#also i reread 4 volumes of black butler

[therulerofallpotatos]

The key to spending hours on job applications and not the pit of despair (and dragon age inquisition playthrough 9000) is to just put your laptop in the library instead of the living room

[greetings-inferiors]

give me manga reccommendations (please)

i think i'm gonna start reading again

i'll start with the classics like tokyo ghoul and black butler and death note because i did already read the first few volumes of them (like 2 yrs ago tho so ill have to reread)

but i want reccommendations :3

Why are you awake at 3am

Anyway my actual recommendations -

Tokyo ghoul and death note are GREAT starting points, two of the best mangas ever written.

The middle of death note does drag a bit, but the ending makes up for it imo. And obviously the first half is some of the best manga ever written. It’s also really short so you may as well, you won’t regret it.

Tokyo ghoul is fantastic, and I really recommend it, ESPECIALLY if you haven’t watched the anime. I wish I read the manga first every day. One of the most beautiful manga I’ve ever read.

I’ve never read black butler but I’ve heard good things.

Now, for my new recommendations (from least to most recommended)

One punch man is gut achingly funny, though I haven’t been keeping up with it

If you get into one piece you won’t run out of entertainment for months, what I’ve read it pretty good and apparently it just keeps getting better.

Spy x family is similarly gut achingly funny, but with a fantastic and gripping plot, especially the newest chapters. It’s one of two mangas I still keep up with for every chapter.

Assassination classroom is hilarious, but heart wrenchingly sad. It’s fantastic. It was my favourite manga for a long time.

And, of course, the big one. Jojo’s bizzare adventure is my favourite manga of all time. It’s one of my favourite pieces of media ever made. There’s genuinely nothing like it. Every part is completely unique, from the martial arts of part 1, to the murder mystery of part 4, to the heists of part 9. I am not kidding when I say that every part is its own genre. It’s also all really good. There’s an argument for all parts to be the best. And the title isn’t lying. In fact, it may be lying by omission. It’s not just bizzare - it’s batshit. In the best possible way. The only problem is that part 1 drags a bit, even though it’s short and imo still really good, so it’s a bit difficult to get into (and you are NOT part skipping, I WILL DISOWN YOU). It’s better than the anime though, so if you’re going to do jojo it’s best to start with the manga (the first three parts are MUCH better as mangas). But once you get to the end of part 1, it’s non stop PEAK. The ending to part 1 is phenomenal. Part 2 has one of the best jojos. Part 3 is a great journey and villain of the week format (along with having the best fight in the entire series). Part 4 is some of the best slice of life I’ve ever read??? Part 5 is basically an anime of the godfather and it’s brilliant. Part 6 is a jailbreak movie, with one of the best endings to anything ever. Part 7 is out of nowhere a literary masterpiece, unironically one of the greatest works of art I’ve ever read (it’s the second highest rated manga of all time for a reason). Part 8 is the pinnacle of Araki as a writer, storyteller, and artist, with a great coming of age (I guess lmao) story. And part 9 is thrilling heists with (imo) the best jojo in the series. The worst part is really fucking good, and the best part is one of the greatest pieces of fiction ever written. I truly cannot recommend it enough. It’s not everyone’s thing - the title is NOT lying, it is weird, at times nonsensical, but never uninteresting. Give it a shot, at least the first 3 parts, they’re not long and if you’re not interested by then you’re not human I think (/j). Once you get to 4 and onwards they keep getting longer, and while they do keep getting better and better, if you’re not into the vibe and stands then you don’t want to read 800 ish chapters more. Oh yeah it is long tbf, the first 3 parts aren’t that long, the next 3 parts are decently sized, then the next 2 alone are longer than a lot of the other manga I’ve recommended lmao. But that’s kinda what happens when you release a manga without any major hiatuses for 30+ years. He only started releasing it monthly in about 2008, so it would be way longer lmao. But the monthly releases are worth it, it instantly gets wayyyyyyy better. You’ll notice it in steel ball run (part 7). And once you’re finished you’ll be able to wait with me for part 9, which has been FANTASTIC so far, and I’m really excited to see more.

The only problem is: how do you read it? Answer: I don’t know. Probably mangadex? Don’t read the official translations, they change almost every name in the series due to copyright (every stand and a lot of characters are named after songs and bands) and it a.) works way less and b.) will make communicating with other jojo fans really difficult. I read the first 8 parts using Jojo’s coloured adventure (though I don’t recommend the coloured manga, the black and white is much better), which was an all in one place fan translation, but I don’t think it exists anymore. I recommend researching which translations are the best and then reading them on mangadex. The thing about it is that the translations I read are only for the newly released chapters I’m pretty sure, so giving you their names wouldn’t help at all. I’ve read a few chapters of phantom blood on mangadex and like… it’s alright. The phrasing is a bit clunky, but overall it’s good.

Some last things: the early parts are a bit sexist at times, the women are still really well written like erina, Lisa Lisa, and suzi q, but the first 3 parts have the odd “beaten by a mere woman!!?” And stuff. But even then there’s a lot of subversions of sexism, like Lisa Lisa being really fucking strong (and even then Araki regrets having not written her as more of a main character). But once you get past part 3 it basically stops. Araki is really progressive with his writing, he wanted part 5 to have a female jojo, but his editors didn’t let him, but once part 6 came around he put his foot down and made half of the cast women (and even then he still was forced to change someone to a man). I’m pretty sure he even said the quote “the fact that readers don’t want the jojo to be a woman is exactly why she needs to be a woman” or something similar. Part 8’s best written character is a woman, and in part 9 we’ve got a weird genderqueer thing (I love dragona but it’s really hard to say whether they’re trans or not lmao. Imo they are, but obviously you shouldn’t assume. At the very least they aren’t out yet. Tho they take hrt. Lmao). Basically what I’m saying is it gets a lot better.

Once you’ve caught up I really recommend the anime! The first 3 parts are a downgrade imo (especially part 3, yikes they completely massacred it. The beginning is great and the last fight is phenomenally done though), but part 4 is an upgrade, especially since they had the hindsight of the villain (Araki originally wanted 3 to be the end, so part 4 didn’t really have a plan for the first half of its story) and could sprinkle him throughout. I haven’t watched 5 or 6 yet, but apparently 5 is fantastic and 6 is really good. But I’d definitely recommend reading it first, and then watching it once you’re obsessed.

If anything you should read the first 6 parts as homework for steel ball run. I love the first 6 parts to death, but 7,8, and 9 are so so so good, and steel ball run is, like, a classic manga. It’s the fucking great gatsby of manga. Or maybe to kill a mockingbird? Idk.

Anyway I’m sorry this is long I really really really like Jojo. Like I said, it’s my favourite manga of all time, and one of my favourite media franchises in general. I could gush about it for hours (and I guess I just did whoops lmao).

Also if you read it you’ll get the jojo references (important)

[sp00ky9]

Black butler rant bc I just reread up to volume 31 in the span of 4 days because of the new anime announcement:

Ciels character

Ok so Ciel has always perplexed me because of the way he acts— cold and yet there are glimpses of a sort of compassion sprinkled throughout the series. I like to think of his character as almost a split between two people— the traumatized child who was tortured and had his brother killed in front of him and then the kid he used to be/almost wishes he was.

He’s constantly pushing others away (usually in a pretty harsh way) because I would assume that he doesn’t want to get hurt as all the people he cared about ended up dead. Obvs he doesn’t want that to happen to the people he knows now. I feel like this is the only way he knows how to care about people— by pushing them away (paradox but his whole character is to me LOL) I also think it’s from the guilt of not being able to save his brother (r!Ciel) that he wraps himself up in this cruel persona and plays the part of a heartless earl— he wants people to see him this way because it’s easy. It’s easy to push people away and not form meaningful relationships. It’s easier to be cold than compassionate.

It’s ironic that the only person he’s really honest with is Sebastian, but even then I think Sebastian’s very presence reminds o!Ciel of the brother that he sacrificed (though I think it’s more of survivors guilt as the cult was responsible for his death) and it hurts him. How could it not?

In some of the recent chapters I think his persona is really highlighted as he declares himself to be the true “Ciel phantomhive” as he took on the name from his brother and accomplished things using that name that his real name probably would never have afforded him. He put in the work under that name, and it was all swept out from under him (hence the anger). As the weak and sickly brother he would have never really been seen as the earl, only a stand in for the true heir, r!ciel. This is why he took on his brothers name I think. Both to carry on his brothers legacy as well as to assert himself as someone who, despite his “sickly” nature, was not just a spare.

However despite all his cruelty, o!Ciel is still just a kid. In fact, in some ways I think he’s the same as before he got kidnapped. I think this is highlighted in the fact that he started his toy company— which had been his dream as the second son of the earl. Because he took on the responsibilities of his brother his dream could come true, albeit under different circumstances. This act in itself shows a glimpse of the kid he used to be.

Of course, this is also seen during the green witch arc when he won’t let anyone but finny near him. The green witch arc is one of my absolute favs bc it shows part of ciels motivation as well as more defines ciels and seb’s relationship. I love how he says that “I did this for me!” during his fight towards sanity, which shows selfishness. However I think that yes, his motivation for killing is somewhat self centered (he is tired of being the spare, tired of being powerless)but I think there is more layers to it. I think he is trying to convince himself that his motivation for revenge is centered in his own self. He wants to get revenge because he feels guilty that he could not save anyone, not even his brother. So he’s “doing it for himself” — as in he really just wants /his/ guilt to go away.

His selfishness is absolute and yet he is constantly taking in and taking care of others despite his whole cold guy act. I think he denies himself the trust in those relationships due to his guilt/past. I think this is especially shown when Agni dies and he kind of has a break down where he tells soma that they should have never gotten involved with him. However I find that these words show that he truly does care about those around him to an extent.

Anyways this was all written around 1am after finishing volume 31 and I just have. Thoughts. Anyways ciel still confuses me somewhat so I might add on to this rant later LOL.

[smalltownfae]

End of the Year Book Asks

I think this was meant for me to request asks, but I am answering it all here anyways ahah

1. How many books did you read this year?

According to goodreads, I’ve read 90 books so far this year (including some manga volumes and graphic novels).

2. Did you reread anything? What?

Yes. “Fool’s Assassin” by Robin Hobb, “The Goblin Emperor” by Katherine Addison and “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien.

3. What were your top five books of the year?

Only 5... it’s going to be hard. “Dawn” by Octavia E. Butler, “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro, “The Forgotten Beasts of Eld” by Patricia A. McKillip, “Hogfather” by Terry Pratchett and “The Wisdom of Crowds” by Joe Abercrombie in no particular order.

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

YES! Patricia A. McKillip and Kazuo Ishiguro. I seem to have been finding two favourite authors every year recently.

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Fantasy. No one is shocked. But, this year I also read quite a few scifi books and some contemporary ones.

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

So many! Some of those I put on my list for next year and others I just don’t know when I will get to them. I have 200 something books that I want to read and I don’t read fast so my pacing will have to do and I will get to them when I get to them. One example is “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” by Marlon James.

7. What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?

3.6... unfortunately, yes. Especially in the first half of the year I read a lot of books I gave 2 or 3 stars too. The second half was better because I got better at giving up on books and I hope that next year I can have an average of 4 stars at least.

8. Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

Unless the goodreads and storygraph challenge of reading 20 books counts, nope. I did end up reading more than that and I read at least some of the books I had planned to read, but I failed for the most part when it comes to my reading plans.

9. Did you get into any new genres?

Scifi and contemporary. Ok, I say got into but the synopsis for those books need to appeal to me and I need to like the writing style. Plus, shorter books in this case helps. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy scifi before because I do like some dystopian books a lot. I just learned that it’s possible for me to like other kinds of scifi as long as there aren’t many technical or scientific terms or long boring explanations.

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

“Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Clearly, since it became one of my favourite books. “The Wisdom of Crowds” is a close second. However, since I mentioned those before I am going to shout out “Redemptor” by Jordan Ifueko.

11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

Besides those I mentioned in my top 5, “The Seventh Bride” by T. Kingfisher and “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke.

12. Any books that disappointed you?

“The Burning God” by R.F. Kuang ;-; I really enjoyed the first two books but that one let me down due to wasted opportunities. I still gave it 3 stars, but it kind of pulled the entire trilogy down with it, which is a shame. “Sense and Sensibility” also disappointed me. I expected better than boredom from Austen.

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

“On Writing” by Stephen King and “All Systems Red” by Martha Wells because I hate what’s popular apparently.

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

The rest of the Xenogenesis trilogy and to finish “The Unbroken” at least.

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

I have no idea. I don’t keep up with the prizes and I have a bad memory. Maybe Ishiguro won something (?) I don’t know.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

I don’t think I’ve read any over-hyped new releases, but if other years count then I will say “All Systems Red” by Martha Wells.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

“Klara and the Sun”, “The Forgotten Beasts of Eld” and “Dawn“ once again. I wasn’t expecting to love the first one because even fans of Ishiguro were saying that book wasn’t great. For the 2nd one I just didn’t know what to expect since it was my 1st time reading a McKillip book but it grabbed me by the heart and didn’t let go since. For the last one I just never expected to love that kind of book even if it’s written by one of my favourite authors. Octavia E. Butler will make me read and love anything. “Hogfather” too because I never thought it would get me so emotional.

For books that are not in my top, “Convenience Store Woman” by Sayaka Murata and “The Women of Brewster Place” by Gloria Naylor blew me away and I keep thinking of them to this day. “The Seventh Bride” by T. Kingfisher because even though I had read and enjoyed her books before I didn’t love any to the extent I love this one. I put it on the same level as “Howl’s Moving Castle” and I think they have a similar feeling. Both funny with dark moments and an amazing female protagonist.

18. How many books did you buy?

I think it’s cute that you think I keep track. Physical books it was about 10 (?) and I have no idea how many ebooks (those sales are the end of me). Let’s say 20 and hope it’s true and that it wasn’t more than that.

19. Did you use your library?

Yes. I don’t know what for really because it hasn’t been updated since the 90s. However, it allowed me to try Kazuo Ishiguro. They only had one book by him and that was his first published work (A Pale View of Hills) - what did I say about not being updated in years? - and even though it was not the best thing ever the quiet writing style, mysterious atmosphere and twist at the end made me curious enough to try more of his books.

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

“The Wisdom of Crowds” by Joe Abercrombie and yes. It wasn’t perfect, but it was really good and I had a lot of feelings about it. The second most anticipated release was a bit of a let down though - “The Witness for the Dead” by Katherine Addison.

21. Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

I don’t contribute for it, but I am aware of it’s existence since sometimes it shows up on my twitter dash or a booktuber I follow will mention it. Most of it is petty stuff, but sometimes there are more serious issues and it’s good to be informed about those.

22. What’s the longest book you read?

According to goodreads, it was “Fool’s Fate” by Robin Hobb, which was a reread that I was supposed to have finish last year but the ending was so painful to me that I only managed to do it this year ahahah and it wasn’t as bad as I remembered even if there are at least 2 scenes that infuriate me.

23. What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

I have no idea. I don’t keep track. Some books with less than 120 pages I managed to read in a day and that’s the extent of my knowledge about my speed.

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

Let me grab my list ahahah I am not counting the books I only read 1 chapter for and gave up so... “The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories” by Angela Carter (thank you for reminding me of it’s existence; now I’m angry again), “Six Crimson Cranes” by Elizabeth Lim, “Heart’s Blood” by Juliet Marillier, “Sorcery of Thorns” by Margaret Rogerson, “Circe” by Madeline Miller, “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman, “A Stranger in Olondria” by Sofia Samatar and “The City of Brass” by S.A. Chakraborty. The reasons were usually boredom or that it just wasn’t for me (mostly because of the romance aspect). None of these books are bad except for “The Bloody Chamber” which is an abomination and it’s a crime that people call it feminist literature. This is one of those books that I will side eye anyone that says they like it. I just can’t control it. It gives me that visceral reaction. It’s awful, disgusting, one of the worst things I ever read and it boggles my mind that it’s so popular - especially among women (wtf).

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

Luckily, I made a list here :D

[joshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

has there ever been a series where you read the manga and also watched the anime but didn’t like the anime as much as the manga?

There have actually been a couple, yeah, but it’s worth mentioning that a fair amount of these are stuff I read or watched multiple years ago, and if I were to reread or rewatch them my opinions might not be the same.

I’ve only read and watched Death Note once each, but I recall liking the manga a little bit more. In being such a text heavy story I felt like the manga letting me choose my own pace gave it a sort of better flow than what the anime had. I recall enjoying the manga’s ending a bit more too, there’s like some timeskip where a Kira cult still remains and worships him and I think that’s pretty cool and really believable, given the massive impact he had on the world I think it makes sense that some people would be into it as a religion, it wouldn’t just blow over like I remember being the case in the anime.

I honestly prefer One Punch Man’s manga to its anime, entirely because of the artwork. The OPM manga is probably the best looking manga I’ve ever seen, the artwork is jawdropping. Everything from the backgrounds to the characters to the shading to the panelling is absolutely phenomenal, and I also think Saitama looks even funnier in the manga specifically because he’s generally drawn and particularly coloured in so much less detail than the rest, it’s really great. One Punch Man season 1 is just straight sakuga for its entire run time so between that and the manga it’s hard to pick, but season 2 looks like shit and the manga fucking obliterates it, though I’d still say I prefer the manga to season 1 as well honestly.

Like 6 years ago I read the first 13 volumes of the Blue Exorcist manga, and I recall not liking the anime nearly as much. It does that sort of harsh divergence from the source material for its own original ending thing and I didn’t think that last arc was good at all. Now granted I believe the second season adapts the stuff that was cut from the manga, so it’s like you watch 19 episodes of season 1, then season 2, then go back and finish season 1, and maybe season 2′s great but I’ve not seen it so.

I’ve also read 13 volumes of Black Butler and I don’t know if I should count this because I don’t think I’ve seen an entire episode of the anime, I’ve just seen clips in passing from like when my brother watched it or something, but I feel like I remember disliking the dub cast (this was when I watched dubs whenever possible) and thinking the anime artwork was ugly, so I guess I prefer the manga there too.

Another one I have no idea if I should count is Dragon Ball, because I absolutely adore the manga, and what I have seen of the anime seems to be worse, that 4 hour Frieza fight as well as comparisons of TFS’ sped up fights against their original lengths suggests that the anime fucking drags, but I’ve not actually seen it. Or rather, I’ve seen many full episodes, but I don’t know how many, I couldn’t really tell you which episodes, and that was all just me watching what my little brother was watching. So if I ever were to actually watch all of Dragon Ball it’s possible I would actually like the anime more.

Last would definitely be Koe no Katachi. The anime benefits greatly from voice acting, music, colour and motion, and in all technical elements I’d call it a way better product, the manga doesn’t even look that good to be honest. However, what was cut from the narrative hurts the story quite a lot. In particular, entire characters like Mashiba are barely even characters, and a lot of the sort of friendship building scenes, like the film-making stuff, are cut out, so with all that stuff gone the film has a bit less to say and the bridge fallout scene is significantly less impactful. And then there’s also what happens while Shouya is comatose, in the film it’s a pretty dream sequence that amounts to him waking up, but in the manga it’s the Shouko chapters, where we actually see her go and try mend the broken relationships, and the actual Shouko chapter too where there are dialogue boxes with no dialogue in them, which is a pretty fucking awesome way to convey deafness, and the loss of those chapters hurts the movie as well, less characterisation for its main cast and the pacing in the latter half of the movie feels fairly rushed in comparison to its manga counterpart too. So yeah, Koe no Katachi is a better manga than an anime imo. If the movie were 2 movies, or maybe 2 long OVAs, or fuck even a TV anime since it’s KyoAni and the visuals really wouldn’t suffer much, I think they could have given the manga a fuller adaptation and it would’ve been better, but we didn’t get that so.

And then that’s it.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 7/30/18

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 2 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – If the sight of Oran’s drooling face on the cover of this volume doesn’t inform you that this is one of those weird manga titles, nothing will. That said, for a manga about aliens infiltrating the Earth, and the Earth’s rather violent response to this, there’s a lot that’s grounded in reality here. The gang’s friend Kiho is dating a guy, which puts her on the outs with the rest of her (single) friends, and also causes friction when her boyfriend turns out to be a bit fond of conspiracy theories. Possibly my favorite scene in the volume is when the girls all go to their friend Ai’s house and met her four identical siblings… and one goth guy who calls himself the Black Knight, which meets Oran’s immediate approval. A lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 3 | By Afro | Yen Press – We’re still working on the characterization of anyone not named Nadeshiko or Rin, but for the most part the third volume will please readers who enjoyed the first two, as it combines chatter about camping with the camping itself—though honestly, Rin’s driving to get to the camp ends up occupying most of the time. Sadly, a trip with Nadeshiko is turned into a solo trip because she gets a cold, but on the bright side we may finally be luring Rin’s eccentric friend Ena to go along on the next trip. The long-term plotline seems to be to get Rin to be interested in camping with other people… but it’s certainly a long term project, as we’re three volumes in and we haven’t seen a group effort yet. Next time? – Sean Gaffney

My Boy, Vol. 2 | By Hitomi Takano | Vertical Comics – As with the previous volume, I recommend skipping the afterword. If you do, then My Boy continues to be a touching story of a young woman who’s got a newfound family in a young neglected boy. The problem here is that Mashuu already HAS a father and brother, and her hanging around with him all the time is inevitably going to be seen as creepy at best. One scene, where Mashuu can’t contact his brother, has Satoko going into his home and the entire scene has you holding your breath waiting for something horrible to happen. It still, may, in fact, especially now that her coworker is noticing the attention she’s giving Mashuu. I don’t like him. The manga is very good, though, and so far is avoiding obvious pitfalls. – Sean Gaffney

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 2 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – We return to the adventures of the most earnest sacrificial princess ever. Last time I mentioned that I felt the author might have grown up reading Fruits Basket, and that feeling hasn’t gone away—Sariphi isn’t quite as shiny as Tohru, but she still tends to try to overdo it in order to avoid disappointing anyone. In this case, though, it almost leads to her death. Fortunately, she’s gaining more allies in this book, as we meet her friend Amit, an alligator woman with a big heart, and the phoenix she summons, which is both adorable and hilarious—he needs to be animated so that I can hear his accent. Shoujo fans will enjoy this cute fantasy romance. – Sean Gaffney

School of Horns, Vol. 1 | By Mito Aoi | Yen Press – We’ve seen an endless amount of magical academies in the last few years, but there’s always room for more. This one has students divided up based on the horns they have on their heads—each type determines the magic. Our hero is half-human, so his horns are smaller than the other students (does this remind you of anything?), but in addition his powers seem to mess with others, meaning he’s a strange fifth type of magic user. Yes, it’s the old “bullied kid ends up being the really special one” story, but the main reason to read this is the slowly developing relationship between Eru and Rihito, who are sort of Deku and Todoroki-esque. This didn’t reach out and grab me, but it’s certainly pleasant enough. – Sean Gaffney

Shojo FIGHT!, Vol. 4 | By Yoko Nihonbashi | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The fallout from the Kokuyodani team’s participation in volleybetting is going to be long-lasting, it seems. Part of their punishment involves living at the school for a month and undergoing intense training (including fasting, which supposedly “cures any illness”) and practice games against teams that believe the worst rumors. After one of these, Neri has a major attack of the angst and runs off, but after a good talk (and more!) with Shigeru, she seems finally on the verge of overcoming her past trauma, and actually tells Inugami and Odagiri what happened with her old teammates and lets herself enjoy volleyball again. And now that she seems to be on the road to better mental health, there’s enough time to give several other characters a bit more fleshing out in this volume, which is very welcome. I really enjoy this series. – Michelle Smith

Takane & Hana, Vol. 4 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – There’s a lot less snarking in this book, but maybe I’m getting used to the fact that this is never going to match the hilarity of its start. What it does do is develop both the plot and characters—Hana is not quite ready to admit she has romantic feelings for Takane, but she’s getting there. Meanwhile there’s a new secretary at Takane’s business whose job it is to try to break them up—unfortunately, he’s a nice guy at heart, and his heart isn’t really into this, especially when Hana does not back down immediately. And lest you forget that Hana is in high school (and believe me, that is the premise), there’s a culture festival! Maids! Butlers! Cross-dressing! And Takane, being a giant ass. Which is what I’m here for. – Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 43 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – Toriko has finished, and it goes out the same way it’s always been—the food love is so much more interesting than the fighting. The first half of the book wraps up the fighting, including even giving the hapless Zongeh a part to play, but honestly I was ready to skip to the back half, where Toriko and his friends indulge in his Full-Course Meal, all prepared by Komatsu and HIS friends. There is also Toriko and Rin’s wedding, but again, I wonder if that was suggested by editorial fiat to avoid having the series seem too gay—the manga is all about the relationship between Toriko and Komatsu, and everything else is secondary. In the final pages, they even go off on a sort of honeymoon together. In space. – Sean Gaffney

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 5 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – Having whisked Shizu away from the hospital, Tetsu heads for his grandfather’s place by the beach, whereupon many revelations ensue. There’s a lot here that I didn’t expect to learn until the next (and final) volume, including the truth of what happened to Tetsu’s mom and why he’s been so desperate to earn money. What’s even better is that not only do readers learn these things, but so do Tetsu’s father and sisters, and everyone resolves to work harder as a family so that no one member feels the need to sacrifice everything for the sake of the others. There is one thing they don’t know, though, and it was such a great surprise that it makes me want to reread earlier volumes for hints. I’ll miss this series once it’s gone, but I bet the conclusion will be great. – Michelle Smith

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, Vol. 3 | By Tadahiro Miura | Seven Seas – This continues to be a title that you should only read if you are a teenage boy in search of something to get you horny. That said, I’m not that market at all, and I’m still reading it. I think it’s simply that compared to other series in this genre, I find it more tolerable—especially its lead, who continues to not be the standard Keitaro clone who plagues this sort of title. In fact, most of the girls spend more time fondling each other than they do the lead—and no, that doesn’t mean there’s any hints of yuri. These girls all want Kogarashi. But as with my last review, I will admit that Yuuna is a good series for those who want harmless comedic fun and like huge breasts. – Sean Gaffney

By: Michelle Smith

[bookdragonthings]

Book Recommendations

As I try to decide what books I’m going to travel with I’ve been reviewing what I’ve already read this year, looking for inspiration.  I’ve actually read a lot this year, exploring new books and catching up on series.  During the school year I tend to stick with manga as I can read them quickly and it is nicely divided into chapters so when homework piles up and I can’t free read for very long I can pick up the series and start reading without being overly confused and having to backtrack, but I’ve also read some good novels. Here are some recommendations if you’re looking for a new books:

Manga:

1) Black Butler -> the first manga I ever read, I began my year by rereading the series up to volume 23.  I personally lose interest after volume 14.

2) Pandora Hearts -> interesting concept, the series is now complete at 24 volumes so I read it all the way through for the first time.  The highlight for me occurred in volume 14 and I found the series ending very weird but would recommend it anyway (I’m always dissatisfied with endings)

3) Skip Beat -> one of my FAVORITE mangas and one of the few that I actually read chapter by chapter as it is released

4) Sabaku no Harem -> a cute fantasy-genre series.  Only four volumes and slow publications but still another one of my favorite series

5) The Story of Saiunkoku -> another fantasy-genre series, good messages about gender equality, sadly they seem to have stopped translating it into English after 6 volumes but still a good series and one I wish they would continue translating into English

6) Mizutama Honey Boy -> a romance series that explores gender roles and norms

7) Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii -> I honesty have no idea what this translates to but whenever I think of the series I remember volume 7 and burst out laughing -> romance/adventure

8) The Emperors Gem -> once again romance/fantasy (castles, warriors, dragons, and magic are kind of my thing), cute fluffy read

9) Yona of the Dawn -> My #1 Favorite manga series, it has castles, warriors, and dragons.  Series seems close to finishing.

10) The Cradle of the Sea -> very interesting series I found last week, only three volumes out so far but definitely worth reading.  Genres: historical, adventure, romance (?)

Novels:

1) Terry Pratchett.  One of my favorite authors, sadly passed away, I have been working my way through the Discworld series and finished it this spring.  The series can seem daunting to beginners but there are lots of sub-series that make sense on their own and a few standalone novels within the Discworld series. 

2) Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth -> a very good poetry book by Warsan Shire.  Short but lovely nonetheless.

3) A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong -> short story, not novel, but fantastic writing.  Can read in about 20 minutes, I accessed it through a link on Goodreads. (Should also check out the short comic by her called “The Auntie,” also on Goodreads)

4) How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon -> describes inner-city shooting from multiple perspectives

5) In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri -> describes some of the challenges of moving to a place where you have to learn a new language and also centers around the love of language.

6) Milk and Honey -> fast poetry book that has been gaining popularity, includes one of my most loved poems

7) A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness -> Oh my gods yes.  This was an amazing book.  This book gave me a new perspective and deeper understanding about what it means to have one of your family members die from cancer.  (Yes it’s sad, but the messages are important)

8) Between the World and Me -> picked up the book when the author passed through my university.  Interesting to see the different stages of his thought development as he grew up.

9) In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom -> My first book by a North Korean expat, very informational, inspired me to want to make the world a better place

10) Symphony for the City of the Dead -> One of those books that makes me want to read a dozen other books.  Probably going to result in me reading a lot of Russian authors from this time period.