What have you been reading?

The Core The Anime Forum
1

You know the deal. Manga version.

Fullmetal Alchemist
Rapidly snowballing to a conclusion as shit hits the fan all over the place and everyone without fail is somehow incredibly awesome and manly, even the women. Except Yoki, but he still does stuff. I can hardly describe just how much more I like this version. Next chapter promises some bit of catharsis I’ve been wanting to see for years. (Not actual dialogue)

Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang
The LONG awaited ending to the inexplicably canceled manga.

Mx0
Guy gets enrolled in magic academy by mistake as he has no magic powers whatsoever, yet because of his explosive entrance, everyone thinks he’s a super elite genius. An actually awesome school-based shonen “action” manga with a character that wins stuff purely by clever convincing bullshitting and inventive use of limited abilities, is not a moron and has an awesome sidekick. Until chapter 99, where Shonen Jump’s inexplicably retarded policies canceled it even though it was among the best-selling of its middle-profile series. It’s very fun while it lasts though.

Gantz
Kurono is back, stuff got interesting, all is right with the world. Oku is still a slow fuck though.

Negima
Through some miraculous “A Christmas Carol”-kinda development which must have happened circa Volume 6, Ken Akamatsu discovered how to write an actually interesting story with good characters and fun jokes. A severe genre-shift later, it’s become one of my favorite currently running action mangas. Though the fact that I’m sick of Bleach and this does right everything Bleach fucks up probably has a lot to do with it.

Hiatus X Hiatus
The story of how Togashi keeps making retarded excuses related to fictional cancer treatments oddly matching Dragon Quest release dates and hordes of fans still buying his sketch-I-doodled-in-the-bathroom crap. There was something about a kid looking for his father too, but everyone forgot about that already.

My Balls.
Yes, that’s really the title. Loser accidentally gets the queen of hell imprisoned inside his right testicle. If he can keep himself from ejaculating for a month, the world is saved, else it’ll be Armageddon. You can probably guess how the “story” goes. Largely NSFW. So-bad-it’s-good kinda deal.

AirGear
Oh! Great once again proves that he’s an awesome artist but should really get someone else to write for him, as the actually fun roller skater manga becomes a multi-national secret conspiracy involving artificial humans, space technology and virtual realities. Featuring Barack Obama swapping bodies with a Japanese schoolgirl. I am not making this up.

2

FMA
Gantz
(Need to start on Shaman King Again to see the ending)
Bleach
Berserk (why is the guy that makes this so damn lazy!?)

Bakuman
From the creator of Death Note.
A story about some kids who are doing their best in order to get a manga published and made into an anime. The main character is determined to achieve this goal as his love interest becomes a voice actor. They’ve promised to wed when both of their dreams have been realized. Funny and teaches a bit about the manga world. Its an interesting read.

3

FMA: I can’t wait for April when I can watch this instead of waiting for the Glacial releases.
Excel Saga: far more coherent than the Anime (still not saying much though).
Monster: I like this series but I’ve been away for too long. :frowning:
Battle Angel Atilta: same as Monster but for even longer. D:
Naussica: same as the previous two but for even longer still. >o<

4

FMA: Oh hellz yeah the next chapter should prove to be awesome.

Bleach: Eeehhhh, at this point I’m reading Bleach out of habit, I admit. The development in this week’s chapter I saw coming a mile away, and just cements the current arc as a sad replica of the Soul Society arc, in my opinion. I’m still holding out some hope that Kubo can surprise us, but one way or another Hueco Mundo needs to end.

One Piece: Impel Down is shaping up to be an awesome arc, and the latest chapter was pretty surprising. The pacing is a lot better than Bleach could ever do, as well. >_>

Excel Saga: I missed the latest volume, I need to pick it up ASAP. But I always enjoyed the manga over the anime.

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken: It’s Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball’s lovechild, really. An original DQ story done by Akira Toriyama. Finished ages ago in Japan, the fan scanslations aren’t done yet though. Tends to update in spurts.

D.Gray-Man: Every now and then I remember this series exists and catch up on it all in one big chunk. It’s interesting as I read it, but I’m never compelled to check it weekly for some reason.

5

FMA: I still like the anime better. The explanation of the homunculi there make for a much tighter story. The manga is good alone, too.

Claymore: This is only a once a month thing, I guess. Too bad.

Naruto: Hinata, aww. I told the bunch I’d watched the show with in college that someday that girl was going to flatten a city. I continue reading the series only out of a twisted hope for such.

Bleach: When I want to procrastinate.

Negima: I feel like a bad person. Whatever his less savory habits, Akamatsu really does draw some of the best fantasy battles. The fights can be simply stunning.

<small>Why do I feel like I’m just switching around the words from “I only read it for the articles?”</small>

Dragon Quest Dai no etc etc: I loved this at first, but it just drags on and on and on.

6

Ouran- It began as a shoujo making fun of all other shoujo and then started developing all the characters so that there was more to them than just being rich pretty boys. I really liked this change and am excitedly waiting for the next chapter.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles-Having read or am familiar with most of Clamp’s other work this series really drew me in. As most folk know Clamp either writes happy happy fun time manga or rocks fall everyone dies. It’s really nice to see a lot of those dead characters that I grew to love so much living and doing well in alternate universes. It also has a lot of plot twists that I wasn’t expecting. Though I do admit at this point in the manga I am more than a little confused to what Exactly is going on.

xxxHolic-Yuko is an amazing character and I love her clothes.

Perfect Girl Revolution-I started reading this one right about when I was shoujoed out but I still really enjoy it. The first few chapters just created such an interesting main female lead.

Gokusen-This one makes me laugh a lot. It’s always fun to see Yankumi beat people up or run from the cops.

Kobato-Clamp has another adorable character with more unique side characters with mysteries surrounding them and pretty outfits. It’s cute and I am confused as to what is going on.

The One-The clothes are pretty.

Naruto

Skip Beat- Best Shoujo I have read in a long while. Granted it’s already 22 volumes in(or maybe 20) and the female lead hasn’t even considered that she might be in love with the lead male so that could be frustrating. Except it isn’t! Because watching her grow up is much more interesting.

7

I’ve been flipping through the various Read or Die series when I get the chance, but haven’t been able to do so in awhile. Online, I’ve been giving Detective Conan and Pokemon Special (which is way better than the anime, let me tell you) a look. I’ve been meaning to look for some new stuff to read.

8

I forgot to add Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei. The Anime is not like the Manga.

9

Not sure if it counts, but Lone Wolf and Cub. That is some awesome material, there.

10

Last manga I read was 20th Century Boys.

Fucking epic shit.

11

Priest - Decently good about a Catholic Priest that ends up selling his soul to a demon and the following battles between the demons rivals.

Black Lagoon - Enjoyed the Anime. Enjoying the Manga.

Judas - Re-reading it. Possibly one of the greatest mangas ever written – and yes it is about that Judas.

12

Good lord…

I just read through the bulk of Mirai Nikki…

It’s like they rolled Fate/Stay Night, Higurashi, Excel Saga, and Now and Then, Here and There into one massive WTF!?! Sandwich.

13

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles: Started this awhile back, need to get some money to continue with it.

Dragonabll Z: Yeah, story line is already falling down the crapper(I’m at volume 16), but at least the fights are cool and there’s very little between each fight. :smiley:

King of Hell: Nice action manga. Main character is funny as he is getting completely screwed over at every angle. Need to jump back into this.

Code Geass: I got the Episode 0 graphic novel recently, planning on starting on the series, but I don’t know if I should start with Lelouch or Suzaku.

MAR(Marchen Awakens Romance): Weird little series, but it’s purely a fun read. Need to jump back into this one as well.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist: I like the manga WAY more then the anime and I really wish I had the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga.

And that’s probably all…There may be more…

14

Been trying to get around to getting caught up on FMA, but have been busy getting sidetracked by Watchmen and Sam & Max. I was following scanslations of some of the Getter Robo mangas, but I lost track of them.

15

Read through a ton of Fairy tail chapters, caught up on that now.

Started Reading the Gakuen Alice manga, realized a bunch of chapters aren’t translated and stopped at like volume 4.

Keeping up on Claymore and Zombie Loan.

Also paying attention to berserk, but I haven’t had much interest in it for a while due to focusing on the band of the hawk for months of releases.

And considering starting on Skip beat since the anime is done and might not continue to another season.