Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2024, Week 40]

Read the first 6 chapters of NO\NAME! This one was pretty cool. People receive powers based off their names. Our protagonists are name cops investigating a string of murders.

Read some Sailor Moon. I'm almost halfway through (roughly corresponding with the early episodes of Sailor Moon S), and what's struck me hardest about it is just how different the manga feels due to the absence of all the filler I'm used to from watching the anime. On the one hand, it's mostly great! It's like watching the anime, but only with the parts where things actually happen! On the other hand, I'm realizing that most of the characterization of the sailor scouts (aside from Sailor Moon herself) came from those filler episodes. Overall it feels like they have a little less personality in the manga as a result.

Finished Jujutsu Kaisen. It was overall good, but in the end the author cared way too much about his power system and not enough about the characters. One of the few epilogue chapters was dedicated almost entirely to ramblings about simple domain that nobody really cared about at that point for example.

Last week was a bit confusing for me.

First, I finished After the Rain and I don't know why. Don't take me wrong, it's not a bad series - it has a few interesting moments, some really pretty panels and ended in a way I found satisfying enough. It's just... I could not care less about the relationship between MC and her manager, i.e. the main premise of the whole thing. Maybe I really wanted to see if they end up together or not, I don't know. I liked the overall message at least.

Apparently this series has an anime adaptation too! I'm not sure how I never heard about it since it's not that old (released in 2018) but it's supposedly pretty good. Might check it out some day.

Second, I started reading Stravaganza. By mistake. I was planning to check out Claymore but ended up mixing the two for some reason - you can imagine my surprise after seeing all the fan service Stravaganza has to offer.

I kept reading, even after realizing my mistake, and I don't regret this mix up. Haven't finished the whole thing yet (one more volume to go) but what I did read turned out pretty fun and way more serious than expected. The beginning of the second/main (?) arc reminded me of the early Attack on Titan chapters with all the suspense and almost unstoppable danger. It's good.

Finally (not as a part of the confusion saga), I decided to check out The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! It should be good as long as I can keep myself from binging as most of the humor so far seems to revolve around Jahy being pathetic due to loss of her powers. I'm still early on so I'll see how/if things change in later chapters but I hope it won't stick to a single gag doing all the work - as fun as it is it might get old really quickly.

After buying a volume of Love Bullet on BookWalker to help it avoid cancellation, I've got some coupons.

So I thought I may as well save a few more manga from the axe.

Would y'all know if any manga on this list is in danger? - My ongoing 10/10s

If not, do you know of any manga at risk of being axed, or is under-bought?

Following up on my comment in this week's anime discussion thread, would anyone who follows Oshi no Ko kindly ping me when the last chapter is released? I would like to binge the manga in one go instead of waiting in anticipation.

I swear it is the last week I will mention this series as its final chapter was just posted to Mangadex this past week:

• Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord

The final chapter didn't really have any surprises, just tied a nice bow with some loose ends and showed the characters off with a smile to the rest of their lives. This was such an enjoyable little story with a likable cast of characters. There are a couple things that I would have liked to see gone into a bit more, but I don't think it is enough to take away from a great adult yuri series featuring adult characters and nary a school uniform in sight.

• Oshi no Ko

The most recent chapter, 161, has really stuck with me. I knew that the series was approaching its end, but when redacted happened, it made me think we are way closer to the end of the series than I thought. Another interesting bit about this most recent chapter is that there are several things that actually tied back to the content included in the episode that aired on the same day (season 2, episode 12). I really, really hope that this series can stick the landing.

• Mary-san

This series passed 200 chapters on Mangadex this past week and I just wanted to give it a shout out. If I find some time I might try to make some pudding to celebrate.

• Yuusha to Yobareta Nochi ni: Soshite Musou Otoko wa Kazoku wo Tsukuru / After Being Called a Hero: The Unrivaled Man Starts a Family

This series wrapped up its most recent arc that has been going on for some time. I have enjoyed this series, but I think that this most recent arc was really dragging by the end. When there are just an endless sequence of new big bads that you have to fight, then it just starts to feel redundant. This series is at its best when it focuses more on the fluffy, family, SOL stuff. The battles are the parts I am least interested in.

Just as a side meta comment, during this past week I haven't been able to be as responsive to comments/posts as I have in the past. I think it is a good sign that there is enough activity in this community as well as !anime@ani.social that my inbox can look like this after just a couple days:

Keep it up everybody and I apologize if you feel like I have ignored you. I just haven't had the time recently.

I'll just put those I found noteworthy, as usual.

Itsuwari no Marigold, a yuri romance set in the Taishō era. Completed with only 15 chapters (I wish there was one more, hopefully there'll be an extra). Touching, extremely.

I have also been enjoying How Could You Repay the Kindness I Raised You With Obsession?. It's a manhwa about a girl that gets transmigrated as the witch from Hansel and Gretel, and is viewed as the cannibal with, while just wanting to have company. It's quite funny.

Kaette Kudasai! Akutsu-san. The story is now moving forward! They are officially a couple, and Ooya-san is still probably agonizing in a pool of her own blood somewhere. 😅

I also had a lot of fun with The Fitness Villainess (not linking it since I am reading it on Tapas). Another villainess possession story. It is quite hilarious, and I just love how badass she is.