1y ago

What have you been reading this week? - July 9, 2023

Talk about your recent reads here with your fellow community members!

Due to some interest from the community, we will be trying out this weekly recurring thread. Everyone is welcome to discuss and share ideas on what they've been reading this past week.

You can write a whole thesis or just a sentence. Ask for recommendations or give them. Whatever you feel like. The goal is to increase activity so the more the merrier. Just remember to be respectful because we're all here to talk about what we love and have fun while doing so.

51 comments

Finally picked up the Vinland Saga manga. As someone who is both a history buff and Scandinavian, the attraction to the manga was rather natural. That said, I've enjoyed the story and characters just as much. Definitely going to be one of my favs if it holds up through the chapters I've yet to read (which is like 140 more at the time of this comment).

Started reading Dungeon Meshi since ppl were recommending it. Damn, it’s way better than I expected. Lots of innovative ideas and the world building is topnotch. Can’t wait for the anime!
Also started reading Aishiteru Game. Pretty typical romcom, but I’m a sucker for casual romcoms, and the art is pretttty good. Only on chapter 11, hoping it remains strong
- Dungeon Meshi is amazing! Hard to talk about it without spoiling stuff, but the characters are extremely relatable - even when fighting the protagonists, you can at least understand their "worldview". And yes, the worldbuilding is top notch, as you said.
- Glad to see you're enjoying Dungeon Meshi!
- Just looked into Dungeon Meshi and it's going right on my "to read" list. Thanks for mentioning it!

I'll focus on less known series.
Shinigami ni Sodaterareta Shoujo wa Shikkoku no Tsurugi wo Mune ni Idaku / The Little Girl Raised by Death Holds the Sword of Death Tightly - if I had to describe this manga with two words, it would be "cute gore". The MC beheads enemies with a smile on her face completely unfitting (on purpose!) the situation.
When I Returned To My Hometown, My Childhood Friend Was Broken - a romance between childhood friends, in short chapters; the boy is still the same as before, but the girl went from an assertive tomboy to someone fragile and clearly depressive. And as their romance progresses, she tries to "find herself". Worth noting that, while the MMC is an important factor behind the FMC healing herself, he is not the one fixing her - he accepts her now as he accepted her back then, the manga is rather clear that she's the one seeking the changes by herself.
Otherworldly Munchkin - MC and his sister are isekai'd into a tabletop RPG-like world by a shitty goddess. He quickly catches up that the goddess is lying, and decides to steal the gamebook from her hands. And now he's exploiting the system to save his sister.
S-Rank Party Kara Kaikosareta / My S-Rank Party Fired Me for Being a Cursificer - another "expelled from party" story. The guy is a complete weirdo, obsessed with macabre-looking curse objects, but he's damn good at it.
- Added cursificer to my read list, it looks interesting. Also it not looking like an extremely edgy looking expelled from party story is kind of refreshing.
  
  Yup, the manga is rather cheerful. Often other characters poke fun (in good nature) at the protag and his lack of common sense, the former party is Team Rocket tier incompetent, this kind of stuff.

Damedol. If you want to get off Oshi no Ko's wild ride for a bit and relax, this is it.

I'm reading houseki no kuni right now. This is such a unique manga, with a unique art style and story. I highly recommend it.
- I really love it, the story is amazing. Although this is the one manga I would like to have color, specially in the start, to differentiate all gems.
  
  I agree, I am really sad the anime didn't continue. They did an excellent job with it and I think it's actually a better way to experience the story because you can see all the difference gem colors.

Binged Oshi no Ko. I read the first chapter when it was first released a few years ago as I like Kaguya, but due to a lack of interest in idols and idol culture did not continue reading. How wrong I was. Following recent, uh, interesting developments decided to try again. And I was not disappointed. The plot is great, and the characters are interesting to follow. I would prefer more focus on the revenge plot, but whatever. Random thoughts:
Akane is a megamind who would be great in a more serious "battle of the minds" type of work. She really should not let her detective talents go to waste.
Kana deserves better
Chapter 123. Don't backtrack, Aka, you hack.
- Controversial last bullet point, but I support you!
  
  I don't even care about ::: spoiler spoiler incest :::
  that much, just want to see the fallout if Aka commits. Also anime S3 ending on the last frame of 123 would be glorious.

Recently finished reading Kanojo mo Kanojo. Can't say I like everything about it (can't stand the Youtube girl), but I'm going to miss it as I love the mangaka's style.
It feels like there was a lot more potential in the series, so I'm sad that it ended.
- I must say, those last chapters were certainly pushing what I thought was acceptable ecchi on a shounen.
  Did you like the ending or nah?
  
  Ecchi doesn't bother me as long as it's a reasonable part of the story. Tsugumomo, for instance, has so much ecchi that it detracts from the plot. For Kanojo mo Kanojo, the nature of the story pretty much dictates that ecchi is going to happen - they're trying to work out how to have a polygamous relationship, after all, and sex is part of that. Honestly, they should have explored that part of it more in my opinion.
  As far as the ending - ::: spoiler spoiler no, not really. I feel like Marika should have been a side character/occasional nemesis at best. The way she took over things detracted from the story - and there was plenty of areas the author could have chosen to explore instead. I feel like there was a lot more potential for the story. But kudos to the author for not giving us a "this won't work, let Saki have him" ending. :::

Mostly catching up with a ton of otome isekai in my reading list.

I picked up an official translation of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou so I'm gently enjoying that. The art is beautiful and the bittersweet nature of the manga is pretty beautiful honestly.
And also Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest because I love Aki Irie's art. It's set in Iceland but reminds me a little of Norway which makes me happy.
- @TheMightyBlu @seraph I also picked up an official translation of Yokohama and I definitely agree the art is really pretty. It looks like it was all made with just a pen and this complements the fanservice
- YKK is great. It leaves you with a lot of questions and never really goes anywhere, but it's such a relaxing read and the world it's based in is so interesting.

Kaguya-sama - Love Is War. i enjoyed Oshi No Ko in anime form & this is the author's earlier work. first three volumes are in color. it's a romcom that's more comedy than romance.
Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie: teenage first-love, twist is that an early mistake means her parents think he's a girl and not a date, and he just goes full into crossdressing when they're together rather than come clean. whole thing's in color and more visually impressive than the others on my list here.
Gabriel Dropout: comedy/slice of life where both angels and devils visit earth undercover, and sort of all end up in a role reversal where the devils are super naive and eager to please while the angels are manipulative or lazy. i put down Nichijou in favor of this: it fills the same "light comedy" niche while being a little more varied and a lot less disjointed.
as always, recs welcome -- especially for more stuff that's in color.
- Have you read Mousou Telepathy by any chance?
  
  What a sad time it was when Mousou Telepathy and Tomo-chan both ended their daily releases!
  
  i hadn't heard of it, but i see the connection! just peeked at the first few pages, bookmarked so i can come back to it in the evening :)
- Imo Love is War is one of the best romcoms in the last decade. Most romcoms have to constantly introduce new romantic interests to stay fresh, but Love is War kept it strong from beginning to end without ever really doing that. The anime was superb as well.
  I tried Gabriel Dropout but stopped reading about chapter… 30-40 I think. I think the setting has potential but Gabriel is just too annoying to me. And I feel sorry for the devils who get shafted all the time.

I’m reading 風の谷のナウシカ (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) natively, six months after restarting my Japanese studies.
I haven’t read it in English before so I was stunned at how great the artwork is. It’s quite clear Miyazaki’s style is what Ghibli became known for, but here it’s 100% Miyazaki himself.
Tons of absurdly detailed planes, bugs and flora. The Japanese 7 volume set is close to A4 in size, which feels much better than usual manga volumes, if only because there are far more panels per page.

Read a great 13 chapter SoL called Walking Through Today. It's just the musings of an old man who walks the same route through his neighborhood every day.
Caught up with a surprisingly decent action sort-of-harem thing called New Normal. It's set in a relatively near future world in which a virus not unlike (but worse than) covid has ravaged the world, and among the survivors, who live in a walled section of Tokyo, all of the covid-era precautions like masks and social distancing have come to be rigidly enforced societal norms. So at this point, teenage boys (and some girls) are obsessed with mouths and lips, because they're always hidden, and the story starts out as a bumbling romance after the mc happens to see the class idol's naked mouth. It goes along like that for a while - pretty standard stuff, just with the gimmick of being focused on mouths and lips, but then it veers off into action and intrigue, as the leads get caught up in all sorts of conflict and begin to learn some of the truth about the virus, and the world outside the walls.
And lots of updates to ongoing stuff...
- Just read Walking Through Today and it was really nice, thanks man

@seraph Been reading Gunnm: Last Order, a sequel to Alita. The sharp clean art and detailed lines amaze me and are even better than the original. Fitting for a manga about cyborgs and androids in the future

haven't had time to read much but reread the translated chapters of Blooming Love. art is so sitting and story simple but very sweet

I picked up a new series yesterday, The Witch and the Knight will Survive (MAL). I finished the first volume today, and I'm pretty interested to see where it goes. The pacing is pretty even, and the worldbuilding seems well thought out with a healthy does of mystery. Plus Cetia's reactions and expressions are always hilarious to see 😂

Berserk Vol. 2: damn, the backstory has me hooked, the panels are amazing

Witch Hat Atelier - It'a like Little Witch Academia but more serious. The art is so good. The story's about an Unknowing girl who suddenly becomes part of the witch world because of somethinf that happened to her mother. The updates are monthly
Boy's Abyss - Imagine a soap opera where the main writer said "I could make this worse". That's basically the entire manga. If you like trash fires, this one's for you

Nice!
So this week I:
Started "Transfer student storm bringer", currently at chapter 63.
Im reading the original not the remake since I heard that one sucks. This one is a pretty nice misunderstandings based comedy, from a mixture of his mean appearance and ungodly luck the protagonist who was just a wimp at his past school starts his journey into becoming one of the most feared delinquents in school. Its pretty funny, the translation is a bit weird, at least the one Im reading feels like it was done by someone at 4chan, but the language at least makes some sense when you consider they are all edgy delinquent teens.
Dropped "skip to loafer" at chapter 27
I dont know why exactly but I havent been enjoying this romance so I decided to drop it
Currently reading "Release that witch" for my second read through, currently at chapter 24
This is a really special manhua for me, it is one of those "development anachronic isekai" where the protagonist starts revolutionizing a fantasy world, at least this one makes sense do to his background as an engineer + the witches powers, so I didn't get annoyed at the protagonist suddenly building a lot of stuff he has no business knowing how to like it usually happens in this genre. Also, the art and coloring are god tier. The world building has a lot of thought put into it, on the background of the story there is a political war going on in the kingdom as the king has made it a competition for his 5 heirs to inherit, there is also a conspiracy with the church and a lot of interesting details about the world even outside the kingdom.
I really recommend checking this one out if those city builder isekais are your thing
- I'm so sad to see you dropped Skip to Loafer! I actually picked it up due to the anime. I liked to read it more for the wholesomeness that every character and relationship between them resolves with, so it felt like a feel good manga to me more than the romance aspect, I think you'll be quite surprised by how the romance even pans out in the later chapters, but fair reason.

It's been awhile since I've had the time and motivation to read manga, and even more since I've written about it, but I'm in the mood to procrastinate so here's something I've re-binged recently:
Ore no Himekutsu o Haite Kure is about a skilled shoemaker struggling with a foot fetish and a chance encounter with a high school girl who wants a special pair of shoes restored.
That's right, there's romantic tension involving an age gap. No, it's not erotica (but it is ecchi). No doubt about it, the subject and context are straight up taboo, but I ended up adoring this little series that seems to have never appeared on anybody's radar. It's an uncomplicated story - the set-ups are straightforward, the characters aren't convoluted, the twists and conclusion are almost predictable - and it makes for a very mellow and pleasant read.
I really, REALLY don't like romance stories with age gaps - many of them involve the older party knowingly manipulating the younger one, or just making irresponsible decisions as the adult in the situation - but I've a soft spot for this one and how benign and tender this story turned out. I've read it several times since its serialization and I'm glad to say it hasn't lost its charm.

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