Calculus_Four
Hikikomori
Kono Kanojo wa Fiction desu Volume 2
What manga are you reading now?
- Thread starter Red XIII
- Start date
Digital manga and light novels:
Caste Heaven #7 by Chise Ogawa SuBLime – the penultimate volume of this troubling, intriguing BL (it’s already finished in Japan)!
Moon & Sun #1 by Akane Abe from SuBLime
Don’t Be Cruel #10 by Yonezou Nekota SuBLime – difficult to believe that this initially ‘difficult’ BL has blossomed into a long-running series with one of the more sympathetic couples (apart from Narasaki and Terashima in Kei Ichikawa's Blue Sky Complex).
Captivated, By You by Yaya Wakama Yen Press – an ingenious, engaging collection of interlinked short stories by the mangaka of Let’s Go Karaoke! this one’s a must-read.
Hiraeth: the End of the Journey #2 by Yuhki Kamatani Kodansha. The mangaka of Our Dreams at Dusk explores death, immortality and suicidal ideation in this striking urban fantasy – so not recommended for everyone but very powerfully written and exquisitely drawn.
Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes: The Spirit Hunters of Tomoe by Yoshiko Utamine, Yone Kazuki – unusual and very readable supernatural urban fantasy/light novel from Cross Infinite World (new to me).
Caste Heaven #7 by Chise Ogawa SuBLime – the penultimate volume of this troubling, intriguing BL (it’s already finished in Japan)!
Moon & Sun #1 by Akane Abe from SuBLime
Don’t Be Cruel #10 by Yonezou Nekota SuBLime – difficult to believe that this initially ‘difficult’ BL has blossomed into a long-running series with one of the more sympathetic couples (apart from Narasaki and Terashima in Kei Ichikawa's Blue Sky Complex).
Captivated, By You by Yaya Wakama Yen Press – an ingenious, engaging collection of interlinked short stories by the mangaka of Let’s Go Karaoke! this one’s a must-read.
Hiraeth: the End of the Journey #2 by Yuhki Kamatani Kodansha. The mangaka of Our Dreams at Dusk explores death, immortality and suicidal ideation in this striking urban fantasy – so not recommended for everyone but very powerfully written and exquisitely drawn.
Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes: The Spirit Hunters of Tomoe by Yoshiko Utamine, Yone Kazuki – unusual and very readable supernatural urban fantasy/light novel from Cross Infinite World (new to me).
Gemsy-chan
Shrine Maiden
I've read Caste Heaven but wasn't a big fan of it. Didn't really like the premise. Shame as I've liked Chise Ogawa's other works.
Didn't know Moon & Sun had been licensed, love Akane Abe.
You can't help but love Nemu and Maya.
Absolutely agree; it's great to have more Akane Abe in English at last - and this series is everything one would expect from them (and more so!)
I wish, like you, that we could have some different Chise Ogawa titles in English (The Story of Never Ending Unhappiness etc.). However, having felt distinctly queasy with the early volumes of Caste Heaven, I persevered and was hooked from Volume 5 - the class trip volume - where she began to turn the story around. Now I'm really keen to see if she follows through and delivers in the final volume.
awadama
Mad Scientist
I read the first volume of Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible and I loved it.
I guess the closest comparisons are Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro and Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out, but the main girl in this one is much much nicer to the main boy. There are a couple of times where she teases him very gently, but she's never mean or abusive towards him. It really seems like she likes him a lot.
There's nothing especially original or unique (and the art is a little messy in parts) - but it just works really well, mostly because Kubo is just so so so so nice.
It was a very wholesome first volume and I'm looking forward to reading more!
I guess the closest comparisons are Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro and Uzaki-chan Wants To Hang Out, but the main girl in this one is much much nicer to the main boy. There are a couple of times where she teases him very gently, but she's never mean or abusive towards him. It really seems like she likes him a lot.
There's nothing especially original or unique (and the art is a little messy in parts) - but it just works really well, mostly because Kubo is just so so so so nice.
It was a very wholesome first volume and I'm looking forward to reading more!
D1tchd1gger
Shrine Maiden
Reading the synopsis on MAL, Takagi-san is the manga that springs to mind more, sounds the same minus the part about her target being "invisible". It's a VIZ publication, so not on Bookwalker. Is on Google Store and I assume physical?
awadama
Mad Scientist
@D1tchd1gger I've not read Takagi-san yet, but it does seem like a similar kind of thing - I'll have check that one out soon!
I got the first two volumes (which is all that's out so far) on the Kindle store but they're both available physically too
I got the first two volumes (which is all that's out so far) on the Kindle store but they're both available physically too
SINoALICE volume 1 - Review to follow
Hiraeth: the End of the Journey volume 2 - I confess I wasn't as interested in this one compared to vol 1 to start with, but by the end of Volume 2 I was more attached to the storyline it was trying to present.
Spy Classroom volume 3 (LN) - Review to follow
The Apothecary Diaries volume 5 - I find it difficult to remember what's supposed to be going on in the manga since it comes out so irregularly compared to the LNs (where things have changed significantly!). Still, a lot of fun to read through and the artwork does a good job of capturing the MC's many varied expressions (I love the little cat ears and tail she sometimes sprouts, which are very fitting for her cat-like personality).
Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! volume 1 - The LN for this looks cancelled, so I'm enjoying the manga while it lasts.
Walking My Second Path in Life volume 3 (LN, complete) - After many many years, this one finally got a third and final volume to wrap up the main story. It was a fun last hurray for the characters and although I was okay with where it stopped in Volume 2, it was nice to get the ending the author originally wanted to give.
Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata volume 2 - Somewhat pleased that Volume 3 is the last one because oh boy has this gotten melodramatic and silly.
Tokyo Babylon volume 1 (JP) - I forget if this is available in English from Kodansha now or not, but I haven't liked a lot of the republished Del Ray clamp translations so I'm reading this one in Japanese instead. Enjoyed the first instalment!
Dracula Yakin! volume 1 (JP) - A manga adaptation of a new(ish) light novel series by the author of The Devil is a Part-Timer. This one is about a vampire working part-time in a convenience store and the vampire hunter he one day saves and who ends up living with him! The manga seems to have ended at Volume 3, so I suspect it only adapts the first LN but that should be fine. Hopefully, now Yen is finished with Devil is a Part-Timer they'll think about picking up the LN for this one.
I Think Our Son is Gay volume 3 - I like how things are starting to change for the cast in this one, even if the core romance hasn't changed the mother's storyline is and I'm looking forward to the day the father learns once and for all that his son is indeed gay and that's okay.
A Man and His Cat volume 6 - I feel like I have been enjoying this series a lot more since it became equal parts cat manga and human drama. There are a lot of adult characters in the series now, who all have varied and interesting stories of their own to tell and I think this manga is at its best when it capitalises on that while sprinkling in some cat antics throughout a volume.
Hiraeth: the End of the Journey volume 2 - I confess I wasn't as interested in this one compared to vol 1 to start with, but by the end of Volume 2 I was more attached to the storyline it was trying to present.
Spy Classroom volume 3 (LN) - Review to follow
The Apothecary Diaries volume 5 - I find it difficult to remember what's supposed to be going on in the manga since it comes out so irregularly compared to the LNs (where things have changed significantly!). Still, a lot of fun to read through and the artwork does a good job of capturing the MC's many varied expressions (I love the little cat ears and tail she sometimes sprouts, which are very fitting for her cat-like personality).
Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! volume 1 - The LN for this looks cancelled, so I'm enjoying the manga while it lasts.
Walking My Second Path in Life volume 3 (LN, complete) - After many many years, this one finally got a third and final volume to wrap up the main story. It was a fun last hurray for the characters and although I was okay with where it stopped in Volume 2, it was nice to get the ending the author originally wanted to give.
Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata volume 2 - Somewhat pleased that Volume 3 is the last one because oh boy has this gotten melodramatic and silly.
Tokyo Babylon volume 1 (JP) - I forget if this is available in English from Kodansha now or not, but I haven't liked a lot of the republished Del Ray clamp translations so I'm reading this one in Japanese instead. Enjoyed the first instalment!
Dracula Yakin! volume 1 (JP) - A manga adaptation of a new(ish) light novel series by the author of The Devil is a Part-Timer. This one is about a vampire working part-time in a convenience store and the vampire hunter he one day saves and who ends up living with him! The manga seems to have ended at Volume 3, so I suspect it only adapts the first LN but that should be fine. Hopefully, now Yen is finished with Devil is a Part-Timer they'll think about picking up the LN for this one.
I Think Our Son is Gay volume 3 - I like how things are starting to change for the cast in this one, even if the core romance hasn't changed the mother's storyline is and I'm looking forward to the day the father learns once and for all that his son is indeed gay and that's okay.
A Man and His Cat volume 6 - I feel like I have been enjoying this series a lot more since it became equal parts cat manga and human drama. There are a lot of adult characters in the series now, who all have varied and interesting stories of their own to tell and I think this manga is at its best when it capitalises on that while sprinkling in some cat antics throughout a volume.
Nice to hear something positive about this one, hadn't seen any particular opinions on it so far but the synopsis did catch my eye back when it was licensed. Might have to pick it up if it goes into print, which I think the Cross Infinite World stuff sometimes does.
@Demelza: @Ian Wolf will know more about this than me but as far as I can remember, Dark Horse brought out the last English version of Tokyo Babylon. What I'm not sure about is whether it used the same translation as the original Tokyopop paperbacks (the edition which I have). It could certainly do with a new English edition (perhaps using the splendid new Japanese cover art?)
@Sarah @Demelza Yes Dark Horse released the series as two omnibuses back in 2013. They credit: "Original translation by Ray Yoshimoto, Alexis Kirsch and Carol Fox".@Demelza: @Ian Wolf will know more about this than me but as far as I can remember, Dark Horse brought out the last English version of Tokyo Babylon. What I'm not sure about is whether it used the same translation as the original Tokyopop paperbacks (the edition which I have). It could certainly do with a new English edition (perhaps using the splendid new Japanese cover art?)
Well I’m glad I never went looking for those since they’re very out of print now (typical Dark Horse), and I surely wouldn’t have enjoyed the Tokyopop translation either (doubly so if it continued to the DH editions). Would be nice if the series got a rerelease in time for the new anime project, definitely deserves one given how much of the other Clamp manga has been rereleased.
@Ian Wolf @Demelza: I've been doing some excavating in the bookshelves and found my Tokyopop copies from 2005 (!) and it's also Ray Yoshimoto (they have the translated Sound Effects Index at the back like Saiyuki and other early Tokyopop series). Carol Fox is credited as Editor. They have fold-out colour art at the beginning; a nice touch that I'd forgotten about! But it's high time for a new translation and a new edition, I think.
@Ian Wolf: I'd love to see what a translator like Jocelyne Allen would do with them... one can but dream!
@Ian Wolf: Absolutely, yes!
D1tchd1gger
Shrine Maiden
Kindred Spirits on the Roof: Side A Another Yuritopia
A story about a girl who got scared when her childhood friend confessing to her at the end of Middle School, so started avoiding her in High School. Through meeting new friends, who just so happen to be in lesbian relationships (although not brought up straight away), finds the courage to face her old friend.
Fairly sweet, it was mostly a CGDCT with the new friends doing stuff for the cultural festival rather than a yuri. The art and story was by Hatchi Itou whose art I really liked in the anthologies I read, here there were panels where you can tell it was the same person, but it wasn't as detailed as the other stories of theirs that I've read.
7/10
Occasionally random new characters would appear without introduction. I found out that this was because the story is a spin-off of a visual novel. The story of which sounds a bit odd, 2 ghosts of girls who died having not experienced sex with their girlfriends want to know how it works and with the help of a girl at the school that they haunt set up situations where girls do it at the school (because the ghosts can't leave the grounds)
A story about a girl who got scared when her childhood friend confessing to her at the end of Middle School, so started avoiding her in High School. Through meeting new friends, who just so happen to be in lesbian relationships (although not brought up straight away), finds the courage to face her old friend.
Fairly sweet, it was mostly a CGDCT with the new friends doing stuff for the cultural festival rather than a yuri. The art and story was by Hatchi Itou whose art I really liked in the anthologies I read, here there were panels where you can tell it was the same person, but it wasn't as detailed as the other stories of theirs that I've read.
7/10
Occasionally random new characters would appear without introduction. I found out that this was because the story is a spin-off of a visual novel. The story of which sounds a bit odd, 2 ghosts of girls who died having not experienced sex with their girlfriends want to know how it works and with the help of a girl at the school that they haunt set up situations where girls do it at the school (because the ghosts can't leave the grounds)
D1tchd1gger
Shrine Maiden
Kindred Spirits on the Roof: Side B Friendly Quiz
A story about a girl who likes girls who are "friendly with one another"
I think it might be a weird translation, but the 2 friendly girls in question are president and vice president of the Quiz Club and their chemistry at the presentation gets our girl excited and so she joins along with another first year who was also enticed in the same way. From then on it's mostly club training and the first year girls gossiping about their senpai. So just like the first story there isn't too much in the way of romance or drama just SoL club fun, then right at the end the first years help one of the senpai set up a confession.
The art is nice a bubbly and is by Fumio Aya who, looking through my other posts, I've mentioned a few times in posts about favourites from yuri anthologies. The story is by someone who doesn't seem to have done too much else, at least according to MAL.
7/10
A story about a girl who likes girls who are "friendly with one another"
I think it might be a weird translation, but the 2 friendly girls in question are president and vice president of the Quiz Club and their chemistry at the presentation gets our girl excited and so she joins along with another first year who was also enticed in the same way. From then on it's mostly club training and the first year girls gossiping about their senpai. So just like the first story there isn't too much in the way of romance or drama just SoL club fun, then right at the end the first years help one of the senpai set up a confession.The art is nice a bubbly and is by Fumio Aya who, looking through my other posts, I've mentioned a few times in posts about favourites from yuri anthologies. The story is by someone who doesn't seem to have done too much else, at least according to MAL.
7/10