Manga Thread of Pain

[teamcorndog]

Is anyone else here into the nerdly art of reading and/or creating manga (a.k.a. Japanese graphic novels)? I am a big manga nerd...
If you're in to that sort of thing, let's talk about favorite series in this thread. I guess. Or least favorite. Whatever. I'm just testing the waters here

[Bakemaster]

I think we included them in the general comics thread.
http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?t=7935

[Dark Ragnarok]

God.... Yes...

Berserk, Negima, The Wallflower, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Redrum 327, and Elfen Lied just to name a few.

But i easily watch more anime than read, and screw you if you think the manga is better. XD. I love them both. Anime is just more appreciated by me.

O! i also try to collect Dojinshi. I just recently got my Lucky Star in the mail today! it was good ^^;.

[__Kit]

Huh, I read Dragon Ball, and loved it, those were the only ones at our library though, miser rep.

[Dark Ragnarok]

hahahah wow, i never knew there was a Dragon Ball manga. I find that hilarious. But i'm not surprised. I mean if rule 134 applies to anime (and it highly does), then it only makes sense the un perverted form of Dragon Ball has to exist in readable material.

[__Kit]

Yeah, would rule 134 be that all manga is made into anime and/or vice versa?
It's so hilarious, you should read it, there is nudity, and actual fight scences, that aren't just power lvl vs. power lvl, and they are awesome.

[Dark Ragnarok]

Well so does Berserk. And Berserk.... just plain pwns hardcore. XD, but i'll give it a read.

But Rule 134 is for both. I seen Dojinshi based off manga and anime, and Hentai based of manga and other games. I love all of it really. XD.

[teamcorndog]

yayyyy the thread went somewhere
I just finished reading Berserk (meaning I read as far as the series has gone so far), and I've been working on Angel Sanctuary for a while now. I also own the entire Sailormoon manga series (top THAT, nerds! )

Elfen Lied rocks, but I couldn't find a reliable source for dl'ing it, so I had to give up on it. Do you manga fans buy or download? I like to buy, but it's an expensive hobby.

[clockworkmonk]

I love Rurouni Kenshin. I mean, Kenshin kicks ass.

[davej]

I read the rest of hikaru no go because the anime just stopped which sucked. I also read parts of Hunter X Hunter because that anime just stopped as well. That got weird though so I just stopped reading that. I read death note before the movie/anime came out.

That's all I've done in reading. I much more prefer watching the anime as it is, well, animated. I don't care to read comics/manga, unless I have to finish something up.

[Dark Ragnarok]

yayyyy the thread went somewhere
I just finished reading Berserk (meaning I read as far as the series has gone so far), and I've been working on Angel Sanctuary for a while now. I also own the entire Sailormoon manga series (top THAT, nerds! )

Elfen Lied rocks, but I couldn't find a reliable source for dl'ing it, so I had to give up on it. Do you manga fans buy or download? I like to buy, but it's an expensive hobby.

I DLed it form a very reliable source. And i have everything up to date as of last month. I horridly want to buy it. But it's not subbed in the US, if it ever will be ;_;.

I also have read all Berserk subbed in the US. However i know there's a LOT more on the net. I just decided to wait.

[Clerria]

I tend to collect certain series in their original japanese. Usually stuff that is still currently being produced monthly.

Unfortunately, they're all shoujo. It's kinda embarassing. I'm glad they're in Japanese so that no one else can read them.

I'm hooked on vampire knight. It's disgusting (that I like it). But I love it.

Speaking of which, it's been a new month for 13 days, why haven't I read the new chapter yet!? (see? disgusting)

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Hokuto no Ken!

[platypus01]

Hokuto no Ken!

why am i somehow not surprised, even though i barely know you?!?!?!..........

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Hokuto no Ken!

why am i somehow not surprised, even though i barely know you?!?!?!..........

I... don't know?

[Ketzerei]

Unfortunately, they're all shoujo. It's kinda embarassing.

At least you have an excuse for this. I do the same thing, and I'm not even female!

I don't have any choice! They're just better!

[Dark Ragnarok]

Any recommendations?

I'm willing to read some if it really is better. Does the wallflower count as one? (i'm guessing half and half)

[Mighty Jalapeno]

And one of my favorite lines, the one that made me want to read Berserk:

When you meet your God, tell him to leave me alone.

[teamcorndog]

I DLed it form a very reliable source. And i have everything up to date as of last month. I horridly want to buy it. But it's not subbed in the US, if it ever will be ;_;.

I think it's actually going to be printed in the US sometime soon. Publishers seem to be getting more lenient about what they'll put on innocent little Americans' shelves these days (which is great, imho). I couldn't believe Berserk was on the shelves at Borders. Demonic orgies!!!

I like to download currently-running publications, but I always end up getting distracted, and then I forget to keep downloading a new chapter each week or whatever, and then all is lost.

[Cabhan]

I don't pretend to be a gourmet of manga or anything, but I have enjoyed Love Hina (comedy: male landlord in an all-girls dorm) and Rurouni Kenshin (weird mix of historical and anachronistic fiction; + swords). I'm currently reading Bleach, Hellsing, Negima, and a bit of Inuyasha. I've been enjoying them all.

[cephalopod9]

Last week I bought and read volume 11 of Fruits Basket. It's so cute, they have their melodramatic problems, then work through them with optimism and being nice, and then they turn into cute little animals! It's a little more intellectually complex than that.

Way back in middle school, I read Urusei Yatsura/ Lum or The Return of Lum(pretty funny, and nothing gets resolved ever. I've been looking it up places recently...) and Ranma 1/2 (just bought volume one from a used bookstore) with my friend. Also found out today that Takahashi also writes InuYasha, so I might look into finding it at the library or something.

Death Note looked good, but I don't know if I want to get hooked on another series just now.

[Lyra Ngalia]

Death Note looked good, but I don't know if I want to get hooked on another series just now.

The good thing with Death Note is that it's complete. All the volumes have even been released in the US. So it's not like being so hooked that you're counting the days until the next volume is released.

Fullmetal Alchemist, on the other hand... I seriously get excited at the beginning of every month thinking "yay, new chapter coming soon!"

[thefiddler]

My god, my two favourite were already mentioned.
Death Note and FMA.

My friend went to ACEN this year dressed as one of the characters from Death Note. ^_^

[teamcorndog]

Everyone should check out "Yakitate!! Japan". It is hilarious, and it's about bread. It's like Iron Chef, sorta, except the competitions are all bread-based, and it's a lot more funny/adorable

[Clerria]

I am in love with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

It's really fucked up and makes CONSTANT cultural and language references, so much so that even a native Japanese speaker might have trouble picking them all up. But it's very good. In a hilarious, awesome way.

Check out OneManga.com ... I think they have a few chapters up. I think I will look at them, right, now.

[Dark Ragnarok]

Everyone should check out "Yakitate!! Japan". It is hilarious, and it's about bread. It's like Iron Chef, sorta, except the competitions are all bread-based, and it's a lot more funny/adorable

My friend has a Folder with ALL the characters from that! DDD I wanna watch it. (i'm pretty sure this is anime...)

I am in love with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

It's really fucked up and makes CONSTANT cultural and language references, so much so that even a native Japanese speaker might have trouble picking them all up. But it's very good. In a hilarious, awesome way.

Check out OneManga.com ... I think they have a few chapters up. I think I will look at them, right, now.

We're watching this at my Anime club as of now. Have you ever watched Welcome to the NHK? i swear that guy modeled a lot of characters from that show.... I swear it.

But yes, extremely funny none the less.

"You're making yourself taller!"
- *anime sigh tear*

[Culden]

I've been quite fond of Bleach since it first appeared in the States. It's a pretty interesting and complete world, and I think Kubo makes a totally coherent plot with great continuity, not to mention some great characters and images.

[master_tonberry]

Everyone should check out "Yakitate!! Japan". It is hilarious, and it's about bread. It's like Iron Chef, sorta, except the competitions are all bread-based, and it's a lot more funny/adorable

it has always made me crack up, only more so since I actually became a baker.
Still after a point you stop and think....how can it do this?? Its just BREAD.

Spoiler:

I mean since when can canabis bread send you back in time?

[Jorpho]

I'd like to read the Cowboy Bebop manga someday, and Death Note, too. (It's got to have something going for it if China bans it!) And also this horror manga called "Drifting Classroom", simply because I started flipping through it when I was in Japan a few years ago.

But I'm really intrigued by the manga sequel to the Labyrinth movie (David Bowie amongst muppetoids, remember?) that recently started coming out.

If only it all wasn't so darn expensive!

[Lycur]

Berserk's already been mentioned as written awesome, quite deservingly. In the same vein are Claymore (I'm told the anime was awful, which is a real pity since this is quite possibly the best fantasy Manga out there) and Shin Angyo Oshi.

I also thought the GTO manga was alot better than the anime, and the anime was already pretty sodding good.

If it's not easily available where you live manga is very easy to find fan translated from the interblag. Actually, for better or for worse, the quality of the fan scanlations tends to be much, much better than the professional stuff I've encountered.

[Jorpho]

I forgot to add that I've read most of the Akira manga, and it too is considerably superior to the movie in many respects. (No giant glowing teddy bear attacks, for instance.)

[JayDee]

But I'm really intrigued by the manga sequel to the Labyrinth movie (David Bowie amongst muppetoids, remember?) that recently started coming out.

Hu, there's a manga for that too? Haven't seen it around, but I've been really tempted to get the Dark Crystal Manga Prequels.

[Sarr]

But I'm really intrigued by the manga sequel to the Labyrinth movie (David Bowie amongst muppetoids, remember?) that recently started coming out.

A friend of mine has this. I was disturbed.

Annnnnyway, Kenshin and FMA are fucking amazing.
Not a fan of the anime of either tho.

[Dark Ragnarok]

GUYS!

You absolutely must read this!

My Balls

One of the funniest out there. Very perverted though. Beware.

[Dusty Chalk]

Favorite: Blade of the Immortal -- I just love the storyline.
Best violence: Berserk -- so well-choreographed and drawn, I can follow everything. He even does things like shows you a couple of slices of imagery on one page in which you're not supposed to figure out what's going on, but then on the next page you see the results, and you're like, "I see what you did there".
Favorite adaptation: Battle Royale -- I read the book first, and the manga just takes it to another level. I'll absolutely be getting the ultimate editions eventually and re-reading them.
Favorite silliness: Battle Vixens (Ikki Tousen) and Battle Club -- clothes just explode off in this series, it's hilarious.

I couldn't believe Berserk was on the shelves at Borders. Demonic orgies!!!

I was kind of surprised to see Crying Freeman there. At least they had it wrapped in Saran Wrap.

[Rodan]

For some reason I've never gotten into manga or anime. I mean, I know that there's good manga out there, and I've read some of it, but as a style I just don't like it that much.
Besides, it's always demoralizing to see the manga section slowly eating away at the graphic novels section at book stores, until manga has 1.25 bookcases for every shelf of graphic novels.
Just for the record "graphic novels" is the bookstores' terminology, not mine. The phrase always sounds silly to me.

[Sandry]

Everyone should check out "Yakitate!! Japan". It is hilarious, and it's about bread. It's like Iron Chef, sorta, except the competitions are all bread-based, and it's a lot more funny/adorable

You caused me to start watching this. It's amazing. It's retarded. It's brilliant. Aargh. Seems like the manga is much the same as the anime from my brief perusal?

The only manga I've read is Ouran High School Host Club, which I love, and some of Revolutionary Girl Utena, which I had to stop reading after about the first one because every time Utena referred to her "Mr. Licky Lick," I kind of wanted to die.

[grythyttan]

Battle angel alita is probably my favourite manga ever. (Or gally, or whatever.) it has a sweet ass-storyline and can be ridiculously violent at points. you damn well better read it.

[Alexiel]

Any recommendations?

I'm willing to read some if it really is better. Does the wallflower count as one? (i'm guessing half and half)

Aprox. one year late: Hanazakari no Kimitachi e
And hooray for whoever mentioned Angel Sanctuary.

[Lt Greatsocks]

After I saw the movie Oldboy I was at the mall and I saw the manga in f.y.e. I took it home and finished it in twenty minutes, which pissed me off considering the thirteen dollar price-tag. Anywho, I was wondering, at some point does the manga start to resemble the movie more? I understand the manga came first, but the movie just seems so much better.

All things considered, I was pretty disappointed by the first volume of the manga. Does anyone think it's worth finishing?