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Finished reading the short 4 volume series Astral Project, which CMX put out and is one of the few English titles that got to use a play on word pronunciation. It was a pretty weird manga. First off, the art didn't look very.... well manga, if that makes sense. Just something slightly off about it that made it look a tad more Western than Japanese (even though the characters were most assuredly Japanese), something about the line work more than the character design (so not more Western looking in a Naoki Urasawa sense). So, when the manga was about astral projection and the main character meeting people in the sky at night and finding out a bit more about it, it was pretty good. When it tried to go into heavy handed philosophical bs, it was....a lot less good. Or when it went into the thread line that treated the word "project" as a noun, that didn't seem too well explored either and a bit phoned in at times. Also, it threw some annoying red herrings out there. I felt the final volume overall was a tad rushed as a result of the noun "project" thread. But I still think it was worth it to read it because of the verb "project" part which took up the majority anyway. Weird manga, that's for sure. The back of the book says that "marginal" is a pseudonym for the author of Old Boy (ANN says it's the only other manga he's done, though I've not yet read it). It was also printed oversized with like 220 pages per volume, I never saw too many CMX manga like that (probably because it was just starting to catch on when they got axed). A decent read, but could've been a great one had it merely stuck to the verb.

@MiwaSatoshi
Aww, man, I had planned to maybe read Golden Boy someday because I enjoyed the OVA in a strange way that I totally shouldn't have. But it sounds like all the good parts were animated, and it's not like there was a major ongoing story in those 6 eps that left a lot of loose ends or anything, so I never felt a rush. But it's sad to hear how badly it deteriorates after the adapted parts.

I really wanted it to be better, and there are very brief flashes of the charm of the earlier volumes later on, but it's really depressing, honestly, to see how far down it goes. I understand quite a bit of the author's motivation but he really lets the political themes and the rampant sexual content get in the way of telling a good story - I'll forgive a lot if the narrative is interesting but it just gets so muddled and confused, if not downright nonsensical.

I know there's a sequel manga but I don't know if anyone's attempted translating it, and more saliently, I don't know if I'd want to try reading it. :/

I think I might cleanse my palate with Yama no Susume or something.

Decidedly NOT a palate cleanser: I'm now caught up on Franken Fran. I don't even know why I'm reading this (!), but it's really oddly compelling. Totally not my normal style of story, genre, or art (see Red River for the paragon example of what I normally prefer).

Rented the first two volumes of Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries from the library. It was good stuff overall, though there was a weakness. First the good stuff was the cast of characters and how they interacted. Great cast of characters and I definitely liked that. And it was the main focus, yay! On the negative side, the mystery in the first volume had some pretty large plot holes in it. So, it's a closed room murder mystery, and the argument is that a wedge of ice was placed in the eye and when it melted, the latch would close on it. But how would the latch have been positioned from the outside in the first place? As it was pulled shut, how does that work? If it could have been positioned over ice, it probably could've been positioned all the way into the eye anyway. Also, they used testing to look for something on a garment, but when they garment was gotten, it was mixed with other ones, so cross contamination much. Also, they must've made more than one jacket like that, not sure how they knew it was the one specific person's that he was wearing at that exact time. So that doesn't sit very well with me, I just don't think the solving part was done very well. Those are just the major ones I can think of.
The second volume involved a cipher, but the main goal was Lizzie getting a signed Victor Hugo book off her boss, who, being a Victorian gentleman, doesn't like that Lizzie, a woman, is the most popular author in the anthology his company produces. Once again, I don't think the cipher was well explained, but it took up such comparatively little time that I can let it slide on this volume. I would rent future volumes because the characters are so fun, but for now, it's not quite a buy for me because the mystery solving has nothing on Conan, so it was more frustrating than fun for me to read that part.

I just had to read two volumes of Is this a Zombie? for writing a review and god, that was painful. Terrible characters, terrible underage fanservice, terrible actions scenes that were unfollowable ... definitely one of the worst manga I've ever had the displeasure to read.

So then I had to comfort myself with the latest volumes of Genbu Kaiden, Vampire Knight, and Soul Eater.

Last edited by ZepysGirl on Fri Apr 12, 2013 12:43 pm; edited 1 time in total

I read Demon Love Spell last night and I'm already hooked! I was going to give it a pass, since I hated Ai Ore!, but I managed to get volume 1 through PaperbackSwap.com. Soooo glad that I decided to give it a chance! It's like the unholy spawn of Mugen Spiral, Kamisama Kiss, and a +16 Meru Puri. Laughing

Although, um, I guess I should mention that there are some consent issues. Nothing that actually bothered me while reading it, strangely enough, but looking back on it now... yeah, that would probably be considered rape. :/ spoiler[Kagura is an incubus, so he can only regain his powers by doing stuff with women (mostly sex, but apparently other stuff works too, just not as well?). Miko refuses to give him that in real life (for obvious reasons), so he just steals into her dreams and sexes up her unconscious self. And her unconscious is totally 100% fine with that, but her conscious self has no idea, other than waking up all hot & bothered every morning. When he does tell her he's been regaining his powers through dreamsex with her (after a few days of this, I think), she reacts very negatively and starts putting a warding spell under her pillow so he can't do it with her unconscious anymore. However, based off her internal monologue, it seems that she minds not remembering the dreamsex more than she minds that the dreamsex is happening? And like I said, her unconscious self is always a Very Willing Participant in the nighttime sexing. So. I just. There are clearly some consent issues here, but it doesn't bother me? I suspect in a few chapters or so, they'll work out a solution wherein she'll either remember their nighttime trysts or they'll just start having sex IRL. Of course, maybe I'm expecting too much out of this...]

I've just finished reading up to volume 9 of Arata: The Legend and I am enjoying it immensely! I love most of its main casts and even some of the appearing characters. I still love Watase's sense of humor the best. She always know when to deliver her comic reliefs. After reading volume 9 it feels like Arata is a mixture of Fushigi Yugi and Cardcaptor Sakura. Arata's Tsukuyo is like Sakura's staff where they both can conjure -call forth different abilities that they have earned. I couldn't help but to notice that Watase seem to be fond of crossdressing. In both Fushigi Yugi & Genbu Kaiden as well as in Arata, there were circumstances that requires her main male characters to disguised as women. It seem out of the blue but its hilarious nonetheless. I can't wait to catch up with the current release by Viz.. I will be ordering it soon.

I started reading back 7 Seeds last night and managed to read up to volume 4. I'm still rather on the fence with this one. I like that it has the atmosphere of being as epic as Basara but then again I can't really think of a reason why I find it just a good read. Maybe because I'm reading it through an ipod which affect the reading enjoyment with its small frame screen.. But anyway, the survival adventure is intruiging and the unknown circumstances the casts were put into is definitely quite engaging. It's like the tv series Lost and the manga called Kaguya Hime where people find themselves in an unknown place without the possibility of rescue. With its huge casts and different point of view of character in each 5 group of the project its bond to be something. The story is just setting itself up and I can't wait to see how things would interweave together. With all that being said, I wish someone would pick this series up for an English release as it has been ages for an epic shojo series. I can vouch that 7 Seeds will be in the same caliber as Please Save My Earth, Basara, Red River and Kaze Hikaru with its ever so slow volume release! Shame we prolly never see 7 Seeds publish since these epic titles do poorly on sale. :/

I was counting for Vertical to acquire it since they are currently publishing Limit that have the same survival theme.

@ZepysGirl - I like Demon Love Spell as well! I know Shinjo Mayu is notorious for her weak female lead and smutty scenes but I think Demon Love Spell is done in really tame manner compared to what I've heard about her other works. I really like Kagura and Miko as a couple and their circumstances like the way the smutty scenes are presented. Kagura's needs and desire is handled pretty much according to the series's plot. So its not that distracting but quite essential as supposed to just being prevelant I'm talking about the spoiler[sex or fanservice/smutt]. Anyway its quite an enjoyable series and I've read up to volume 2! I have high hopes for this one! Miko is such rootable and likeable as a female lead.

chichiriNoDa wrote:

I started reading back 7 Seeds last night and managed to read up to volume 4....

I was counting for Vertical to acquire it since they are currently publishing Limit that have the same survival theme.

Just want to remind readers... Anything Shogakukan or Shueisha is automatically out of our reach in general. Sorry. Viz doesn't let go of their parent companies' books easily.

I, too, am enjoying Demon Love Spell despite myself. Never thought I would like a Mayu Shinjo series and I'm still not entirely comfortable with the idea, but I can't hide it anymore! This series is really fun! xD I think it all comes down to the fact that, in this series, no matter how much of a possessive jerk Kagura is being, Miko still holds all the power in the relationship because of the spell that has been placed on him. I like the series more recently because of how Kagura has realized that spoiler[emotional connections can potentially sate him just as well as physical connections]. It's helped him come to terms with his actual feelings for Miko and makes the dynamic less uncomfortable.

I got caught up on that a while ago tho. What I've been reading lately is From Far Away. I was in the mood for some shoujo epic fantasy and read several good reviews of this series in a row. I very vaguely recall having read a little bit of this series way back when I was ten or eleven and first getting into manga. They just had a few random volumes at the library so I couldn't read them in order. I ended up dropping it because I was confused, but when reviews recently reminded me that this series exists I remembered liking it way back then. I'm about five volumes in now, and I'm loving it! Noriko is a really great heroine. I thought her cheery attitude would be annoying, but she's actually a very smart and practical young lady. I was practically cheering when she decided right away to take charge of her unfortunate situation and learn the local language. Izark is an interesting character too. I don't know what the deal is with his apparent superpowers, but I'm excited to find out. He has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but in this world it seems like everyone does. I want to know why he wants to kill the Awakening. The world-building is fairly interesting but I hope it gets more in-depth as Noriko becomes more fluent with the language. I like the dragons.

After this, I plan to finally start reading Basara, which I have heard nothing but praise for^^

^Man, in the wrong hands, Noriko could've been the most annoying shojo heroine ever, but I was really glad that she wasn't used for evil! There's nothing worse than following a character you hate after all.

After I finished Basara, like a few months later, I got to get the WildCom. book for cheap. It has three stories and the first two are "meh", or nothing that special, but omg, that third one was incredible! If you've got time to read 70 pages, it's easy to find online, do check it out! I don't want to say what genre it is or anything, I don't want to spoil anything, I just wanna see people's reactions!

Yeah, I'm also in the Demon Love Spell camp, I rented the first volume with those two Lizzie Newton books. I thought I'd really hate it, given the premise and the whole "physical contact is needed" thing, but, while I'm not 100% sold yet, I would like to rent the next volume when I get a chance. I also like that the heroine spoiler[seems to enjoy sex and it seems consensual, even if it's only in a dream (actually can you give consent in a dream?)], I just feel like I've seen so much painful rape in shojo lately. Though he did spoiler[go back later with the intent for raping, but got blocked by a ward spell] so that was kinda a negative...

^Yeah, that's another thing I like about Demon Love Spell. It's rare to find a shoujo heroine who actually likes sex, and Miko is really obvious about it xD It's kind of refreshing. I think most of their interactions are consensual, especially lately. Kagura does soften up and get a little more respectful of her space later on, but he is still a Mayu Shinjo love interest, unfortunately. He can have the "not as much of a jerk as he could have been" award, I guess.

Thanks for the recommendation; I'll have to check out that one-shot^^

Vertical_Ed wrote:

Just want to remind readers... Anything Shogakukan or Shueisha is automatically out of our reach in general. Sorry. Viz doesn't let go of their parent companies' books easily.

How about series under Hakusensha?

I wonder if I'm focusing too much on the idea of "enlightenment" when reading Vagabond, but it's the only absolute rationale that I can think of for why the series has, well, "slowed down." Part of it is due to the erratic schedule due to Inoue's health. But these episodes in volume 34 (and other recent volumes) that show "incidental" events in Musashi's life really pushes home the sheer repetition and frustration a person deals with when trying to find answers to very fundamental, universal questions. Epiphanies don't happen overnight, after all.

I'm not familiar with the original novel, only the film trilogy of the '50s, so my expectations are limited to the movies and what's happened in the manga thus far. But I think Inoue's approach to the material marks a very purposeful shift in focus and tone now that Musashi has really attained such violent notoriety. The joy and thrill of the fights are gone—at this point the violence has become a series of expected, callous events that Musashi must deal with.

I finally got around to reading Glass Mask, and was blown away by how totally addicting it is. Usually manga from the 70s has paceing/art issues that require me to take them a chapter or two at a time, but Glass Mask? Next thing I know I'm on vol 18. It's fantastic. I've been a fan of Skip! Beat for years now, and Glass Mask is like it's equally entertaining grandmother. Without Glass Mask it's obvious Skip! Beat wouldn't exist, though I'm sure Glass Mask was not the first manga to focus on the world of acting.

I also got my hands on Poe no Ichizok by Moto Hagio and being a huge Edgar Allan Poe fan, I'm really looking forward to seeing her play with the author's themes in that one.

Today was a rare free Sunday, with no upcoming tests and less homework than usual. I decided to walk down to the public library and checked out a pile of interesting-looking manga. I got through a few already.

Children of the Sea, volumes 1 and 2: I've had my eye on this series for a while because the premise intrigued me and the covers looked gorgeous. After breezing through the first two volumes, I have to say it's worth reading for the art alone. It's absolutely breathtaking. Igarashi clearly loves to draw marine animals, and he's very good at it. The backgrounds, too, especially the ones including the ocean, rain, or the aquarium, have a lot of personality to them. The waif-like designs of the children and the focus on their large, almost inhuman eyes adds to the atmosphere. The atmosphere is the other major thing these books get right. It's mysterious and eerie and surreal and even a little terrifying at times. I never quite know who to trust, and the sea seems to permeate every scene. I really felt the immense power of the ocean. On the down side, the characters are a bit lacking. Much as I love all the science facts, the characters sometimes feel like mouthpieces delivering information the author wants me to know. There is also one scene at the beginning of volume 2 that involves whaling, and doesn't seem to treat it as a negative thing. This may change in later volumes; I wouldn't know. But it made me very uncomfortable, particularly knowing what country this is from. I liked it overall though, and I'll definitely be looking for the next volumes.

7 Billion Needles, volume 1: The cheesy sci-fi stuff doesn't really interest me (aliens mutated dinosaurs? wtf?), but again, this book built a great atmosphere. The art is pretty strong too. I'm interested to see the relationship between the main girl and the alien in her head develop. Beyond that, it's hard to comment because it felt like the story had only just started by the end of the book. I'll continue if the library has subsequent volumes, but I probably won't spend money on this series. It just isn't my genre.

Otherwise I just continued with the fourth Twelve Kingdoms book, which I've been working on since winter break ended. Yeah...I really don't get much time to read xD And I have a habit of reading like ten different things at once, so I hardly ever finish anything. BUT! After a relaxing afternoon of reading this and the above manga, I'm almost done with it. It's weird reading the story without Asano in it. I think he was an interesting addition, but reading the source makes me realize that, aside from making Youko and Suzu's struggles more visual for the new medium, he's really unnecessary xD I do like that they introduce a couple of characters early in the anime (namely, Seishu and Kantai), as it feels more natural that way. The anime also does a better job of building up Youko's first edict. I don't like Suzu's development as much here. It really feels like Ono is beating me over the head with it OVER. AND. OVER. The other two heroines don't suffer nearly as much from the lack of subtlety. In fact, aside from that hiccup, Ono's writing style is really great. The pacing is impeccable, and now that I've gotten to the good part of this arc it's almost impossible to put down. I like all the little details about the world that Ono throws in. Even learning about bridge-building techniques in different provinces or whatever is interesting when she's writing it. I can't wait to finish this book. Smile

I only wish we could have the rest in English...

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