What manga are you reading now?

Read a whole bunch of comics I got through numerous Kickstarters this weekend. They've been piling up for ages now so decided to have a bit of a change of pace and get through a load of them! Was a lot of fun and some vary varied stories and art styles along the way. I obviously like some more than others but pleased to say there wasn't a single one I disliked!

Queen 1-3 (political thriller), The Colour Guard 2 (fantasy), Band of Warriors 1 (historical fantasy), Busy Little Bees 1 (horror), Camp VA07 1&2 (sci fi horror), The Shadow Over Innsmouth 2 (horror), Fabled Four 1-3 (8-bit fantasy comedy), Switchblade Stories 3 (violent lesbian street gangs), Gone GN (lonely sci fi), Section VII: Cases of the Strange and Unnatural GN collection (supernatural ghost mysteries in cold War Poland), Campfire Stories (teens telling ghost stories round a campfire), Sparks and the Fallen Star GN (lonely but hopeful sci fi), Faith Says You 3 GN (teen drama - suicide and depression themes), Samurai Slasher omnibus GN (horror comedy), Sisterhood 1-3 + Artists Edition (sexy superpowered mummies risen from the dead)
 
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I don't read much manga.
The publishing schedules tend to put me off.
I am happy to buy a volume 1 to see how it goes.

Anyway I'm on to say I received Gal Gohan 10 today. Really enjoyed the story although some might consider it a bit taboo. Loved the way it's progressed.
Sad and glad it's finishing. I'll probably start it on the way home from work.
 
Mou Tamago wa Korosanai volume 1 (Complete, JP) - An interesting short story collection.
A Kiss, For Real volumes 5-7
My Love Mix-Up Volume 3 (JP)
Eromanga Sensei volume 10 (JP)
Konosuba: An Explosion on this Wonderful World! Bonus Story volume 2 (LN, Complete). - Another fun Megumin focused instalment.
 
Hajimete no Gal Ch 134 - 135

Houkago no Goumon Shoujo ch 111

Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san ch 155 - 156

Karakai Jouzu no (Moto) Takagi-san ch 210 - 212

Why the Hell are You Here, Teacher!? ch 102 - 103

Wise Man's Granchild ch 66

Youkai Shoujo - Monsuga ch 145 - 146 (Complete)
 
Prison Life is Easy for a Villainess volume 1 (LN)
Orange -Naruse Kakeru- (One shot) - Got to imagine these single chapters revolving around different members of the cast will eventually become Volume 7 of the series...

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys volume 5
Tesla Note volume 2
My Hero Academia: Team Up Missions volume 2 - A fairly uninspired volume, definitely nowhere near as interesting as the first one was.
Deku and Bakugo Rising (One-shot, included in Team Up Missions)
Magus of the Library volume 5
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl volume 1 (JP)
 
I Cannot Reach You #3 by Mika Yen Press (review on the way)
Manly Appetites #3 (final volume) by Mito Seven Seas (such a sweet BL series - recommended!)
My Love Mix-Up! #1 & 2 by Aruko and Wataru Hinakura VIZ Media (I might have mentioned this before as I read both in digital - but I only just received my paperback of #1 and #2 is still 'on the way'. I like this series enough to have bought the physical versions as well as the digital!)
 
Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World volume 4 (LN) - Starting to get toward the end of the anime content now. This book was fun, but mostly an excuse to get the cast into swimsuits while introducing a pivotal plotpoint.

Fullmetal Alchemist Fullmetal Edition volume 15
Blue Sky Complex volume 3

Magic Knight of the Old Ways volume 1 (LN) - From the author of Last Round Arthurs comes another series about King Arthur and magic knights. A fun read, but since it's only at 3 volumes in Japan so far I won't hold my breath for it not going the way of Last Round Arthurs and being prematurely ending... (It doesn't help that the LRA cast was also more interesting than the protagonist here).

The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat volume 3 (LN) - Still have problems with this one in terms of how it treats the female cast and the fact is can be a littleeee creepy, but I confess that I still find the world incredibly interesting so despite my issues I find myself repeatedly pulled back in. Definitely not for anyone who disliked the initial release though!
 
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End vol 1
I don't read much non-yuri manga these days, but gave this a go due to a feature on ANN gushing that it's the best manga ever. It's... fine, I guess.

The premise is interesting. After the hero's party defeats the demon lord, they go their separate ways. For the team's immortal elf wizard, that 10-year adventure was just a brief diversion, but as the decades pass and her comrades age and die she starts to regret not having spent more time getting to know them. This all takes place in the first issue, by the way, which spans 50 years.

That's really where this story brings something interesting to the table: if something doesn't hold Frieren's attention, we get a one page montage of her doing other things and suddenly decades have passed. If it maintains that, this could be an interesting series, but by the end of volume 1 the time span of each issue has dropped from decades to months. Unsurprisingly this coincides with Frieren's girl apprentice reaching the merchandise-bait age of 16. My concern now is whether going forward the priority will be given to story or marketability. It's possible that spending more time with this character is priming us for a heavier gut punch when the years start rolling on again, but I fear it may be letting its unique selling point slip in the name of keeping a teenage girl around. That may just be my inner cynic talking though.

The only real flaws at this stage are the lazy setting and character archetypes, which are pulled from the usual generic sub-D&D fantasy land. The story has enough potential for me to give volume 2 a go though.
 
Full Metal Panic vol 6
A more fun and light hearted adventure this time. Though I have go say Kaname comes across quite badly in this one. She's constantly acknowledging she's doing something mean but won't stop. Otherwise all the cast have some fun scenes in this Christmas story with guys!

Aposimz vol 1-8 (and 9 in digital)
I thought it was only 8 volumes so started reading it and then found out there are 9. What a fool I am. Luckily the chapters for the final volume are available digitally so didn't have to wait until June to finish it!

Anyway another great atmospheric entry. Nihei's world building is always on point and again he's created a stunning but oppresively stark world. That mix of hope and hopelessness where you're never quite sure where the story will go next is really well realised. The art is fantastic as always and the action is so emmersive. The characters were interesting and varied. 9ne of those stories that starts small and just grows and grows! Was really engaging all the way to the end. Definitely reccomend it.
 
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End vol 2
Oh dear, this is going exactly the way I didn't want. That idea of years passing in a single chapter has been dropped entirely; this whole volume takes place in the same year. All the interesting things it was doing at first have vanished, and it now seems to be on track for the rest of the series to be a generic quest travelling from A to B, gathering a party of generic fantasy archetypes along the way, set over a decade at most. The execution is fine, but nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before. There's nothing here that particularly makes me want to buy any more of it, especially at the languid pace it's settled into.
 
I finished The Golden Sheep

It was decent but it was too short. The story was interesting and two of the four main characters are really nice (the other two are some of the absolute worst people I've ever seen in a realistic series) - but it feels like just as it was about to take off, it got stuck in place for a while and then just rushed to a (not very satisfying) conclusion. It's worth a read, but it never lives up to its potential.

The whole thing feels very melancholy (and a bit depressing in parts), but there are some warm moments of hope and happiness too. There are also some frustrating moments that dampened my enjoyment of the series. The end made my eyes roll so hard, my head is still spinning.

I think it's worth mentioning there's a lot of bullying most of the way through, attempted suicide (right at the start) and a sexual assault scene.
 
Bloom into You Anthology vol 2 (complete)
Another collection of short stories with the characters from Bloom into You. Not quite as good as I remember the first volume being, but their were some nice stories including The Winds of Change by Yutaka Hiiragi, Six Years Later, Still by Your Side by Yodokawa featuring the older couple, and Shining in Your Light by Ueshita which had the best panel although the characters were slightly off model.
Feels like cheating, but the best story was A 45-Day Couple by the author of the original story, Nakatani Nio, in which Touka is now a college student, but is still helping Yuu by tutoring her.
A mixed bag, so I'll give the collection a
7/10
 
D1tchd1gger said:
Bloom into You Anthology vol 2 (complete)
Another collection of short stories with the characters from Bloom into You. Not quite as good as I remember the first volume being, but their were some nice stories including The Winds of Change by Yutaka Hiiragi, Six Years Later, Still by Your Side by Yodokawa featuring the older couple, and Shining in Your Light by Ueshita which had the best panel although the characters were slightly off model.
Feels like cheating, but the best story was A 45-Day Couple by the author of the original story, Nakatani Nio, in which Touka is now a college student, but is still helping Yuu by tutoring her.
A mixed bag, so I'll give the collection a
7/10
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I keep forgetting to buy the first anthology. I'll have to grab it before it slips my mind again. It still annoys me that the anime never got a second season to finish the main story.
 
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