What Are You Reading?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Someone edited the Wiki article then, because it said 1966 when I looked into it a couple months back. I'm 100% certain of this. Ill try to find another source though.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Waiting for the new episode of Stardust Crusaders was just killing me, so to get my fix I just blew through the first two volumes of the part in the manga. Man, JoJo's is just so damn addicting. I really love how creative, over the top, and crazy each and every fight has been so far. It seems less ambitious than part two in terms of the story, at least so far, but it also has a classic adventure vibe going for it on top of fun characters, humor, and, of course, fight scenes, and great cliffhangers at the end of each chapter makes it a hell of a page-turner. I'm really looking forward to seeing it all animated.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

One day I'm going to learn Japanese just so I can read the rest of Takamori's untranslated works.

While most of his works are sports series, I've noticed one stand-out is Ai to Makoto, which is a romance story, but it must still be pretty popular to have gotten a film adaptation as recently as in 2012 (and directed by Takashi Miike, no less).

[Pharass]

My copy of Templar written by Jordan Mechner and drawn by Leuyen Pham and Alex Puvilland arrived today. I had read the first part of the story earlier, when it was published under the name Solomon's Thieves a few years back and I had been waiting too find out what happened ever since. Well, now the wait is over and I have to say it was worth the wait: Mechner, Pham & Puvilland delivers a splendid adventure story, featuring everything that the genre requires, from heavily flawed yet likable heroes to dangerous, scheming villains. Highly recommended.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm almost fully caught up with REAL (at least what scans of it are out so far). This manga is absolutely stellar. If you liked Slam Dunk at all, this is definitely worth checking out just to see how much Inoue Tatsuhiko has improved as a writer since then.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Blew through the first volume of The Legend of Koizumi today. Man, I wish I knew more about Japanese politics and mahjong, because I would probably love this manga even more if I did. But even without not knowing how the game works or what kind of person the actual Koizumi is, it's still a hilarious over-the-top political mahjong manga that's also clearly parodying old-school shonen series. And for the politicians I do recognize, like Bush, Bush Sr., Kim Jong Il, and Putin, I fucking love their characterizations and how ridiculous they are (W. Bush being a whiny daddy's boy is hilarious, as is Bush Sr.'s portrayal as a total badass). It's a fun, funny manga and because it's a quick read and only 9 volumes thus far I'll get back to reading more of it soon as the summer starts (I can't wait to get to the part where Hitler becomes "The Legendary Super Aryan.") 

[LumRanmaYasha]

Over a third done with Stardust Crusaders, having finished the "Death 13" story. My favorite fight so far has got to be "The Lovers" as it's the first time Jotaro can't just punch his enemy into submission, but has to bide his time while letting Kakyoin and Polnareff try to take out The Lovers inside Joseph brain. I also liked how The Lovers, and Steely Dan, are in actuality really weak physically, but the way Steely Dan uses The Lovers makes it incredibly deadly and dangerous. And I thought HxH's Nen made for interesting abilities, but Stands just blow them out of the water in terms of how creative and varied they are. Togashi must have been inspired by Stands when he made Nen powers, methinks. I'm really enjoying the series so far, so much that I just can't stop reading it when I get the chance. I don't know if I like it better than Battle Tendency yet, since that's stills stronger plot-wise, but I love the battles and characters in this arc a whole lot, which is why it's such a fun read for me. Jotaro might not be as interesting a protagonist as Joseph, but he's surrounded by fun, interesting characters in Kakyoin, Joseph, and Polnareff, so it balances out, and there are a lot of great character interactions and moments. I'll probably finish SC by the end of next week, since I don't feel like reading anything else except it and Black Jack when it comes to manga right now, and a volume of SC just takes maybe 40 minutes to read on average cause it's so battle-heavy.

Also a third done with my Black Jack re-read. Since after next Friday I'll essentially be done with the important stuff I have to do this semester (well, I've got one major assignment left after next week, but it shouldn't be too hard to find time to do it), I'm going to try finishing the entire series by the end of next weekend.

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Yeah, part of the reason JoJo (and SC in particular) became as popular as it did was the introduction of Stands. They were a real game changer that meant Araki could do some truly...well...bizarre things in his fights that you didn't see anywhere else. It also meant that characters had to rely more on their wits to win a fight, rather then brute strength. I think part of the reason SC isn't as strong plot wise as BT is that it uses the whole "stand user of the week" format so different kinds of Stands could be experimented with. Just wait until you get to Egypt. 

And while I agree Jotaro isn't as interesting as Joseph, I''l admit that he has grown on my a bit. Really they're aren't any main characters in JoJo that I've disliked so far.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah, part of the reason JoJo (and SC in particular) became as popular as it did was the introduction of Stands. They were a real game changer that meant Araki could do some truly...well...bizarre things in his fights that you didn't see anywhere else. It also meant that characters had to rely more on their wits to win a fight, rather then brute strength. I think part of the reason SC isn't as strong plot wise as BT is that it uses the whole "stand user of the week" format so different kinds of Stands could be experimented with. Just wait until you get to Egypt. 

Well, I've known for a while now that Stands were the big reason why JoJo's got popular (and why part 3 is the most popular), but now that I've seen them in action, I can totally see why.  And since I love wit-based fights rather than strength based ones (one of the biggest reasons why I love YYH and HxH), I absolutely adore what I've seen so far, even though the story is a mostly villain/stand of the week affair. 

I'm actually at Egypt already! Just finished volume 8. I was wondering when Iggy'd show up.   

Really they're aren't any main characters in JoJo that I've disliked so far.

Polnareff is my favorite.

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Just finished volume 8. I was wondering when Iggy'd show up.   

He first shows up in volume 9, the same time the Egyptian God stands start appearing.

Polnareff is my favorite.

Kakyoin's mine. (Well, besides Joseph of course)

[LumRanmaYasha]

Just finished volume 8. I was wondering when Iggy'd show up.   

He first shows up in volume 9, the same time the Egyptian God stands start appearing.

The first volume he appears in is volume 8 in Viz's official english print version, which is what I refer to. 

Kakyoin's mine. (Well, besides Joseph of course)

Kakyoin's awesome! I love him too, but Polnareff just walks the line between being badass and a total goofball while also having the most "heart" among the team, which is why I find him the most endearing to me (besides Joseph, who I still like best when factoring in part 2).

[VLordGTZ]

The first volume he appears in is volume 8 in Viz's official english print version, which is what I refer to. 

You're reading Viz's translation, CX?

Polnareff is my favorite.

[LumRanmaYasha]

The first volume he appears in is volume 8 in Viz's official english print version, which is what I refer to. 

You're reading Viz's translation, CX?

No, I'm reading scans, but I'm tracking my progress through how many volumes there are in Viz's release.

Besides...there is only 1 chapter of Stardust Crusaders in volume 12 of the overall series. I hardly think that's enough to think of that volume as the first volume of the arc. Viz's version just moves that chapter into what was originally volume 13, so for my money, part 3 is 16 volumes long, not 17.

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Just finished volume 8. I was wondering when Iggy'd show up.   

He first shows up in volume 9, the same time the Egyptian God stands start appearing.

The first volume he appears in is volume 8 in Viz's official english print version, which is what I refer to. 

Yeah, I recently realized I've been reading a different translation from the Viz realse, which explains why the names aren't changed.

Kakyoin's mine. (Well, besides Joseph of course)

Kakyoin's awesome! I love him too, but Polnareff just walks the line between being badass and a total goofball while also having the most "heart" among the team, which is why I find him the most endearing to me (besides Joseph, who I still like best when factoring in part 2).

Agreed. 

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah, so, I finished reading Stardust Crusaders about two hours ago. I couldn't help it. I just didn't feel like doing anything else until I had finished it; it was just that damn good to me. And boy, were those final battles fucking intense. From D'Arby the Gambler all the way to the final bout with Dio, I was on the edge of my seat and just had to keep going and going because it was all so damn engrossing. And man, the fight with Vanilla Ice, fucking brutal, more so than even the fight with Dio, imo. I also finally came around to Jotaro, and really appreciate his calm but calculating personality. He's not as fun as Joseph, but I do think he's a great and interesting character in his own right. So, in the end, I loved all the main characters of Stardust really strongly.

I guess I am somewhat disappointed with Dio, because I felt that he didn't really have the charisma to him he had in the first part, but he was still an excellent villain. I loved the final battle between Jotaro and Dio. It was a tense life and death struggle the whole time, and only barely did Jotaro achieve victory, but when he did, it was so, so satisfying. Overall, reading part 3 has really shown me just why this series is so loved, and why people consider it the pinnicle of the battle shonen genre. Because it is. Honestly, I have not seen a series that had so many varied battles, so many of them non-violent and physical even, with so much creativity, and never a overused element. Not just the fights, every character was likable without the annoying cliche behaviors one expects of battle-shonen characters. Hell, Joseph's silliness aside, the cast felt like genuinely real people, and they said and did things that "normal" people would do, at least as far as that description applies to manga. Now, while I don't think part 3's story as a whole is better than part two's, I also think it's strong in it's own right and fascinatingly so considering that it took the format of villain of the week battles and made it into something incredibly addictive but never repetitive. I loved Battle Tendency, but it's Stardust Crusaders that has finally pushed Jojo's into my being one of my all time favorite manga now, and not only that, but my all time favorite Shonen Jump manga as well. It just has it all. I look forward to reading Diamond is Unbreakable and beyond as soon as the summer rolls around.