What are you reading? (impressions)

myanimelist profile · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:02 am

Twin Spica 6-7
Endearing, delightful, all those gay adjectives. Has a tone that is very slice-of-life, as seen in other personal favorites such as YKK and Piano no Mori. The astronaut angle is pretty cool as well, though it doesn't really go in depth about the actual profession; which I don't mind at all.

I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow 3 aka Ore wa Mada Honki Dashitenai Dake
Slackerzzzzz. I felt the second volume was kind of losing focus, but this one pulled me back in. "Person Nakamura" really is a handle only Shizuo (or should I say Aono?) could come up with.

myanimelist profile · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:30 pm

My Father's Journal by Jiro Taniguchi
Oh boy was this ever great. Glad they finally decided to publish it in Dutch, so all I can say is; better hope someone fully scanlates/licenses this soon. Because this is grade A stuff. Might be even better than A Distant Neighbourhood; but I'm gonna go for at least on par with.

Fan Boy Joined: 19 Aug 2007 Posts: 10

barbapapa wrote:

My Father's Journal by Jiro Taniguchi
Oh boy was this ever great. Glad they finally decided to publish it in Dutch, so all I can say is; better hope someone fully scanlates/licenses this soon. Because this is grade A stuff. Might be even better than A Distant Neighbourhood; but I'm gonna go for at least on par with.

Yup.

I read in French a while back. SUperb stuff.

I know vensu wanted to do it a few years ago, don't know if he'll ever get around to it. If he doesn't, I might one day. Jiro Taniguchi is great.

Groupie Joined: 08 May 2003 Posts: 120

It's been a while since I sat down with a good manga, but recently I've been reading all those books I should have read ages ago, but didn't for one reason or another.

I picked up some of Tezuka's masterpieces: "Ayako", "MW" and "Ode to Kirihito", all of which were great, but I think I enjoyed "Ayako" the most.

I was also very happy to see Drawn & Quarterly publishing Tatsumi's manga. I picked up "A Drifting Life" and the three hardcover volumes of his short stories, plus a retro looking edition of "Black Blizzard".

What else ... Got the one volume edition of "Tekkon Kinkreet", which is just too awesome, with a great dust cover and a fold out poster. Still have to read through it, though. But speaking of Matsumoto, I got his "Blue Spring" and read it. It was nice.

I finally got "AX Vol. 1". I hear that the second volume is to be published in the near future. I wish they would publish them more often. I'm a die hard Garo fan, and I'll buy anything in the same vein. And AX is just that, since it's made by former Garo staff.

And since we're on topic of alternative manga, I got "A single Match" by Oji Suzuki. Too bad this wasn't given the same kind of treatment as Tatsumi's works, which contain interviews, relevant information on when the stories were originally published, etc. "A Single Match" doesn't have any of that. It's just a bunch of stories without context in a hardcover book.

I also bought Taniguchi's "The Quest for the Missing Girl", which was quite nice. I enjoy his art, especially when it's all mountains and nature. And that pretty much covers everything I bought and read [or are about to read] in the past three months or so. I got some "Yotsuba" as well, and some missing "Genshiken" volumes. I still have Katsuichi Hanawa's "Doing Time" to read through as well.

If I were to recommend only one title from those mentioned above, it would have to be Tatsumi's "A Drifting Life". If you haven't read it yet, make it the next manga you buy - It's worth it. Also, it's about nine million pages, so it's a great choice if you're after a longer read for a good price. Not to mention it will make you an expert on how the manga industry evolved.

myanimelist profile · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:03 am

Good stuff Morden.
Personally I found MW to be rather lacking, in comparison with Ayako, and Ode to Kirihito... Though I can't quite put my finger on the why. Maybe the villain was just too one-dimensionally evil?
I also recommend you get Gogo Monster, which is another gorgeous looking book by Matsumoto, and I personally really enjoyed the story.
As for Taniguchi, a lot of his books have been getting published in Dutch (My Father's Journal, Zoo in Winter, Distant Neighbourhood) and they've pretty much all been great.

Groupie Joined: 08 May 2003 Posts: 120

I too thought Ayako was a better story overall. MW seemed just a little bit forced at times, which of course doesn't make it a bad manga. I just enjoyed Ayako more. Also, reading a couple of Tezuka's manga in a row is not a good idea. At least that's what I think. I need a buffer between one Tezuka book and another. Surprisingly, I can read tons of Tatsumi's stories and never get enough.

myanimelist profile · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 2:27 pm

I'm really doubting whether to get Tezuka's Book of Human Insects... I mean I probably will, but I hope it's not another MW or Apollo's Song.