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REVIEW: Kingyo Used Books GN 2




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here-and-faraway



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 1528
Location: Sunny California
PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:14 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Half the time, Kingyo Used Books is your favorite grandparent, a tender soul who shares various manga-related stories of human hope and inspiration. And the other half the time, Kingyo Used Books is your most dreaded professor, a Ben Stein-voiced automaton who will drown you in facts about manga history.


This was exactly how I felt about volume 1. I was hoping the story would fall into a more natural stride with volume 2. Guess not.

Really great review. Thanks!
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Pirkaf



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
Posts: 156
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 2:14 am Reply with quote
Well, the first volume was wonderful and I think it depicted the love and passion for manga very well. Accompanied with very good art, it was a pleasure to read.
Just as Connie writes on her slightlybiasedmanga blog: "It’s the manga history that really gives it its character, and with almost all of the series nearly unheard of in the U.S., there will be little name recognition for readers. But for big geeks like me, it’s an amazing learning experience."
Yes, it is. And what remains to be seen for me is if the second volume really deserves C for story or the reviewer just doesn't get the appeal. I'd vote for the latter.
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Spinal Cord Fluid-kun



Joined: 27 Aug 2010
Posts: 36
Location: Mainframe
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 9:39 am Reply with quote
I wish it'd just focus on being an encyclopedia, the slice of life aspect and the characters and art are ridiculously boring and repetitive.
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Dop.L



Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 714
Location: London
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:26 pm Reply with quote
I just bought volume 2 as I actually quite like the series while recognising that basically it's trading on nostalgia. But it's not a nostalgia that works, or largely exists, outside of Japan.

I like the characters and the slice of life aspect. That's why I'm reading it, and why I'll probably get volume 3 if/when that comes out.
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billk1928



Joined: 10 Apr 2010
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 6:23 pm Reply with quote
The nostalgia is so thick, I couldn't even make it halfway through the first volume without suppressing an intense desire to gag. Combine that with the numerous obscure references to manga almost nobody over in the U.S. has heard of before, and the stories end up plodding along aimlessly, boring a non-Japanese reader to death.

If volume 2 continues in the same vein, then this series is definitely one I won't bother with. The artwork is very good, but in my opinion, wasted.
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