What manga are you reading now?

Just finished reading all of the current Gantz chapters. But with the way the chapter ended, and from the rumors I've herd, it didn't finish and leave it at there... did it?
 
I've now covered 14 volumes of GTO. That translates into 114 chapters, 121 if including the extra Tomoko story.

I liked the Okinawa trip. It was funny when Onizuka mixed the genders up when sorting out the rooms at the hotel. Noboru got fleshed out, becoming more of a man, and Anko even transformed from an evil bitch into his other half. I would've liked to see some OnizukaxAzusa - which was hinted at in the volume preview - and I was hoping to see the Kunioxgiant girl pairing get going, but I'm happy with the NoboruxAnko stuff. I hope that at some point they get together officially...it doesn't seem like they did after the trip.

The story is progressing far slower now. I noticed how it took a full volume for the Okinawa money issue to be resolved, and more and more chapters are being dedicated to random members of the cast. Uchiyamada has had a lot of time given to him from the start for a character of little real importance and I'm fine with that, but the two chapters that focused 100% on Onizuka's cop friend and the seven that covered Tomoko's manager bugged me. The cop may have played a big part in the prequel series - I get the feeling the chapters focusing on him are nods towards fans from before GTO - but he isn't even involved in the GTO story. There's no reason to have chapters showing him attempting to scam Onizuka, without actually showing Onizuka when they talk. And the seven chapter story about Tomoko's manager had no place in the GTO volumes when Tomoko barely said anything. I was looking forward to more Slomoko service but all I got was nothing relevent to GTO.

Really, I think the author of GTO gave himself too much freedom. Because the only main plot thread of GTO is that Onizuka teaches students, he could do whatever he wanted on the teaching front without it coming across as filler. It isn't unusual for random chapters to only show the ramblings of a one character and even the heart of the story - the teaching/reforming students - is starting to drag a little. The author had so much freedom that he could go at his own pace.

After reading GTO I love the author, don't get me wrong. His art is both detailed and lovely to look at, his stories are heart-warming and he isn't afraid to put in a ton of dialogue. However, I can't judge him unless I see him limit himself in terms of what he can and can't do on the filler front. I'd like to see him attempt a thriller sort of story where more of the story gets revealed in each chapter - that way he'd have less room to maneuver in than with a comedy series.

Anyway, lets get back on track. In volume 14 a new story arc started after the fun (for both me and the characters!) school trip. My problem with it is that it appears to be a repeat of what happened with Urumi: Miyabi called up an untouchable member of the class, who had been allowed to stay listed at the school despite not attending in a long time and asked him to get ri of Onizuka. Seriously, how many 200+ IQ super students does class 4 have that don't attend class until the story requires them to do so!? It feels like I'm going over old ground and I'm not really digging it so far...

Another problem I have with this new story is Miyabi; the girl who called up the new super student from hell. Wasn't the issue with her resolved prior to the class trip, when she tried to save Onizuka in order to pay him back for preventing her from being turned into a sex toy? I see no need for her to have restarted the anti-Onizuka crap all over again.

Before I stop typing, here are my hopes for the remainder of the series:

- Kunioxgiant guy chapters
- NoboruxAnko chapters
- OnizukaxAzusa chapters
- More Kunio's momxOnizuka lulz
- More Slomoko lulz

...basically, I want to see GTO transform itself into a rom-com. I care a lot about a fair few of the characters and want to laugh as they attempt to get it on. Less random student reforming, more comedy with the established characters, please.

P.S: GTO takes quite a long time to read. The backgrounds are usually very detailed and the author tried to fit a TON of text on each page. I have to put the books yp to my face at time in order to read the text made smaller in an attempt to fit it in!
 
Good post. You articulated everything about GTO, good and not so good, that I could never be bothered to.

Aion said:
However, I can't judge him unless I see him limit himself in terms of what he can and can't do on the filler front. I'd like to see him attempt a thriller sort of story where more of the story gets revealed in each chapter - that way he'd have less room to maneuver in than with a comedy series.
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Well, there is Tokko. The story isn't finished, though, and what I saw of the anime was underwhelming to say the least.
 
Meh, I'm more likely to look into the prequel series than Tokko. The first GTO series has a lower rating - 8 vs. 8.80 - and it tells you something that its sequel is more famous, but I'd be willing to give it a shot. My main fear is that, without that teaching angle, it'd prove to be far more meaningless.

...not that my thoughts about it matter. It's 31 volumes long, it seems like the series hasn't been released in full and it's near impossible to get the volumes that were released.
 
17 volumes in, GTO is now in my #1 spot and is the only manga to date that, at this moment in time, has had a 10/10 score given to it by yours truly.

I was worried during the Mayu stuff. The arm wrestling section was pointless and added nothing, only stretching out the story. But it didn't go on too long and right after I got what I wanted - development for the establised characters. First Miyabi had a few chapters and then Urumi had a few chapters. And, right after that, all out girl vs. girl warfare broke out at the school, with Miyabi revealing Urumi's darkest secret to everyone and Urumi answering with her own ace. Everything went REALLY insane after that, with Uchiyamada(sp?) finally losing it and stabbing Onizuka and Teshigawa(sp?) throwing Azusa in a suitcase. After the Mayu rubbish, it was refreshing to get so many fast-paced and involving chapters, one after the other. The only thing that let the chaos down was when Uchiyamada started ramblng at the end.

Urumi has now replaced Tomoko in my top character list. Tomoko was awesome when she was introduced but ever since her part in the Onizuka saga ended she's only appeared in a few panels, and when she has appeared she hasn't been funny. On the other hand, Urumi has developed into a brilliant character, complete with sexiness, smarts, a longing for Onizuka and an evil 'playfulness' that makes for lots of laughs.

With only eight volumes to go, I hope romance is in the air soon. Anko and Noboru haven't even been shown together since the school trip, which is a bit of a bummer, and I NEED to see Kunio get it on with the giant girl. I'll cry if the series ends before everyone couples up... :/
 
What volume covers Kunio and the giant girl? I NEED MORE ROMANCE!!!

...I haven't read GTO today. There's no point rushing, anyway - I'll just feel depressed when I reach the end and will probably have to go another year before finding another 10/10 title.
 
Aion said:
What volume covers Kunio and the giant girl? I NEED MORE ROMANCE!!!

...I haven't read GTO today. There's no point rushing, anyway - I'll just feel depressed when I reach the end and will probably have to go another year before finding another 10/10 title.
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kunio and fujirakawa (sp?) is never mentioned again unfortunately
 
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OMFGLOL said:
Aion said:
What volume covers Kunio and the giant girl? I NEED MORE ROMANCE!!!

...I haven't read GTO today. There's no point rushing, anyway - I'll just feel depressed when I reach the end and will probably have to go another year before finding another 10/10 title.
Click to expand...

kunio and fujirakawa (sp?) is never mentioned again unfortunately
Click to expand...

The above may very well result in me giving GTO a 9/10 score. With everyone saying that GTO has an excellent ending, going against the trend of excellent stories ending badly, I expected all the plot threads to be concluded.

The author must surely have forgotten about Kunio if he never got him and the giant girl together. It was strongly hinted they would eventually get it on, and I looked forward to seeing giant girl put the Mama's boy in his place.
 
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