Forum Settings
       
Reply To Thread

Manga I have read recently (updated)Follow

#77 Mar 06 2013 at 2:41 PM Rating: Excellent
***
1,330 posts
Karlina wrote:
LockeColeMA wrote:
I actually really enjoy it (besides the squicky incest theme)!

Ha ha. If manga has taught me anything it's that incest is totally cool in japan.


It's more teasing and one sided on the wincest really. The brother is a natural troll and makes fatal communication errors sometimes that get him in serious trouble with the sister. Smiley: lol

#78 Mar 06 2013 at 5:27 PM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
lolgaxe wrote:

That being said, after reading the Big Three, I saw a link to another First Chapter manga and gave it a shot. "I, Who Didn't Become a Hero, Reluctantly Decided to Find a Job / Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsuishimashita" which I can't link to because of lolfilters, follows the story of a Hero-in-Training as he finds work after an actual hero has saved the world, and the Big Badâ„¢'s child who also needs work due to losing their inheritance sort of speak. Can't be the next Big Bad if the previous one is defeated, you know? It's the first chapter, but it was amusing enough to warrant future chapter reads. It's essentially a "What would happen to future heroes and villains if there is no need for them anymore" kind of story. A bit NSFW but not really excessively so.

I read this today too >_> I enjoyed it Smiley: lol

Let's see... I started reading La Mosca today. It seems to be one of those survival game stories, similar to Battle Royal or Btooom!. So far it's been gory and interesting, with a lot of character getting killed off by derpy looking creatures. It's a completed series, so at least I don't need to wait for new releases! I'll post more as I get through it.
#79 Mar 07 2013 at 12:30 AM Rating: Good
****
5,729 posts
'Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsuishimashita' was kind of funny. Reminds me a bit of 'Demon Lord at Work' (unsurprisingly.)
____________________________
75 Rabbit/75 Sheep/75 Coeurl/75 Eft/75 Raptor/75 Hippogryph/75 Puk
75 Scorpion/75 Wamoura/75 Pixie/75 Peiste/64 Sabotender
51 Bird/41 Mandragora/40 Bee/37 Crawler/37 Bat

Items no one cares about: O
Missions no one cares about: O
Crafts no one cares about: O
#80 Mar 08 2013 at 8:05 AM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
La Mosca was pretty solid. Not the most amazing manga I've read, but enjoyable. Kinda reminded me of Resident Evil: Code Veronica, where a bunch of monsters are on an island and people want to get the hell off. The ending wasn't bad either, but I wish they had explained a bit more, especially about Jenny, and what was done with the addictive caffeine. Despite the upbeat and happy ending, the implication is that Jenny and her gang just took over from Kashoo with an even more addicting product; great for them, bad for humanity. Also, Mario's fate isn't revealed and he doesn't show up at the end at all. As he was one of the only likeable villains, that's sort of a shame.
#81 Mar 13 2013 at 7:25 AM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
Read through Basilisk, which I've heard is better as an anime... but it was still pretty good as a manga. Seinen manga with a lot of violence and some boobs. Basically, two clans of ninja are ordered to kill the top 10 of their rivals; the clan that survives will be given 1000 years of prosperity from the shogun. Each of the ninja has a special ability that makes them more like demons than humans. The action is fast-paced, and I found myself rooting for different characters on each side at different times (both sides have their honorable and dishonorable members). It also more than deserves it's "Tragedy" tag. I didn't quite get some of the background (like why the shogun called for this test anyway, or why the Ofuku or whatever her name was wanted the Iga to win), but it didn't really take away from the manga.
#82 Mar 13 2013 at 2:01 PM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
I also recently finished Island, a horror manhwa. The series was somewhat schizophrenic in its presentation, with two fairly distinct arcs. The first half introduces the main characters; Miho Won, a rich girl who moves to a Korean island to become a teacher; Pan, a sadistic serial killer with powerful Buddhist incantations, and John, a Korean-American priest (or perhaps just an exorcist) with strong Christian prayers. The first half of the series has Miho encountering a ton of demons and ends up hiring Pan to destroy them for her. John shows up later and also defends Miho. There's not really a "love triangle" going on; Pan is emotionless (except when angry), and John is treated more like a little brother than a love interest. The second arc introduces four Japanese characters who come to Korea chasing a supernatural killer who uses cursed skulls to melt people; Miho and John are the main characters, but Pan is only present about maybe a fourth of the time.

The manwha is definitely seinen, but it's entirely due to violence and content. While there's a lot of talk of sex and threats of rape, no nudity is ever depicted; on the other hand, there's blood and violence galore. Lots of demons and creepy stuff. And lots of unanswered questions, like how the old man knows Pan, and who exactly Pan is (and who the "blind" exorcist is at the end). Also a little bit of gender-bender stuff going on.

It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either.
#83 Mar 15 2013 at 12:50 PM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
So, Black & White (aka, Tekkon Kinkreet) was pretty much a complete mindf*ckery. Undoubtedly the most surreal manga I've read since Oyasumi Punpun, though I liked Punpun better. The story revolves around two orphans from Treasure Town that are nicknamed "The Cats": Black and White. White is... well, I guess mentally retarded is probably accurate. He's a (relatively) harmless idiot who is liked by most of the town. Black is a "problem child," as he attacks people and takes what he wants. However, his largest priority is to protect White, as they've been together since they were infants. Anyway, new mafia move into the town and try to take it over, and the story revolves around the old gangsters, yakuza, police, and the Cats as they adapt or fight the changing town.

That's a good description of the series, but it doesn't come remotely close to catching the "feel" of the series. The setting is surrealist; buildings are all sorts of shapes, characters are defined as "curvy" at times, random animals like fish, squids, cats, and turtles show up randomly, people "fly." I get the impression that this is the world seen through the eyes of Black and White; as White says, they were both born without some screws in their brains, but what Black lacks White has, and vice-versa. Later on, Black starts becoming feral and hallucinating, while White starts becoming almost clairvoyent in some of the things he says.

I recommend reading it just because it's SO bizarre, but not necessarily hard to follow. If you want surreal stuff though, Oyasumi Punpun is better IMO.
#84 Mar 22 2013 at 11:50 AM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
Finally finished the 19 volumes of Eat-Man. For having the corniest name ever, it was actually a remarkably enjoyable sci-fi fantasy series. However, almost the entire time I got the feeling "Holy crap, this is totally Trigun." Either this was the basis for Trigun, or Trigun came out first, or the two authors knew each other... it's hard to say. Let's match up the similarities between Bolt and Vash:

-Both have oversized guns that appear from their arms
-Both have iconic sunglasses and trench coat
-Both exist in a sci-fi western setting, with space ships and small towns surrounded by deserts
-Both have incredibly long life-spans and are practically undefeated
-Both are world famous; Vash as the world's most infamous gunman, Bolt as the world's greatest "explorer" (who is pretty much a mercenary)
-Both refuse to kill humans
-Both are mistaken as bad people but have hearts of gold
-Both have an affinity with machines; especially with fixing them

There are differences of course (spoilers)

Vash is an alien "plant," while we never quite learn what Bolt is.
Bolt seems to be effectively immortal; we know when Vash was born, and he certainly can get hurt and lose limbs.
Vash's secret power is that he's able to form a giant gun from his arm capable of mass destruction; this is a huge secret. Bolt's secret power, on the other hand, is that he can eat any machine and recreate it out of his body later.


Anyway, the two series are very alike in a lot of ways. Eat-man focuses on Bolt Crank, the world's greatest explorer, who takes jobs and always fulfills them... though not always quite like how the employer expects. The series, as said, was 19 volumes, and covers a LOT of time. There are recurring characters, but the time frame is never clear; sometimes when we first meet a character she's a little girl; then four volumes later she's grown up. If I had to guess, not counting one-off chapters, the series probably covers 20-30 years of time. For the most part the series is episodic; a new employer is introduced, Bolt is hired, he saves the day. Good guys win, bad guys get punished (or get away and then show up later and get punished again). The first 10 or 12 volumes revolve mostly around a woman named Stella and a man named Shadow, who have some history with Bolt (whom they call Leon) that is slooooowly explained (they might show up in one chapter per volume). The second half introduces a bunch of new explorers and a lot of recurring characters make cameos. The only part I didn't like is that the recurring characters are sometimes difficult to remember; I kept mixing up Rivette, Aimie, and Elena.

The series is mature due to occasional nudity and violence. The nudity is almost distracting, and hardly ever sexy (Bolt never hooks up); usually there's just topless women walking around. The violence is rarely gory; though there is one volume where a lot of characters die with body parts getting blown off, in most of the volumes Bolt's refusal to kill means that few casualties occur.

So, which is better... this or Trigun? Trigun, for sure. Bolt's main flaw is his solitary nature; he doesn't show much personality, talks very rarely, and his background is never fully explained. He faces the toughest showdowns with the exact same kind of calmness as all the other throw-away chapters. Vash on the other hand has a ton of personality, loses people close to him, is forced to compromise his morals, and actually grows as a character. Bolt never develops, and that's what really holds the series back. I'm glad I read it, but Eat-man felt like a less developed Trigun... though it was still enjoyable.
#85 Mar 22 2013 at 11:52 AM Rating: Good
*******
50,767 posts
Vash also likes the drink. Smiley: boozing
____________________________
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
#86 Mar 22 2013 at 11:56 AM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
lolgaxe wrote:
Vash also likes the drink. Smiley: boozing


That might actually be another similarity; Bolt does drink... but I never quite figured out if he drinks actual beer, or just 100% ethanol. It seems to imply he can drink both (and in at least two chapters he asks for water), but when the focus is on his diet, it's always on how he eats machine parts and drinks oil or ethanol Smiley: tongue
#87 Mar 22 2013 at 12:06 PM Rating: Excellent
*******
50,767 posts
You should read Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen. While it's all types of hilarious by itself, it has Aaron Stack, aka Machine Man in it. He's got all of the similarities you described for Vash and Bolt, minus the sci-fi western setting and fame. He calls humans "fleshy ones," and is pretty self important, but has the whole heart of gold thing. It's Marvel, but the overall series is pretty self-contained so you don't need too much insight into the universe.
Screenshot
____________________________
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
#88 Mar 22 2013 at 12:07 PM Rating: Excellent
Gave Up The D
Avatar
*****
12,281 posts
Didn't they die like 15 minutes into the Zombie Apocalypse?
____________________________
Shaowstrike (Retired - FFXI)
91PUP/BLM 86SMN/BST 76DRK
Cooking/Fishing 100


"We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
— James D. Nicoll
#89 Mar 22 2013 at 12:09 PM Rating: Good
*******
50,767 posts
Yeah, but being dead isn't exactly a critical condition.
____________________________
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
#90 Mar 22 2013 at 12:16 PM Rating: Excellent
Gave Up The D
Avatar
*****
12,281 posts
Considering their bodies were beaten into pulp without re-animating and Marvel has yet to retcon it AFAIK, it's pretty critical.
____________________________
Shaowstrike (Retired - FFXI)
91PUP/BLM 86SMN/BST 76DRK
Cooking/Fishing 100


"We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
— James D. Nicoll
#91 Mar 22 2013 at 12:23 PM Rating: Excellent
*******
50,767 posts
At the moment, Aaron is currently running with Red She-Hulk, Tabatha "Boom Boom" was in the this month's issue of Cable and X-Force, Monica "Captain Marvel" was recently in the newer Captain Marvel's book, and Elsa Bloodstone was in Wolverine's last volume of books before the renumbering. Only one I haven't seen is Captain.

I think the Marvel Zombies books were considered alternate universe, too. Tite Kubo has nothing on a Marvel Asspull. Smiley: laugh
____________________________
George Carlin wrote:
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
#92 Mar 22 2013 at 1:20 PM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
Oh, you guys Smiley: laugh

I also finished Poppoya Love Letter, and gosh darn it, it hit me right in the emotions. Very short story, only one volume; a low-level Yakuza flunky named Goro gets out of jail only to be told his wife is dead. No skin off his nose; he only married her to get her a visa into the country, where she was to work as a prostitute. Goro and the president's nephew are sent to pick up the remains and make sure everything looks on the level, and Goro receives a series of unsent love letters from the woman he married but never knew, and now will never get the chance to know.

Fighting back manly tears, yo.

Edit: Oh, and labeled seinen for one page of nudity.

Another short n' sweet one I finished was Always Together. It's a one-shot about a girl determined to lose weight. Pretty cute Smiley: smile

Edited, Mar 22nd 2013 3:42pm by LockeColeMA
#93 Mar 22 2013 at 1:48 PM Rating: Good
****
5,729 posts
Nextwave is awesome. Funny as hell, and how can you not lot a series where the main villain is a T-rex wearing a smoking jacket.
____________________________
75 Rabbit/75 Sheep/75 Coeurl/75 Eft/75 Raptor/75 Hippogryph/75 Puk
75 Scorpion/75 Wamoura/75 Pixie/75 Peiste/64 Sabotender
51 Bird/41 Mandragora/40 Bee/37 Crawler/37 Bat

Items no one cares about: O
Missions no one cares about: O
Crafts no one cares about: O
#94 Mar 24 2013 at 2:37 PM Rating: Good
Repressed Memories
******
21,027 posts
Read through Psyren, and it's one of the better shounen battle series I've read. Somewhat like a cross between Bleach and Hunter x Hunter in terms of style. The alternate world is a barren wasteland much like Hueco Mundo with the key antagonists giving off a espada vibe. Character abilities take the form of psychic powers that manifest in a fairly diverse and interesting way, much like Hunter x Hunter A lot of characters are given attention and meaningful fight sequences, without overly focusing on the main cast.

Terraformers has been popular among some otaku atm, being slightly ridiculous. Basically people wanted to terraform mars, so 500 years ago they sent moss and cockroaches there. Back in the present, the cockroaches have evolved into super strong racial stereotypes. Humans must now take on bug powers to fight the black menace. Plot hold upon plot hole and egregious ignoring the cubic law. Mostly I read it trying to discern how conscious the mangaka was about the appearance of his primary antagonist.
#95 Mar 24 2013 at 9:47 PM Rating: Excellent
Quote:
Nextwave is awesome. Funny as hell, and how can you not lot a series where the main villain is a T-rex wearing a smoking jacket.


It was devil Dinosaur! Also, the Fing Fang Foom battle was about the funniest thing I've ever read/seen/experienced via the medium of funnybook.
____________________________
"The Rich are there to take all of the money & pay none of the taxes, the middle class is there to do all the work and pay all the taxes, and the poor are there to scare the crap out of the middle class." -George Carlin


#97 Mar 25 2013 at 7:27 AM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
kortney wrote:
LockeColeMA wrote:
Fun story. So mangafox just put up some chapters of Cross Days, and I started reading it and thinking "Hmmmm... this looks familiar... why does it look familiar...

Makoto


AHHHHH!! Nice boat, nice boat, nice boat!

Dammit, it's a parallel of School Days. Maybe I should not read any other chapters that come out, if it ends as horrifically as School Days does.

Edited, Jan 31st 2012 8:47am by LockeColeMA


Are you sure this is not School Days? That's nearly the same...


Nah, definitely a parallel series. Same setting, different situations.

I never did finish all the endings in School Days, now that I think of it. I guess I just don't like that if you pick one girl, the other gets a bad ending (even in the "good" endings).

Finished up another seinen manga called Rose Hip. I've heard it's from the same author who made GTO, but I'm not sure... been years since I read GTO. Anyway, it was pretty much your run-of-the-mill action manga, with high school girls who are actually secret agents who are part of an elite police force. Unlike many series with a similar premise, this one was incredibly violent. Lots of death and gore. It also only had like 10 or 11 chapters; it feels like it was cut off due to lack of popularity, because it ends on a cliff-hanger that would launch a new arc. Not a great series, not really recommended.
#98 Mar 25 2013 at 12:48 PM Rating: Decent
It's Just a Flesh Wound
******
22,702 posts
Read a few chapters of Yamada-kun to 7-nin no Majo and it seems decently interesting. I'm probably going to try to read more of it if I find the time.

Shokugeki is still continuing to be great. I also caught myself up on Aiki which is up to 96ish now, and that's still as glorious as it always is.
____________________________
Dear people I don't like: 凸(●´―`●)凸
#99 Mar 25 2013 at 2:20 PM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
If you're a fan of horror manga, Mail is a decently good (and short; 3 volumes) series. It's a bunch of episodic stories involving Akiba, a detective/exorcist who researches local urban legends and puts angry spirits to rest with a special gun. Each chapter is a new ghost, new characters (mostly girls), and Akiba showing up in the nick of time to save the day. The stories aren't that great, and besides Akiba (and later on, a girl named Mikoto), none of the characters appear for more than one chapter. I felt like the series didn't know what it wanted to become, and the end of volume 3 had no kind of closure whatsoever. Mikoto's character seemed to have been introduced just to make Akiba look like something less than lawful good, but her role is never really expanded upon. And while the spirits are shiver-inducing at times, they also never end up killing their victims (well, I guess in one chapter a woman lights herself on fire at the beginning, but her sister is saved later on). I recommend it only because it's a delightfully creepy when some of the ghosts appear, but overall the story is lackluster and it seems like it was discontinued after three volumes. Also, NSFW, as there's some violence and a bit of nudity in volume 3.

Apparently the mangaka also made a manga called The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which (IIRC) was pretty decent but incomplete when I read it a while back.
#100 Mar 26 2013 at 7:51 AM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
Maken X (also known as Maken X Another) is a mindf*ck. The mangaka is, I believe, the same one who makes Dorohedoro, which I previously reviewed. Much like Doro, it's sometimes pretty tough to grasp the plot and what exactly is going on. In Maken, it seems like people have "images" of themselves that are reflected onto the world. As long as you can clearly picture your image, you can recover from incredible wounds, form weapons from your body, and possess a lot of power. But using too much of your image literally makes your body fall apart; when you can't visualize yourself any more, you fall to pieces.

So the story is about a girl named Kei, who ends up taking control of a living sword called Maken after her father's lab is attacked. Maken was supposed to be a medical instrument that would cure mental illnesses by "brainjacking" patients and restoring their images; in reality, it's a sword created by Kei's father to destroy another living sword which is slowly remaking the world into a bunch of monstrous images. Maken has a pretty bad personality, and its brainjacking leaves most people as mindless cripples; it constantly fights with Kei, one of the few people who can wield it and maintain her own image.

That's... about how much I got out of the series, and some of that (especially the bit about images) might be wrong. The art style is sketchy (like, literally looking like sketches), and like Doro, incredibly violent. A lot of the background plot is left unexplained, as I guess this is based off an old Dreamcast game from 2000 which likely explained a bit more. So we never quite figure out who the "Sword Masters of the Seal" are, and I don't really understand who or what Kei's friend Kou is... my best guess is that he was experimented on by Kei's father 10 years ago and melded part of his image to hers as an extra barrier of protection (or something).

Anyway, it's an interesting series, but I'd stick with Dorohedoro if you feel like getting the same art style and violence, but with a good dose of dark comedy and a much more fleshed-out story.
#101 Mar 26 2013 at 1:31 PM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
Hopefully my last update for a while Smiley: lol

I read Zombie Hunter, and I must say... I am SO disappointed. Not because of the story, or the action, or the drawing. Because it stops right in the middle of the action after 4 volumes. Complete cliff-hanger, but the series hasn't been updated since 2000. The background is fairly good, but it becomes a bit generic after the first couple of volumes; still, that doesn't justify quitting the series. Bah. If you like blood, guts, and monsters, it's a decent series.
Reply To Thread

Colors Smileys Quote OriginalQuote Checked Help

 

Recent Visitors: 104 All times are in CST
Anonymous Guests (104)