Manga Discussion Thread

FarOutFreak wrote:

Uzumaki had great development in terms of the first volume, as the imagery was just slowly being introduced. As such, you felt more of a shock seeing what was slowly happening to the people in the town. Same with the second volume.

I did feel disappointed with the last volume simply because I was expecting a better resolution for the whole of the story. I didn't expect it to end with something like "so, there...".

I completely agree. I was disappointed with how it ended. Nothing was explained much.

I also have the Museum Of Terror volumes, and the Tomie stories were pretty good. I was only partial to Uzumaki at the start, simply because the art looked better, presumably due to development of Ito's style.

I believe Tomie came earlier than Uzumaki. You can actually see the improvement as time passes with the Tomie stories - the later ones look a lot better than the early stories.
Ito's art has certainly improved with time.

All in all, Ito's stories range from ones that make you go "eh," up to ones that seriously make you feel like your lunch is going to come back up. After those two series, I'm not sure if there's anything else that's comparable in horror manga. Can't read French, so I'm basically settling for whatever gets released in English on a given year, which is VERY little.

Am reading Urasawa's Monster, though, and I'd have to say... that man knows how to pace his stories.

Have you read Gyo, by the way?

Huh, you're not wrong about English-language releases. I am so annoyed that English-speakers get a rough deal when It comes to manga.
I can't speak French, only read a little, so I was taking a chance on Remina. I think somewhere like France has a lot more manga published than here.

Keps wrote:Have you read Gyo, by the way?

Would love to, but I can't find Volume 1 anywhere here. I've only seen Volume 2. It takes really long for the bookstores to replenish stock here.

I am intrigued by fish-people, though.

As for English-language releases, you also have to wait an insane amount of time to get through all the volumes, as they stagger the releases similar to your regular comic. It's a decent business model, to be sure, but it's just really agonizing to have to wait that long, knowing that somewhere else in the world somebody's already read through the whole series, while you're just halfway.

That, or maybe the actual intent behind all of this is to have us learn Japanese and go straight to the source, whether manga or drama... :mrgreen:

Keps wrote:
Yeah, I knew it was a drama too. That's one I want to watch in future.
Oh... that's sad about Okazaki Kyoko. Do you know exactly what happened to her? I can only find that she was in an accident.

Itfs sad, really. All the info I got is from the French editorfs note in my manga dating from 2007. She was hit by a car and was helped by Moyoco Anno to finalise Helter Skelter.

FarOutFreak wrote:
Am reading Urasawa's Monster, though, and I'd have to say... that man knows how to pace his stories.

Only watched the anime :victory: but I recently finished 20 Century Boys by the same author. Loved it until volume 19 or so, the ending was rushed and somewhat disappointing. I felt Naoki Urasawa had lost interest in his own work.

Anyone read Ludwig Kakumei?
[image]

Stevie wrote:Anyone read Ludwig Kakumei?
[image]

not yet but the graphic looks good.. :good:

@Keps: nice avie.. :mrgreen:

FarOutFreak wrote:

Would love to, but I can't find Volume 1 anywhere here. I've only seen Volume 2. It takes really long for the bookstores to replenish stock here.

I am intrigued by fish-people, though.

As for English-language releases, you also have to wait an insane amount of time to get through all the volumes, as they stagger the releases similar to your regular comic. It's a decent business model, to be sure, but it's just really agonizing to have to wait that long, knowing that somewhere else in the world somebody's already read through the whole series, while you're just halfway.

That, or maybe the actual intent behind all of this is to have us learn Japanese and go straight to the source, whether manga or drama... :mrgreen:

Gyo was reprinted by Viz this year...your bookshop needs to get its act together! :hehe:
I bought the original prints of Gyo from an American ebayer a while back. They were cheap, and also the original covers (nice colour ones) are better than the reprints.

I wish I could read Japanese, because there tons of stuff that'll never even make it into English that we are missing out on. :sweat:
I look on Amazon Japan at their manga sometimes, and torture myself by finding many books by people like Junji Ito, Junko Mizuno and D[di:] (amongst others) which are probably never gonna appear in English. :bleh:

EstherM wrote:
Itfs sad, really. All the info I got is from the French editorfs note in my manga dating from 2007. She was hit by a car and was helped by Moyoco Anno to finalise Helter Skelter.

Moyoco Anno! *hisses* :mrgreen:

kyon-kyon chan wrote:@Keps: nice avie.. Mr Green

Heh, I thought you'd like it. :D

Keps wrote:
Moyoco Anno! *hisses*

:hehe: I know! :rofl: Way overrated!

Keps wrote:your bookshop needs to get its act together! :hehe:

It's always likely that there's a missing volume for any series they sell here, such that you'd have to wait a really long time to get it, or scour other shops to see if they might still have it. Case in point being me wanting to resume reading Blade Of The Immortal after getting the first volume, but not being able to since volume 2 is nowhere to be found, even though most of the shops have volume 3 onwards.

Or am I too OC in making sure I read stuff in order?

As for stuff that's in Japanese that's not in English, yes, there's a ton of manga that'll never see the light of translation. And even when they do, it'll take ages for a whole series to be completely released.

It may be a sign that my bookshop's buying habits are changing, but amazingly, I looked through their shelves and found something tucked away at the bottom part of the shelf...

...the first volume of Vertical's English language release of Dororo!

And it's a relatively new release!

:dancing: :dancing: :dancing:

EstherM wrote:

:hehe: I know! :rofl: Way overrated!

Squeeee! :rofl:

FarOutFreak wrote:

It's always likely that there's a missing volume for any series they sell here, such that you'd have to wait a really long time to get it, or scour other shops to see if they might still have it. Case in point being me wanting to resume reading Blade Of The Immortal after getting the first volume, but not being able to since volume 2 is nowhere to be found, even though most of the shops have volume 3 onwards.

Or am I too OC in making sure I read stuff in order?

As for stuff that's in Japanese that's not in English, yes, there's a ton of manga that'll never see the light of translation. And even when they do, it'll take ages for a whole series to be completely released.

What does OC mean?
I would not read any manga out of order...I think it ruins enjoyment, getting the story in an order other than the author intended.
I suppose if the manga was self-contained stories it wouldn't matter too much, though.

FarOutFreak wrote:It may be a sign that my bookshop's buying habits are changing, but amazingly, I looked through their shelves and found something tucked away at the bottom part of the shelf...

...the first volume of Vertical's English language release of Dororo!

And it's a relatively new release!

:dancing: :dancing: :dancing:

Yatta! I don't know what Dororo is, but fabulous news, anyway. :woot:
Hey, there's a character called Dororo in Sgt Frog. He's a ninja. :mrgreen:

Argh, I'm on volume 14 of Sgt Frog - the last book of the series published in English. :puppydog:

Keps wrote:What does OC mean?
I would not read any manga out of order...I think it ruins enjoyment, getting the story in an order other than the author intended.
I suppose if the manga was self-contained stories it wouldn't matter too much, though.

I'm guessing it's clearer to say OCD? Obsessive-compulsive?

Yep, the order is crucial in some cases.

Keps wrote:Yatta! I don't know what Dororo is, but fabulous news, anyway. :woot:
Hey, there's a character called Dororo in Sgt Frog. He's a ninja. :mrgreen:

Dororo is a manga by Osamu Tezuka. Story is about a boy who's born without forty-eight body parts, and his quest to retrieve these from the forty-eight demons who took them.

Aaaaand apparently they made that into a movie with Kou Shibasaki and Satoshi Tsumabuki. :sweat:

what is ever one reading??

Im still reading:
Naruto
One Piece~same what~
Full Metal Alchemist

Stevie wrote:what is ever one reading??

I started Dragon Head volume one, xxxholic volume 11 and :ashamed: Hana Yori Dango :sweat: .

EstherM wrote:

I started Dragon Head volume one, xxxholic volume 11 and :ashamed: Hana Yori Dango :sweat: .

whats Dragon Head? i never read that one

Stevie wrote:

whats Dragon Head? i never read that one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Head

EstherM wrote:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Head

Nice thanks :dancing:

EstherM wrote:

I started Dragon Head volume one, xxxholic volume 11 and :ashamed: Hana Yori Dango :sweat: .

I'd love to know how Dragon Head goes for you, since I've been planning on starting that up, as well.

Ooh, I read the first volume of Dragon Head recently. I liked it, but there's way too little text for me. It seemed pages went by with next to no text. I think it did build the suspense, but I would be unwilling to buy further volumes because of this.

ill let you know when i read it

Keps wrote:Ooh, I read the first volume of Dragon Head recently. I liked it, but there's way too little text for me. It seemed pages went by with next to no text. I think it did build the suspense, but I would be unwilling to buy further volumes because of this.

Keps-chan, I fully agree with the too little text. I enjoyed it but I went through this really fast and will check out further volumes in my local bookstore before purchasing.

On a more general note has anybody read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles by CLAMP? I canLt really make up my mind if this worth reading or not.