Over on Instagram there's a pretty large #manga community. I am hoping to find more of that same community over here.
Who here is talking about manga? What manga are you reading? If you are a physical manga person, are you posting pics of your manga? Can you point me to your account so I can see them? I share my pics on my Pixelfed account here: @mdmrn@pixtagram.social
Currently Reading: A ton of weeklies (One Piece, Roboco, etc), Hi Score Girl, Frieren, and Fist of the North Star to name a few.
Let's talk manga.
@mdmrn Looks like that hashtag has plenty of posts and conversations. Try searching and/or following it to find your people.
@wordsmith Oh, I have. A lot of folks using this particular hashtag use it for blog posts. Which is helpful for finding them, but I'm leaning more towards finding folks chatting about manga.
I haven't followed that hashtag, yet, tho, that's a good idea to set it up as a column so I can see it more continuously.
@mdmrn@urusai.social @mdmrn@pixtagram.social
Occasionally, I am posting some of the Manga I am reading.
I have a bit of a backlog, but I have also fallen down a bit of a Girls Love hole, so currently when I do talk about it it is in relation to those.
My hope is that setting up a posting schedule where I will do a weekly post about Manga I am reading, as I have both Fruits Basket and Full Metal Alchemist to read through on top of all the other things I am trying to finish
@ishambard Oh I hear you on getting a backlog. I have a handful of new manga I got (and library reads) waiting to be read.
OOOH! I loved the FMA manga. Hope you are enjoying it.
And you got this!
Oh yeah, I started reading it back in 2011. After watching the original run of the anime with my then Girlfriend.
I have only now gotten around to buying all the volumes that I hadn't bought.
That is the original TokyoPop run of the manga as well!
Annoyingly, i can't find the most recent picture. I took my copies of FMA, but you can see them in the bottom right!
@ishambard Oh wow! And is that the TokyoPop run of Love Hina I see too?
Wow!
I read FMA via my library network, which was very helpful. Some day, I may get it myself. Today is not that day
That was the first series I bought. Volumes 5 and 6 were the first ones to be precise. They are looking a little dogearred these days
I also recently picked up copies of the Love Hina Light Novel. Should be an interesting read.
I should note that bookcase is double deep. Behind those volumes is a bunch load of other things.
My current goal is to finish the series I like, and get rid of things I have no intention of reading or completing.
@ishambard Oh neat!
And I totally get that about clearing out stuff. I tend to only buy physical of anything if I think I'll re-read it again OR I think my kids will end up reading it. Otherwise, I tend to get things digitally or use my library network.
And the Love Hina Light Novels? Wild!! That series was such a mess, but a fun mess. I read the manga digitally and watched the anime what feels like a LIFETIME ago. I was 18 back then...and I'm 41 now. So yea, it was a lifetime ago
A friend of mine showed me the anime when I was 17, and I loved it.
I remember reading somewhere that the manga was quite different, I believe it was a forum post about which girl was the worst in terms of punishing Keitaro. Someone mentioned that Shinobu is a harmless darling, to which someone replied that she totally kicks him in the balls in the manga (accidentally).
It being different was enough for me to look for the Manga. I managed to find in a bookstore chain (Waterstones), this was back in, like, 2008? At that time, the Manga section of the store was a shelf on a tiny bookcase. They had volumes 5 and 6 there. So I snapped them up.
Much to my delight volume 5 has the aforementioned kick to the balls delivered by Shinobu.
@ishambard Wild! I watched the anime in like...2001-2002. I read SOME of the manga Around then too. But, not much of it.
Then I read the whole thing about two years ago. It hit differently at 19 than it did at 40
Before I read the Light Novels, I intend to re-read the Manga, as the Light Novels take place at... Umm.... Some point.
I have been meaning to re-read Love Hina anyway, so it will be interesting to see how an older Ishambard views it.
I might have to give a lot of series I have a re-read as it has been a very long time since I read, like, Yotsuba&!, Lucky Star...
Might give Mahoramatic a skip though... I liked the concept, but the level of nudity really caught me by surprise and owning it now feels a little seedy
@ishambard Fair
Re-reading series you read before at a different place in life can be very interesting.
For sure.
I remember re-reading Comic Party a couple of years ago. I had to take a moment and digest how much the chapter on Ohba Eimi resonated with where I was mentally at that time.
I might have to pull up the exact panels and pages tonight
@mdmrn@urusai.social @mforester @mdmrn@pixtagram.social currently reading quite a mixture:
Lone Wolf and Cub
SPYxFAMILY
Bocchi the Rock!
Battle Angel Alita
@COMPU73E @mforester Oooh! That's a nice mix. I love me some Spy X Family. And I read all of Battle Angel Alita and the sequel series, Last Order. I still haven't read "Mars Chronicles" Have you? Or are you not yet that far into the series?
I got all of Lone Wolf and Cub in a Humble Bundle a while back. I like it, but I keep forgetting about it At some point, I need to go back to it and keep reading it!
And I have heard great things about Bocchi. Never read any of it or seen the anime.
@mdmrn @mforester I read the original Alita series, then bought the 5 volumes of Last Order omnibus thinking that would be the whole thing, got to the end of omnibus volume 5 and then found out that it continues in the individual issues 16-19 which aren't collected. 16 and 17 are out of print and very expensive, and I'm really not happy lol
I love Bocchi so much. The manga is fantastic (it's my first 4koma) and they did an amazing job with the anime (Kessoku Band rule)
@COMPU73E @mforester Ooh nice on the 4koma. I've only read a few, my favorite being Azumanga Daioh! I own the omnibus of that one.
Last Order was also in a digital Humble Bundle a while back, so I own all of that, original Alita, and some of Mars Chronicles digitally. But, of course, this was years ago and more Mars Chronicles has happened since!
@mforester @COMPU73E It's always worth double checking your Humble Bundles! Sometimes I forget what I had
@mdmrn @mforester LWaC is unbelievable. just epic. the manga of the time was so far ahead of western comics in terms of the sophistication of the writing and the quality of the art, it's unreal. I still can't quite believe it came out in the early 1970s
I had the same feelings when I read Lady Snowblood last year, also by Koike. it took western comics at least 15-20 years to catch up
@mforester @mdmrn oh man, I LOVED the Lady Snowblood manga. so violent. so beautiful. I couldn't stop thinking about it
I've been reading comics my whole life and it's one of the best comics I ever read
@COMPU73E @mforester Oooh!! I will have to check my Bundle to see if I have it too.
@mdmrn I mostly buy physical manga for little dude (my 11yo nephew), I want to get some volumes in Japanese for learning purposes — or so I tell myself — I'll probably go with Pokémon Adventures or Doraemon to start with. I recently read The Fable and now I'm reading One Punch Man, after that I'm planning to start Fist of The North Star.
@maxalmonte14 Nice! My kids read...some manga. Largely silly stuff like the Animal Crossing manga or Chi's Sweet Adventure. The Pokemon ones are good too.
I love Fist of the North Star. Just got the most recent physical release at Christmas. Still need to read it! It's so intense and has a LOT to say about toxic masculinity for a series about big, beefy dudes beating each other up until they explode.
@mdmrn little dude likes all the Shōnen stuff like Jujutsu Kaisen and Solo Leveling, I don't necessarily approve but if his parents are OK with it I won't be the one to tell him no
I'm not gonna lie, I mostly want to read Fist of The North Star after watching the J drama My Housekeeper Mr. Nagisa, they kept dropping references to it and I was at a loss.
@maxalmonte14 Maybe Demon Slayer may be another good one. My 13 year old got super into it in the past year.
Fist of the North Star is great, but oh so violent. Early 80s beefy dudes beating on one another. I love it, though.
@mdmrn Demon Slayer is pretty good, I already read the manga, the ending was kinda weird tho... I'm thinking of getting the whole collection for little dude but I'll have to check with him first, these kids nowadays change interests pretty quickly. And yeah, I know Fist of The North Star is this violent, over the top, weird thing, I hope the humor is good so it can balance the whole thing.
@maxalmonte14 The ending was...odd for Demon Slayer. Felt very rushed.
There's not a TON of humor in Fist of the North Star, per say. It's very 80s post-apocalyptic. I really enjoy it, but I recognize what it is.
@mdmrn I totally dig a post apocalyptic story, I usually like a bit of humor with my Japanese media — I find Japanese humor hilarious — but that's OK, I liked Akira and the tone was pretty serious, Vagabond was good too, pretty violent and serious story, created by the author of Slam Dunk of all people
@mdmrn I’m staying away from weekly/unfinished as I feel the intensity drops a lot that way. By the time I’m sucked in again the pages are over.
So I’m currently reading Ranma 1/2 and Aa megami-sama. Because I’m on a go back and read the classics in their entirety kick.
(Also reading Tying the knot with an Amagami sister and kicking myself for it because it’s really good, and I’ve read all what is available, and now it’s a weekly:( )
Would love to see some suggestions from time to time. Preferably finished ones in my case:) A quick blurb when someone has finished a manga series.
I haven’t had any luck with hashtags, but did you have one in mind?
@yon I was thinking of just following the #manga hashtag to talk about manga. I find it's used a LOT by bloggers, which is fine - but I'd love to find more folks to chat about manga.
And I get it. Waiting until a series is over is totally reasonable. Sometimes I wish I'd do that, but I can't help it with some series!
I'm trying to post up comments and stuff here and pics of physical editions as I read them on my Pixelfed account.
@mdmrn I’ve been burnt so many times, that’s all :)
Maybe I’ll start tagging my random questions if they are about manga. Did a “favorite OP” anime yesterday that took off. Some takes off like crazy, others are totally crickets :)
@yon I hear you. It's so random sometimes what pops off and what doesn't
@mdmrn I’m sometimes kinda horrified at what does pop off. Sometimes I see 5-10 boosts pretty quickly and I’m all “oh no”. But it has never gone wrong thus far:) Boosts seems to have no correlation to comments.
@yon Yea, it doesn't always correlate.
@mdmrn@urusai.social @mdmrn@pixtagram.social Right now I've been reading DanDaDan.
If I don't know what exactly to read I usually switch between: HunterXHunter, The Seven Deadly Sins, and Saint Young Men, depending on my mood.
The last manga series I finished to completion was Demon Slayer!
@FalconMarkSix Very cool!! I have heard a lot of good things about DanDaDan, but never actually checked it out before.
Oh goodness! Saint Young Men! I've read a handful of volumes of it. It's so quirky and goofy.
I did enjoy Demon Slayer, didn't love the ending, though. It felt rushed IMO. But, that's just me! Overall, still a good story. What did you think?
@mdmrn You should try out the DanDaDan it's pretty good! I like the vibe it gives off.
Saint Young Men is such a fun laid-back read! So interesting to see their shenanigans!
@mdmrn@urusai.social @mdmrn@pixtagram.social Me, which is why I am on both. :D
But the last few days I have been making tons of frens accross the ocean XD first time we can talk to everyone in China, so now I have moots, can cheer on the cutest Len and Rin cosplayers in Beijing or Shanghai, got a ton of danmei novel recs, etc. It's amazing, I always was sad to know there was such a big fandom there but being unable to make frens Now we all can so men (and half the planet) have been having the time of our lives both ways XD
@mdmrn@urusai.social @mdmrn@pixtagram.social anyway, me! More frens always good! :D
boosted for visibility too :)
curently reading marriage to kitsune-sama (BL manga) and guardian (danmei novel aka Chinese BL novel - like heaven officials blessing you must have heard off). Yes that's a theme, but I read all other genres too lol. Just mostly a ton of BL/danmei XD
@UkeBLCatboy @mdmrn@pixtagram.social Yay! Love seeing more folks who are sharing their manga and cosplay stuff. That's very cool.
And hey - novels count too. Reading is fun!
If you want to share your Pixelfed account, would love to see what cool stuff you're sharing there too.
And thanks for the boost!!
@mdmrn@urusai.social @mdmrn@pixtagram.social I don't have pixelfed, I have mastodon, insta, discord, reddit, and now thanks to the great efforts of the US congress my new most used app with all my new Chinese (and all over the world really, and vice versa XD) fandom friends, rednote (truly, couldn't have done it without them, we'd never have heard of it, especially since I'm not even anywhere near the US XD).
And X, but never post almost, just lurk.
I don't post much on insta, so no reason to get a pixelfed. :D
@mdmrn@urusai.social @mdmrn@pixtagram.social I love talking about it and such more then posting images. Though IG I'm posting my new danmei novels over on red now XD but I mean, I mostly chat, cheer on cute cosplayers, and chat in our new danmei reading club xD
I talk more (openly i mean outside of DM's) on here and reddit and such xD. Mostly here.