Kai’s History with Manga
Recently, I noticed Organization Anti-Social Geniuses had created a project for us to share on our manga history. While I’m not a veteran when it comes to manga, my history with manga isn’t as long as what you would expect from my anime history. Still, I’ll divulge my past with manga, which I seldom even talked about much.
When I was young, I was never exposed to a lot of anime or manga. The only time I managed to gain access to some anime were airings of Akazukin Cha Cha on Cartoon Network, and random tapes of Ranma 1/2. My sister managed to borrow full volumes of Shin-chan and Doraemon though, from some of her hardcore friends, and those two become my first ever manga I read. Both were excellent in their own rights, Shin-chan’s antics and Doraemon’s creative gadgets, both had elements to keep me reading on and on continuously.
A little while ago, I begun to read a lot of manga from my cousin’s house. My cousin was a hardcore manga fan as his shelf is brimming with manga collections. There’s Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin and a dozen of others. Every time I went to his house, I straightaway conquered his shelf, and rampaged on his collections. I remembered I even borrowed heaps of books back home just to finish due to how interesting they were. The intensity of all these manga kept me “busy” throughout junior high.
Years after that, begun my most revolutionary year for anime and manga, the emergence of internet for my home. While I was prioritizing on anime at first, I begun to read manga online a little later too, around late 2008 if I’m not mistaken, and it was at that time that I discovered scanlation sites. Through these sites, I started reading Black Cat, and it nostalgically became my first online manga that I read. Black Cat is an underrated series, both anime and manga, and as I’m an avid fan of Black Cat, I thought I should read the manga too. The plot, not surprisingly, changes a lot, differentiating itself from the anime counterparts, and after witnessing upon more of the series, it allows me to open up to the media even more.
After that, I remembered reading dozens of other manga, like Flame of Recca, Groove Adventure Rave and Shaman King. I had already watched all of their anime counterparts and the reason why I want to read the manga too is considerably simple. I love the series, and I want more, since I’m sure the manga will expand the storyline much more then anime did. The feeling of closures all of these manga presented satisfies me, something which the anime counterparts never managed to achieve. This is also around the time where I found out about genres like yuri and yaoi, so from that point onwards, I would pop in a random yuri one-shot on my monitor from time to time.
After finishing most of the major manga which were already anime-adapted, the later years see me reading countless other manga online like Onidere, Lock On!, Defense Devil, Psyren and even Bakuman. The latter especially caught my interest the most; a manga about drawing manga, philosophically touching on the subjects of manga fundamentals at times, while also touching on the hardships of manga authors. What’s more, the fact that it’s made by the same duo who did Death Note makes this manga my top-read list.
At some point, I even started reading manhwa like The Breaker and Ping. My experiences with manhwa still isn’t so knowledgeable but so far, they are quite epic, especially The Breaker at that. The actions are mostly what you would easily find in most other shounen titles, but the plot is surprisingly deep and complex. It’s almost a darker version of History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi.
While I’m the type who prioritize manga less, I’m sure there are TONS of good manga I had missed out. Currently, I’m catching up on frequent basis of Air Gear, History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi, The Breaker, To Love-ru Darkness, Arachnid, and the latest, Liar Game, the latter thanks to Yerocha’s recommendations. I also plan to increase the variety of the manga I read, and I especially need more yuri. I had read yuri manga like Carbonard Crown, Blue Friend, Hanjuku Joshi and Girl Friends. Obviously, I’m still looking for more and my ex-tourney opponent, Okazu, would probably help tremendously with my “yuri hunt.”
It was nostalgic looking at old comic books of Doraemon, Shin-chan and the likes, whereas now, I read most of my manga through my computer monitor, or my smartphone. Technology changed my anime viewing experience, but I could certainly say the same for manga too.
deluscar 
Crap, you’ve just reminded me how I have to catch up in New Waves. Thanks to school I stopped reading that (and Freezing actually) around the 50 mark. School is over for me. I definitely need to see what Shioon’s up to!
You say you haven’t been prioritizing manga all that much, but I don’t know, you have a solid list here O.o Of course with manga, that can always be expanded^^ Anyways, I think you’re the first to touch on the manhwa part. First webcomics with Yerocha, now Manhwa…very interesting :D
I’m not that far ahead, I think I was around at around chapter 70. Shioon’s been too damn weak and unepic in New Waves though.. D:
Really? If you compare my anime list with my manga list, it’s like heaven and hell D: Thanks, but yeah I think the list’s pretty minor, and it’s probably because I had never read anything from the “Big Three”, which I think is kinda rare for a manga reader. Lol, honestly, I need to read more manhwa too, I only read like… two D:
I thankfully have people on the site covering me on the manhwa front…cause I’ve only read one (and you know what that is^^)
So you had gotten quite a few recommendations? I’m planning to read Zippy Ziggy soon too, so that’s another manhwa to add to my to-read list D:
The only recommendations I’ve got is that none of Wann’s stuff is any good O.o
I haven’t tried those yet but it’s good to know.. I guess I can avoid them? o.O
yush. the majority (90%?) has to read manga off their monitors. mostly bcuz the ‘ prices are doubled thanks to shipment and tax fees… T^T/
History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi is truly an epic story… didn’t know much about breaker. might as well give it a try. :D
That, and buying it from locals (at least here) is close to impossible D: Gotta give props to the scanlators.
Kenichi’s story more like action + comedy.. not THAT epic for me but it’s still a good manga :D If you’re talking about a good story, The Breaker is certainly a good choice.
So true. If not, I don’t think I can watch anime or read manga as I do now.
I don’t read as many manga as you. I do wish to read a little more titles. I only started reading manga seriously in 2010. Before that, I only read random chapters of Naruto and Bleach.
I started in late 2008, but honestly, my progress is embarrassingly slow even though it’s been 5 years, lol.
It’s always great to know other people you can borrow manga from and discuss it. I knew a few people like that growing up, though with games and not manga.
Yay for Liar Game! You also have me a little interested in The Breaker, and whatever that second-last picture is from.
Most of them had already “graduated” from reading books though, but sometimes, it’s still good to have a physical collection of the manga.
Liar Game indeed! Love all the talks about psychology in that manga ;p Nice :D And that second-last picture is from Arachnid, a manga about modern day assassins, I recommend to give that a try too :D
Arachnid >>> manga about modern day assassins >>> adds to manga reading list lol
You like them assassins? :p
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Manga always end up invoking my emotions more than anime. Whenever I finished reading one, there’s always a sense of closure if the story ends on a satisfying note or loss because my time with characters which I’ve grown attached to is over or feelings that linger around for another short while. One issue is fillers, as manga tend to have a lot of them. Though, there are also fillers skillfully woven into the main plot, making us even more attached to the characters involved.
My history with manga is not too broad but I’d like to recommend a few series I end up enjoying.
Onani Master Kurosawa, which literally translates into Masturbation Master Kurosawa is a very short one. Don’t let the title fool you, or rather fall into the author’s trap so you can get blown away like many other, including me.
Mx0 is a shounen manga with a generic premise but was excellently executed, bringing out hot-blooded magic battles(the sheer variety of magic which are both new and cool) and hilarious situations with likable characters.
B Gata H Kei, or Yamada’s First Time got adapted to anime recently. I haven’t watch it as I’ve already finished the manga beforehand. This is another case of not letting yourself be fooled by the premise. The synopsis may lead you to think it’s just another manga with characters doing perverted things but no. This manga is a rare case for me, since I fell in love with almost all the characters. They are surprisingly human and flawed, making it easy for me to relate to. Not to mention it’s utterly hilarious.
Ah, I forgot to add that Mx0 had a rushed/axed ending. It seems the mangaka is hated by the magazine he published his works on, which is a real shame since he’s great at what he does. Why doesn’t he publish them on other magazines!!! – His fans often scream.
Manga tends to do that, due to the nature of the medias themselves, most manga seems to have better closures then anime, though there are a few exceptions. Most manga fillers are more better blended into the main plot while anime has.. much more worse and detached fillers.
Onani Master Kurosawa does seems misleading, but I see a lot of positive reception, so I’ll give it a try son. Mx0 had been in my To-read list for the longest time ever, together with Good Ending.
Likewise with Onani, I’m surprised B Gata H Kei’s manga is actually good, another perv-themed manga. I can’t say I really like the anime but I’ll give the manga a try.
I advise not to browse too much for info on Onani Master Kurosawa. A lot of them spoil what’s under the disguise. Maybe it was planned from the start or maybe the mangaka suddenly realized how much potential it had if another road was taken.
Well, as often with visual novels as with manga, anime adaptions can be very lazy, either cutting off a lot of elements or suffer from bland and uninspired animation. I don’t know if it’ll be the case for you, but I’ve grown on most of the casts in B Gata H Kei.
The only thing I read is the MAL’s synopsis, lol. I’ll read it soon.
That’s pretty natural i guess, considering the limited time anime studios are presented with to work around.
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