What Are You Reading?

[Spark Of Spirit]

20th Century Boys greatest weakness is its slow start, but once you get passed it you quickly understand why it had that slow start.

It's needed.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'd also like to point out that I think the first act of the series is much more enjoyable on a re-read, and doesn't feel slow to me at all.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I don't entirely agree with you about 20th Century Boys. The story was all over the place for the first 50 chapters, yeah, but after that it was really well-focused until the final act of the story, which was initially a bit messy again but also regained its focus before long. As for Pluto, I do like it, but I definitely feel that 20th Century Boys had the stronger characters. Pluto had a lot of interesting characters as well, since that's Urasawa's strength as a writer, but I didn't find any single character in it to be quite as engaging as Kenji or Ocho were.

Also, if I'm to be honest, I actually do still like the parts of 20th Century Boys which weren't strictly linear. I called them messy since that's how you described those parts, but really they don't come off as messy at all after re-reading the story and knowing everything that encompasses the story throughout the timeline in retrospect. Have you only read 20th Century Boys once, or did you re-read it yet? I'd say that if you've only gone through it once, wait about a year or so and then try it again and see if those parts that you thought were all over the place don't make more sense to you as to why they were structured that way upon reading them again. While 20th Century Boys is not my favorite Urasawa manga, I do believe that it is actually more interesting to re-read time than it is on the first run through.

To be honest, pretty much all my minor problems with the series has to do with the 3FE part of the story. I actually have zero problems with how things happened and how the story progressed in the 1999 and 2014 arcs; in fact, the second part of the story is probably my favorite part, and focus shifts between characters a ton in that. However, when it was done in 3FE, going from Otcho, to those random kids, to Kanna, and then ultimately Kenji...that's were I felt kinda fatigued with the story. I felt that I got what the idea Urasawa was going for already (childhood should remain that, you have to grow up and accept the responsibilities of adulthood, etc.), so it just felt like it was taking longer than it needed to get to the finale, and the shifting focus between characters in that part kinda irritated rather than intrigued me at that point. So, I guess I shouldn't have said I had a problem with the shifting character focus and plotlines in the series overall; just when it comes to the 3FE part of the story. I do agree, though, that the very end of the arc and 21st Century Boys regains a consistent focus and builds to a satisfactory conclusion, but whereas Monster and Pluto was consistently engaging to me, 20th Century Boys had moments of the story where I was loosing interest, and while those moments occurred later on in the final act of the story, they still happened, and that affects my feelings towards the series overall when I compare it to Monster and Pluto. That said, I have only read it once (although, I only finished it, like, two weeks ago anyway so it's still fresh in my mind...), so it would be in my best interest to re-read the series at some point, but first time around I had little problems with anything in the first two parts of the story and it was only the third part which weakened the series for me, so I'm not sure if the re-read from the beginning with the knowledge of how the story plays out will significantly alter my opinion on that part.

As far as characters go, it's true that 20th Century Boys had a lot of great characters (my top favorites being in order: Yoshitsune, Kenji, Otcho, Manjome, and Koizumi), but Pluto has Gesicht, and keeps the focus of the story (even after he dies) on Gesicht, and developed his story and character in an excellent manner, and honestly, even if he is the most notable character in that manga, I like him much more than any 20th Century Boys character and that helps in my preference of Pluto to 20th Century Boys (reminder, though, it's a small preference. Pluto would probably be #8 on my favorites list and 20th Century Boys would be #9). Plus, I am sorta biased on the fact that Pluto is a re-interpreatation of an Astro Boy storyline and it's characters, and I found the contrasts between Urasawa and Tezuka's depictions of Atom and Dr. Tenma particularly intriguing, so that also helps play a role in my preference for Pluto as well. I love both manga, mind you, but right now I feel I enjoyed Pluto as a whole much stronger overall, and that's why I say I like it better than 20th Century Boys which had moments where I was loosing interest. That said, I will eventually give both mangas a good re-read at some point, so let's wait and see which I like better in, say, a year from now. 

[Angus]

I'm watching the third live-action movie now; it really compresses the series, and there's supposedly a different ending.

I remember having to re-read some of the volumes though to absorb what was going on.

[Pharass]

I haven't seen the live-action movies, are they any good?

The last comics I read were Banana Fish vol 7 by Akimi Yoshida and The Isle of 100,000 Graves by Fabien Vehlmann and Jason.

The seventh volume of Banana Fish is probably the most light-hearted one so far, with several humorous scenes. There's a heavy focus on the relationship between our ead characters Ash and  Eiji as well as the surrogate-father-son relationship between Ash and Max. At the same time, Akimi Yoshida keeps moving the plot forward as both heores and villains scheme against each other. I've seen Banana Fish referred to as the shoujo manga for people who don't like shoujo and although my exposure to the genre (whether in anime or manga format) is limited, I'd say that's a fairly apt description; I can't think of another shoujo manga like it.

The Isle of 100,000 Graves tells the story of a young girl named Gwenny who discovers a treasure map in a bottle. Believing that the map may lead her to her father, who went missing in search for a treasure years earlier, Gwenny enlists the aid of a pirate-crew. Soon they've ended up on the titular island, only to discover that it's name is more than apt: The Isle of 100, 000 Graves is home to a hangman's academy, wherein children are thought the fine arts of torture and execution.

If the above synopsis make it sound as if Isle is an unrelentingly grim tale it's not; Vehlmann and Jason have crafted an excellent adventure story with some truly memorable characters. I especially enjoyed the scenes at the hangman's academy, which is the source of several great moments of black humor.

[Spark Of Spirit]

They're pretty good adaptions. Definitely about as good a live action adaption as you could expect.

[gunswordfist]

I should finish watching the Lone Wolf And Cub films...

[Grave]

I found this manga app on my phone so right now I only have 5 series; Bleach, Psyren, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Hajime no Ippo, and Rurouni Kenshin. Eventually, I plan on getting Code Breaker simply because its by the same person that did SDK, and I like his artwork. Other than that, there's not much I really plan on reading or getting into.

As for HnI, great chapters for this week. It's probably not gonna happen, but I really hope this fight gets animated, because simply reading it does no justice. Because chapters seem to end so quickly, there's not much to go on except for the explanation from other characters. As bad as I'm making these chapters sound, they weren't. It's just I don't think it'll get animated.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, the current season of the anime is only around the mid-400's, chapter-wise, so it's certainly a long ways off. At any rate I'm still only on chapter 770, so it'll be at least a few more weeks before I'm caught up with the current manga.

[Daxdiv]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-11-09/animal-land-manga-final-volume-to-ship-next-march



Well, getting 14 volumes is pretty good run all things considering, especially for a monthly series that's been running since 2009.

[LumRanmaYasha]

ANIMAL LAND IS OVER ALREADY? NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But, at the same time, it's nice to know that it'll end without ever having horrible pacing like other manga. I really need to go out and start buying the volumes, especially now that I know the series has an ending point. Dax, have you read #8 yet? I need to get to it, but from what I heard, it may be the best volume yet!. 

And hopefully this means an anime adaption can happen soon, preferably through a good studio, and not a crappy cheap one like Toei, who did Zatch Bell. I love Animal Land a whole lot, so I'd really hope that if an anime for it gets made, it really is well-made, like the kind of love Attack on Titan got.

[Spark Of Spirit]

An anime would be great, actually. This is one story that would benefit from the animation.

It's a shame that its ending so soon, but at least if it gets an adaption it won't be stretched thin by clumps of useless episodes.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I don't feel like doing a lengthy update on my manga reading, so I'm going to keep this short.

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic - I've read up to chapter 138, which is where the anime is currently at, so I'll stop reading more of it until Kingdom is over, for now. I think the anime vastly improves the manga in it's re-editing of the story, moving scenes around, abridging or even omitting some elements of stories, combining it into a more cohesive, effective whole. However, that is not to say the manga's story is bad. The Balbadd arc in particular is excellent even in the manga and the anime actually changes very little to it other than making Ithnan the Weapons/Arms Dealer instead of it being half of the Banker, which admittedly is a pretty great change since it makes the Balbadd arc and Zagan arc flow better and have more weight, but I digress. Though, yeah, the Zagan arc is the part of the story most affected by the anime's changes, since the anime takes elements from the stuff after it back in Sindria, and honestly that plus other big changes makes it a much more intense arc in the anime. There are some nice moments in the manga like seeing what happened to Ahbmad and Sahbmad and Amon coming out to talk with Alibaba, but overall the material is much better executed in the way the anime presented it. The manga is alright, better than a lot of it's contemporaries, but I think the anime helps the story to be even better than it is, and that's pretty much all I can say about it atm.

Berserk - I've read through volume 21. People said the Conviction arc was filler, but I dunno, I enjoyed the heck out of it. Isidro, though...I dunno, Puck was alright, but another comic relief character that should probably be easily killings for demons but isn't for some reason? Not sure why Miura would add a character like that. I do like Farnese and her servant (forgotten his name atm), so I'm hoping they do shit in the future of the story since they probably are going to become Guts' allies at some point. The biggest gripe I have about the story though is Casca...and from what I've heard, she isn't going to get any better. She was such a great character, and now she's gone dumb and used as comic relief. Because she was raped. Bleh. But all of that aside...Berserk is officially one of my favorite manga. Trepidations I may have about what's ahead, but the Golden Age arc was incredible, one of the best story arcs I've read in manga, and for "filler" I enjoyed the hell out of the Conviction arc and was enthralled reading through #19-21. I know it seems sudden for me to so abruptly have warmed up to it if my reflections for the first seven volumes had indicated, but now that I've read this much of the story, and had time to re-read and reflect, I'm loving it. Same deal for Rurouni Kenshin, btw, that's also officially one of my top favorite manga now (though I'm not finished with it yet). So I'm still excited to read more of the story, wary of some...questionable, not so good stuff that might come down the line, but I don't think they'll be anything so bad as to make me not consider this series as one of my favorites, all the same.

And as far as the ongoing manga I keep up with are going,  One Piece is doing pretty great and I am pumped to see where this arc is going, Magi I've just started following but it's in a new arc and the past two comedy-relief chapters were amusing, I'm haven't been sure where Toriko is going ever since Midora killed the chairman, Case Closed is Case Closed which means it's consistently entertaining, I've randomly read the latest Rin-ne and it's not Takahashi at her best at all but it's Urusei/Ranma-y enough for me to try and catch up on it for now, Black Butler and Attack on Titan are doing decent though nothing has happened in them that I get excited for, and Bleach and Naruto I'm only reading because they are ALMOST FINALLY FUCKING OVER (though it'll probably be a good few months before they finish, but both should end next year), and both are mediocre but I'm willing to hang on to see them finish after investing years of my life knowing about these characters/story.

Overall I'm having fun in my manga reading. My current agenda is finishing Akira before Toonami airs it and Rurouni Kenshin before the month is done, both of which I can probably manage. Still need to read that Vinland Saga volume I bought, though...

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm 800+ chapters into HnI. By now the series has definitely been stuck in an undeniable formula, but it's still interesting enough to warrant reading and catching up with. That said, the first anime was perfect in that it literally covered the best parts of the story to begin with, before it started to lose steam and fluctuate in quality. Of course, the manga still has its high points even after that part of the story, which is why I keep reading it. If I were to redo my top 10 fights list, I'd now have to find room to include both Takamura vs. Brian Hawk AND Ippo vs. Sawamura on there. Those are some of the most exhilarating fights in any manga or anime series ever.

Also, I just started reading yet another Boxing manga out of curiosity, Ashita no Joe. I ADORE the classic art-style that you find in series like this, from back in the 60's to 70's. as for the series itself, I've only read the first chapter so far, so I can't say how I feel about it yet, but despite its age, it still looks like it could be a pretty strong series on the whole.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Ashita no Joe is usually considered a classic and one of the best manga/anime ever made. It wasn't just Bakuman that made that claim, it seems to be widely loved there.

Still need to read that Vinland Saga volume I bought, though...