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Manga Thread.
  • I've been wanting to get back into manga for a few years but have no idea what is worth reading. Half-price books had a sale, so I decided to pick up a few things today and see what I like. Due to a friends recommendation I picked up Dogs:Bullets And Carnage and 20th Century Boys, as well as Lone Wolf and Cub, Ghost in the Shell, Orion, Black Jack, and something called Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. I figured there should be a few things in here I will like. Any recommendation on what I should read?
  • I like any of the GTO series.
  • Hunter x Hunter
  • I can speak for all of those save Dogs and Orion to the effect that they are fantastic. Otherwise, and I assume we're talking about manga available in English:

    Hellsing
    Excel Saga (much different than the anime and much better as well)
    xxxholic
    X/1999
    MPD Psycho
    Bokurano
    Blame (out of print, unfortunately, but you can find at least half the series for cheap on Right Stuf)
    Biomega
    Uzumaki
    Drops of God
    Yotusba!&

    Those are just a few off the top of my head.
  • I mainly collect the one shots or shot manga that Vertical puts out just because it is a pain to collect a bunch of long running manga. Try out Velveteen & Mandala if you want something really weird. It is only one book long, so it isn't too much of an investment.
  • Rbx5 said:


    Uzumaki


    THE CURSE OF THE SPIRAL!!!!!!!!!!
  • The only manga I keep up with are:

    Berserk
    One Outs
    Claymore
    Kenichi
    Naruto

    but Monster and JoJo's are pretty good too but they're a pain to catch up to.
  • Someone on here pointed out Fourteen once, and I read it all twice. It is so stupid and amazing. Dr. Chicken George is the best character ever created. Daryl Surat was pushing Ressentiment a few years ago, and I believe the second half of it has finally been scanlated, even (the general consensus is that it will never be legitimately published in English, so don't feel bad). I just read Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in two days the other week, and I finished Homunculus shortly thereafter. I sincerely recommend reading all of JoJo's from beginning to end. It'll keep you busy for a while. Riki-Oh is required reading. Detroit Metal City. Liar Game. Gamble Fish is horrible, but it has moments in it that will make you laugh out loud because it's so asinine, so maybe it's worth it.
  • There is a lot of manga I have, both what I have read and a ton that I have not. Akira is probably one of the best manga I was getting into as of last summer and that I have books and 5 and 6 to finish. I still wanna read the Goku: Midnight Eye manga that I have been collecting over a couple of years now, and there is the Crying Freeman series I wanna read, even though I got the anime. Initial D was an anime/manga series I was really into in HS and I still gotta read the last few volumes that came in the states before that series folded here.
  • There is one series that I’m really enjoying at the moment, but the manga isn’t technically legally available, but it’s been faithfully adapted into an anime. You can watch that legally, and continue the story by reading the scanlations

    The World God Only Knows by Tamiki Wakaki. The basic premise is that the series protagonist, Keima Katsuragi, is basically the greatest dating-sim player ever who can and has beaten every dating-sim gal-game, so he gets tricked into having to help hell capture these escaped souls that hide in the hearts of females. I know the premise sounds kind of interesting with that idea of whether video game skillz can translate to real world skillz (like Scott Pilgrim), but also super anime and you expect it to be one of those really fanserivey shows with most of the story pretty much telegraphed in the early chapters, but it’s not. It's got a great protagonist, good pacing, and a lot of fun.
  • See, I find the whole concept pretty offensive and also incredibly stupid. "Hey pathetic otaku, have some wish fulfillment where your dating sim 'skills' totally translate into real life, and not even to get actual action or fall in love, but really just to totally use these girls for your own purposes!" At least most harem shows have the decency to have one true love be the ostensible aim.

    Unless of course I've totally misunderstood it. I never bothered to read the manga or watch the show on this basis.
  • That is an understandable stance to take after you hear the premise because lord knows anime/manga storytelling does have a fairly similar storytelling format, but I dunno if I agree with that assessment for this series because while it is otaku-y, it never gets really fanservicey with the girls and sexualizing teenage girls to an uncomfortable degree. I don’t think there’s even been a panty shot. Keima purpose for “capturing” the girls is to “cure the gaps in their heart”, which amounts in Keima trying to help them fix their own psychological problems to an extent.
    Basically I just really like Keima as a protagonist. He's competent, confident, and not perverted. He's someone I don't mind rooting for. He’s like a mix between Abed from NBC’s Community (complete mastery and understanding of an entertainment, but comically lacking in basic social skills) and Daryl Surat (strict adherence to otaku life and code with seeming disinterest of the real world and its people).
  • Ah, I see. I'm still not all that interested, but I can give it the benefit of the doubt, I suppose.
  • I think it would be more interesting if it were presented as a psychological-horror thing, because I could see an interesting story contrasting "he's so good at getting lonely girls to fall in love with him!" with "but the instant that they do, their souls are consumed by demons!" And he hates himself for doing it, but he can't stop, because he's addicted to the feeling of "girl likes me! Girl wants to talk to me!" And the story could be an ironic twist on the usual "oh this is terrible, all these girls keep falling in love with me" bit.
  • Is there (or will there be) a Yotsuba& omnibus? Signs point to no, but I don't have the shelf space for 12+ volumes of manga.
  • I just finished watching the first and second season of "God Only Knows" on Crunchyroll and found it pretty entertaining. Great theme songs and they kept it classy, no tentacles or panty shots. Main character is funny but I felt sorry for his parents...
    Most of the manga I have been reading on a regular basis was in Shonen Jump magazine and now Shonen Jump Alpha, the online version since its no longer in print. Its a decent service but it could be a little more user friendly.
    They began a series called Barrage some time earlier this summer and its interesting, would definitely translate well into anime form.
  • @Dave: I've been dearly hoping for one for quite a while now, for similar reasons, and no, not to my knowledge unfortunately.
  • I have a week off of work coming up and I thought, 'Hey, I should be able to get caught but with jojo's during that time, how long can it be?' Ya, I am going to need more then a week for this.
  • The anime starts in the fall, so I'm thinking of just watching that, as there is no way I can read that much manga on a screen rather than in book form.
  • Ar they making the entire series into an anime or just part of it?
  • The whole series, apparently, starting from the beginning.
  • I want to know how they're going to condense down the longer parts. Parts 1 and 2 aren't really that long, so they could be around a regular season, but Part 3 on is a lot more material to work with.

    As for manga to consider, try RRR. It's an excellent boxing manga and is finished.
  • Oh yeah, Oyasumi Punpun by Inio Asano is one of the greatest fucking comics I've ever read, so definitely check that out, though alas it hasn't been released here. Viz did put out his graphic novel Solanin, however.
  • Does anybody know where I can find Out of Print manga? I'm trying to find Berserk Vol 14 and 31. It would be very much appreciated.