Any Manga Fans Here?

[Kyuubi]

I've been a fan of anime for a while, and at first thought that manga would be boring in comparison. However, when I first started reading it, I was surprised at how much better it is than most anime.

I'm only reading Trigun and the latest Naruto chapters that come out every week, but I've wanted to know for a while who here is a manga fan and what are you currently reading?

[Gaz]

I've been a fan of anime for a while, and at first thought that manga would be boring in comparison. However, when I first started reading it, I was surprised at how much better it is than most anime.

I'm only reading Trigun and the latest Naruto chapters that come out every week, but I've wanted to know for a while who here is a manga fan and what are you currently reading?
You ARE aware that a lot of anime is manga adaptation?
So it's like a novel compared to a movie. This makes Akira the LOTR, where the movie rocks, but the books are deeper.

[Samurai]

I bought 1600 Manga during my 2 years in Japan in 1996-98, and shipped them to America when I came back. It took 25 boxes and over $800, but no way was I leaving that collection behind. I have a ton of books that at the time no one in America had ever even seen or heard of. With the rise in popularity of manga over here, more are beginning to come out now, but I still have many that will probably never see American shores. I'd bet I probably have one of the biggest original Japanese manga collections in the US...

My collection of English language manga is much smaller... several dozen books only.

[heystacy]

I love CLAMP's work. X/1999 Was one of my faves. Love their art. Big fan of Revolutionary Girl Utena as well.

[Kyuubi]

You ARE aware that a lot of anime is manga adaptation?
So it's like a novel compared to a movie. This makes Akira the LOTR, where the movie rocks, but the books are deeper.


I know that now, but was unaware of it back then. I guess I should have said that in my first post.

[Static-Pulse]

I like manga! :) I'm not currently reading anything, but the ones on my short list are:

- A.I. Love You, for which I need to buy the next book.

- FLCL, which has been staring me in the face for a while

- Chobits, I've read book one, but recently bought the full run.

Oh My Goddess! is a great series, but I haven't tracked down any of the new volumes since the monthy/singles stopped a few months back. Love Hina is a terrific story, I've let myself languish and reading it, but that's more my tastes changing than the quality of the book,

Is the Trigun manga really good? I've looked at it for a while, but haven't made myself buy it.

[Kyuubi]

Is the Trigun manga really good? I've looked at it for a while, but haven't made myself buy it.


It puts the anime series to shame, and I loved the anime series.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

I'm a big manga and anime fan.

My favourite manga ever is Hitosi Iwaaki's vastly underrated Parasite. Funny, inmaginative, horrific and very very scary.

I love the anime Trigun but have yet to read the Manga.

Anime wise i'm currently lost head first in Gundam Seed, which is pushing every button ive had since childhood including Star wars, Star Fleet, Centurions, etc. I adore it.

HeyStacey mentioned Clamp, i'm really into Chobits anime at the moment and am *very* tempted by Clamp's North Side/South Side art books.

I'm looking to pick up Sword Of the Dark Ones in manga, but it hasn't been released in England :(

[LooksBetterDrawn]

I just picked up the second book of Fullmetal Alchemist. Awsome series, great read, great watch too.

[TheLyle]

For years I used to say that I loved the diversity found in manga, except that very little of that made it here. Now that's no longer the case, I'm sometimes finding myself more drawn to manga than the stuff I grew up with.

My current reading:
Pet Shop of Horrors (http://lyle.typepad.com/blog/2005/02/reaction_pet_sh.html): a Twilight Zone-ish anthology about a mysterious pet store where the "animals" appear rather humanoid.

Phoenix (http://lyle.typepad.com/blog/2005/05/phoenix.html): Osamu Tezuka's optimistic contemplation of the follies of mankind.

Tuxedo Gin (http://lyle.typepad.com/blog/2005/02/reaction_tuxedo.html): A raunchy comedy about a young man who is reincarnated as a penguni and taken in as a pet by the girl of his dreams. It's an interesting twist on the out-of-body-star-crossed-romance that seems unique to managa (see Ranma)

Cromatrie High School: A silly, absurd comedy about a school of juvenile delinquents attended by the toughest of the tough.

Hikaru No Go: A boy discovers a Go board haunted by a Go master from ages ago and learns the game.

Whistle! (http://lyle.typepad.com/blog/2005/03/reaction_whistl.html): Underdog sports story amonst high school soccer.

Eagle: I started reading this when it first came out as monthy digests, but got lost when I moved. It's an interesting soap opera, though I have issues with how American politics are unrealistically portrayed (starting with I just don't buy the American voters -- or media -- accepting an Asian-American persuing the prediency, tho that may be personal bitterness).


I think that's my current list... I have a hard time keeping up since it's hard finding a bookstore with all the next volumes I need, so I jump around series based on what I find.

Favorite past readings include:
Fake: A shounen-ai story (shounen-ai are gay male romances written for women) focusing on two New York cops. The New York is a big cliche and the police work makes little sence, but I find that part of the fun... besides the romance.

Tomie and Uzumaki: Junji Ito is the master of horror manga. His endings are weak, but he can deliver real scares out of a static image.

Demon Diary (http://lyle.typepad.com/blog/2005/03/reaction_demon_.html): A fish-out-of-water comedy about a boy with a sweet disposition selected to become a fearsome demon lord.

Adolf (http://lyle.typepad.com/blog/2005/01/thoughts_on_ado.html): A stunning work, Osamu Tezuka's WWII story is a gripping tragedy.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Lyle...there was a preview comic of Pet Shop Of Horrors in Neo Magazine* a few months back, which following on from the great review in itself, was really good. :)

(*Neo's fab by the way, it covers all manner of Asian entertainment from manga, anime, live action, pop, etc... and it's a great read! I think they solicit it through Previews too.)

[TheLyle]

Lyle...there was a preview comic of Pet Shop Of Horrors in Neo Magazine* a few months back, which following on from the great review in itself, was really good. :)

(*Neo's fab by the way, it covers all manner of Asian entertainment from manga, anime, live action, pop, etc... and it's a great read! I think they solicit it through Previews too.)

Oh, cool. I initially avoided Pet Shop because stateside Tokyopop previewed it with this really lame and predictable story... or rather they excepted the really lame and predictable parts of the story, which was interesting once you got to the twist.

Neo sounds interesting, I'm gonna have to see if any of the better news stands carry it. (Plus any excuse to go to Fog City News is an excuse to consider buying pricy chocolates.)

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Oh, cool. I initially avoided Pet Shop because stateside Tokyopop previewed it with this really lame and predictable story... or rather they excepted the really lame and predictable parts of the story, which was interesting once you got to the twist.

Neo sounds interesting, I'm gonna have to see if any of the better news stands carry it. (Plus any excuse to go to Fog City News is an excuse to consider buying pricy chocolates.)

Pet Shop seems more than a little Gremlins like at first, with the story I read being of a posh, spoilt lass that wanted a rare bird... her being taken further and further down below the shop...and then seeing some kind of cross between a person and a bird...which is where the preview ended (and left me wanting more). The review gave it 4/5 and did say that whilst the start to a tale can on the face of it seem really predictable, but the people going to the shop genuinely learn somethign about themselves and / or it takes a new of twists and turns after lulling you in. Lovely art style too, very Clamp / gothic.

[TheLyle]

Pet Shop seems more than a little Gremlins like at first, with the story I read being of a posh, spoilt lass that wanted a rare bird... her being taken further and further down below the shop...and then seeing some kind of cross between a person and a bird...which is where the preview ended (and left me wanting more). The review gave it 4/5 and did say that whilst the start to a tale can on the face of it seem really predictable, but the people going to the shop genuinely learn somethign about themselves and / or it takes a new of twists and turns after lulling you in. Lovely art style too, very Clamp / gothic.

Ah, a better choice. The one in the Tokyopop Sneaks was one where a couple buys a rabit that looks like a child and are warned not to feed it anything but raw produce. They, of course, break the rule and at the end of the excerpt she starts turning into a monster. Pretty lame, until you get a few pages further, when it gets to be a pretty compelling story.

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Ah, a better choice. The one in the Tokyopop Sneaks was one where a couple buys a rabit that looks like a child and are warned not to feed it anything but raw produce. They, of course, break the rule and at the end of the excerpt she starts turning into a monster. Pretty lame, until you get a few pages further, when it gets to be a pretty compelling story.

between the preview I read and your thumbs up, I think I might take a look come pay day ... cheers matey! :)

[TheLyle]

Hope you enjoy it!

[The Xenos]

I like the crazy dark stuff. Berserk. Hellsing. Lone Wolf & Cub. Offered. Gantz. Yotsuba&.

Wait.. scratch that last one. Well, at least for crazy and dark. Though who knows what evil lurks in the heart of Yosuba.
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2636/inhell5to.jpg

As people mentioned Clamp, I'm not a bit fan with teh Y chromosome and all, but I LOVE their short unfinished series Clover. I'ma sukcer for a good tragic love story and that one really got to me.

Also on the not too dark side there's Trigun (just got 5 today) and Planetes. Planetes is BRILLIANT hard science fiction. It ought to be in an issue of Popular Mechanics or something.

-Xenos

[Magneto_X]

I've been a fan of anime for a while, and at first thought that manga would be boring in comparison. However, when I first started reading it, I was surprised at how much better it is than most anime.

I'm only reading Trigun and the latest Naruto chapters that come out every week, but I've wanted to know for a while who here is a manga fan and what are you currently reading?

I read manga. Right now I collect Shonen Jump. Great value entertainment. Wish American/Western anthologies had this type of quality.

Also get anything by Rumiko Takahashi (Inu-Yasha), Masamune Shirow (Ghist in a Shell), Yikito Kishiro (Battle Angel Alita) & Kenichi Sonoda (Gunsmith Cats).

[heystacy]

I'm a big manga and anime fan.

My favourite manga ever is Hitosi Iwaaki's vastly underrated Parasite. Funny, inmaginative, horrific and very very scary.

I love the anime Trigun but have yet to read the Manga.

Anime wise i'm currently lost head first in Gundam Seed, which is pushing every button ive had since childhood including Star wars, Star Fleet, Centurions, etc. I adore it.

HeyStacey mentioned Clamp, i'm really into Chobits anime at the moment and am *very* tempted by Clamp's North Side/South Side art books.

I'm looking to pick up Sword Of the Dark Ones in manga, but it hasn't been released in England :(

I want to get Clamp's art book myself. Maybe sometime later down the line.

[Kyuubi]

I like the crazy dark stuff. Berserk. Hellsing. Lone Wolf & Cub. Offered. Gantz. Yotsuba&.

Wait.. scratch that last one. Well, at least for crazy and dark. Though who knows what evil lurks in the heart of Yosuba.
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2636/inhell5to.jpg


-Xenos


I can't wait to get Yotsuba&. I loved Azumanga Daioh so much as you can tell by my avatar.

[Kevinroc]

Yeah, and I buy far too much as it is.

But one thing I will not touch despite my love for the series is Viz's release of the Inuyasha manga. I consider it a release not worth supporting. I could list off my reasons but I won't bore you with the details. So I buy the Japanese release and read translated scripts.

I'd do this with Tenjho Tenge if I could find scripts online but I haven't really been looking.

[The Xenos]

I can't wait to get Yotsuba&. I loved Azumanga Daioh so much as you can tell by my avatar.

I liked Azumanga Daioh. It was ok. I really love Yotsuba&. She's like Chiyo, Osaka, and the hyper one all in one, but still her own character of course. Plus I think the artist's pacing of humor and expressions are much better here. Plus the non-comic strip format works better.

-Xenos

[Lunar Daydreamer]

I've been a fan of anime for a while, and at first thought that manga would be boring in comparison. However, when I first started reading it, I was surprised at how much better it is than most anime.

I'm only reading Trigun and the latest Naruto chapters that come out every week, but I've wanted to know for a while who here is a manga fan and what are you currently reading?

I got the first two Trigun mangas in hardcovers (turns out the're for Barnes and Noble, but ForbiddenPlanet got them in over here)...and then the first 3 of the current ongoing. As I said earlier, I love the anime and can't wait to tuck into the manga :)

[David Bedlam]

Two pages into a manga discussion and no one has mentioned Akira?

I've just finished the final volume of this series and I was absoulty blown away by it. The shear scale of the piece is breath taking (Tetsuo fecking rides a satallite!) and manages to tell a great tale about people without getting caught up in the specticle.

As to the other mangas I'm reading, I'm three volumes into Chrono Crusade, two volumes into Neon Genesis Evanglion and I just brought the first volume of Battle Royale. Winners all!

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Ive seen the first volume of Chrono Crusade in anime David and loved it, great action, a very ghostbusters feel, but as with all Gonzo stuff some real meat and depth underneath and I can't wait to see what happens with the brother lost to hell.

I noticed on CBR that my fave manga ever, Parasite is being turned into a film to be directed by the guy who did Ju-On. Which makes Lunar one very happy bunny indeed :)

[The Xenos]

Oh what the hell... might as well brag. I actually got the first volume of Chrono Crusade and a poster of Rosette signed by the author. He even drew the little dog version of himself. It was very cool. I need to pick up the new volumes though. I think they jsut came out with four.

-Xenos

[Lunar Daydreamer]

Oh what the hell... might as well brag. I actually got the first volume of Chrono Crusade and a poster of Rosette signed by the author. He even drew the little dog version of himself. It was very cool. I need to pick up the new volumes though. I think they jsut came out with four.

-Xenos

*Jealousy abounds* :mad: