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Grey (Perfect Collection Vol. 1-2)- An old one from the 80s by Yoshihisa Tagami about a sci-fi dystopian/post apocalyptic society divided into lower and higher classes. I enjoyed Grey. It's a short, concise work that presents an grim, yet interesting world and a mix of cynical and idealistic characters. The characters themselves are pretty shallow personality-wise but I think its a good fit for this type of story.

The main character is a badass, cynical lone-wolf for the most part but you start to see how such a bleak environment shaped his personality. The artwork is decent, it looks a bit simplistic at times and action scenes can come off as stiff but there's a certain grittiness to the backgrounds and designs that a lot of sci-fi 80s anime/manga have. The translation is surprisingly good as far as 80s manga localizations go. There's some clever lines, and Grey in particular has some funny wisecracks.

I managed to find a used copy in good condition at a used bookstore. Otherwise, it's been long out of print and I doubt it'll ever get relicensed since it's so old and obscure. The edition I found has a great essay by the English translator on the themes and even a little blurb from famous sci-fi author Harlan Ellison. There's also an OVA but I haven't seen it.

Gantz Vol. 21-27- These seven volumes cover Phase 2 of Gantz, aka the Osaka arc. This arc was very fun to read. Like Gantz in general, I'd describe it as entertaining, trashy, and probably offensive as well (lol). It's essentially a very long action scene featuring some new characters and some creepy and gross monsters/aliens. HIroya Oku seems to have stepped up the art as there's more detail on character faces and expressions.

The action scenes are really well-done with some crazy alien fights. One particularly "interesting" alien comes to mind. Unfortunately, it does get a bit shallow and repetitive. The new characters get little to no characterization and up until the end, it's mostly one long action scene. That said, the non-action parts of the story near the end provide some crazy plot twists that'll kept me hooked.

Read seven volumes of So Cute It Hurts!. I'm not going to lie, I initially passed on this series because I didn't like the art. I sampled the first volume in a B&N and was surprised at how fast I was sucked in. The characters are great. Hell, I even ended up liking Azusa and I usually can't stand her character type.

I was happy to see that spoiler[ the cross dressing secret was exposed by the end of the 2nd volume.] The characters actually talk to each other instead of dragging things out. Well, spoiler[except when Megumu didn't tell Aoi about how she was blackmailed by Chiharu to go on a date. I'm interested to see how that situation plays out.] From what I've read so far, I'm thinking that spoiler[Aoi's secret deals with Azusa and that the girl in his flashbacks is her.]

I'm really happy that I decided to try this series out, since it's so entertaining.

Reading Genshiken, great manga. It's a very realistic and interesting story of friendship and the exploration of contemporary Japanese culture through the eyes of a woman not very much in love with otaku culture.

I recently finished Deadman Wonderland. Eh, I somehow I couldn't really get into it. Ganta never really grew on me and I never really cared for Shiro either. I can't really point out what was specifically wrong with it. Eh. Meh.

Now I'm reading Shin Angyo Onshi (or Blade of the Phantom Master). It's actually a manhwa. I took a break from it many months ago and I only now found the motivation to get back to it. It isn't bad, it's actually pretty good. I've just never really gotten a clear idea what kind of person the main character Munsu is. Sometimes he'll threaten civilians and other times he'll fight for "justice". I get he's a bit of a "do whatever it takes" kind of dude, but I guess after 9 volumes I still don't know how far he is willing to go. The heroine Sando is still a bit of a mystery. She interacts with Munsu way too little and she rarely says anything. So it's a bit difficult to connect with her.

I feel like the my biggest issue with this manhwa is the way it sometimes puts comedy into places it doesn't belong. Often times there'll be a random comic relief moment in an otherwise serious and intense situation. It's kind of jarring. That annoying little bugger Bang Ja (mostly a comic relief character) feels a bit out of place as this manhwa can get pretty violent and serious when it wants to. Even when it tries to get serious with Bang Ja it's kind of difficult to take seriously because of his "comical" design. The art is beautiful though. The backrounds are just breathtaking sometimes.

Gantz Vol. 28-37- These volumes cover the last arc. Like how most of Gantz has been so far, part of the fun and entertainment is not knowing what'll happen next and this last part is no exception. The overall story in this last arc feels very much like a Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster, which is both good and bad. The massive alien invasion and giant robots stomping around really give off an epic, Independence Day and Transformers vibe. Unfortunately, this last part of the story also suffers from Hollywood-style melodrama as the dialogue for main character and his love interest consists mostly of crying and shouting each others name.

Oku does a pretty good job of depicting both the good and gruesome sides of the aliens although most of it is very over the top. The art is great as always and the new cast in this arc has my favorite character designs. There's also some crazy plot twists as well. There's one scene where the mysteries of Gantz are explained and there's another scence involving the death of a popular character that really stand out. Too bad the same problems that plague Gantz show up again. For one, all the spectatcular scenes of destruction actually get a little repetitive after a while. Other issues: the pacing drags a lot, the final eight chapters was a real drag to get through and characters get killed off too quickly. As for the ending, I admit it's bad mainly because it's so abrupt and drops a lot of plot points. That said, people who say the ending basically ruins the whole story are going overboard. Gantz is definitely one of those stories where the journey is more important than the destination. Overall, I had a blast reading Gantz.

Been a while since I've posted here, not on not having read things, but on not really wanting to discuss them. But then I did get rather blind sided by Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which I picked up on recommendation from one of the manga review sites I follow. I was really honestly surprised, I've read 2 vols so far (because that's what was on sale at the books-a-million, glad I stopped in there after all!) and I know everyone was looking at the anime going "dude, the battle ships, they're LOLIS man!", but two volumes in and no one has done anything remotely creepy or sexual with the lolis so that's good. Really, it's been entirely dedicated to naval battles and politics so far, the fact that the ship AIs take the form of lolis barely seems to register with any of the characters. Hell, perhaps if it actually did happen in real life, Japan would be so used to lolis from their entertainment that they'd be all "whatever" too, lol! I'll admit, no one has gotten much character development so far, but since the battles and politics are engrossing, I can let it slide for a while, though I hope at least the lead gets something.
So the manga is going in just my right direction that I definitely would like some more please! Maybe the anime does go the more harem route (there are definitely enough females in the show to do it. Most of the ships seem to use much older looking women for the AIs, so between that and the humans, there's enough variety that way to force one if you wanted to), and I'm hoping that the manga won't really go that route. It runs in Young King OURS, which has both Trigun and Ikki Tousen, so I guess it could go either way, but it seems to be avoiding it pretty well so far, and it's not a magazine that demands it either, but it wouldn't stop it necessarily. In the meantime, Seven Seas surprises me again with more manga that looks like cute loli girl harem and then actually isn't on the inside (like Franken Fran, one of the creepiest manga out there, but the covers are definitely of the "frankenstein monster girl smut" variety, I really hope no one goes in expecting that...)

@classicalzawa

I'm a couple of volumes beyond you and so far no one has attempted to grope, face plant or otherwise harass one of the ship avatars. The politics gets progressively more wheels within wheels as it goes on. So far it is excellent (I've read four of the seven volumes currently out here)

^That's what I like to hear! I'm glad I got them for $4 a piece, or I probably wouldn't have willing jumped in so much. Well that, and some good word of mouth helped too. I feel like, with Monster Musume, you kind of know what you're getting, and it's not for me, so whatever, but now that it's such a big seller for Seven Seas, they kind of tend to advertise way too many things like that, even if they aren't like that. So even though they actually do get really really good series (like Ancient Magus' Bride), I'm always unsure if it falls into their strange ecchi category or not.

I really should wait for Otakon to get more, that one booth is always swimming in Seven Seas titles and will probably have more, but I could also see what my comic shop has there tomorrow, since I do plan to go anyway...

Thanks for the rec, Classicalzawa, I am a fan of Kancolle, Haifuri, Girls und Panzer, so I will check it out. Have you seen Girls und Panzer?

Ajin volume 1-5- An entertaining, dark action series. I was initially unimpressed with Ajin. The first volume is mostly a slow setup for the world and the characters and it sorta put me off. It doesn’t help that the main character and most of the other characters in the first volume come off as pretty bland and the story premise itself has been done before. However, reading the second volume is what sold me on the series. After all the setup of the beginning chapters, the story finally starts moving and the main villian, Sato, gets introduced. For some reason I'm really enjoying Sato as this calculating villian who indulges in getting his hands dirty.

Apparently, many people thought Ajin got off to a strong start with the first volume, which was written by Tsuina Miura, and felt the story wasted its potential after Miura left and Gamon Sakurai took over both writing and art duties. But based on the lackluster first volume, I strongly disagree and I'd argue that the story is doing perfectly fine with just Sakurai alone. So while the characters aren't that interesting (so far) and the story itself is good but not great, Ajin has two things going for it: atmosphere and great action sequences. Ajin has this general subdued atmosphere to the characters and the setting. I think part of the reason for the complaints about bland characters is that the characters in Ajin tend to be fairly subdued with their emotions, especially for an action manga. Naturally, in really dramatic moments, characters will yell and shout but overall the characters in Ajin avoid dramatic speeches or yelling out attacks and general hot-blooded hero stuff.

The other factor is Sakurai's great artwork. Sakurai's artwork is both clean and detailed, yet very visceral and kinetic at the same time. Since most of the story takes place inside office buildings and laboratories, the backgrounds give off this sterile, clinical vibe. Personally, I think it adds to the paranoid feel of the setting. The character designs also have this subdued feel because all the characters have fairly plain clothing and hairstyles. The exception being the Ajin beings, who look like creepy mummies wrapped entirely in bandages and Sakurai goes a good job of nailing an otherworldly look.
It's not all brooding though, Ajin has some great action sequences. Sakurai draws some incredibly tense and action packed battles. There's a great action scene in volume 2 where Sato raids a gov't lab and the way Sakurai draws the whole sequence both in terms of choreography and detail is awesome. I’d go so far to say that Ajin has some of the best gun battles I’ve seen in a long time. The hand-to-hand battles between the immortal beings look great as well with this very kinetic feel to it.

It’s hard to explain but Ajin reminds me a bit of those violent, adult action OVAs from the 80s like Wicked City, Golgo 13, Angel Cop, etc. I almost see Ajin as a modern day version of those type of shows. Fun observation: Sakurai must play a lot of first person shooters since some of the chapters have titles like killtacular, battlefield bad company, and call of duty (lol)

Overall, I’m enjoying Ajin so far. The story and characters aren’t particularly great or original but the atmosphere and the action are entertaining enough to keep me interested.

Last edited by Snomaster1 on Sat Sep 10, 2016 9:42 am; edited 1 time in total

Some time ago,I was out and around at some book stores and I was in their manga section and I found some stuff that those here might want to hear about. These two manga may have been discussed here before so it'll be interesting to get some feedback on this. I hope it's good.
My first manga is one of the more unusual ones I've read. It's called "To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts" and it's set in the years following the American Civil War. Now,you often don't see portrayals of the American Civil War from outside this country. From the extremely controversial D.W. Griffith epic "The Birth of a Nation,"to Victor Fleming and David O. Selznick's adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's novel "Gone With The Wind,"to Ken Burn's classic documentary "The Civil War,"to Bill O'Reilly's treatment of it in "Killing Lincoln,"it's rare to see foreigners tackle the subject. But,I'll say this. This manga has one of the strangest portrayals of the war I've yet read.

This manga takes place in an alternate Civil War where magic was used to turn soldiers into monsters in order to try to win the war. Years later,the daughter of one of those soldiers teams up with the commander of one of the units in which this was done in order to make sure the former soldiers,now monsters don't cause too much trouble. As I said before,weird. It would probably be hard not to have the theme songs from both "Gone With The Wind" and Ken Burns' classic series running through your head as you read this but a very uncomfortable question creeps also into your mind as you're reading this. What happened to the slaves in this world? Slavery was one of the main causes of the Civil War and it's a question that may not get answered with all the emphasis on the weird monsters and stuff in this comic.
That fairly uncomfortable question aside,it's a fairly interesting take on the American Civil War and it's aftermath that you'll enjoy reading. I hope they make an anime out of this one. I hope you seek out this manga. It's one that's worth the effort. You won't be disappointed in "To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts."

Another manga is set where you'd expect it to be set,in Japan. But,you might like "My Monster Secret" if you can give it a chance. This one revolves around a guy named Asahi Kuromine,who has the reputation of being unable to keep a secret to save his life. He soon has to keep one heck of a secret when he finds out that his classmate and crush,Yoko Shiragami is in fact,a vampire. She made a deal with her father that she could attend a regular school on the stipulation that no one could know she's a vampire. If anyone finds out,her father will drag her home. Not wanting to lose her,Asahi agrees to try to keep this secret but unfortunately,complications arise. Like his childhood friend who tries to find out what's going on so she can print it in the school newspaper and some other girls Asahi runs into with secrets of their own.
This manga reminded me a lot of "Rosario + Vampire" but in reverse. There are people who might not like this one because it's a harem manga. I don't think that should stop you from seeking this out. It's something that you'll really enjoy if you give it a chance. I sometimes hope that there'll be a harem manga that's set in the United States. I hope that comes to pass. But,until that day comes,seek out "My Monster Secret." Who knows? You might end up liking it.

Alan45 wrote:

@classicalzawa

I'm a couple of volumes beyond you and so far no one has attempted to grope, face plant or otherwise harass one of the ship avatars. The politics gets progressively more wheels within wheels as it goes on. So far it is excellent (I've read four of the seven volumes currently out here)

I had considered checking it out myself, the anime just got a dub release too, but was scared of it winding up much like classicalzawa thought it might. Glad to see it decided to not go that route. Might have to actually check it out now.

As for me it's a mix of dark & brooding and T&A right now lol. I've started reading Trinity Seven, Magika Sword & Summoner, Not Lives, & I've continued on with Freezing & Dragon's Rioting. Boobs, ass, boobs, boobs, ass, boobs. Magical powers. Ridiculous outfits. That sums most of them up lol.

As for the dark & brooding I've started The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, Battle Angel Alita Last Order, Ajin, & I've continued with Orange which might not be dark per se but the subject matter is serious.

I am reading Record of Lodoss War: The Gray Witch because I am re-reading a lot of my old series to decide if I want to keep them.

This is the series that the Lodoss OVA was adapted from.
I am about to start the third book of the trilogy. I enjoyed the first two volumes well enough to recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy adventures of the swords and sorcery type. If you can find it.

After I finish this I will probably want to watch the OVA again.
I also have and will be re-reading Lady of Pharis and Chronicles of the Heroic Knight, the next two titles in the Lodoss manga franchise.

Read a few things:

Wandering Island-I initially forgot the title until I read Rebecca's review. There needs to be more volumes! I found it fascinating how the setting felt like it's own little world. I have to admit that I wasn't even aware that those islands are actually real. I knew that Japan was made up of multiple islands, but I had no idea just how cut off some of them were. I also enjoyed the essay at the end of the volume. I consider it a bonus that I learned some things from reading this book.

That Wolf Boy is Mine vol 1-I was prompted to buy this after reading the review for it. I can assure you that the title and the synopsis are misleading. I really like Komugi as a heroine. She's not a ditz or clumsy. She doesn't act or feel like a trope. I like the character designs and the art. It kind of reminds me of Horimiya. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series. It's only four volumes.

So Cute It Hurts! vol 8-Megumu was awesome in this. spoiler[She kept her cool after Uesugi made some advances on her and gave him a nicer Reason You Suck Speech. Mitsuru and Azusa being back to back badasses was awesome as well. I liked that Azusa confessed her feelings to Mitsuru instead of dragging it out.]

I'm reading Zetman, cause it's one of the few adult manga currently published in my country, Brazil. The storytelling is clear, the figure drawing is excellent. I really like the art. I really like more to read seinen manga than shonen manga.

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