[Manga Chat]

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Has anyone here been reading Dr. Stone?  I usually don't get too deep into manga like I do anime, but this was part of the big 4 new IP's that were meant to bring fresh blood into the Shonen Jump pages (The Promised Neverland was one of those four).  It's basically a battle manga where the conflict and escalation is based on scientific advancement as opposed to fighting and power levels.  Really cool art style and surprisingly engaging story.  Anime comes out in July.

 

Mostly just getting the ball rolling in this forum.

[Lucy 108]

I have, it's okay but a bit "back and forth" chapter-wise. I preferred Inagaki's other series Eyeshield 21! Looking forward to the anime though.

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Not sure if you mean back and forth as far as quality or focus of the story.  Because sometimes they get so derailed in making other scientific advancements that they almost gloss over the original task/reason.  I think it helps that I read most of it in a bug chunk until the last 15 or so chapters.

[Vic Boss 612]

There is an anime adaptation of that happening in the summer. If it's grouped together with Promised Neverland (I assume the other two are Hero Academia and Black Clover?), then I'll def look forward to it

[Revolver 27]

I read the first 5 or so chapters of it. I thought it was alright. I think Promised Neverland is a lot higher quality.

 

I’ve been reading Radiant lately. Actually written and illustrated by a French guy but it’s a shonen through and through.

 

The only other thing I’ve poked at recently is Eden Zero. Definitely reminds me of what I liked about Fairy Tail before they added a thousand characters and the stories got bad.

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

9 minutes ago, Revolver said:

I read the first 5 or so chapters of it. I thought it was alright. I think Promised Neverland is a lot higher quality.

 

I’ve been reading Radiant lately. Actually written and illustrated by a French guy but it’s a shonen through and through.

 

The only other thing I’ve poked at recently is Eden Zero. Definitely reminds me of what I liked about Fairy Tail before they added a thousand characters and the stories got bad.

Dr. Stone is one of those manga where the first few chapters don't well represent what it becomes a few chapters later.  It takes on new life after the short first arc, which I'm hoping the anime does a bit of remapping to better tell the beginning.

[Farmatron 16]

Where does everyone get their Manga from?

[Lucy 108]

Mainly scanlations, if I like a series enough I'll buy it.  Been wanting to get some copies of Beastars from Japan but that's a kind of distant to-do list thing rather than anything else!

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Same.  I'm usually more of an anime person, but I've recently got back into trading a couple manga.  Mostly keeping up with Dr Stone and then reading random chapters from stuff I've watched before.  I was really into this one series called Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service a long time ago.  Not sure how far that got.

[Hornet 114]

I bought a manga! For about the second time in ten years or so.

 

An acquaintance persuaded me to buy the Junji Ito "Tomie" collection. I'd read the "Shiver" collection previously, recognizing the author/artist's name based on having read the Enigma of Arigama Fault when it was a meme.

 

Going to try to have it read by Monday. 

[Lucy 108]

The Tomie stories are good n creepy, hope you enjoy!

[Hornet 114]

I enjoyed the last collection more; because it was a grab-bag or an anthology. I think that's a better way to read Junji Ito than to read a few hundred pages on the same concept (even tho he did vary the takes on it a lot.) The truly weird shit his brain conjures and the variety of it is way more engaging than pages of, oh she's pretty but now she has a bunch of weird heads. I think I'd have enjoyed the Tomie stories more if I'd read them sort of organically... Here and there between other Ito madness. The way I did it; (Read the entire manga in a day) felt repetitious.

 

But as I say that's because I bought a trade. Stories themselves are fine. 

[Revolver 27]

On 3/22/2019 at 1:41 PM, Farmatron said:

Where does everyone get their Manga from?

I use Comixology primarily these days. I basically don’t read anything week to week like I used to. For scanlations Manga Stream always seemed like really the only ethical choice, but you already need to be caught up as they only have the current 5 or so chapters available for each of the series they do.

 

I haven’t read a Junji Ito work in a while. I should check those out.

 

Anyone else reading Platinum End?

[Revolver 27]

Has anyone been reading scanlations recently? I know Manga Stream went down recently and I think another big one. People are basically saying the scan community is dead. I haven’t read scans in a while so wondering if someone else has more info.

 

I started reading Witch Hat Atelier. This series is awesome. A must read for manga fans of the shonen/shojo variety.

[dr. b 492]

It sure looks pretty dead. I used to use Manga Stream from time to time when Hunter X Hunter would come back from hiatus, but the last time I went to check if HxH was back I noticed that Manga Stream was gone.

 

I don't read a ton of manga, though I would like to read more if it were more accessible. There's actually quite a bit to choose from at my local library, so I should look into that more. Keeping up with the latest Attack on Titan chapters is the main reason I've kept up my Crunchyroll subscription lately, as their anime offerings seem to be getting worse with each season. I never read AoT via scanlations because it's on Crunchy.

[Revolver 27]

Do they have manga with Crunchyroll? Honestly Comixology is pretty solid. Most things are pretty affordable and they have big sales every now and then.

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

I ended up getting a subscription to digital Shonen Jump after the scans of MHA I was reading turned into scanlations.  The verbiage and terminology was so skewed from what I was used to that I paid just to get the official translations.

 

I do keep up with AOT and Dr. Stone through scanlations, which I get through Manga Rock, but that's because I downloaded the app before they had the big change over.  Pretty sure it's a pay service if you download it now.  As for where the translations came from?  It seems like the recent stuff is all over the place.

 

I used to use the site Manganelo.com, but it's been so long that I don't know if they're still getting proper new scanlations of noteworthy series.

[webhead 519]

https://mangadex.org/

 

Went looking around out of curiosity and found a recommendation for this place on Reddit.  You can probs find more.  There's always DC++ hubs and Usenet/Torrents I guess.  Looks like there are still plenty of groups doing it but all the major sites I used to know are gone.  It's also been a really long time.

[dr. b 492]

On 1/29/2020 at 9:05 PM, Revolver said:

Do they have manga with Crunchyroll?

 

Yeah, but they haven't got a massive selection. Depends on what they can license.

[dr. b 492]

On 1/30/2020 at 2:30 AM, Psycho666Soldier said:

I do keep up with AOT

I was behind for a while, guess I just forget to keep reading for a few months... got caught up the other day right up to chapter 125. I can't wait to see this all animated, and to see the reactions from all the anime-only folks  

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

13 hours ago, little birdy said:

I was behind for a while, guess I just forget to keep reading for a few months... got caught up the other day right up to chapter 125. I can't wait to see this all animated, and to see the reactions from all the anime-only folks  

I was anime-only until a couple months ago.  I read from the beginning just to refresh myself on the plot and ended up blazing all the way to the current manga.  The shit that's gone down is so insane, it's almost like a completely different series.

[dr. b 492]

I'm curious how many chapters are left. Can't be too many, though at the monthly rate it could still be a year before we see the ending

[dr. b 492]

On 2/1/2020 at 10:05 AM, Psycho666Soldier said:

I was anime-only until a couple months ago.  I read from the beginning just to refresh myself on the plot and ended up blazing all the way to the current manga.  The shit that's gone down is so insane, it's almost like a completely different series.

Have you still kept up-to-date on AoT? Read chapter 132 yet??? Oh man

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Who keeps up with modern manga nowadays?  Ever since I got the Shonen Jump subscription, I've slowly gotten more into it, and probably read more manga than I watch anime at this point.  Though, there are still some big titles I'm missing, and I don't really dive outside Shonen Jump titles other than AoT at this point, though am curious about suggestions.

 

My Weekly/Regular Must-Reads

Dr. Stone

Dragon Ball Super (The last arc and the current one that just started are really interesting compared to what was happening in the anime)

MHA

Spy x Family (Wholesome manga with incredible character and plot development that has got me in my feels quite a few times.  I can't recommend this one enough)

Attack on Titan

Kaiju No. 8 (Cool battles, atypical middle-aged shonen protagonist, enjoyable art)

 

Series I Like but Slip Through the Cracks Sometimes

Undead Unluck (Fun concept with some cool characters.  Feels a bit rushed at times, and I wonder if the mangaka was expecting cancellation before getting greenlit for more)

Build King (Incredible art that often leads the eye Dragon Ball/Bleach style, a simple, almost goofy concept that has a surprising amount of depth, but the mangaka was caught for some sketchy pedo shit a good while ago and it's made it a bit harder to purely enjoy this series)

Sakamoto Days (Gag manga that's surprisingly serious, like a light-hearted John Wick)

 

Recent Reads of Concluded Series I Really Enjoyed

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Completed Stardust Crusaders a few months ago and started Diamond is Unbreakable, but haven't really touched it since)

Chainsaw Man (Holy shit, if you're not turned off by dark shit and you haven't read this, it's so damn good and the upcoming anime has been a hype train for me since before it was announced)

Death Note (Loved the anime back in the day, first time going through and reading the manga.  The second half is much more enjoyable here in comparison)

 

I've also started The Elusive Samurai, i tell c, and Phantom Seer.  The Elusive Samurai doesn't really hold my attention that well and feels just a bit cliche, so I haven't read past the fourth chapter.  But I did like how they didn't shy away from decapitation and death for what otherwise feels like a pretty light-hearted series.  Might pick it back up if I get bored or hear good things.  i tell c is definitely an interesting concept, and I generally like the main character, but I dunno, it doesn't really feel like it has staying power.  Haven't got past chapter 3, so maybe it picks up more?  Phantom Seer also feels a bit generic, but having only read the first chapter today, I thought the art and monster design was pretty sick.  I'll probably give this one a few more chapters before I come to a verdict.

 

There have been a couple other ones that have started both recently and over the last two years that I either gave up on, ended before it could grow(Guardian of the Witch ;_;), or just haven't really grabbed me enough to finish.  Of these, I've heard Mashle is one that I've neglectfully overlooked because I wasn't really into the character designs, so maybe I'll commit to jumping into that.

 

How about anyone else?  Read any of these series, or anything outside of Shonen Jump that you find worthy of people's attention?

 

 

On 9/9/2020 at 7:46 AM, little birdy said:

Have you still kept up-to-date on AoT? Read chapter 132 yet??? Oh man

I read this a long time ago, but wasn't fully caught up, so wanted to wait before I responded, then it just completely slipped my mind until we started talking about The Final Season.  How about now?  Are you still fully caught up?  137 and 138 were a fucking wild ride.  Very curious to see how things conclude next chapter.

[dr. b 492]

Yeah I read 138 last week. Quite the cliffhanger on the last page. I'm very curious to see how it all wraps up in the end next month!

[dr. b 492]

Chapter 139 of Attack on Titan is live on Crunchyroll now! I am going to read it now...    I can't even guess how it's going to end. Very curious.

[Anelle 792]

AoT ended pretty much exactly how I expected and I'm still not sure how I feel about that 

[dr. b 492]

I'm still digesting it... might need to re-read the last few chapters and think on it a bit more...

[Anelle 792]

I know there's a moment several chapters back now that ties into this but I'm still in the digesting phase and don't wanna dive into looking things up just yet either. 

 

Spoiler

Gabi suplexing Falco made me stop and laugh for a bit tho

 

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

I thought it was a fine ending.  I had decided a long time ago that pretty much no ending was going to be satisfactory.  Either he gives an ending that's curbs expectations and is dumb because of how shocking/out of character it is, or he goes with something sort of safe and expected and people get disappointed it didn't happen exactly how they imagined.

 

Spoiler

I do feel like some elements felt a bit rushed or kind of glossed over, but I'm ultimately happy we got a fairly straightforward happy ending.  War is still a thing and the world's problems aren't resolved, but Eren sacrifices his self(and 80% of the world's population) so that his friends and the people on Paradis get a chance to prove they're just human and not worth persecuting.  Maybe it glorifies Eren a bit, and perhaps the Ymir plotline feels a bit kind of like, "Welp, that's it," but I think taking the titan powers away and allowing us to see that Eren is still human and capable of weakness/vulnerability in his final moments is pretty solid.

 

I'm satisfied enough with it from not really expecting anything big.  And I still loved the journey up to this point.

 

[dr. b 492]

I'm not, like, dissatisfied with the ending, but I can nitpick a bit... at least after I've had a bit more time to think about it all first  No matter how it ended, a segment of the fanbase was going to be unhappy. That's just how it goes. I don't count myself among the unhappy. 

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Oh, yeah, that wasn't meant to be directed at you guys as much as it was kind of a natural reaction to the people blowing it out if proportion.  People on r/titanfolk are treating it like the final season of Game of Thrones, and like...no lol

[dr. b 492]

I was thinking about going on Reddit today to read all the overreactions but thought better of it

[Anelle 792]

Yeah with it being exactly what I thought it would be it's not a bad thing, it's actually satisfying in a way, but I also hoped that maybe there'd be a bit different resolution (cont)

 

Spoiler

with Ymir because welp lol she was a horribly abused slave but SHE WAS IN LOOOOOOOOOOVE made me roll my eyes

 

like, it's not a new plot point but to have it reiterated was just like "ok cool story bro"

 

On the other side of the IT'S LOOOOOOOOOVE coin I loved seeing Eren be selfish and bratty about Mikasa. That was the Eren we first got to know right there, and while it's a selfish terrible wish it's the least offensive selfish terrible thing he's done so LOL

 

[dr. b 492]

I also thought the "Ymir was still in love" explanation was very weak. It's basically the "easy button" method to explain everything away. Kinda feels like laziness on the part of Isayama, but maybe he just wanted to end it and any other explanation he could think of was more convoluted.

 

I find it pretty amusing that Titans were this big problem for the world for like 2000 years or whatever, and then finally it's Eren, of all people, who makes them go away. I mostly liked Eren as a character and was cheering for him for much of the story... but he's also a dumbass  In all that time, nobody else could find a solution..?

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Spoiler

I just want to echo you guys in saying that the Ymir explanation is the weakest part of this ending, and not for that, I don't think I'd have any sense of dissatisfaction.

 

Also, Anelle hit the nail on the head about Eren.  That was such a perfect character moment that some people have bitched about that I question whether they actually understood his character.

 

[dr. b 492]

It's going to be interesting, about a year from now, seeing all the reactions to the ending from the anime-only people. I'm sure they will have similar complaints. 

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

I'm already expecting Ma to hate like 90% of it

[dr. b 492]

48 minutes ago, Psycho666Soldier said:

I'm already expecting Ma to hate like 90% of it

Yeah I wouldn't bet against that

[dr. b 492]

Anybody read the first chapter of Candy Flurry? I've been wanting to read more manga lately, but at the same time I'm not sure that I'm up for catching up on tens (or hundreds) of chapters for anything that's been running a long time now. So when I saw a notification today about a new manga, I figured why not get in on the ground floor? Kind of a funny concept. Beating people up with a lollipop is something I haven't seen before

[Anelle 792]

I just read it, I'll stick with it for at least a few chapters and see where it goes! Interesting premise, cut straight to the point with the candy bit

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Just read it today as well.  I dig the art and while the concept is silly, the execution so far is pretty on-point.  And they left us on a bit of a cliffhanger for the first chapter, which is usually a good sign in my book.  Definitely gonna follow it until it falls flat or I get distracted.

 

I'm still kind of torn on I tell c, but I get the feeling it won't last too long anyway, so I may drop it.  Though now that it's starting to dig a bit deeper into the background of the main protagonist, I'm a bit more interested.

 

Also, the new MHA chapters just have me like

 

I also still can not recommend Spy x Family enough.  It's great.

[dr. b 492]

i tell c and Spy x Family are both on my radar from looking around on the Jump app for stuff that won't require extensive binge reading to get caught up on. 

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

i tell c is definitely short enough right now that I'd recommend giving it a shot until you're current to make a decision.  I still have a chapter or two to catch up on that I may read on this train.

 

Spy x Family may be my favorite manga running right now.  The plot is heavily fueled by character development, and the whole thing is endearing as heck.  I actually just started reading lately and the catch up was a breeze because I just kept wanting to read more.

 

[dr. b 492]

I'll read the first few chapters of each later today and then decide if I want to keep reading. Based on the descriptions I've read about Spy x Family, it sounds like I'll really like it.

[Anelle 792]

I read the first chapter of i tell c when it debuted and then forgot about it completely. I might catch up on it just because I need some distractions. I'm also firmly in the highly recommend Spy x Family camp, it's a treat every time

[Psycho666Soldier 283]

Sakamoto Days also continues to be a sleeper for me.  I always kind of put it down after a few chapters and wonder how much I enjoy it, then when I catch-up on the chapters I missed, I find myself falling more in love over time.  It really does a good job of striking the right balance between a gag manga and something a little deeper.  Also, some of the more recent chapters have had some wonderfully drawn panels.

 

Anelle, are you still caught up with Dr. Stone?

[dr. b 492]

I didn't get to Spy x Family yet, but I just read through the first few chapters of i tell c, and it's pretty amusing so far. Good enough for me to continue reading. 

[Anelle 792]

On 4/20/2021 at 9:04 AM, Psycho666Soldier said:

Sakamoto Days also continues to be a sleeper for me.  I always kind of put it down after a few chapters and wonder how much I enjoy it, then when I catch-up on the chapters I missed, I find myself falling more in love over time.  It really does a good job of striking the right balance between a gag manga and something a little deeper.  Also, some of the more recent chapters have had some wonderfully drawn panels.

 

Anelle, are you still caught up with Dr. Stone?

 

I am!!! Very keen on the next chapter coming out 

[dr. b 492]

If one wanted to read Dr. Stone starting from where the Stone Wars anime ended in the winter, then what chapter would one start at..?