What Are You Reading?

[LumRanmaYasha]

Okay....I'm going to have to give Bleach some credit for creating a villain who LITERALLY gets his power and can revive himself from near-death from his sidekick cheering him on. That is some amusingly meta shit there.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I finished Rurouni Kenshin sunday night. I have to say I loved the entire series and the Revenge arc was really what's made it one of my top favorite manga now. I should probably explain more about what I liked about it, but I'm too lazy atm. You guys can ask me questions on what I thought on some parts though.

I'm trying to finish Akira before the movie airs on Toonami saturday. I'm about half-way done, and while I didn't totally enjoy the first two volumes when I originally read them I do really now upon re-reading, and the third was basically an epic all-out chase/battle in the middle of the Neo-Tokyo for about half the volume with a literally explosive ending, which was pure awesome. If the second half is just as good it could easily be another all-time favorite for me.

I've also been reading Rin-ne, since it's the only one of Takahashi's major works I have not finished yet. It's basically Ranma-esque in tone, with some amusing bits, but from what I've read of later chapters it doesn't seem like it'll get as good as Ranma 1/2 much less Urusei Yatsura. Still a fairly enjoyable read, though, and I can't help but be amused at several gags like Rokumon's frequent malevolent tendencies, Sayaka's apathy to all the weirdness, and Rin-ne's poverty problems. I still wish Takahashi's talents would be best utilized in a josei drama/romance/comedy/horror series with female leads much like her various Rumic Theater one-shots rather than another shonen comedy. I'm sad to think that she'll probably never make one at this point. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, guys, Ashita no Joe is like....really good. I mean, REALLY good! I mean the type of good where you have a really well-written story that will easily entertain younger readers yet has enough clever subtext to it reflective of lower-class Japanese society at the time of post WWII economic conditions to give the adults a little extra bit of interesting commentary. It also doesn't have fights that last forever and is in fact a completely character-driven series. It's the type of good that feels way ahead of its time. It's basically the type of good you almost don't ever see in shounen anymore.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Well shit, guess I'm going to have to read Ashita no Joe asap!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

"Stand, Joe! Stand up and fight, Joe!"

-Last line of Ashita no Joe Part I

Remember when Kenji referenced that line in 20th Century Boys? Well, now that I've seen it in context, I finally understand just what it means, and all I'll say is that it's not referencing the type of situation that you probably expect it to. It's something MUCH heavier than a mere boxing match. But, yeah, I can see why this manga has earned its reputation as one of the best ever. Every great series that I like has that one moment where so much raw tension and emotion adds up in one sequence that I automatically realize that it's a favorite for me. The ending to Part I of the manga was that very moment for me. I can't wait to keep reading on!

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, there are no official English releases of ANJ (manga or anime), and I'm almost caught up with the fan translations which currently only go as far as volume 13 (and the series is 20 volumes long). And yes, it's still as awesome a manga as ever, so having to wait for new releases is going to be bitch.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I finished Akira before the movie aired on Toonami saturday. I loved it. It takes a while to really like the characters, but as the story goes on they become more endearing, Tetsuo particularly develops as an interesting villain. The plot is far more coherent and straight-forward than the anime film as well, which just helped me enjoy it more. The Great Tokyo Empire portion of the manga, the part the anime film does not adapt, is just a pretty damn great arc of manga and one of my favorites now. I will also say that 50% of what I love about the manga is Otomo's art. Seriously, this guy can fucking draw. Neo-Tokyo as a city is incredibly detailed, and feels like an authentic city, unlike in other manga where they just feel like backgrounds. And also...his battle scenes. Pure. Awesome. The last 40 pages of volume 3 is basically the entire explosion of Neo-Tokyo and it is jaw-dropping. Goddamn, I wish there was a proper anime adaption of the manga. The movie is amazing on every technical level and the plot isn't that bad for condensing as much as it did, but really, giving the story it's proper breathing room and getting to like the characters better, plus of course the sheer epicness of the battles in the manga, would probably make it one of the best anime ever. As it stands, though, I'm fine with just the manga and anime film, and both are favorites of mine now.

Anyway, I've been reading more Rinne and am on volume 4 now. Honestly...it's actually quite amusing. Rinne and Sakura are actually very different from Takahashi's usual leads, which is refreshing, and the sense of humor is more low-key but still feels classic Takahashi. It's nowhere near Ranma levels, much less Urusei Yatsura levels, of hilarity, but it's a great light read that suits my tastes just fine.

Speaking of Takahashi series, I randomly re-read volumes 22-36 of the Ranma 1/2 manga on a whim. I actually only planned to revisit the Musk Dynasty arc in volumes 22-23, but I ended up reading it all the way to the end. Man, I have to totally disagree with anybody who says Ranma starts to teeter in quality past the first Pantyhose Taro arc/mid-way through. For me, Ranma is consistently entertaining. Few of the stories I re-read didn't tickle my funny bone again. "Seeds of Doom" and "King of Debt" still have me in stitches, particularly. And plus, any Nodoka Saotome storyline is great. House of the Sea, House of the Mountain/Imposter Ranma is one of my favorite parts of the entire series and one of my favorite manga arcs in general. Overall Ranma just has enormous re-read value for me and I really can't wait to buy the omnibus re-releases. Though, I still wish the unarguably superior Maison Ikkoku and Urusei Yatsura would get some as well, but considering how obscure they seem to be among anime fans these days, it's probably never gonna happen.

And finally, E-K's gushing over Ashita no Joe made me desire to check out the series, and I certainly do love it. Joe is an entertaining, punk-ish character (which I always enjoy) and I love how it's taking it's time to set-up Joe actually getting interested and motivated to be a boxer at all. Though I have to say that Danpei steals his scenes for me. He wants to train Joe out of personal reasons, but he's got such a great heart and really does care for his well-being, even though Joe is such a jerk and abuses his trust. He's just one of those types of characters that really appeals to me, personally. But I do like Joe. I like protagonists who are kind of jerks but good(ish) people anyway and Joe certainly is that. He's got big visions of grandeur but goes about it in underhanded ways, and is quite the street-punk. But he's likable, again, and there are really plenty of scenes that really just make him feel very human to me, such as his outbursts at Danpei and that woman during his trial. It'll be cool to see how he grows into the iconic character he still is in Japan. The characters and plot are doing wonders for me, but that's not all. Yes, I'm not gonna lie, I love the classic manga-art style as well. To be honest it actually feels very Tezuka-like, but that was probably just the style back then. I'll have better thoughts on the series as I read more of it, but it's definitely living up to E-K's hype so far. 

So, there are no official English releases of ANJ (manga or anime), and I'm almost caught up with the fan translations which currently only go as far as volume 13 (and the series is 20 volumes long). And yes, it's still as awesome a manga as ever, so having to wait for new releases is going to be bitch.

Shit. I was hoping Mangahere was just slow on the updates. Boo, boo, I say boo! 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Glad to see that you're enjoying it! Just wait until the latter half of the Juvenile Prison arc, though. That's when the story REALLY starts, and Joe begins to become the iconic character that he's known as today. It's funny that I like Joe so much, since when you think about it, he's the archetypical hot-headed shounen character (in fact he probably freaking created that archetype). I was trying to discern what quality he had that made him stand out from the rest, and I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that, despite his attitude, he's a very human character. There's no better example of that than the ending to Part I of the manga. If that alone doesn't make this one of your favorite manga, then I don't know what will.

And yeah, Danpei is a terrific character, as is Nishi, who basically becomes Joe's best friend throughout the series. And then there's Rikiishi, who's by far the best rival character that I've ever seen in a shounen series.

Anyways, just keep reading. It only gets better and better as it goes along. It's no wonder that it's so highly regarded as a classic in Japan.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just caught up with the scans for ANJ. Man, it's going to be hell having to wait for new releases, especially considering that the manga has been completed for literally 40 years.

[Pharass]

Got the first issue/volume of Zorn & Dirna today. It's a French fantasy comic set in a world where ages ago Death was imprisoned by the king inside a magic mirror. As a result nobody dies anymore, the only downside to this is that people's bodies keep getting older, eventually beginning to rot (the king is an exception to the rule; looking at the mirror has stopped from aging). Those whose bodies have grown too old are sent away to get their heads chopped off, allowing their souls to escape their bodies. However, since the soul of the executed always take up residence in the executor's body, the only people assigned to head-chopping duty are condemned criminals. The main characters are a pair of siblings who both have the special power of killing people simply by touching them. Naturally, this leads to them being chased around by various individuals who'd like to use these powers for their own purposes.

The first issue (feels a bit weird to call it volume when it's only 48 pages long) mostly serves to introduce the characters and the world they inhabit. That said, I enjoyed it a lot; the characters are good and the concept is definitely intriguing. I'll stick around to see where it goes.

[gunswordfist]

Sounds very interesting.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Oh, Joe....your parallel parking skills are even worse than mine!

I love how I can somehow relate to even the most minor jokes in this manga.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I was thinking about reading the Winter Soldier story-line in preparation for the upcoming Captain America movie, and I had 2 questions about it:

1. Is this a good story-line worth reading?

2. Is there a single graphic novel compilation of it, or do I have to purchase it in separate volumes?

[gunswordfist]

I was just talking about him. I wonder if the story is good as well. I hear that it is.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I'm 860+ chapters into HnI. Man, for as much build-up as it received, that Miyata vs. Randy Boy Jr. fight was a real bore. Overall, the series was at itspeakduring it's first 400 chapters or so, and the first anime is better than the manga for cutting out the needless fluff and just focusing on all of the good stuff. That said, the series has still mostly been worth reading with high points like with Sawamura and Itagaki's match against Imai (which is pretty much the most interesting thing that his character ever did).

At this point in the manga, they are now gearing up for Ippo's next match, which I'm not too excited about if only because his opponent doesn't interest me that much yet. I kind of wish that we didn't have to go through all of these OBPF fights and instead Ippo could just go right ahead and directly challenge World Rankers. That's one thing that Ashita no Joe does much better. It skips through all of the fights that nobody really cares about and just gets straight to the interesting stuff.