Manga series I have read recentlyFollow

Just thought I'd throw some series out there, as I've hit quite a few recently.

Ai Kora: A pretty funny harem romance comedy with a twist; the main character is a "parts fetishist," who is looking for his ideal woman... but if he can't find her, then at least with girls who have the parts he loves. While fetish material could be reaaaaaally awkward in some series, it's done in a hilariously over-the-top kind of way in this. I really enjoyed the series, and it recently was finished up on 1000manga. Some fan service makes it more older teen oriented. It's light-hearted, and the chapters are short, making it a pretty quick read.

Karin (aka, Chibi Vampire): A teenage vampire love story with a twist; unlike the rest of her family, Karin is an oddball. She is fine during the daytime, can't see in the dark, and has no vampire powers. But she does have fangs and hunts humans... unfortunately, she injects them with blood instead of sucking it dry. And if she can't get one? NOSEBLEEDS!!!! It's a pretty funny series and I've enjoyed the first 40 chapters I've found on onemanga. It seems to be VERY different from the storyline of the anime, by the way. I'm only on episode 8 of the anime, but Winner-kun doesn't exist in the manga, and Tachibana isn't in the anime from what I hear. Small amount of fan service, but mostly Moe shots more than anything else.

Yankee-kun to Megane-chan: Your run-of-the-mill school days/delinquent series, but it has kept me entertained for almost 100 chapters. It is veeeeery slow to really move the plot around; it's not even until after chapter 80 or so you start to see any romantic inclinations. I do like that the main characters actually make something of themselves; you can feel the characters growing quite a bit.

Bitter Virgin: A much different series than I usually read, much more dark and mature. Your basic story, playboy guy falls for the quietest girl in the class... but it turns out she has a really dark secret (Spoilershe was repeatedly raped by her stepfather, had an abortion, got impregnated again and gave birth... all before she turned 16). It's not much of a happy series, very much about the small good things in life. It's relatively short, and unlike a lot of series, is finished. The ending is still kind of a "meh" ending. What I think it does do wonderfully is show how traumatic the events of the main girl can be. SpoilerBesides her aversion to all men, I think the most telling scene is when Ibuki claims she was raped by Suwa and Aikawa immediately and calmly says she's lying. Later she thinks to herself "There's no way she was raped and making that much fuss." In an earlier scene she comments on her "kiss" and says it wasn't a kiss because it didn't hurt her. Man, I felt a chill down my spine hearing that! Recommended reading if you think that YOU life sucks and need some perspective. For mature audiences due to the content, but no real nudity to speak of.

Hohzuki Island: A dark, psychological work. The last chapter is still not released on 1000manga, but almost everything is wrapped up in the 26 available. No idea, maybe there will be a huge twist in the last one. Basically there are 6 kids and 4 teachers on a deserted island for unfortunate kids. The kids gradually discover that the teachers are hiding something from them and vow to escape the island. The theme of "children versus adults" is huge in it, and done really well. There's also a big psychological portion to it; a lot of the kids have issues, like being pathological liars, or having paranoia run in their family... plus they're kids with active imaginations anyway. Who knows if what they discover is real, or them imagining things? Rated a firm mature for some nudity and a fair amount of violence, plus really mature content. Highly recommended though; it'll keep you guessing for a while.




And while not manga, I recently watched Ouran High School Host Club AND LOVED IT! Don't bother reading the manga, it's not NEARLY as good (kinda like Clannad in that way). SO SO SO recommend this anime. Watch it!

I kinda prefer the lighter conflict in the anime vs the darker/edgier version they have in the manga, myself, though the manga resolution feels a little more "real" as it were.


I have to agree with this. Excellent series, that one.

Edited, Jun 30th 2010 1:17am by Poldaran

Just read it today. Total wrap-up issue, nothing new or interesting. Ho hum.

In other news, finished two other series (both on 1000manga, figures I go for mature stuff, right?)

Akumetsu: EPIC. I REALLY liked this series, so much that I was considering making a separate topic and linking it to the Asylum for it (then I realized how idiotic that would be. Oh well). The series is basically a political statement against deficit spending, using obvious parodies of prominent Japanese businessmen/politicans/former politicans as characters who get killed by Akumetsu (I think it means literally "Destroyer of Evil"). It comes out as an anti-spending moral, with some sci-fi twist as you try and figure out how Shou keeps coming back as Akumetsu to kill more people. It's really interesting overall, and, sad to say, made me question the logic of spending that seems all-too-popular in the current political climate (even in the US, on both sides). The series is VERY violent, and has some minor fan service. It also has a high level of economic theory thrown in, and while it tries to dumb it down, it may require extra reading (like I did... too much time on my hands) to understand everything.

IO: A series that is a mix of Okinawa SCUBA diving and sci-fi/fantasy. It has a decent amount of fan service that becomes "WHOA FAN SERVICE!" in the last few chapters. The mystery is pretty good, and I liked it because it introduced an entirely new culture to me: that of the diver. I've always been interested (and lived near) the ocean, so it kinda touched home with me... and really made me want to learn to dive. Then I realized the cost and I decided the series was good enough to read, but not act out :-P I still recommend it; I don't care for the drawing style as much, nor the loli-complex the author seems to have, but it was pretty good overall.

I read all of Hohzuki Island today. It was pretty good. A nice short story, at least I don't have to read 1000 chapters and have it drag on and on and on.

Edited, Jul 20th 2010 12:55am by TirithRR

Allow me to introduce to you "Battle Royale," then, if you haven't seen it yet.