Forum - View topicWhat are you reading right now? Why?
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justsomeaccount
 Posts: 471 |
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I started reading "A Silent Voice"... during the first two chapters I actually really liked it. I thought it was going to be a really though series but that wasn't going to be heavy-handed, fairly realistic in how progressively the schoolers were getting more and more sick of the poor deaf girl, and how it all goes further to explode into her, especially from the main character.
... buuuut then chapter 3 comes along and it destroys freaking everything. When a sudden investigation to find the culprit of the bullying to her, all the damn class and teacher instantly becomes a sociopaths, I mean straight up sociopaths. They instantly guilt him of absolutely everything, when he tries to defend himself some of them even do the fake crying like it was planned from days ago and they are experts on manipulation... and after that they don't only treat him like shit, they even throw him from a fifth floor, even people who before were his friends and never once there is a "sorry man but..." or attemps to humanize the class as it was before. It becomes so terrible and infuriating that I'm dropping this. Wau I never saw a thing with such potential and taking all the right steps, and ruining it so quickly. |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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Still working on Skip Beat!. Finished through volume 27.
Love Kyoko but she is sooooooo dense when it comes to love. ^^;;;; Poor, Ren. One minor detraction from the series I think is all the tiny text in margins and outside of dialogue bubbles. I'm reading the series in Japanese so it's sometimes hard to make out the text (which is handwritten as opposed to typed) and I usually don't have the motivation to squint to read it. If I were reading this in English then I don't think it would be as much of an issue. |
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zawa113
 Posts: 7357 |
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I bought Skip Beat 28-29-30 yesterday at the comic shop (the new 3-in-1s) but I'm still waaaay behind on it.
But I read some other things I got at the comic shop. Maria the Virgin Witch had me excited, the anime has been getting praise and I enjoyed Moyashimon, but v1 left me disappointed. Sure, I did find it funny when Maria ended up making a Ken doll instead of an incubus, but pretty much all the humor comes from her never going to sex-ed class. I wasn't terribly interested in any of the characters by the end of v1, so it's just a distraction at best for me. Even if it's only 3 vols long, I'm not interested in more really (maybe at the library, maybe). Anyone interested in buying my v1 half price (+shipping), pm me. |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1773 Location: South America |
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Listing some of the manga I have read over the past couple of months and the respective rating:
Lone Wolf and Cub ---------------- 10/10 Among the best manga I ever read, incredible character development and really compelling story. Very few works of fiction manage to reach the legendary level of this manga. It's a must read certainly, one of those manga you must read before you die. Pluto ------------------------------------- 9/10 Urasawa take on science fiction is extremely interesting and his exceptional storytelling skills make this manga one of the most absorbing I read recently. Usagi Drop ----------------------------- 7/10 Not as good as the TV series. In fact, the Tv series adapts the good parts of the manga, the rest is comparatively weak and weird in some way (if you wan't to know why it's weird just read it). Nodame Cantabile ------------------- 9/10 Manga about classical music? That's interesting, it has a very interesting cast of charismatic/colorful characters. Yotsuba -------------------------------- 10/10 Cutest slice of life ever. Superior to Azumanga Daioh. Fugishi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden ------- 6/10 I don't like shoujo manga very much though so this well regarded title didn't do almost anything for me, it's well written and drawn, though. Madoka Magica: Different Story - 7/10 Some claim to be superior to the TV series but I found it in general inferior, a good entry to the franchise but does not capture the feel of the original. Dragonar Academy ------------------ 5/10 Very crude stuff. The writing is just recycled tropes and it's full of fanservice, including fanservice of obviously underage (13-14 year olds) girls. Still it was somewhat entertaining. |
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justsomeaccount
Posts: 471 |
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I never read it but yeeeep I know that element and it makes me not wanting to watch it and glad that I watched the anime without knowing it (which to be honest, I don't think the author had it in mind until later because she was desperate, but anyway). I'll just refer to Jason's take on it. Well, I gave another chance to A Silent Voice and it was a kind of frustrating read in some aspects but overall I ended up liking it and appreciating what it pretended to do and did right. It's sort of a different take on Onani Master Kurosawa (which I think it's great), and it was ambititous in its attemp to try to find flaws in most of their characters, some annoying exceptions aside. I also noticed some Inio Asano's influences here and there that made me happy (Nishimiya's design sometimes, those weird jokes with Ishida's sister, etc.). It's alright. |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Last night I read He's My Only Vampire 1. It felt very much like an infodump volume, and much more formulaic than Kiss of the Rose Princess Aya Shouoto's other series which has just been released here. spoiler[rival who is a werewolf boy - check, vampire who binds girl to her who also happens to be her childhood friend - check, vampire arrives as transfer student - check]
I initially thought it must have come before Kiss of the Rose Princess as the art seemed less refined, but apparently not. Of the 2 series, so far I prefer Kiss of the Rose Princess. I think because it's more self aware and poking fun of itself and shojo tropes. But I think He's My Only Vampire might improve now all the infodumping is out the way. I'll be reading the next volume anyway. |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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Ahhh! Ahhhhhhh! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Finished Skip Beat! through volume 35. spoiler[FINALLY AFTER WAITING 35 VOLUMES!!! A KISS!!!! It was with Kuon, not Ren. But still!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Could not grin any wider. It's been a long, long wait.] Will have to see if co-worker has vol. 36 which just came out this month. |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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Read Uchuu Kyoudai vol. 25. Nearly cried. spoiler[Finally, Mutta is off in space!!!] It's amazing how this series can be so consistently good. It knows how to hit those emotional cords too. The spoiler[days leading up to the launch and the launch itself] were just perfect. Looking forward to the next volume!
On the train home, the person sitting next to me was reading the latest volume of Skip Beat!. I tried not to stare... |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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Picked up the 10 Count manga a couple weeks ago since it was recommended to me and because it had such a high ranking in the BL rankings. I finally got the chance to read it yesterday.
I was only planning to read the first volume but before I knew it, I was done with all three volumes and Sunday became Monday. ^^;;;; Well, now I know why this series is so highly regarded! It's these types of series that I would love to see animated. Who knew someone could come up with such a good bl story that revolves around mysophobia? Wow!! I was totally blown away. It certainly helps that the art is very pretty and Kurose is damn sexy. 
Now to wait at least half a year for the next volume to come out.......... In the meantime I will amuse myself with the drama CD. |
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Jose Cruz
Posts: 1773 Location: South America |
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I think Jason is a bit too hard on it though. It's a decent manga overall and I found it rather weird but since I am an open minded person I just though it was rather cheap exit and inconsistent with the first half of the manga. |
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lys
 Posts: 1008 Location: mitten-state |
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AHHHHHH!!! I know, right?! Volume 36 is at the top of my Kinokuniya shopping list (I just have to wait till the new Akagami no Shirayukihime is out to place my order). I ran out of patience waiting for the English version (but I'm still buying them too) and I haven't regretted that decision yet, because the last couple volumes have been crazy. Crazy good. I haven't been reading manga lately, except for work (I do lettering for a few publishers... so basically this means I still spend my days surrounded by manga). Last week I was crying over Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer; this week I'm flipping out at a cliffhanger in Noragami and chuckling at the very Kaori Yuki weirdness that is Demon From Afar. (sorry if any of this seems like a spoiler: I am intentionally not mentioning which volumes so you can imagine me to be any number of books ahead of the current releases.) I do love my job... |
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st_owly
Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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I am envious of your job, lys. Given the titles you've mentioned are all from different publishers, do you work freelance then?
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lys
Posts: 1008 Location: mitten-state |
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Yes, lettering and translation are typically freelance positions in manga publishing. It's nice working from home and not having to move to one of the big cities where the publishers are :) Not having "coworkers" working alongside you can be a good or bad thing maybe, depending how much you like other people, but most of the people I work with (through email, etc) are pretty awesome!
Yen Press was recently seeking to hire more translators and letterers (scroll back to around Feb12 on their twitter for info), so if you have an inclination for/experience with either type of work you might try contacting them. The main important things for lettering are some familiarity with InDesign and Photoshop, and a love for the fine (tedious?) details (like zooming in real close to use the clone tool to match up screentone dots; recognizing different Japanese lettering fonts and matching them in English; a good sense for text centering/placement in bubbles...) To tie this post back into what I am (soon to be) reading, I just got an email from the comic shop that Skip Beat! 34, Dengeki Daisy final and Library Wars 13 are in (two weeks early?!). I might have screamed :) |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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I just hope we don't need to spoiler[wait another 35 volumes for more progress, LoL.]
Noragami is excellent and I really hope they make a second season for the anime. I want to see Bishamon's story and also the events in vol.7 that had me wibbling. Checking on Amazon, it looks like the English version comes out about one volume every two months? Not a bad pace, especially considering you have to wait around 4 months for the Japanese release (if it's a monthly publication). Have fun doing what you do! |
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Misibe
Posts: 5 Location: Netherlands |
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I am only actively following four manga series at the moment.
The first is One Piece. It's the first anime I watched in Japanese, and I love it. However, the anime is amazingly slow! So I decided to start reading the manga because it's at least a little faster. I guess I'm just not very patient. My favorite character is probably Law, so I'm really enjoying the current arc in which he gets a lot of page time. I watched the Noragami anime and saw the manga in a bookstore shortly after. I really like the story (particularly of the manga) and am curious to see where it'll end up. I'm not as invested as in other mangas, though. With Noragami, I'm able to wait for new volumes to be published rather than reading a chapter at a time, which is why at the moment I'm only at volume nine. Shingeki no Kyojin: yet another series where I watched the anime first. I just couldn't wait for a potential second season, so I started reading the manga. I'm currently reading it chapter by chapter (like with One Piece, the manga volumes are currently being published later than the original anime episodes air). I actually found Tokyo Ghoul in a bookstore a week or two before the first season aired, which is surprising since bookstores here don't have a lot of mangas. Perhaps the main reason why I like it is that it questions the concepts of "good" and "bad" and has amazingly deep characters. Plus a nice bit of action. Right now I'm following :Re, since the original manga finished in September. |
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