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Timo's Manga Thread


Timotheus

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Here I will write up stuff about mangas I'm currently reading.

So far, I haven't finished a single one to be honest :) but I'm currently reading 3: Naruto and Bleach (up to date) and Addicted to Curry (just started reading).

 

Naruto

Naruto is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto with an anime adaptation. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a loud, hyperactive, unpredictable, adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become a Hokage, the ninja in his village that is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot that Kishimoto first authored in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.

 

Plot:

 

Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked the ninja village Konohagakure. It raised chaos and slaughtered many people, until the leader of Konohagakure – the Fourth Hokage – sacrificed his own life to seal the demon inside Naruto when he was a newborn.

 

Konohagakure, however, regarded Naruto as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the Third Hokage forbade anyone to discuss or mention the attack of the demon fox to anyone. However, this did not stop them from treating him like an outcast and as a result he grew up an orphan alone. However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Shadow Clone Technique, a technique from a forbidden scroll that he was tricked into stealing, to save his teacher, Iruka Umino, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the demon fox, and that there was someone besides the Third Hokage who actually cared for and acknowledged him. The main story follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth and development as ninja, and emphasizes their interactions with each other and the influence of their backgrounds on their personalities. Naruto finds two friends and comrades in Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-person team under an experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also confides in other characters that he meets throughout the series as well. They learn new abilities, get to know each other and other villagers better, and experience a coming-of-age journey as Naruto dreams of becoming the Hokage of Konohagakure.

 

Throughout all of the Naruto plot, strong emphasis on character development changes the plot, with very few things happening because of chance. At first, emphasis is placed on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. Later, Orochimaru, a criminal at the top of Konoha's most wanted list, attacks Konoha killing the Third Hokage as an act of revenge. He also desires to acquire Sasuke Uchiha due to his powerful genetic heritage. Believing Orochimaru will be able to give him the strength needed to kill his brother Itachi, who destroyed all his clan, he goes to him. Naruto fights against Sasuke to make him return, but he fails. Naruto does not give up on Sasuke, leaving Konoha for two-and-a-half years of training to prepare himself for the next time he meets Sasuke. After the training period, a mysterious organization called Akatsuki attempts to capture the nine powerful tailed beasts including begins the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that is sealed inside of Naruto. Several ninjas from Konoha, including Team 7, fight against the Akatsuki members as well as Team 7 search for their teammate Sasuke.

 

 

Opinion:

Nice action, pretty deep story. It's a pretty dramatic manga really, when you look at Naruto himself and the other main characters: Sakura and Sasuke.

One of my absolute favorite MANGAS. The anime has gotten quite lame due to the enormous amount of filler episodes. I stopped watching.

 

Bleach

Bleach is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tite Kubo. Bleach has been continuously serialized in the Japanese manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 2001, and in its American counterpart Shonen Jump since November 2007. The series received the Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen demographic in 2005, and is among the best-selling manga properties in both Japan and America.

 

Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he accidentally obtains the power of a shinigami from Rukia Kuchiki. A shinigami is a Japanese death personification similar to the Grim Reaper. Gaining these abilities forces him to take on the duties of defending humans from evil spirits and guiding departed souls to the afterlife. The early parts of the story focus on Ichigo and his friends in a high school setting, while later portions feature journeys to other planes of existence, expand the cast to include numerous powerful beings from the afterlife, and are more action-based.

 

Plot:

 

The story opens with the sudden appearance of Shinigami Rukia Kuchiki in Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. She is surprised at his ability to see her, but their resulting conversation is interrupted by the appearance of a "hollow", an evil spirit. After Rukia is severely wounded while trying to protect Ichigo, she attempts to transfer half her powers to Ichigo in order to let him face the hollow on equal footing. Ichigo instead unintentionally absorbs almost all her energy, allowing him to defeat the hollow with ease. The next day Rukia appears in Ichigo's classroom as a seemingly normal human, and informs Ichigo that his absorption of her powers has left her stranded in the human world until she recovers her strength. In the meantime Ichigo shelters Rukia in his home and takes over her job as a Shinigami, battling hollows and guiding lost souls to Soul Society.

 

After a few months of this arrangement, in the sixth volume of the series, Rukia's Shinigami superiors interpret her disappearance as desertion, send a detachment to arrest her, and sentence her to death. Ichigo is unable to stop Rukia's capture, but with the help of several of his classmates who also possess spiritual abilities and ex-Shinigami Urahara Kisuke, he sets off for the Shinigami base, located in the afterlife realm known as Soul Society. Once there, Ichigo and company battle against the elites of the Shinigami military, and are ultimately successful in halting Rukia's execution.

 

It is then revealed that Rukia's execution and Ichigo's rescue attempt were both manipulated by Sōsuke Aizen, a high ranking Shinigami (Captain) previously believed to be murdered, as part of a far-reaching plot to take control of Soul Society. Aizen betrays his fellow Shinigami and allies himself with the hollows, becoming the primary antagonist of the series, and Ichigo teams up with his former enemies in Soul Society after learning that the next step in Aizen's plan involves the destruction of his hometown. At this point, Bleach chronicles the war between Aizen and the Soul Society, a plotline which has not yet been resolved.

 

 

Opinion:

Action packed, that's all I can say! One of my favorite MANGAS and ANIMES. There's style, personalities, humour, and a lot of cool swordfighting :P

 

 

Addicted to Curry

Addicted to Curry is a manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Funatsu, published in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump since 2001. "Addicted to Curry" is the story of Sonezaki Yui, a schoolgirl, whose father is the owner of Curry House Cooking Ganesha. One day, Yui encounters what seems to be a starving man in the middle of the road. Not knowing what to do, she decides to give him some food, but instead she trips and hits him in the face with a soda can and she runs away in embarrassment. The young man, Koenji Makito, follows her curry scent back to the restaurant.

 

At first, Yui thinks that Koenji is going to kill her for throwing food at him, but it turns out that he's a nice guy who knew and was looking for Yui's father, Souichirou. Yui tells Makito that the restaurant is going out of business and that her father Souichiro has left on a journey with the goal of improving his cooking abilities, pretty much leaving her alone with the restaurant. Koenji who is in debt to both Yui and her father decides to team up with Yui in order to save the restaurant.

 

Plot:

There isn't really much to tell so far, I've only read until manga 13 or so. It's all kinds of adventures, all involve a special curry-solution.

 

Opinion:

Amusing, fun, and you get a different curry recipe with every manga :yay: something different and unique!

 

 

Other things worth mentioning:

I can help you with finding your manga fix. PM me for more details. :P

Edited by Timotheus
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Havnt read any of them or got around to watching the animes[dont have the time :P] but everyone I have asked about them they say they are very very good.

 

So Timo will be this a strict Manga topic or we can add some US comics in the mix?

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My idea was a strict manga topic. Though I don't know how many of our members are into manga :P

And as for your statement about their quality/poularity: Bleach and Naruto are two of the most read/watched series out there.

 

I've seen a few other series as well, like Devil May Cry, Deathnote and Full Metal Alchemist, but I just recently started reading manga due to filler episodes in the anime series of Naruto. Some of those were absolutely retarded rip-offs and some plain repetitive. I got bored and started watching other anime, and switched to the manga for Naruto.

The mangas have no fillers. And I'm very thankful about that!

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UPDATE:

 

Addicted to Curry

Addicted to Curry is a manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Funatsu, published in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump since 2001. "Addicted to Curry" is the story of Sonezaki Yui, a schoolgirl, whose father is the owner of Curry House Cooking Ganesha. One day, Yui encounters what seems to be a starving man in the middle of the road. Not knowing what to do, she decides to give him some food, but instead she trips and hits him in the face with a soda can and she runs away in embarrassment. The young man, Koenji Makito, follows her curry scent back to the restaurant.

At first, Yui thinks that Koenji is going to kill her for throwing food at him, but it turns out that he's a nice guy who knew and was looking for Yui's father, Souichirou. Yui tells Makito that the restaurant is going out of business and that her father Souichiro has left on a journey with the goal of improving his cooking abilities, pretty much leaving her alone with the restaurant. Koenji who is in debt to both Yui and her father decides to team up with Yui in order to save the restaurant.

 

Plot:

Koenji is looking for a reporter, who thorougly interviewed his mom. She would make the most delicious curry when he was small, but when he was 12 she suddenly died. He tried to recreate her curry to protect her legacy, but failed. He then started touring the world, learning all about curry, and started his search for the reporter, because he would know all the little details. Yui's dad was an old friend of the reporter, so he's staying at the shop to 1. help Yui out; and 2. to get time to talk with her dad.

 

Opinion:

Amusing, fun, and you get a different curry recipe with every manga :P something different and unique!

Edited by Timotheus
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Love this topic. :oooo:

 

I have been a regular reader of Kadokawa's and Kodansha's publication. Namely Newtype and Young Magazine.

 

Both Naruto and Bleach are from Shueisha and they are okay for me, but I have outgrown them for some reason. I loved some of Shueisha's earlier works though, like YuYu Hakusho, Prince of Tennis, and D.Gray-man (still running).

 

I'm curious as to how you get them where you are. I know that Naruto and Bleach are being serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump (since I'm following D.Gray-man), but Addicted to Curry is definitely serialized elsewhere. :P

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Well I'm reading scanlations, so you're pretty much spot on in how I could've gotten my hands on them, it's not really legal. :P

I did buy and read the translated volumes 1-13 of Naruto (13 is the latest release here atm). :)

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I am totally addicted to Bleach, but have only seen the Anime thus far. I'd like to give the manga a try but would really miss Ichigo's grunts and moans while fighting.

 

How different is the Manga from what I am watching on TV? One thing that really stands out in the anime is that no one seems to die.

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Heh well yeah you kinda miss the action scenes in the manga, but the story is cool enough to keep reading :P

Though I admit, I keep watching the anime. There are techniques that simply work better in the anime... Like the shikai and bankai of Byakuya's Senbonzakura... Now that's simply awesome to watch!

 

Anyway, Sil, if you want to give the manga a try, send me a PM :)

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Understandable Timo, I'm only curious if they have European version (in which I doubted :))

 

@Silearth: manga is typically more rich in story and its no different with Bleach. Bleach anime is okay, but know that Bounto arc and the Syūsuke Amagai arc are purely filler arcs so that the anime would not catch up to the manga. A better method than Naruto and One Piece, but still...

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  • 1 month later...

The bouto arc was pretty good, I found the whole Amagai arc a bit on the boring side. But yeah, thankfully not Naruto-filler material!

 

New addition:

 

Vampire Knight

Yuki Cross's earliest memory is of a snowy night in winter, when she was attacked by one vampire and was saved by another, Kaname Kuran.Yuki is the adopted daughter of the Headmaster of Cross Academy, Cross Kaien and has grown up and became a prefect for the school with one main purpose: to protect the Human Day Class Students and the Vampire Night Class Students from each other. Her fellow guardian, Zero Kiryu, a childhood companion whose parents were killed by a pureblood vampire, is now determined to kill them all and refuses to trust them. Through a cruel twist of fate, Zero becomes a vampire himself, having been bitten by a pure-blood vampire four years before, Shizuka Hio. Kaname leads the group of Night class as their President, with the help of Takuma Ichijo, the Vice-president.

 

Plot:

 

You slowly grow into the workings of the academy, following Yuki's attempts at finding out what is going on in the Night Class camp. When she finds out that Zero, a descendant from a line of vampire hunters, actually is turning in a vampire, she offers him her blood to keep him alive. Zero is torn between his new and former self. When Shizuka decides to join the academy, he needs to face his nemesis. Yuki finds herself in between, protected by both Zero and Kaname, and Shizuka asks her for a favor, in which all play a part. There seems to be some kind of power struggle between the 2 pure-bloods Kaname and Shizuka...

 

 

Opinion:

Keeps you reading, since every manga so far (I'm at #17) has given more information. Also, the manga episodes are quite lengthy: 32 pages.

Intriging storyline and cool beautiful ***kicking vampires, what else could you want? :(

Edited by Timotheus
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heh I gotten into animie and I watched a few series that I rly liked.. I didnt like vampire knight to much (gave up after 2 ep's)

gave up bleach after a half episode :)

 

those I have liked is

-Elfen lied

-Claymore

and im currently watching Full Metal Panic.. ep 12 and I still like it :(

Edited by Erling
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  • 6 months later...

I am reading Bleach manga right now. I'm usually reading them the day they release as scantilations :) So I am about as current as things can get for Bleach. Very much enjoying the current events, but disappointed that the anime has gone to another filler set right in the middle of the action :D

 

Otherwise I've watched the 51 or so episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist and loved that series. I'm trying to watch Cowboy Bebop and Blood+ right now but not getting very far due to Sacred 2 being a big time hog.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 months later...

Currently, the mangas I've been following consistently are Naruto and Claymore. Naruto, because I'm a masochist. :P Claymore, because I genuinely like it. Alot.

 

Gantz, I dropped for a bit, though likely will find time to finish it in the future. Change 123, just a couple more chapters. :P Rabbit Doubt, definitely loved reading it, and patiently waiting for chapters of Judge.

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  • 3 years later...

It's been a while since I posted here :)

 

I still read Naruto and Bleach, new additions are (in no particular order):

Fairy Tail

High School of the Dead

Cradle of Monsters

Apocalypse no Toride

Soul Cartel

 

These, I've all read up to their current scanlation releases. HotD has an anime as well, I loved it. Too bad it was that short...

Edited by Timotheus
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Only non-H manga I read is Berserk.

 

118210.jpg

 

It's a dark world with the tropes completely twisted around where the bad guys are angelic, god-like beings who inspire loyalty and bring peace and have the very power of destiny on their side, and the good guys are rag-tag loners and killers who are all dark and maimed, either psychologically or physically or both.

 

12c4a432e04c84bc820fa20abc1a0acf.jpeg

 

Also, the first big chunk is also such a stark contrast to what comes later. It starts out as a tale of comraderie, loyalty, and eventually love, set in a medieval world that is mostly realistic, with no hint of demons or monsters or anything like that. There's violence but it's grounded in reality, sword duels, and castle sieges, and political intrigue. The feels that come from just reading the "Golden Age" arc are so powerful, and made all the more "golden" by what happens after.

 

Berserk-large.jpg

 

When the crap hits the fan, everything is turned upside down, friends turn evil, bonds are broken, and you get a glimpse of a truly nightmare reality that hides behind the "normal" world, where angels are chosen by fate as your tormentors and inner demons can literally manifest themselves.

 

berserk-26567.jpg

 

And that's actually one of the good guys on that horse.

 

And yet while with every story arc the world just gets more insane, the fire burning in the hero (and the reader) to see things set right just burns even stronger and brighter, because you can't forget those beautiful days of simple, peaceful moments.

 


berserk___band_of_the_hawk_by_tajakjejta

 

MAN I can't wait for him to carry on this story, he takes forever to put out new issues, and it's so compelling. Plus as the story gets more and more insane, the artwork gets trippier too. Sometimes you don't even know what you're looking at:

 

berserk-30661.jpg

 

berserk-30672.jpg

 

berserk-30781.jpg

Edited by Flix
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That looks trippy indeed! :lol:

I'll update my post later with summaries of the new manga's I've mentioned... I realise it's a bit on the short side of things ;)

Edited by Timotheus
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Berserk, a name I haven't heard in a while. I haven't been keeping up with the series as much as I would like. Same with Gantz, a very trippy series itself, though I managed to get through much of it in the past. I still keep up with Claymore and Naruto, though both have gone downhill, Naruto moreso than Claymore. Latest manta I read was Dance in the Vampire Bund. Get over the fact that one of the main character is many centuries years old yet has the body of a little kid, and it is a good story.

  • Like! 1
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Gantz and Claymore I enjoyed a lot, the anime that is. Never read the books.

 

Though if the Claymore story continues on in a rewarding way, I might have to give it a read. That's part of the reason I ended up reading Berserk, the anime left off right at the W.T.F. moment where everything turned into a nightmare, and never continued. So I had to find out what happened.

 

Gantz was an anime that left so many questions unanswered...for one thing, what the hell were they doing there? I'd be more inclined to read manga if they didn't stretch on and on forever. I like stories with a beginning, middle and end, not just an interminable middle.

Edited by Flix
  • Like! 1
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Can't say I blame you, as Gantz is quite a long manga series. However, from what I briefly understand of the anime, which pretty much only covered a very small portion of the manga and then just ended it in a weird way, do make it a point to read the manga. For one, after 383 chapters, it has ended. For another, it does explain the point of the creation of Gantz and what the technology and weapons were designed specifically for. The anime in comparison had no idea what they were thinking since they were given only so many episodes and only had so many chapters to draw from before having to make up their own end game. :P You really do miss some important battles, some very important characters, and some very important development in the cast, particularly Kei.

 

Claymore, despite the fact it has gone downhill in chapters, is another you MUST read. The anime merely covers the first arc, and gives a cop-out ending. I don't blame them for doing so, given the anime's creators only had so much to work with at the time. That being said, it is all the more reason you gotta read the manga as it gives a much more complete picture of the world at large, including the true reason for why claymores were created in the first place.

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  • 2 years later...

Briefly breathing life to this thread temporarily here. Latest and probably only manga I'm keeping up with (along with the anime for that matter) is One Punch Man, original webcomic by One, remake drawn by Yusuke Murata. It's a parody of the superhero genre where the main character, Saitama, is incredibly bored with life due to the fact he's the most powerful man in the world, while the rest of said world don't even acknowledge him due to how plain he looks. Those who wants a change of pace from the usual serious stuff should give either webcomic or manga or anime a look.

  • Like! 1
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Is Space Pirate Harlock considered Manga? Just saw the 2013 remake... I used to watch this cartoon years ago when it was a flat 2d tv thing, and used to find him a little scary. The new movie has terrific lore, and background story about how his ship came to be and why it's so powerful. This specific story's way of having lasers's fly from ships through space melts me everytime I see it... and there's just no end of pic for this series... in one climactic battle, one of the sides brought along a sun!

 

 

:)

 

gogo

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