Discussion What Manga Do You Read?

[Leen]

Eileen, you shouldn't recommend something you've never tried. You may have a whole different opinion :P

I've met plenty of people who didn't like One-Piece - KnK, Occa, Nana, among others.

Yeah, maybe I am one of them as well.

 

[Orochimaru-chan]

Mmmmm, I read of course Naruto, Im here arent I besides that, I read and re-read Hunter X Hunter, One Piece, D. Gray Man, Level-E, Yu yu Hakusho, Hellsing, Saiyuki, Black Cat, Slam dunk, Deathnote, FMA, Gundam Wing, Goth and RK.

 

[Gold Knight]

Add Hajime no Ippo and Berserk to the list of manga I've recently gotten into reading.

Oh, and I neglected to mention I was also reading Full Metal Alchemist but I stopped some time ago, planning to come back to it tho.

 

[Miso]

At the moment I'm reading Naruto, Bleach and One Piece.
Additionally I'm waiting for the new chapters of Skip Beat.

 

[Gold Knight]

Skip Beat?

 

[Tanuki-dono]

I'm not even going to start on what I have read. I'd waste too much time. I'll just list a few things that I have bought or downloaded lately. Let's see... In the past months, I've downloaded Naruto, of course - and Bleach. I still buy Rurouni Kenshin, and it's finally gotten to one of the most interesting parts - Enishi! Years ago, I can remember emailing different companies about picking the series up. Haha. We had so many silly petitions... Those were the days. In addition to these, I've picked up various issues of Please Save My Earth, Berserk, Vagabond, Maison Ikkoku, Tokyo Babylon, Death Note, XXXHolic, Loveless, Ranma 1/2 (one of the oldies from years ago that I still buy) and Blade of the Immortal lately. Blade of the Immortal is wonderful. The artwork is amazing and the storytelling style is really engaging. I highly recommend that to anyone.

 

[Gold Knight]

^ Yeah, I bet there WERE some hungry RK manga-fans since the anime came out first in America... well, Viz is doing a fantastic job of translating Rurouni Kenshin - it's the best job I've seen from Viz. Though compared to Viz's other projects (see Naruto, which I still prefer the fan-scans), that doesn't sound like much - but it's really an excellent job by them.

You seem to be reading some series I've hardly ever heard of - tho I've heard of Blade of the Immortal. Could you describe the premise and is there somewhere I can download that?

 

[kadoman]

I doubt very much you would be able to download Blade of the Immorta by lHiroaki Samura.  It's been in print for a number of years now, and is easy to obtain.

It is, without a doubt, the best manga I have ever read.  The story telling is intelligent and the art work, man...you ain't seen nothing like this art.  Hope you guys don't mind if I jump in with my opinion of it - would be interested in knowing what others think. 

This is the blurb:
Manji, a ronin warrior of feudal Japan has been cursed with immortality.  To rid himself of this curse, regain his mortality and end his life of misery, Manji must slay 1000 evil men.

His quest begins when a young girl seeks his help in taking revenge on her parents’ killers.  His quest ends only when he has spilled the blood of a thousand.

My opinion: 
That this manga is not more popular is mind boggling to me.  I suppose it’s because it’s not going to appeal to the very young or the weak of stomach. This is one of those titles so good, it’s heartbreaking to read it a) because it is that gripping and b) you don’t want to go through the agony of having to finish it.

In Japan it won the prestigious Media Arts Award and in America, it won the 2000 Eisner Award.  Not hard to see why. 

Firstly, the artwork is staggering in its beauty, its detail and its depiction of realistic people living in an unforgiving feudal environment.  Characters are usually dirty and spend a lot of time scratching themselves and picking things out of their hair.  They haven’t washed for a long time (they’re on the road) and often bare foot.  They’re always hungry (though unlike in Naruto, this is not comic relief, but adds to the build up of tension). 

In terms of style, the characters are drawn leaning towards more realistic human features, as opposed to your standard, say Gundam Seed type.

The storytelling is sophisticated, aimed at the more discerning and mature reader and involves many plot twists and complications, lots of double-crossing and foul play but all played out very subtly and convincingly. 

By the nature of the themes it explores, this is an extremely violent title, though the violence never feels gratuitous. 

It’s at volume 14 right now (15 is being released in a couple of weekes) and is on-going.  Releases are slow.  I think, because the manga-ka works very methodically on it.  Dark Horse publishes it (so it’s a little pricey).   It should be easily available anywhere you buy manga.  This is totally worth the asking price.  The best manga series out there for sure.

 

[holmes221]

Naruto
Bleach
Prince of Tennis
Shanaou Yoshitsune
Detective Conan
Detective Academy Q
Ryuurouden - Legend of Dragon's Son
Doraemon ^_^

 

[Gold Knight]

kadoman, since you've already pretty much covered all the bases, why not post your recommendation over in Manga Recommendations? ^^

Ah, and it IS available to download at http://gotlurk.net/ ( you have to know how to use irc )

# 751 1253x 36M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v01.zip
# 752 976x 29M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v02.zip
# 753 928x 37M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v03.zip
# 754 860x 37M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v04.zip
# 755 836x 26M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v05.zip
# 756 795x 29M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v06.zip
# 757 776x 40M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v07.zip
# 758 767x 36M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v08.zip
# 759 752x 38M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v09.zip
# 760 757x 45M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v10.zip
# 761 742x 46M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v11.zip
# 762 566x 50M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v12[m-s].zip
# 763 602x 56M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v13[m-s].zip
# 764 938x 67M Blade_of_the_Immortal_v14[m-s].zip
# 765 1030x 20M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c99[nagi].zip
# 766 1035x 44M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c100.rar
# 767 1116x 18M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c101[Blasty-DCP].cbr
# 768 1050x 15M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c102[Oroboros-DCP].cbr
# 769 859x 14M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c103[BigBlue-DCP].cbr
# 770 1044x 12M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c104[BigBlue-DCP].cbr
# 771 886x 15M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c105[BigBlue-DCP].cbr
# 772 687x 27M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c106[BigBlue-DCP].rar
# 773 731x 19M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c107[Bizarro-SSS].cbr
# 774 414x 16M Blade_of_the_Immortal_c108[BigBlue-DCP].rar

 

[Tanuki-dono]

Hm. I think kadoman pretty much summed up the strengths of the manga. While it is violent, I really enjoy the psychological messages within. The "bad" guys, especially Anotsu, are not clearly cut into the realm of black. Much of the characterization falls into gray area. The ideaology of the Itto-Ryu is very interesting. One of my favorite sentences from a young Anotsu - "Even a monkey can be a samurai." He was disgusted with the suicide tradition in order to preserve honor, saying that even animals can die, and it's more courageous to live despite your shame. He is seeking to unite all the dojos under his school. Anyway. Ver~y interesting opposition. As for Manji and Rin. Manji is your basic cool guy with issues and Rin is a very dynamic character. You'd enjoy this manga, I think. Let me know what you think. ^~

 

[Gold Knight]

I'll definitely check it out then, probably within the next week, Erin ^^

 

[kadoman]

Ah!  Ok Gold Knight, I'll post my opinion of it there.  I didn't know it was available for download. Also didn't know, by the looks of it, that they're at 18 volumes...not fair! We wait so long for ours! Ah well...

 

[Gold Knight]

Thanks kadoman =)

Yeah... a lot of stuff is available on irc, and it sounded like Blade of the Immortal is one of these manga that would have a cult following at least by your description of it and that's usually enough for it to have a place in a bot somewhere that it could be downloaded on irc So I looked and, yup.

Lucky for me I guess - hopefully the translations/Edited Mangas aren't too bad, tho. But maybe if I like it enough I'll look into buying it.

 

[venicia777]

i have too many to list up here. but currently i am reading
gantz
naruto
Rurounin Kenshin
One piece
Mai Otome
Berserk &
Bleach

 

[kadoman]

Yeah, Blade of the Immortal is definitely a title that ought to be purchased! You'll have to let us know your opinion of it when you get time.

Speaking of Rurouni Kenshin, it's at no.23 in bookstores finally! Nearly at the end of the series. Although I've seen the anime and downloaded the later volumes, I still get gripped by sadness when I go to read my latest bought copy! I can' t help it! Aww...man...it tugs on the ol' strings...poor Kenshin, he is constantly suffering!

 

[Gold Knight]

Rurouni Kenshin will be the first complete manga collection I'll ever have - I remember when I was only halfway through the series and thinking (because I knew it ended at volume 28) that boy I wish there wasn't an end in sight. XD

But after finishing it the other day online, I'm glad there was a conclusion and that I got to experience it ^^ Still buying the rest of the volumes tho.

And will do on Blade of the Immortal ^^

 

[glasskatana]

read or am reading:
naruto
Rurouni kenshin
yu yu hakusho
Inuyasha
fullmetal alchemist
Scryed
samurai deeper kyo

 

[Calibur]

currently reading:

• Naruto
• Fullmetal Alchemist
• Berserk

damn those last two! a month release only T_T
will post the last two on the "recommended thread" later

 

[Snake1786]

Naruto, bleach,Vagabond and Barfuß durch Hiroshuma (I dont know what the english name is).