| I've read Hour of the Mice. Toume Kei's minimalism makes her art distinguishable, and the sense of Japanese humbleness that the characters exude was quite likeable, a kind of mannerism that's ironically rarely seen in manga. On the other hand, the events and the resolution of the manga felt somewhat dull. The premise it sets up is quite interesting, institutionally nurtured children and adolescents, what are their chances to be independent... yet, you have the feeling that it was never explored to the full degree. Same for the character relationships, the keywords being unresolved and half-assed. I'd say it's worth checking out despite these setbacks, as it's a good character drama, even though it's initially presented as being a mystery story, or was that the impression I got from checking the MAL and Baka Updates summaries, who knows. |
 |
| I also read The Hour of the Mice. It wasn't too long ago, so I remember it fairly well (I just noticed I never added it to my list, weird). I can more or less mirror what corwin has already said. I found the premise pretty engaging and the atmosphere of quiet unease that's present in early chapters worked well to keep me interested in reading. The plot really isn't anything groundbreaking or unpredictable ("Oh, look, he's coughing, I wonder how this will end"), but it does a decent work most of the time. The characters' interactions and a few issues that the manga raised, such as the meaning of freedom and free will, are probably the highest points of this work for me. That is, until the final volume, which felt both rushed and unsatisfactory. The things get wrapped up more or less, but this lingering sense of a somewhat betrayed narrative kept gnawing at me (yes, I know, this explanation sounds so terribly out there). Still, I more or less enjoyed it, so I do plan to read (the more popular) Lament of the Lamb one day as well. |
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| Kaikisen was an ok story, the art was nice too, and the environmental message wasn't even that preachy (though, I guess that depends on the view), was more of a coexistence message than save the sea anyway. I guess that's about it, it was just that straightforward, no further exploration of the theme, or even the character relationships for that matter, . Probably has to do with the length of the work, the dynamic was fast, but all the action and events left little to no place for any subtleties. It's good as a short read, and I fairly enjoyed it tfw no 20-something onee-san to swim in a rural seaside town with as a teenager, I just wished it would leave more of a lasting impression other than the giant mermaid and the nice scenery. |
|
| Yeah, I just finished Kaikisen. I got very little from it. It's rather didactic but doesn't say anything new about the whole tradition/modernization dichotomy. Instead it's quite content with romanticizing the stand point of traditions. I have nothing against works that side with traditions but I have something against works that take the easy route and don't explore their themes to make it more challenging or mentally stimulating. Really, while this manga doesn't do anything poorly, it also doesn't do anything worth praising. Even the ending scene with the mermaid left me unimpressed but that might be due to me having read Children of the Sea already. After reading that manga, no other manga involving the sea will be quite as visually stimulating. Daisuke Igurashi ruined aquatic manga for me. ;__; |
| Since today is Friday the 13th, I nominate Cat Eyed Boy for some classic horror goodness. |
|
| Finished Kaikisen. It reminded me of the fond memories as a kid during summer at the shore. We went crabbing, walked on the beach, and enjoyed time with family. The manga itself was ok. My biggest criticism is the cartoonishly cold and money-driven businessman that they set up to knock down. Too simple. Well, they did identify some positives like the hospital being built. I did slightly enjoy the sense of urgency later on. Though, this wasn't impactful for me overall. |
| The pick for the next two weeks will be: |
| What the fug, i have been missing out two weeks straight this. I'm really sorry ;_; |
Carks32 said: What the fug, i have been missing out two weeks straight this. I'm really sorry ;_; For shame. For shame. Hehe. |
| the scarksof boku no futatsu are still engraved in my mind |
 "Be who you are and say what you mean, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind" - Dr. Seuss |
| Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators! was a mixed bag as expected with any compilation. I'll just focus on what I liked. Chapter 4 was my favorite. Rough, messy, funny, and lighthearted. "I just had the fuck of the century." lolololol. A sweet little story too with the grandmother. Chapter 10 was quite ridiculous. Ch 11 was brief and I enjoyed the art. Ch 14 for the same reason. I enjoyed the final chapter as well even though I didn't completely understand it. |
Nagisa33 said: I enjoyed the final chapter as well even though I didn't completely understand it. The Sapporo one? What didn't you understand, if I may ask? Just curious as to how you interpreted it, i.e. if I missed something. |
|
| I don't get why he calls the volcano his brother, why he yells at it, and why he mentions his prostate. Hahahaha! It seems a bit random. I know that he wants to show the Frenchman why he cares for it but people don't normally say they're related to landmarks. They don't yell at objects of cultural significance for 10 minutes. That's what I was a bit confused about. I still liked it though and thought it was sweet. The elderly man was so excited that he expressed himself in that manner. At least that's what I got from it. |
Nagisa33 said: I don't get why he calls the volcano his brother, why he yells at it, and why he mentions his prostate. Hahahaha! It seems a bit random. I know that he wants to show the Frenchman why he cares for it but people don't normally say they're related to landmarks. They don't yell at objects of cultural significance for 10 minutes. That's what I was a bit confused about. I still liked it though and thought it was sweet. The elderly man was so excited that he expressed himself in that manner. At least that's what I got from it. From what I gathered, he calls the volcano his twin brother because, in his own words, they were born on the same day - June 23. Showa-shinzan started erupting on June 23, 1944. He yelled at it as...well, a sort of encouragement for the volcano to show some "action" to the Frenchmen. Eventually, there's some minor, barely noticeable, activity by the volcano that caused some rocks to come tumbling down. For the Frenchman, that was impressive enough, I guess. Why he mentions the prostate...I guess he's just briefly explaining why he was in hospital. Yeah, I guess the old man is a bit peculiar, but it's endearing in a way and offers a perspective that's fairly rare in manga. |
|
| To kick of the December season, we'll be reading: |
| Darn, another one I'll have to pass. Reading it physical will be a much more satisfying experience, but I won't be able to buy for another month. I'd like to nominate Terrarium in Drawer. It was fifth place for the Manga Taisho award so it should be good. |
 |
Straw said: Darn, another one I'll have to pass. Reading it physical will be a much more satisfying experience, but I won't be able to buy for another month. I read it online and it was still beautiful. I remember being stunned breathless by some of the illustrations in it. Buuuuut, as an owner of the physical copies, I have to agree that physically reading the volumes is a better experience. I can't blame you for putting it off for this reason. Just hope you enjoy it when you do get it. |
| So no one is going to read Ducat's favourite? A shame. It would be worth reading, nay, experiencing for that fifth volume alone. Anyway, I guess I'll go with suggesting something I have planned to read for a while. If it's picked, it's likely that few will read it because of that "shounen ai" tag, but I want to see if this work of the famous Moto Hagio could be for "yaoi" what Claudine is for "yuri". I am likely way off with my expectations though, but whatever. |
|
| I'm sorry, but i will pass on this. 1: Ducat will hate me for not writing a bible about it 2: I'm kinda busy with other things, sorry. |
Carks32 said: 1: Ducat will hate me for not writing a bible about it I'll be frank, that's a nonreason for denying oneself an experience like Children of the Sea. I'm well aware I may be building too high expectations, but I suggest you consider giving it a try one day, if not now. |
|
| I am reading Children of the Sea. Haven't finished it yet. Im being lazy. |
| I've read Children of the Sea some time ago, and I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not eloquent enough to express my reading experience well enough. Then again, that's kind of the point, as the whole story was sort of meant to be experienced rather than to be passed on to others. Among other things, I liked the point stating the imperfect nature of human language. The only thing I could name as a fault is how the incident got resolved, or rather it didn't. It was evident that some big research funding was invested in the phenomena surrounding the boys, but I've got the feeling that the institution were way too passive in dealing with irreplaceable specimens. Jim and Anglade each had their own ideas, but their backers only appeared when we were supposed to see how pressured they were. Their actions weren't in sync with the endless greed and ambitions that make us apart from the other animals. Though, it may be just me splitting hairs with this, this is really an extraordinary work that I would recommend to anyone. It would be nice if people picked it up and shared some opinions, because I feel that it would make for a good discussion, and a way to articulate my own thoughts more properly. |
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metamorphius said: Carks32 said: 1: Ducat will hate me for not writing a bible about it I'll be frank, that's a nonreason for denying oneself an experience like Children of the Sea. I'm well aware I may be building too high expectations, but I suggest you consider giving it a try one day, if not now. |
| ^ Sure, I figure the real reason is the lack of time, but quoting that would be boring. Plus, it does not lend itself to shitposting. Still, the point would the same - do give it a try some time. Even if that suggestion is coming from a random person on the internet. |
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metamorphius said: Plus, it does not lend itself to shitposting. The noblest of causes! |
Ducat_Revel said: metamorphius said: Plus, it does not lend itself to shitposting. The noblest of causes! I would not normally sully this thread with such shit, but seeing someone pass up Children of the Sea due to something like RL obligations was beckoning. Damn, I've mastered shitposting too much, now I don't know when I'm serious myself. |
|
| I don't know who talked about them but I finished Tenohira Size. and Momo Sora. Momo Sora was cute but it wasn't much more than that. Tenohira Size was the read that I got more from. It dealt with living without a husband or a father. Some other family issues were covered here as well. It was a worthwhile and quick read. |
| I won't be available for most of tomorrow, so I'll post the pick for the next two weeks a bit in advance. |
| Well, that was bad. Reading a horror manga that fails to be scary is an unimaginable snoozefest. By following a character who often voluntarily participates or observes in the story, rather than following the characters who experience the horrific things, I felt very disconnected from everything that was happening. It tried to make the reader feel like this could happen in real life by words (maybe next time I'll sleep in your attic!) which really had the opposite effect, and further ruining my immersion. And worst of all, most stories and characters came of as incredibly silly instead of scary (I mean, meatball, seriously?). |
|
| Yeah....Cat Eyed Boy...yeah...uhm....I...think I might need another two weeks to finish it. This is a tough one to get through - nevermind that I don't find it scary, I find it utterly uninteresting in its childishness. And I haven't even gotten halfway through it. This might take a while, but I'm not dropping shorter stuff so I'll finish it. |
|
| Happy New Year to you all! Let's see which kicks off the year! |
| Good, good. Since I've already read Ran (highly recommended btw), I have another two weeks to read Cat Eyed Boy. |
|
| Since no one posted about Ran, I'll leave my thoughts here: It's really good. Read it. Ran is best girl. Now that's done with, let's see which manga will get picked next: |
| It's a shame if people skipped on reading Ran. Though, I remember some read it a while ago when it was nominated, myself including. Back when this thread was more active. Hmmm, this Dog thing looks interesting and is very short. I'll try to read it tomorrow. |
|
| Okay, the first story (first chapter) pissed me off. I have had pets for almost 20 years (mostly cats, a couple of dogs long time ago and two canaries) and I admit I cannot comprehend why The time was passing and I was getting more and more agitated and annoyed, to be frank. Perhaps it was not a practice in Japan back in 1990. *sigh* Yeah, watching an animal struggle was such a pleasant thing to read before going to bed. |
metamorphiusJan 15, 2016 1:44 PM
|
| Yeah, while I understood what Taniguchi was trying to convey, that first chapter grew increasingly weird and uncomfortable is it went on. The inclusion of that last chapter felt a bit awkward, I'd rather had another chapter focusing on the family. Not the best of Taniguchi. |
|
| Yeah, although my impression of Inu wo Kau improved after the first chapter, it certainly wasn't on par with best Taniguchi's works. But thanks to it, I managed to find this seemingly forgotten manga so it was more than worth it for me. |
|
| Caught up to the manga of the weeks. My Jojo-athon kept me busy but I finally freed myself from that. I have to agree with the consensus here. The first chapter was very uncomfortable and this isn't really what I expect from a Taniguchi work. The collection as a whole is rather jarring. One part death story, two parts life, one part family-centric, and the last being pseudo-Summit of the Gods. Really weird. All I actually got from it was that THOSE CATS WERE ADORABLE. Meta, can you pitch me a manga all about cats? |
Was there ever doubt that Steel Ball Run would be the best part? Mais ouis, bien sûr! Or so I would like to say...but, in my years, I've come across a disappointingly small amount of manga specifically about cats and even some of them were crap. Ofc, I'm not going to even count anthropomorphic stuff or a surprising amount of yaoi that feature cats (I once browsed "cat" tag on Manga Updates for half an hour - it was full of yaoi with that tag and I eventually gave up trying to find anything interesting that was scanlated). Anyway, what little I can recommend is Ito Junji's Cat Diary - it's a comedy slice of life that really utilizes Ito's art style in the best way. I think it can be enjoyed even if you don't like Ito's horror stuff. What's Michael - not everything is a hit, but it's got some of the funniest stuff about cats I've seen in manga Nekomichi - from the author of Saturn Apartments so you can tell what kind of art to expect, which works nicely in this setting Of the stuff I haven't read yet (waiting for it to end), there's Kuro. Who would not want to have a cat like this? I'm not sure if there's some loli crap in there though (probably just me being apprehensive after seeing the protagonist and knowing anime and manga's portrayal of young girls). |
metamorphiusJan 30, 2016 2:50 AM
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None whatsoever. But the art in it did catch me off-guard. Like the fight with Ringo. That was simply gorgeous. Anyway, thanks for the cat recs, meta. I'll check them out soon. |
| Alright. Time for the next manga! Also, please leave new recommendations if you have any. Thanks. Enjoy! |
| Wanted to get into reading some Moto Hagio for some while, and for that purpose, I'm nominating Marginal. I've read Ran to Haiiro no Sekai recently, and while I did appreciate the art greatly, I feel as I've been somewhat duped as to what to expect from the story. From a fresh take on magic and daily shenanigans, it devolved into shounenshit midway. It wasn't exactly Naruto, but I honestly didn't start this manga expecting it will turn into Kekkaishi or Nurarihyon no Mago at some point. Why a battle shounen, really, why did the author turn Outarou into Sasuke, and Shizuka into Alucard. Do we need power levels and the like in something that promises to be something new. Why ruin something so beautiful with edgelord antics ;_;.[/rant] |
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| Orange turned out to be an infuriating little manga. At first, it seems like the time travel concept provides a fresh take on the usual shoujo romance fare. It allows a different approach to solving the dark haired boy with a super duper dark past's feelings, and a different chronology to the usual second romantic interest (who is always blond, here too!). This makes it all much more compact. But generic it remains, and what's worse is that the characters act incredibly retarded. Really, you both confessed your feelings but you're still not sure if it is okay to ask the other person out? It gets even worse. All Orange has going for it is the bond of friendship: the regret of their future selves and the passion of the side characters to help their friend. But the worst offence Orange makes it how to evolves NTR. As if normal NTR isn't bad enough, this sickening time travel version of NTR makes my blood boil and wonder if it isn't about time we make it illegal. |
|
| Yeah Orange isn't very good. The presentation of the two romantic relationships ala multiple-universe split makes me wonder what the point of the manga was. What could've been seen a purely sentimental mourning comes out a bit more perverse in the process. Also, slightly macabre. Sending a message through time so you could get with a dead guy isn't very easing if you think about it. There's also the part where the explanation for the time travel is laughably stupid. The Bermuda Triangle? Wow. Just. Wow. |
| I was so wrapped up in the time-travel NTR that I didn't even think about how ridiculous that was. The author should have just used actual time travelling (for messages) instead of resorting to that silly plot. |
|
Straw said: I was so wrapped up in the time-travel NTR that I didn't even think about how ridiculous that was. The author should have just used actual time travelling (for messages) instead of resorting to that silly plot. Straw, if you wanna see NTR that's incredibly irritating and jarring, you should check out this one josei manga that I'm reading called "Kimi wa Pet." It's about this office lady who makes a random stranger her pet and lets him live in her flat and affectionately kiss her while she dates other men. Alternatively, you could pretend it never existed and keep on reading Children of the Sea. :D |
Ducat_Revel said: Straw, if you wanna see NTR that's incredibly irritating and jarring, you should check out this one josei manga that I'm reading called "Kimi wa Pet." It's about this office lady who makes a random stranger her pet and lets him live in her flat and affectionately kiss her while she dates other men. What an absurd setting. Thankfully I wasn't able to get to the NTR as it was all-around bad. |
|
| I see you guys have greatly enjoyed Orange. I have really wanted to read this ever since it was announced that it would end last year, but I shouldn't have read the comments first because, taking into accounts the similarities in taste, I've lost all incentive now. Maybe I'll just pick some other fruit-named manga from my ptr list. |
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metamorphius said: Maybe I'll just pick some other fruit-named manga from my ptr list. If you find something, let me know. I've searched but all I found was a hentai manga called Blue Berry and a doujinshi called Strawberry, neither of which look fit for consumption. I was really wishing there'd be a manga called Kiwi but sadly, there isn't. |
| I think I may actually have a couple of fruit-named manga in my ptr list, but I cannot remember and I don't feel like going through all the stuff. However, I managed to remember two banana-named manga. One is Banana Fish which looks interesting, but I really cannot even begin to gauge if the premise turns into crap or is actually competently used. The other one I read last year - it's Banana Bread no Pudding. I think it has the score of about 6.5 on MAL, which is really low for this site, but the manga is actually not half bad. Sure it wasn't amazing, but it's got the sort of weirdness that made it an interesting read. However, it does throw in elements of psychoanalysis and the world it portrays feels more like an isolated setting where everything can be symbolic and you either have to roll with it or be annoyed by it. In any case, I found it to be a curious little manga. And it's very short, just a volume long. As for other manga with fruity names, the only thing I can remember now is Citrus, but I hate the kind of yuri in it so fuck that one. |
metamorphiusFeb 10, 2016 5:32 AM
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