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Manga babble.
Aug. 28th, 2011 02:17 amApparently there was a Best and Worst Manga Panel at Comic-Con. Kind of feels like one of those "bold all the banned books you've read" memes. Of course, I haven't read most of these, but there were some notable titles in there.
I'm even almost tempted to read Ao no Exorcist, except that I don't really believe in shounen manga. I will watch shounen anime, but I think the last shounen manga I read was Hikaru no Go, in like 2003. Ao no Exorcist was the only thing I'd heard of from the first page, so my only other thought was, "There's a 'grown-up manga' category? What does that correspond to? Seinen and josei?"
Page 2 had stuff I've heard of, mainly because they have anime adaptations, like Chi's Sweet Home, Kekkaishi, Twin Spica, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist. Still nothing I would actually read as a manga. Maybe I'll try the Kekkaishi anime, someday when I have time.
Page 3... Hm, Deadman Wonderland has a manga. I considered watching the anime, but got lost at the trailer.
And, the main reason I am even posting about this thing, the comments on Seikon no Qwaser, on the "worst manga" list:
I totally cracked up because I can see exactly why it can be summed up that way. I thought the series had good promotional art and a reasonably interesting description. Then I watched a trailer, and had to wonder when I had signed up for hentai. Seriously. It was like, "What is happening to those women? o_O" So yeah. I guess the series doesn't really get better from there.
(The anime has a sequel, though, so someone must like it...)
Page 4... CLAMP is coming out with another new series? C'mon girls. Stop starting new series and resuming series I don't care about (Gohou Drug), and finish X, dammit.
And Gokusen is on the "most wanted" list. Personally, I don't think it would do that well. Sure, there are the drama fans, but I don't think dorama really have that wide an audience, and what audience it has has probably bought the Japanese manga or overdosed themselves on scanlations already. And, as much as I love it, I don't think the anime is really something that would get people into the manga. In the end, it just seemed that the general reaction I've seen to Gokusen is "it's like GTO... but not as good." It's because it's really not for the same market as GTO, but the market for josei series like Gokusen is still not that big in the U.S., as far as I know.
But who am I to say, since I am not in the market for English-licensed manga at all.
Even if, now that the yen is so strong, Japanese tankoubon are often more expensive than the English version. ;_;
Page 5 is "most underrated." I would actually consider these, if I was looking for more manga to read -- which I am not, and probably won't be for another like 10 years. Even though the first thing I thought when I read the Kaze Hikaru comments was, "Romantic shinsengumi exploits? Is it like Hakuouki? Or just BL?" I should mention I've never really watched or read a bakumatsu series and have always been kind of skeptical of them and all the Shinsengumi obsession. I've always been meaning to find a good one and try it, though, since I've seen plenty of Three Kingdoms and Sengoku retellings by now.
Maoh sounded kind of interesting, too, though I am skeptical that a shounen series can have a lot of action and violence while being "thought-provoking."
Anyways, on the "things I am actually reading" front, I've been reading Matantei Loki recently. I just caught up to where I think I dropped off last time, right around the start of volume 5. Too bad I've got three more volumes and all of Matantei Loki Ragnarok between me and the new series that just started last week, Matantei Loki Ragnarok ~Shin Sekai no Kamigami~. Not that I didn't already read the first chapter of that. I gotta say, not a big fan of Freya's redesign. And now that someone pointed out that Hoenir looks like Harry Potter, I will never get it out of my head.
I'm even almost tempted to read Ao no Exorcist, except that I don't really believe in shounen manga. I will watch shounen anime, but I think the last shounen manga I read was Hikaru no Go, in like 2003. Ao no Exorcist was the only thing I'd heard of from the first page, so my only other thought was, "There's a 'grown-up manga' category? What does that correspond to? Seinen and josei?"
Page 2 had stuff I've heard of, mainly because they have anime adaptations, like Chi's Sweet Home, Kekkaishi, Twin Spica, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist. Still nothing I would actually read as a manga. Maybe I'll try the Kekkaishi anime, someday when I have time.
Page 3... Hm, Deadman Wonderland has a manga. I considered watching the anime, but got lost at the trailer.
And, the main reason I am even posting about this thing, the comments on Seikon no Qwaser, on the "worst manga" list:
David Brothers: "Oh, this is the Catholic lactation thing, right?"
Carlo Santos: "Yes, exactly."
I totally cracked up because I can see exactly why it can be summed up that way. I thought the series had good promotional art and a reasonably interesting description. Then I watched a trailer, and had to wonder when I had signed up for hentai. Seriously. It was like, "What is happening to those women? o_O" So yeah. I guess the series doesn't really get better from there.
(The anime has a sequel, though, so someone must like it...)
Page 4... CLAMP is coming out with another new series? C'mon girls. Stop starting new series and resuming series I don't care about (Gohou Drug), and finish X, dammit.
And Gokusen is on the "most wanted" list. Personally, I don't think it would do that well. Sure, there are the drama fans, but I don't think dorama really have that wide an audience, and what audience it has has probably bought the Japanese manga or overdosed themselves on scanlations already. And, as much as I love it, I don't think the anime is really something that would get people into the manga. In the end, it just seemed that the general reaction I've seen to Gokusen is "it's like GTO... but not as good." It's because it's really not for the same market as GTO, but the market for josei series like Gokusen is still not that big in the U.S., as far as I know.
But who am I to say, since I am not in the market for English-licensed manga at all.
Even if, now that the yen is so strong, Japanese tankoubon are often more expensive than the English version. ;_;
Page 5 is "most underrated." I would actually consider these, if I was looking for more manga to read -- which I am not, and probably won't be for another like 10 years. Even though the first thing I thought when I read the Kaze Hikaru comments was, "Romantic shinsengumi exploits? Is it like Hakuouki? Or just BL?" I should mention I've never really watched or read a bakumatsu series and have always been kind of skeptical of them and all the Shinsengumi obsession. I've always been meaning to find a good one and try it, though, since I've seen plenty of Three Kingdoms and Sengoku retellings by now.
Maoh sounded kind of interesting, too, though I am skeptical that a shounen series can have a lot of action and violence while being "thought-provoking."
Anyways, on the "things I am actually reading" front, I've been reading Matantei Loki recently. I just caught up to where I think I dropped off last time, right around the start of volume 5. Too bad I've got three more volumes and all of Matantei Loki Ragnarok between me and the new series that just started last week, Matantei Loki Ragnarok ~Shin Sekai no Kamigami~. Not that I didn't already read the first chapter of that. I gotta say, not a big fan of Freya's redesign. And now that someone pointed out that Hoenir looks like Harry Potter, I will never get it out of my head.
