Where are all the manga fans here?

Hello, My name is Captain Zeep and I am a manga addict. I noticed that there is no area to discuss manga on the HF. So lets start.

I am a rabid manga reader, the only thing that stops me from reading more than I do is the expence. My favorite type of manga is shojo, I know it's ment for girls but I find it more indepth in character and story then shonen. My favorite titles are: (in no perticular order)
1. Tsubasa
2. xxxHolic
3. Cresent Moon
4. Legal Drug
5. Mark of the Succubus
6. Nana
7. Planetes
8. Road Song
9. Boys Be
10. Vampire Knight
11. Magic Knight Rayearth
12. Ranma 1/2
13. Ragnarok
14. Godchild
15. A midnight Opera
16. Othelo

There are more, this is just all I can think of at the moment. Any other manga addicts please chime in!!!

 

Having lived in Japan I am somewhat a manga fan. I have the original (Japanese) MPD psycho graphic novels and I'm also a huge fan of the cowboy bebop series of graphic novels and comics, although most of them in the UK went out of print.
However, I tend to find that American-English translations are extremely lazy and ruin the whole thing. So, nowadays I don't really bother. I don't really bother with films either because of the terrible dubbing unless I can watch it in Japanese.

 

Well those of us that aren't fluent in japanese have to do with what we can.

 

Good for you.
And I'm not fluent yet, but it's better than reading cheesy, samey storylines that could appear in about 10 different series'.
Gets boring.

 

You're right, alot of manga stories repete ones that have already been done. But some do it better than others, even if the story isn't completely original. If you liked cowboy bebop you should checkout samuri champloo,it was done by the same people. I'm not familiar with MPD psycho. What is it about?

 

Tis pretty much about a detective with Multiple Personality Disorder.
Takashi Miike went on to make a mini series of the comics.

 

I'd consider myself a manga fan, but you guys might not! The only books I've read were the Cowboy Bebop series and the Nausicaa series. I think you're right about English/American translations. It loses so much. I've been working, a little here and there, for a couple of years to try and learn the language. I'm far from fluent but I'm getting there. At least to the point where if I'm *watching* anime, I have a little better understanding beyond the subs. !

 

Hey chica, anyone can be a fan, no matter what you've seen/read/whatever

Do you read and write Japanese too?

 

I love Manga and Anime! Sadly I don't read lots of it cause I dont have the money to buy lots and my Library sucks!

 

It is a very expensive habbit.

I've studied japanese in order to better understand the language, but I know I will not become fluent since I have no one to practice with. I have been learning hiragana and katakana just for kicks. Kanji is a pain though. Too much work.

 

Kanji isn't so bad, any words you've learnt in Hiragana and Katakana you should also try to learn in Kanji, then you will keep building up your vocabulary.

 

I'm in about the same spot as Zeep, then, as far as language goes. I understand a bit, especially when I'm able to take my time, but when it comes to Kanji I'm pretty lost. All the learning I've done has been from "Teach yourself Japanese!" books and videos I've found around the internet. But like Zeep said, if you have nobody to help teach you, or to practice with, it's hard.

I'd love to live in Japan. I'd love to GO to Japan (never been). Unfortunately, for people as broke as me and my fella, with dogs and cats to boot, it ain't gonna happen any time soon. Anyway, what I really want is to be able to go back in time to before Tama Hills and most of the country was so developed. Go live in the house from Totoro!

 

Right on! I would LOVE to visit Japan. It's something I plan to do before I die, but I'll have to wait until the kids grow up and move out first.

I just picked up the darkest manga I've ever seen today. It's called Confidental Confessions, by Reiko Momochi. The back of the book says that it is a realistic take on the dark side of life.
The back says:
"Confidential Confessions: A controversial manga that tackles society's most complex issues. Because real life doesn't always have a happy ending."

The first story is about a semi successful suicide pact between two higs school girls where only one actualy dies and the other has to deal with the fall out of the situation. Wow... very dark stuff. In fact this is the most morbid manga I've ever read. But that is the main reason I picked it up; just to see how far they would go. At the same time the story telling is very strong and you realy feel for the characters. Deffinatly worth checking out.

 

Yes, it sounds very interesting. Especially the social commentary on modern day Japan...suicide pacts and what not.

@ Humble... There's a book that you may find useful when it comes to Kanji, well actually there are many. there's one called something like "100 basic Kanji words" etc. They are useful to get you learning the basics. When Japanese children start learning to read kanji they give them the same ones.

 

Thanks, I'll look into that (the Kanji book and the creepy dark manga). I think it's really just a matter of setting myself to it. I'm one of those people who learns language really well through immersion, or at least through dedication, you know? About 8 years ago I set myself to learning Spanish and became almost fluent pretty quickly, but now with lack of use, I barely remember any. :& Japanese is like a whole other world from there so I don't expect it to go so easily.... Maybe if I look into it I could find some type of community conversational program in my area...

 

Hey you never know...
I feel like you. I picked up all my Japanese whilst living in Japan and now that I'm not there I find it extremely difficult to read at times because I've forgotten characters. I guess it's because I'm not seeing them all of the time. That's why I'm taking my degree in Japanese when I eventually get to uni.

 

I consider myself a manga fan, although most of what I read I get from my daughter..lots of pre-teen/early teen girl manga. Fruits Basket, yotsuba!, I dunno all the titles but mostly light romance or just silly cute stuff. she gets Shojo Beat magazine and I always read that, I love Nana, that's the best one in there. It's a terrible expensive habit and she's been through all that's in the library and we arent' real well off financially, or we'd both read more.

I also like the webcomic MegaTokyo, i know it's american and not technically manga but i like it anyway.

 

Cool! I'm glad that someone posted in here to keep this thread alive! I have a subscription to Shojo Beat as well and I'm a 29 year old male. I find shojo to be more satisfying to read than shonen manga. (Fun Fact: Shojo means girl, Shonen means boy.) I like the cute girly stuff just as much as the more serious reading, and Nana is one of the best mangas of all time. Just so you know manga doesn't have to be from japan, it is all dependent on the style of the art and story telling. I follow german manga, american manga and japanese manga.

Have you read anything by CLAMP? If not you should, it's excellent manga. I would suggest xxxHolic or Tsubasa. Another great manga series I just finished is Othello. It was one of the best series I have ever read. If you like Nana and Fruits Basket you will LOVE Othello. It's also only seven volumes long, so it's not too long to collect on a limited budget. I have a very limited cash flow as well, but I somehow manage to consistently spend way too much on manga anyways.

 

yeah, I even got some Argentinian Manga, but personally you just can't beat anything Nihonjin, particularly Bishoujo cuteness. They've got it mastered.

 

Very true.