and had lots of censor and edits now they are released again in a better version and i'm really excited to finally read them all

[Vii]

More Story of Saiunkoku for me. Finished volume 6 yesterday. Halfway through volume 7 currently.
Random thoughts thus far:
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: - I was entirely convinced that the masked guy Shurei temporarily worked for was really a girl who had hidden her face to pass the civil servant exams, and thus the fact that Shurei is a girl was why mask-person took a liking to her, and why the proposition to allow women to become civil servants caused a reaction in her. I kind of hoped she'd reveal herself to be a girl and thus prove that women can be capable civil servants.
But noooooo, mask-person turns out to be an extremely feminine dude who wears a mask because he was dumped by a girl over his girly face. Really.

- Yup, there had to be a shota somewhere.

- Ryuki is Tamaki Suoh full stop. I kinda wonder what they would be like if they met and started talking about their respective love interests. XD

[Atria35]

Gunslinger Girl 1-3- I already watched the anime so I'm pretty familiar with all of this. Wanting to read past it.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Finished "20th Century Boys". Fantastic series marred somewhat by an average and confusing conclusion. 9/10 (my review can be found in this forum). I read the complete thing in under 2 weeks, it's that good!

[Vii]

Started Akagami no Shirayukihime (Ch.1-10 so far). It's a really nice, peaceful, fantasy shoujo. Kind of hard to describe, really. Shirayuki is a really good lead, very well characterized, along with all the other characters. I love how Zen and Shirayuki become friends first but then slowly you see some hints of romance come into play (and quite naturally as well.) The art style is very nice, I like the loose, slightly sketchy feel of it.

Also, pharmaceutics, I haven't seen that in a shoujo before. Pretty neat stuff.

[MangaRocks!]

^ I love that series. Glad you're enjoying it, too!



Pandora Hearts chapters 58-81:

Well, I finally gave up on trying to wait for the volumes after that massive cliffhanger at the end of vol. 14 , so I just went ahead and read the rest of what was available so far... and wow-- this has been quite the rollercoaster, both of emotions and of revelations in the plot.

SPOILER: Highlight text to read: First: After mending the heartbreak that she caused at the end of vol. 13 with vol. 14 (the heartbreak in 13 being a certain character's apparent death {plus his closest friend's reaction to it} , and the mending in 14 being that he actually wasn't dead at all! ), then between the ending of 14 and the next few chapters after that Mochizuki-sensei just expertly shattered it again-- and, this time, several orders of magnitude worse! In fact, this entire sequence was pretty cruel-- not only did Elliot have to die ... and not only did he have to die in self-sacrifice (one of the things he hated the most)... but he had to do so with the terrible knowledge that he was the one who had unwittingly murdered his own family. And as for poor Leo, he never asked nor wanted to be Glen's next vessel, and only made Elliot a contractor of the chain because he just wanted him to live, by any means possible-- he did not know (nor did he want) all the grief that would follow (and thus he'd felt terribly guilty about the whole thing ever since). And then after Elliot died... seeing Leo broken like that (and then finally giving in to first "his duties as Glen" and then Glen's persona itself) was even more painful. Man, those chapters were heartbreaking. Oh yeah, and to top it all off, add in the fact that Leo and Elliot were/are actually tied as my top-favorite characters of the series-- and all of this coming after I had just gone through the sorrow of my *next*-favorite-character-of-the-series' 'death' and then the subsequent elation of discovering that he was in fact alive-- and, yeah, I think you can understand how hard all this hit. (At least Elliot went out like a total boss, though-- noble even in death, indeed!!)

And even that was just the beginning-- because Elliot's death and its aftermath became a big turning point for the story as a whole, as well (...more on that in a minute).

Before that, though-- yes, as usual, I have to make some comments about Vincent, LOL. For one thing, I didn't expect him to have another chain, but it being such a violent one was quite appropriate, and it also made perfect sense (especially since it explained the last few things that had seemed strange about the Humpty Dumpty chain being the only Head Hunter-- and him having two chains at all made even *more* sense when the stuff about the Baskervilles and the chain-contracts were explained in more detail later on). Man, though, Vincent caring far more about Elliot than his own blood father did... and all the rest of the awful stuff the Duke had done, on top of that... well, let's just say that even as much as I detest Vincent, and even as much as I'm a pacifist in real life, I didn't hate him for offing the Duke. And while we're on the topic, I also have to say that I was quite surprised at the wish Vincent asked Leo to grant-- in fact, that was the first moment in the manga to actually make me feel some sympathy for him! I think I've mentioned before that this series has some excellent character development, and that particular experience just goes to show that even more. (Two of the other best examples of this IMO being Gil and Break: In terms of character growth, Gil has had a pretty amazing transformation over the course of the series; and as for Break, in the beginning of the series I didn't like him very much at all-- however, with the growth that his own character went through, now I not only like Break very much indeed, I'm actually desperately hoping that he survives the story! That said, I don't expect I'll ever like Vincent-- unless the past really is changed and/or he gets reborn into someone who is *not* an insane creep -- but to have made me feel any sympathy for him at all at this point was quite a feat, and just continues to emphasize how good the character writing in this series is.)
Oh, and speaking of Break: GAH, those few more really sweet little moments between him and Sharon! (Did I mention that I'm desperately hoping he survives? )

And on one more sidenote, I also liked the fact that what I had thought was a red herring (Elliot's sword) was actually not only misdirection, but did in fact figure into the plot-- just as something else.

Finally, back to the turning point I mentioned a while ago: When those two MAJOR twists came, and everything you thought you had known about the core of the plot was turned completely on its ear (yet made even *more* sense afterwards, as all that backstory was finally revealed)... well, I have nothing else to say except:

This series just gets better and better!

[SierraLea]

I read Whistle from volume six all the way to the end online, and it has successfully cornered my affections, especially the last two chapters. I'm so glad it's online so i can revisit it whenever I want. Ed has some serious competition in Sho!

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

"Pluto" by Naoki Urasawa. So far I've read 5 volumes of the 8 that make up the series. It's well-written and interesting enough (of course) but I'm just not connecting with many of the characters, as I did with "20th Century Boys" and "Monster".

[the_wolfs_howl]

Gin no Saji chapter 69 - I laughed out loud My roommates had to ask me what was going on. I can't wait for the anime to start!

D.Gray-man chapters 155-157 - So another battle is over, and hopefully everyone can fully recover this time. I'm eager to find out about "the 14th" - the plot thickens!

[Atria35]

Oresama Teacher 6-9- Still adorably cute, but now with hints and undercurrents of romance that I'm unsure will go anywhere.

Eagle: Making of an Asian American President 9-13- MAN. That was a brilliant turnaround in Texas, and the fact that it dealt with gun control is incredibly relevant right now (and this was written a few years ago, so to stay so incredibly relevant is a feat). Plus, that was a heart-pounding bit about potential incest if the main protag hadn't done his research and discovered that the accusation was false. *shudder* Those two deserve to be together, and I would have been SUPER SAD if it had turned out to be true! And it would have been even sadder since they wouldn't have known when they first got together.

[MangaRocks!]

Gin no Saji, a.k.a. Silver Spoon, chapter 70: Hahaha, this chapter was so cute. SPOILER: Highlight text to read: And LOL, Hachiken getting Aki interested in history via horses was perfect.


Millennium Snow, a.k.a. Sennen no Yuki, chapter 11: Yep, as expected, the new chapters have definitely been better than the originals. This particular chapter was actually pretty funny -- until the end-- SPOILER: Highlight text to read: and now I'm interested to see more about both the "Kotonushi" and the new character with the bird familiar.


Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun chapter 39: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Whoa, Shizuku's gorgeous! It was pretty obvious that was going to be the case, but it was nice to actually see her look so good. As for the party: LOL, oh dear... her introduction to their father was perfect-- instead of disapproving (as would be the cliché situation), he just flirted with her. Didn't expect Shizuku's mother to be there, though. And wow, that was a rather surprising end...


And finally, Karneval chapter 55 ( + part 1 of the "One Sheep" side story): Oh my gosh, this chapter... the first half of it is completely ridiculous-- and it not only knows it, it revels in it! I was literally LOL'ing the whole way through that. (The humor in this series... ) The end of the chapter did get a little more serious, with a quick look at SPOILER: Highlight text to read: the little investigation Gareki's concerned classmates were conducting on his disappearance , and some thoughts from Karoku. But oh man, was the start of this chapter funny.
Also, the Sheep story was extremely cute.

[SierraLea]

Eyeshield 21, 1&2. This story had better have some serious character development, but some of the plot elements are pretty good so far.

[MangaRocks!]

Pandora Hearts chapter 82: Oh, Mochizuki-sensei... SPOILER: Highlight text to read: you just have to keep on breaking my heart, don't you?

Regardless of my feels, however , this was yet another fantastic chapter; and, befittingly, Oscar was awesome throughout-- from the flashbacks, to saving Oz's heart {a beautiful sequence which also ended up banishing Jack's spirit (well, for now, anyway) *and* bringing Alice back in the process! }, to saving their lives at the end + thwarting Zai as well... and still harboring not a drop of hate within him, even as his own brother takes his life! (Man... you end up getting so attached to the characters in this series that losing almost any of them is painful , but at least the good guys who've died have all gone out like total bosses!)

Also, it was cute to see that with all of the fantastic character development Gil has had, and how grown-up he is now, he can still get emotional really quickly.

But yeah, really, this chapter was all about Oscar. Farewell...

[the_wolfs_howl]

Silver Spoon chapter 70 - Great fun as always! Hmm, maybe Hachiken has found his true calling....

D.Gray-man chapters 158-161 - Lol, zombie side story

[MangaRocks!]

Karneval chapter 56: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Mostly a wrapping-up/transitional chapter, but it had a nice sweet scene with Karoku and Nai , as well as the introduction of a new character.


Zetsuen no Tempest chapter 25: SPOILER: Highlight text to read: Ah, so that was the rest of what Hakaze told Jun. It sounds like that really is what she believes she should do, though I'm still not sure if she said that just to shake the others up or not-- but I guess we'll be finding out soon. And it looks like the others are still under the assumption that Yoshino has the heart of the tree, but while that would make sense in some ways, I'm not entirely convinced yet, because I know how this mangaka writes, so I'm expecting at least one more twist there. Also, LOL on them now attempting to find Yoshino's girlfriend in earnest (so they can try to use her against him)-- I can only imagine what's going to happen when Mahiro finally discovers that it was Aika...


And two new series:


Taiyou no Ie chapters 1-18 (so far): Hmm, not bad. The whole setup in the beginning with them ending up living together is actually fairly believable, particularly once things are explored a little more in-depth later on, because of Hiro's situation/personality/feelings + Mao's parents being some of the most selfish and irresponsible ones I've ever seen in a manga -- SPOILER: Highlight text to read: from nearly the very beginning, Mao's mother continuously (and outright shamelessly) cheated on her husband, a man who really loved her, with the very jerk that he had originally saved her from ... and then, in turn, Mao's father became so apathetic afterwards that he not only gladly pushed Mao out of the house, but even told (a rightfully shocked and angry) Hiro flat-out that he could just go ahead and do whatever he wanted to her if he chose! Also, because of the main characters' respective circles of friends and co-workers, there's actually a fairly good mix of teen and adult characters in the series + scenes in their respective environments (i.e., it's not just set at home and school, but at work and such as well). Oh, and I have to say, I really like Daiki. He's a great brother (to both Hiro and Mao ), and his personality is so cute (and also quite funny, when he and Mao are in sync ). In short, while it's not "super special miracle" awesome or anything (as Mao would say ), it's pretty good, and it's one that I'll certainly continue following.


And Skip Beat! vol.'s 1-30 (so far): Whoa, this is good-- really good! First things first: I've never seen a main shojo heroine with a personality like Kyoko's before -- because while she can be caring and 'girlish' in her own way at times, she is actually fiercely independent, tenacious when it comes to a challenge, has a pretty impressive dark streak , and has guts of absolute steel. And fellow actor Ren, his hilariously adorable manager Yashiro, the eccentric agency president, and Kuu Hizuri are all fantastic characters, too. As for the plot/story, I also found it interesting that, on the one hand, it doesn't take itself too seriously SPOILER: Highlight text to read: (for example, Kyoko's hilarious little interactive "spirits", Yashiro's electronics-killing touch, another character being an {evil } esper, and etc. are all portrayed as quite real ), along with all of the hilarious (and, in fact, sometimes even hysterical! ) character interactions... and then, on the other hand, there's all the serious (well, when it should be, that is ) showbiz/acting stuff, which is really engaging in and of itself... and the combination works! (Oh, and I also have to make a comment on the art-- this mangaka draws really beautiful eyes!) So, yeah, I'm really loving this, and can't wait for the next volume!

[DecooPunk]

Rereading Twin Spica, Such a good series <3 Kei and Shu are so cute together

[Panda4christ:3]

Rereading Twin Spica, Such a good series <3 Kei and Shu are so cute together

Someone else who actually knows what this is? O: Seriously i love this series to peices >w<
But other than that...
D.Gray Man vol.16-Zombie's huh? This is interesting X3

[SierraLea]

I'm continuing to read Eyeshield, am on the 5th Volume, and got my wish. The characters are growing up very nicely, especially Sena! We do get to see some different sides of the other characters too, namely the "demon" of the football team. It can take a while to notice, but if you go beyond all the guns he's actually a really cool character!

The Prince of Tennis, on the other hand, has lost all heart, but I didn't think it had any of that to begin with. I am so glad I'm almost done with this series that was all intense sports moments and not enough humanity.
I also finished Fruits Basket. While I did notice that the hands on some of the characters look to small for the character in the next-to-last volume, I love the way it ended!