So what are you currently reading?

1) What volume are you currently reading?
2) Also, what manga series are you currently following?

To answer 1, I am currently reading (and enjoying) Love Roma vol. 2.

As for 2, there are many, like:
Fruits Basket
Kare Kano
Genshiken
Nodame Cantabile
Tsubasa
xXxHolic
Tokyo Babylon
Pet Shop of Horrors
..and others.

What about you?

1) I'm reading vol. 11 and waiting for 12 and 13 of 100 Ghosts, aka Le Cortège Des Cent Démons, aka Hyakki Yakoushou, aka 百鬼夜行抄
2) Of the titles I'm following that are actively issuing volumes, 100 Ghosts, G-Defend, Kizu, Hikaru no Go. What I want to follow is Phantom Moon Tower, but that's moving at a rate of 5 years between volumes.

My most recently read manga was Princess Tutu.

I am currently reading series like, Death note, Hana-kimi, Ouran High School Host Club, Hellsing and Vampire Game. There are probably more I am forgetting as well.

I am currently just finished reading Azumanga Daioh Volume 4, and am getting ready to start Nodame Cantabile Volume 6.

I am currently keeping up with:
Nodame Cantabile
Death Note
Robot (art book/color manga) by Range Murata
And still need to pick up FLCL Volume 2.

Anyone looking for a great new manga to pick up? I *highly* recommend Monster! Enjoy your manga reading!!

I'm reading Absolute Boyfriend volume 4 right now (it's the chuang yi english version not the tokyopop one which hasn't come out yet I think)

I'm following

Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden
Fruits Basket
Hunter X Hunter
Gto
and of course Absolute Boyfriend

I'm reading Hikaru No Go vol. 7 and Fruits Basket vol 1 right now. The latter I'm reading for a graphic novel discussion club.

i really don't like reading unfinished manga but for some reason I'm in the middle of Leviathan by Otsuka Eiji and Kinutani Yuu and Maria-sama ga Miteru right now. I'm actually stalling my reding, keeping to 3 chapters at a time... ^.^

Other than that, I'm reading Sakende Yaruze (shounen-ai & yaoi isn't forbidden here right? 9.9"), Death Note (I've yet to finish it), Angel Sanctuary (i've yet to finish it too... when I stopped I was crying and I haven't started again... T.T), and Kagen no Tsuki by Yazawa Ai.

I'm also quite updated with Bleach and Naruto, though I don't read them yet (from friends hehe).

I am reading Tsubasa 11

Okay, let's see...
I'm reading volume one of Genju no Seiza, volume three of Loveless, volume eleven of DNAngel, Hands Off!, Antique Bakery, Lagoon Engine, Yami no Matsuei, and various sundry and others that I can't remember at the moment.

I've been reading Fruits Basket and Boys Over Flowers. Since I've been getting these through the public library I'm at a stand still with both series. There's a waiting list for volume 14 of Fruits Basket and for Boys Over Flowers, Volume 18. Hopefully in a month or so I'll be able to resume both series. I may have to start buying the newer volumes soon.

I just read the first Blade of the Immortal and I don't know if I like it. I'm just kind of like, 'huh'. Has anyone else read this series? Also, I started Eden: It's an Endless World, which seems to be okay.

Is anyone else reading Nana by Ai Yazawa? I just got this in at the library, and I am uncontrollably addicted. Comments on it?

Currently reading the "manga-novel" CLAMP School Paranormal Investigators. :)

I just finished the first volume of Fullmetal Alchemist and volume 3 of Oh My Goddess! I really liked Fullmetal Alchemist

I'm not currently reading any manga, which is something I intend to do something about today.

I'm after some new Dark Horse acquisitions such as Reiko The Zombie Shop, Eden and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service!

Series I follow:

Ranma 1/2 (about to end *sniff*)
Blade Of The Immortal
Usagi Yojimbo (okay, it's not strictly manga but I think of it in that way because of the Japanese flavour)

I am currently reading volume 3 of Beauty Pop.

Series I am following:
Hana-Kimi Bleach
La Corda d' Oro
Red River
Back Stage Prince
Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden
Ouran High School Host Club
Punch!
Skip Beat!
Vampire Knight
Fruits Basket
Tsubasa
XXXHolic
Case Closed
Prince of Tennis
Wallflower
Naruto
One Piece
Kitchen Princess
Legend
Queen's Knight
I.N.V.U.
Inuyasha
Angel Diary
AntiGravity Boy
Ark Angels
Chocolat
Neck&Neck
Peppermint
Sweet&Sensetive
........and a whole bunch more!

Well, there's only a few I've been following - Bleach, Naruto, Fruit's Basket, Eureka 7, and Trigun, although I'm thinking of starting some more... I like action/romance, and mecha types, any suggestions?

Hmm. I'm following Saiyuki Reload, Wild Adapter, D.Gray-Man, Bleach, Fullmetal Alchemist, Genju no Seiza, Blade of the Immortal and Hikaru no Go. Also slowly getting copies of stuff I read translations of manymany years ago, when you couldn't GET much manga in English, like Tokyo Babylon and Earthian. Plus assorted other yaoi titles. ^^

If you like action/romance, you might like Basara. Great action, a romantic story that's both touching and tragic, and a great cast of characters. Not really any mecha, but it's a great read.

Lately, I've been reading a few "light novels": volume 2 of Crest of the Stars, and Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator.

Yay, I've just read that Boogiepop novel myself, and realized my edition (German) wasn't combined with yours, so I went ahead and done it.

I've just read volume 2 of Fullmetal Alchemist... it was nice, but I thought these scenes were better executed in the anime (especially the chimera plotline). As for what I'm following...

* Homunculus
* Eden
* Death Note
* Biomega

And the light novels

* Boogiepop
* Kino no tabi

Probably a couple others I'm forgetting about. I've also recently picked up the first volumes of:

* Lament of the Lamb (Hitsuji no uta)- I immensely enjoyed this, and thus I'll probably buy the complete series sometime next week
* Nana - I admit I stopped reading it halfway into the book... some of my friends are really into it, but it's just not for me *sigh* - I'll probably force myself to finish it, after all I've spent my hard-earned euros on it and I can at least practice German
* The Rose of Versailles (Berusaiyu no bara), which I haven't finished yet but surprisingly like. I'll also buy the other volumes of this, though during my last visit to the big bookstore where I usually buy manga I couldn't find volume 2, only 3 and onwards. Nyah! (I'm quite surprised to see that no one on Librarything has the complete series, and I've even combined some of the different editions/author name spellings/etc and still. Meh!)
* Gosick (light novel) - I haven't started reading this yet, I bought it because these books are perfect both for practicing German and reading during commuting (ie. in short snippets). I'll probably read all non-romance light novels available in German during the course of this month and the next... I've just started and I'm already reading the third out of six. (2 vols Boogiepop, 1 vol Kino no tabi... 1 Kino no tabi and 2 Gosick to go.) It's a pity all new titles are romance-oriented.

As you can see, I mostly read seinen, with the occasional shounen, and while I regularly try other genres, those are usually complete failures. (But I like Berusaiyu no Bara!! Then again, the only shoujo anime I could ever finish watching was Shoujo Kakumei Utena, which is very strongly influenced by Berusaiyu no Bara... I hope the anime is as good as the manga, I'll give that one a try as well after successfully obtaining and reading all volumes.)

I'm also considering picking up Shamo, but it's sooo long (ie. lots of money needed :O ) and Heads by Motorou Mase, which is nicely drawn, interesting, but since I am in a related field, I'm a bit afraid it will completely destroy all suspension of disbelief for me... Homunculus also came pretty close in this respect, but in the end I still ended up enjoying it, I'm afraid this will not be the case with Heads.

While I have a constantly changing line-up of manga that I follow, yesterday I finished reading Cromartie 10, Love Roma 5 and Bleach 18. Millennium Snow 1 and Crimson Hero 5 are on deck for tonight! I used to buy the majority of my manga from Tokyopop, but now my wallet seems to be owned by VIZ and Del Rey - anyone else notice that trend in their purchases?

re: 23 - Oh yeah, there was a time when I felt bad that the majority of my money went to Tokyopop because I used to buy only Viz books (really... before Tokyopop was around). Then suddenly Viz exploded and now there are only a handful of Tokyopop series I read, most of which are either ending this year or come out ridiculously infrequently (Bird Kiss, Queens). Del Rey stuff is starting to thin out for me a bit, but there's a few new series I'm interested in like My Heavenly Hockey Club and Princess Resurrection, so I suppose that balances out.

I get a ton of stuff from Viz though. Too much.

Tokyopop seems to be increasing the number of series that come out really slowly - Fruits Basket, Neck and Neck, President Dad, Queen's Knight and, as you mentioned, Bird Kiss and Queens. I know that Neck and Neck is selling very poorly, which is sad because it's a fun read. At least they haven't flat out dropped those series (ADV, I'm looking at you) so we can still read them.

Speaking of ADV, I recently re-read Yotsubato! and remembered how much I love and miss it. Has anyone heard anything about when volumes four and five might see the light of day?

I definately read mostly Viz stuff. For a long time the only company who was brave enough to really release shoujo was Tokyopop. Then Viz got completely exclusive deals with Shueisha and Shogakukan (and Del Rey with Kodansha) and Tokyopop slowed it down a bit. Luckily Viz came out with Shojo Beat and I basically buy exclusively SB titles nowadays. I don't mean to, but that's the way it works out.

My most recent acquisition is the first volume of Vampire Knight. I really enjoyed it! A bit gothic in style, but not as inappropriate as most vampire stories are these days.

Planetes Vol. 1
Sexy Voice and Robo
Dragon Head
Lady Snowblood
Yukiko's Spinach
Short Cuts Vol. 1 by Usamaru Furuya
I've also stalled out at Volume 11 of Blade of the Immortal, although I plan to keep reading if I can find discount copies of later volumes...

and these comics, which aren't manga:

Bone
Understanding Comics

Yotsuba&! vol. 4 is slated to be released on June 30, along with v.4 of Gunslinger Girl (though I'll believe it when I've got them in my greedy little paws). Manga I've read recently:

vol. 16 of Fruits Basket
vol. 5 of Love Roma
vol. 2 of Ninin ga Shinobuden
vol. 1 of ES: Eternal Sabbath
vol. 2 of Kashimashi
vol. 10 of Neon Genesis Evangelion
vol. 12 of Fullmetal Alchemist

Edit: metatext -- how did you get hold of Short Cuts? I'd heard that's been out of print for a while now.

I am reading Tsubasa Vols 1-12.

I just got started on manga and I'm reading

vol. 5 Ouran High School Host Club
vol. 1 Juvenile Orion

I usually read shojo manga, but I've really gotten ontp Juvenile Orion lately. The art is amazing and the story is intriguing. And OHSHC is always great...

I'm really new to reading mangas and have only read one series so far, Her Majesty's Dog. I love these mangas but there are only 6 out in the series so I'm kind of on the look out for other mangas along the same lines. Suggestions are totally welcome!!

I've ordered Night of the Beasts from the bookstore and the first volumes of Vampire Knight and Chobit from the library. They all look really good.

>33 Jenson_AKA_DL:

Since you're reading two of Chika Shiomi's series, you may want to try Yurara. There are 2 volumes out and it is currently running in Shojo Beat magazine. Vampire Knight is also in there so you may be interested in the series in the magazine as well as all of the direct to novel Shojo Beat series. Here's the tag page for shojo beat: http://www.librarything.com/tag/shojo+beat .

For the supernatural angle, I'd recommend Petshop of Horrors and Genju no Seiza by Matsuri Akino and Tokyo Babylon by CLAMP. For a little added fun there's Fruits Basket by Natsuki Yakaya and DNAngel by Yukiru Sugisaki.

There are so many good ones out there and many of them have already been listed on the touchstones, so check those out to see if you like them. Let us know how your reading goes.

Thanks for the suggestions! Yurara looks really great. I'll also be on the lookout for the Shojo Beat magazine.

I'm off to check out that LT group as well.

I have read the first two volumes of Night of the Beasts but have yet to decide what to think about them. They are a bit dark/violent for my taste although I think I will wind up reading at least one more volume before I make a final decision.

I also borrowed Volume 1 of Chobits from the library. I pretty much liked it. I found it very easy to read. I liked it enough to bookmooch the first four volumes of the series since I don't think the library carries the whole set.

Currently I'm reading Volume 2 of Here is Greenwood. The first one confused me but I was interested enough to read the second one. I'm finding this one much easier to understand.

>37 Jenson_AKA_DL:: Please stick with Greenwood! It's one of my personal favorites and is definitely worth reading. I'm a sucker for "older" shojo manga and at only nine volumes, it's pretty easy on the wallet. I just love Shun!

>38 SushiGirl: Thanks for the encouragement :-) I'm glad to hear it is a shorter series and I'll probably keep going with it.

Some of the series at 20+ volumes seem a little overwhelming to me. For instance, I read volume 1 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles last night and loved it. However, I recently discovered it is a really long series which I'm not even sure has reached its conclusion yet. I'm going to keep on with the series but it is a bit daunting to think about.

>39 Jenson_AKA_DL: Tsubasa is great but works better when you've read Cardcaptor Sakura (and several other CLAMP titles) and are reading xxxholic at the same time. They're both still running in Japan to my knowledge.

I like Tsubasa a lot, but I honestly prefer xxxholic because it's creepier and has an almost art nouveau feel to it. Tsubasa runs in Shonen Magazine, so that partly explains the lengthy fight scenes and high number of volumes (like Bleach and Prince of Tennis, for example).

Are you looking for other good but short series to read?

I just finished the first volume of xxxHolic as well. I think I'll try switching off with Tsubasa while reading them since the stories go together. The only other Clamp manga I've read so far is the first volume of Chobits which I also enjoyed. My favorite manga so far is still Her Majesty's dog.

I would love suggestions on other short series! Other than the ones I've mentioned already I've also read Until the full Moon, the first couple volumes of After School Nightmare and the first volume of Kingdom Hearts. Right now I have the first volumes of From Far Away and Angel Sanctuary out from the library that I haven't read yet. If you can't tell I lean towards the fantasy/relationshippy type stories :-)

Also, based on the previous recommendations I still plan on trying out Yurara and D.N.Angel. Both of those series look good. I know Yurara is really new to the States but I'm curious to know a little more about D.N.Angel, how many volumes it is and if new volumes are still coming out.

Last night I finished xxxHolic Volume 2 and plan to start Tsubasa Volume 2 today or tomorrow. I'm trying to read the two series together.

D.N.Angel is currently 11 volumes and, I believe, still on hiatus in Japan. Apparently the mangaka is a bit notorious for leaving series unfinished, too.

Other series that are on hiatus: Yami no Matsuei/Descendants of Darkness (since 2003, barring a few short stories with nothing to do with the main storyline) and X/1999 (since 2003).

Chances are neither YnM nor X will ever be finished, at this point.

>44 lohengrin: D.N.Angel

Noooooooooo! I hadn't heard that. *sigh* Sometimes I wonder if having an anime with a definite ending made before the manga is finished causes the mangaka to lose interest or ideas.

>45 trollsdotter:

Well, the X manga was going in a completely different direction than the anime, at the time it went on hiatus, so I doubt that's the reason there (they said at the time it was because, considering the massive earthquake that hit Japan for real, they felt it was an inappropriate time to continue with a story that involved earthquakes and destroyed Tokyo, but that was four and a half years ago now, so obviously there's more to it than that).

And the 'ending' to the YnM anime was just the ending of the Kyoto arc in the manga, so it doesn't really count (I personally think she just wrote herself into a corner, there, because the storylines she had going were excessively convoluted and kinda random).

With D.N.Angel, I have no idea, as I don't really follow it; I liked the anime, but not enough to pick up the manga.

> 45 DN Angel

Here's what I know: we've caught up with the Japanese release, so the volumes are coming out at a snail's pace through molasses in January. To the best of my knowledge the series is still coming out in Japan...just quite slowly. Yukiru Sugisaki has a habit of working on lots of different projects at once, so nothing seems to get done particularly quickly.

My current reading crop consists of Penguin Revolution (reread), Kitchen Princess (nearly caught up with the available volumes), xxxHOLIC (caught up and waiting for the next translated volume), and Emma. There are a few other titles in there, but that's the bulk of it.

>41 Jenson_AKA_DL:

Hmmmm, short fantasy series... well, you've mentioned From Far Away, which is a personal favorite of mine, and that's short for a fantasy series - only 14 volumes! Platinum Garden is 10 volumes and has a nifty premise. Ghost Hunt combines the supernatural with a hint of romance and should be around 10 or 11 volumes once it finishes up. One of the collaborators of GH worked on The Twelve Kingdoms (Juuni Kokki) if you liked that. Million Tears and Flower of the Deep Sleep (same author) are only 2 volumes each.

I'm all about "relationshippy type stories" myself and would suggest borrowing or buying Aishiteruze Baby (7 volumes), Beauty is the Beast (5 volumes), Beauty Pop (currently 8 volumes but so cute it's worth it), La Corda d'Oro (should end around 7 volumes) and Saint Lunatic High School (2 volumes). Vampire Knight is really good and while it's still running in Japan, the author tends to keep her series fairly short.

I have something of a skewed idea of short series, to be honest. ^_^ If you're looking for a longer investment, I can't praise Ouran High School Host Club highly enough, it's hilarious and is probably my desert island manga.

Hopefully this was helpful - if you'd like any other suggestions, please let me know!

>47 shadrach_anki:

It's been more than two years now since the release of volume 11 in Japan, so that's pretty darn high on the "slow" scale.

I'm trying to post a message but anything over one sentence doesn't want to post.

Trying this again:

ShushiGirl - Thanks a bunch for all the suggestions! I'll be checking them out.

Last night I finally read my copy of Yurara that I had set aside and absolutely adored it! I'm hoping to get over to Borders tonight to pick up volume 2. I also have the first volume of Hana Kimi out from the library to read.

I think I'll hold off on D.NAngel for a bit. I'm not sure if I want to get into a manga series that looks like it might not have a definite ending.

>41 Jenson_AKA_DL: If you can't tell I lean towards the fantasy/relationshippy type stories :-)

I like the fantasy/relationshippy type stories too. So here’s the start of a list gathered from my collection, some tag mashes, Graphic Novels by Michael Pawuk and Manga the Complete Guide by Jason Thompson.

List Part 1:

Shorter Works:

Alice 19th, 7 vols by Yu Watase. Genre: magic in the real world. Alice learns to use the mysterious Lotus Words in order to save the world.

Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion, 5 vols by Sakurako Gokurakuin. Genre: magic in the real world. A short, fun series.

Cardcaptor Sakura, 12 vols, by CLAMP. Genre: magic in the real world. Sakura accidentally releases magic from an enchanted book and must recover them before they wreak havoc on the world. (Not to be confused with the Americanized Cardcaptors (which I did like, but it isn’t the original).)

Demon Diary, 7 vols by Kara, Jee-Hyung Lee and YunHee Lee. Feckless young Raenef must learn how to be a Demon Lord.

Demon Ororon, 4 vols by Mizuki Hakase. Genre: dark fantasy. Something just fascinates me about this story even though it isn’t as upbeat as others.

Longer Works:

Basara, 26 vols by Yumi Tamura. Genre: heroic fantasy. A young girl takes the place of her slain brother to overthrow the kingdom’s cruel rulers.

Bastard, 23+ vols by Kazushi Hagiwara. Genre: sword and sorcery fantasy. One kiss from Tia transforms young Lucien into the “evil” wizard Dark Schneider. Not completely to my taste, it seemed more aimed at boys, though there are many female fans of Dark Schneider.

ElfQuest by Wendy and Richard Pini. Genre: epic fantasy. Available in b&w manga sized volumes or larger color volumes. This American comic was created in 1978 and is just awesome romantic fantasy. “It tells the tales of the Wolfrider clan of elves and how they came to be a part of Earth from their extraterrestrial origins.”

Oooh! There is an ElfQuest manga? I read the first novel of the ElfQuest series back in high school and remember liking it. I'll have to look for the manga for sure.

Thanks a bunch for the list!

Unfortunately they are the same comic, just repackaged and in black and white. (I only say "unfortunately" if you're expecting new content.) Actually, I wasn't reading comics back then, so the original comics may have been in b&w. I was introduced to them in the color graphic novels.

I mentioned them here, only because the series feels more Japanese to me than American.

The ElfQuest book I read was a regular novel, not a graphic novel at all. Since I don't remember much about the story, other than that I remember liking it, it will be all new to me. I guess sometimes having a rotten memory is a good thing LOL

I don't mind the black and white manga, although the few glossy color pages they sometimes put at the front of them are really beautiful.

They didn't have the second Yurara manga or From Far Away Volume 5 at Borders so instead I picked up After School Nightmare Volume 4. At least I'm collecting enough different series that I can always find something to buy :-)

i am currently reading DN Angel and am looking to start Fruits Basket, Zatch Bell, and many others that i can't remember the name too.

>51 Jenson_AKA_DL:

I'll second Trollsdotter's recommendations for Cardcaptor Sakura and Basara.

Cardcaptor Sakura (NOT Cardcaptors) is one of my favorite manga series overall. Very sweet and touching; I think it's just the "fantasy/relationshippy type" story you'd like. In addition, the leads from Tsubasa are also kinda-sorta from CCS. You could consider Tsubasa to be CLAMP's version of a US comic publisher's super-duper crossover series; a lot of the fun for CLAMP fans in Tsubasa comes from recognizing characters from other series.

Basara is a wonderful epic tale about a girl who has to take her brother's place as the destined leader of the people of Japan in the distant future against their despotic rulers. Romance, action, nice touch of humor; Basara's got something for everyone. The art's not to everyone's liking, but I enjoy it.

For more CLAMPy goodness, I'd also recommend Wish. It's the series that got me hooked on CLAMP, and it's still probably my favorite of their tales. It's a fairly brief (four volumes), but very sweet, funny, and romantic story about an angel and a human. The human helps the angel, and the angel wants to repay the debt, but the human can't think of anything he needs, so the angel stays around until the angel can find a way to repay the debt. Various other characters and complications ensue, natch.

Based on the past recommendation I've been obsessively reading and watching the anime of Cardcaptor Sakura, you're right I absolutely love it!

I haven't read Wish yet but coincidentally I just bought the four volume set off of ebay the day before yesterday. I thought it looked very good. So far I've really enjoyed everything I've read by Clamp and now have a shelf full of manga by them.

My most recent manga reads have been Suki, Clamp School Defenders, Sensual Phrase (I'm up to volume 12) and Vampire Knight.

I've pre-ordered the next volumes of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and Her Majesty's Dog from amazon and am SO looking forward to them.

I'll have to check out Basara as well since I've enjoyed all the other recommendations so far. My problem is getting interested in a series and then having wait so long for the next one to come out. I keep thinking I shouldn't start anything new until I've caught up or finished the series I've already started.

Sensual Phrase is the only one on your list that I haven't tried. Since you made it to volume 12, what do you like about it? (Not that I need to be encouraged to buy more books, of course. It's only so I can recommend it to customers. *earnest look*)

Sensual Phrase is very different from all the other manga I've read since it is not fantasy and it is rated as mature. It is the story of a school girl, I think she's about 16 or 17, who almost gets hit by a car driven by the singer of an up and coming rock group. She had been writing songs for a contest and he picks up one of the songs after she leaves. He decides he likes what she has written enough to track her down and ask her to become the lyricist for the band.

This manga series is pretty sexually explicit, although not completely hardcore. It is almost like watching a soap opera (or a car wreck, you can choose your analogy) so it is a bit of a guilty pleasure reading them. I know that the series is complete and there are only about 18 volumes in all so I'd hate to give them up now.

They better keep making D.N. Angel or else.....

Im also reading Alichino and i want to get into Vampire Knight.

Oh and has anyone heard of Ergo Proxy?

I really enjoy Vampire Knight and would totally recommend it! The drawings are kind of creepy. The girl looks like a little like a doll with big blank eyes and dolls really creep me out. But, it really works well with the vampire theme.

I'm reading Nana volume 1. Just bought vols 2 & 3 and looking forward to trying a bunch of others. I'm new to manga and just finished my first series (Love Hina), and have also enjoyed the first two My Cat Loki books. Any recommendations for good shojo/josei? :-)

>59 Jenson_AKA_DL:
The main story of Basara's complete in the US now; it ended with Volume 25, which Viz (the publisher) released a month or two ago. There's two volumes yet to be published here, IIRC, but I've heard that they're side stories. I highly recommend this series; it's a great epic tale.

>62 Bella_Swan:
What's happened with D.N. Angel, again from what I've heard, is that the manga-ka took a break for a while, so the US has caught up with Japan. Supposedly, the series has started up again in Japan, so you should get your wish, but since the US is now keeping pace with Japan, it'll probably be a fairly long wait between volumes (especially if D.N. Angel's published in a monthly magazine in Japan).

>64 bostonbibliophile:
For josei titles, try one of Erica Sakurazawa's books. EDIT: Nodame Cantabile's another good josei title; it's a romantic comedy set at a music school. Shojo-wise, I'd suggest Basara (can you tell I like this one? ;) ); a number of CLAMP titles -- Wish, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Suki are all very good; you might also want to pick up a copy of Shojo Beat (the magazine that originally contained Nana in the US) to see if anything there tickles your fancy. EDIT: Forgot to mention Fruits Basket; very entertaining. It's got some very nice funny moments, and there's a well-told story there too.

I read all four volumes of Wish over the weekend and really did love the series. I agree with everybody's recommendations for it.

I also picked up and read Yurara volume 3 and Cardcaptor Sakura Master of the Clow Volume 3. I really love the relationship between Toya and Yukito, it's so sweet! I was a little surprised by the end of this volume because in the anime they strung that particular storyline out a bit longer.

Today in the mail I received Wolf's Rain volume one via Bookmooch and have had volume 2 sitting on my shelf for a long time waiting for me to get this one. So, I'll probably read those tonight.

Has anyone heard of Reborn?
lily2124

Nope, what's it about?

well it's about his kid who's a flunk out at everything and than this toddler named Reborn ,a mafia assain who becomes tsuna(the flunk out) tutor , tells him that he is supposed to be the next mafia boss.Tsuna Likes this girl named Kyoko Reborn finds out and shoots tsuna in the head.... with a deathperation shot which makes the person shot with it preform there dying regret so Tsuna asked Kyoko out .

I'm on like the 6th book so far and it's a really good series

Lily2124

Sounds interesting, I'll have to keep it in mind :-)

Currently reading Vampire Knight Volume 3.

Well, because I work at a manga publisher, I get to read stuff before it comes out! Currently, I'm sneak reading Cy-Believers, Her Majesty's Dog Volume 9, and the incredible climax to After School Nightmare (ooooh man, so gorgeous...) ^_^

From other publishers, I'm reading Vampire Knight and Goong.

>71 atmanga:

You're such a tease!

I just finished Pet Shop of Horrors : Tokyo and will go on to Kitchen Princess, Vol. 5 when I get it home from the bookstore.

OOOOHHHH, I agree such a tease!! I'm very jealous LOL My volume of Her Majesty's Dog Volume 8 is backordered at Amazon and I'm sooo frustrated about it. I ordered it back in December so I could get it asap. I can't believe you've already gotten to read 9!!!

Ditto with After School Nightmare, I can't find the one that was supposed to be published at the beginning this month anywhere *sigh*. When you say you've read the climax, does that mean the end of the series?

I just finished reading Legal Drug Volume 2 and have ordered volume 3. From what I've read Clamp never finished the series, which is a bummer. I really enjoyed the two I've read so far.

Picked up Ouran High School Host Club Volume 9 and Gravitation Volume 2 from the library today. I haven't read Ouran HSHC Volume 8 yet which appears to be overdue. I'll have to try waiting for it to come in before I can read 9. Hate it when that happens.

I started Gravitation and like it so far. I've watched many of the anime episodes but the manga seems much more involved with more characters.

sorry to interupt but these websites have manga to read for free on them no downloads or anything !
http://www.rootmanga.com/
http://www.mangafox.com/
http://www.onemanga.com/
http://www.mangavolume.com/
if you find any more please please please tell me

>75 lily2124: I've only checked out OneManga before. It's been great for filling in gaps in Ouran High School Host Club when they've been delayed coming in from the library. Thanks for listing the others, I might have to check those out as well.

I finally got After School Nightmare Volume 6 in from Amazon today along with Yurara Volume 4 and Clamp No Kiseki Volume 10. Still no new volume of Her Majesty's Dog though *pouts*

The chess pieces with the Clamp No Kiseki were sooo cute! I was so happy to see Fai was one of the pieces.

that's cool!

I'm attempting to read original language stuff at the moment, which occasionally breaks my brain.

I just about managed Maison Ikkoku and so now I've moved on to the hilarious yet somewhat dialogue-heavy One Piece (3) as well as Gantz (3).

I've read scanlations of Gantz before so I know the story, though to be honest most of the dialogue is of the "Aaaaaaaaaaargggggh!!!!", "Aaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!", "Uuuuuurgggh!!!" and "Are you serious?!?!" variety.

Currently reading through the series Gravitation and just finished volumes 7 and 8. I think the manga is way more whacked than the anime, it's really very funny. My son has been yelling at me for laughing so much.

Last night I read volumes 4 and 5 of D.N. Angel and am waiting for volumes 6-9 to come in from the library.

Also, I was very happy to finally get an email from amazon saying they've shipped the new Her Majesty's Dog!!!!!

hey does anyone anything about Blood+ or Death Note?

I quite like Blood+, but both it and DN go through major changes, character-wise, around the middle of the series and a lot of people were/are turned off by that.

Over the last week I've picked up and read Pet On Duty and Our Kingdom Volume 1. I enjoyed both of them. Even though they're listed as yaoi, they were both pretty tame for the genre which is how I like them.

Currently reading Death Note Volume 2. I caved to all the fandom about the series and just had to check it out. It is a bit different than I expected. I think Light is a really, really scary character.

I'm reading Wolf's Rain, King of Hell, Bleach.
Waiting for Air Gear.

I'm reading Vampire Knight and Special A. I just finished Fruits Basket.

A very lovely book store employee made a comment about a manga purchase I was making about a week ago. We started chatting and I mentioned I was reading Tokyo Babylon. She said that she was moving and would be willing to give me the entire series to keep for free. So, yesterday I picked up that entire series, along with some others, and I am reading volume 1 now (I had only read volume 2 before). I was beside myself because she gave me over $100.00 worth of manga along with a couple anime for no other reason than that she knew I liked it :-) Totally amazing!

I just finished Vampire Knight Vol. 4. So, really I'm not reading anything anymore.

The series that I'm currently following are:

Loveless
Legal Drug
Immortal Rain
Vampire Knight
Descendants of Darkness
Junjo Romantica
Gravitation EX

I also generally borrow a friend's copy of Wallflower. It's totally adorable.

ykikome-I'm also following a couple of the same series:

Legal Drug (wishing Clamp would hurry up and write another volume!);
Loveless (I think I'll probably pre-order it off of Amazon.);
Gravitation EX (are they really coming out with another one?); and
Vampire Knight

Last night I re-read Ouran High School Host Club volume 4 and I read After School Nightmare Volume 7. Also about half-way through RG Veda Volume 3 and just started Eerie Queerie Volume 1.

Some of the books I've recently read or are reading:

-Kamen Tantei vols. 1-4 (from the creator of Pet Shop of Horrors)
-Mushishi vols. 2 and 3
-Strawberry Panic vol. 2
-Venus Versus Virus vol. 3
-Kashimashi vol. 5
-Aria vol. 2
-Hayate the Combat Butler vol. 7
-Princess Resurrection vol. 3
-Sgt. Frog vol. 15

To Jenson_AKA_DL:

Yes they're coming out with another Gravitation Ex. I've scouted the internet diligently and have found a site that has the Japanese scans up but the site hasn't put anything up since August of last year. They had part of book two up and then it just stopped. I'd really like to buy book two but I'm not sure what's going on with it.

Thanks for the info! I was very curious because it has been a while since EX came out.

Oh, just in case anyone is interested, I found a scan of what is apparently a new series of FAKE manga. Very exciting! (for me anyway)

Yesterday I finished Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Volume 17 which was very good. I so love having the actual book over reading scans.

I'm still working on RG Veda Volume 3 and have Death Note Volume 3 on deck to be read next.

ans 1: currently just finish MOE KARE!! enjoying it alot

ans 2:
-vampire knights
-koukou debut

and more, just cant remember

I keep on reading the next-to-be-concluded italian version of Hikaru No Go, as I re-watch the animated version of the same manga. I feel a deep connection to this story, to me a real masterpiece.

I'm extremly excited because I walked into books-a-million and saw the 19 Fruits Basket. Of couse I bought it, but when did it come out.

Yesterday I received Challengers volumes 1 and two in the mail via ebay. Cute stories, I think I'll have to read the rest of the set.

>94 optimusprimeismyhero:

Vol. 20 of Fruits Basket just hit the shelves. Vol. 19 came out in March.

Oh my gosh I need to go buy it! I haven't gotten around to actually buying any manga yet because I've just been getting books from the library, but this I definetly want!

I'm currently reading:

Vampire Knight
One Piece,
Shugo Chara
Naruto
Shinshi Doumei Cross (I liked it's ending!)
Prince of Tennis

...any recommendations? (something similar to One Piece!)

I'm reading Nana at the moment. I live in Japan and it's frustrating to see how much cheaper the Japanese counterparts are to the English translations. It's also frustrating to know that if I could read Japanese, I wouldn't have to wait three months between each volume.

I've also reading Hana Kimi and have bought the first two volumes of Ouran High School Host Club and Gravititon which I hope to start in the near future.

At lunch today I started The Tarot Cafe which looks very interesting. I'm also waiting on volume 2 of Earthian to come in from ebay.

Other than that I'm waiting on new manga that I've pre-ordered in the following series:

Her Majesty's Dog
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles
Loveless

edited to add two I had forgotten I pre-ordered:

Ouran High School Host Club
and
After School Nightmare

It had been so long since I placed the orders I had forgotten until I just checked my pending orders on Amazon!

Just got current with Bleach.
Halfway through Kare Kano.
Starting Angel Sanctuary.

I love seeing what everyone is reading - my 'to read' list is growing by leaps and bounds, so thank you all!

I have a bad habit of reading at least a dozen books at once. The newest Saiyuuki Reload volume (9) is the last one I touched--it seems to be finally picking up again. :D

Right now I'm reading From Far Away and Full-metal Alchemist. And Fruits Basket.

Oh, and Case Closed!

Just finished Silver Diamond by Shiho Sugiura. It was a very interesting fantasy story. This is the first time I've seen a manga rated "T" for "mild fanservice", kind of curious what that's all about.

Oh, I love Silver Diamond. :) I read the first bunch of volumes scanlated, so I'm really excited for when the paper copies catch up so I can get to actual new story. :)

Silver Diamond is great. :D There’s a little blood and violence in the story too, but it’s not really graphic. I don’t have a handle on the ratings system, but I’m guessing it’s pretty conservative.

I’ve been reading random shoujo like Kyou mo Ashita mo and Akagami no Shirayukihime. I need to order Hakkenden 9 and Silver Diamond 15 comes out soon. :D

>107 shinkeikaku: Wow, they're up to volume 15?! Volume 2 is not due out until October here.

>108 Jenson_AKA_DL: Yeah, Silver Diamond has been going on for a while, but it's not a series that feels drawn out. The characters, world, and plot are well-developed without dragging the pace. Keep following it--it only gets better. ;)

>109 shinkeikaku: Most certainly!!

I've started RA-I by Sanami Matoh because it has some of Fake's side characters in it. Pretty interesting so far, I think it's a stand alone.

Another older manga I've discovered that's new to me is Hands Off!. I recently read the first volume and have bought the rest of the set off a lady over on mangatude. Now I just have to wait until the end of the month for her to send them *sigh*

I've been reading Black Cat - I really like the adventure/comedy mix.
Just finished Tarot Cafe - it has an interesting, Dante-esque take on hell.
Following Bizenghast - ghosts and an almost Aubrey Beardsley style of art.

I also started Black Cat which I am taking out through the library. I'm waiting on volumes 3 & 4 to come in. I'm enjoying the manga as much as I liked the anime!

This week also brought me the new volumes of Loveless and Her Majesty's Dog from Amazon which were both great!

I have just started getting into Naruto and Im surprised that I actually like it. Also as a guilty pleasure im getting into Absolute Boyfriend :)

Currently in the midst of By the Sword Volume 2 and a couple pages into Black Cat Volume 3.

I'm reading Full Moon by Matou Sanami (author of FAKE). It's a shoujo romance with vampires and gender-bending. It's been a few years since she's published anything, so it's pretty fun.

I just finish reading W Juliet vol. 1. It's off to a good start, and the plot is definitely not common. lol

I will be reading Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles vol. 11 next. =)

Much love for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles! One of my top favorites :-)

Oh I love Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles so much, that this is my second time rereading it. LOL

Do you watch the anime too? I adore Fai so much :-) I have a Tsubasa drama CD set that I put on and listen to. I know the character's voices and even though I can't understand the words, I can still picture the way they intereact just by listening to how they talk to each other.

Have you caught up to the manga online as well? Very, very interesting Watanuki/Syaoran revelations.

Hayate no Gotoku 8
Fairy Tail 2
Rosario Vampire 1
Berserk (lost count around 28-30)
Haijime no Ippo 84
Homunculus 8
Gimmick 2
Futari H 3
Basara 4 (probably going to give up)
Y + M 6
Gantz (stopped at vol 20)
Hellsing 8(should be ending soon)
Psychic Busters 3
XXX Holic 12 (ending soon)
Mahou Sensei Negima 5 (too long.., I'll think about it)
Full Metal Alchemist 17
Shamo 23
Gunslinger Girl 10
MPD Psycho 11
Air Gear 19
Claymore 14

And I should stop here before it gets any longer. ;)

I watched both seasons of Tsubasa already, it was good, but I enjoyed the manga more. I stopped reading the translations because I got lazy. lol.

Have you seen Tokyo Revelations, it is the Tsubasa OVA that takes place after the second season? It covers the Tokyo arc from the manga series.

I don't read a lot of scanlations online either, but I do keep up with three; xxxHolic, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and Ouran High School Host Club. Those are the only ongoing ones I just can't seem to be patient with!

Right now I'm reading Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind and 666 Satan.

I've never read Nausicaa but I watched the movie by Miyazaki. I love it!

Aria, Aqua, Shoulder-a-coffin kuro, Black lagoon, venus versus virus, and the light novel Boogiepop at Dawn, among others.

me reading gto, love hina,

I finally received the remainder of the Hands Off! series from Mangatude a couple weeks ago and am working my way through those. I'm on volume 4 and enjoying the series a lot.

The other day I read the first volume of Psychic Power Nanaki which I enjoyed. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on the rest of the series.

Right now I'm reading AnotherHolic which is the xxxHolic novelization. Rather different so far but then I've found most translations are.

I just started Black Cat...I really love it! I also reads the first volume of Inu-Yasha.

And I am in the middle of Full Metal Alchemist, but my library hasn't gotten the 17th or 18th volumes yet

> 129

So what did you think of AnotherHolic?

I have mixed feelings about it, but don't regret reading it. I thought NISIOISIN captured enough of the personalities of the characters to make it firmly an xxxHolic novel, but without the charm I usually get from the manga (I haven't watched any of the anime). I also thought that the first two stories were too similar in plot and would have like a little more of a supernatural interaction.

Recently read: Gaba Kawa, Penguin Revolution, Vol. 6 and St. Dragon Girl, Volume 1.

I just started Our Kingdom, and Millenium Snow

I am currently getting some great ideas out of Nancy Kruse's book, "Treasure Hunt-A Book of Clues for Parties". It is a nice way to make any party or Holiday fun for everyone!

http://www.treasurehuntcluesbook.com/

> 135 Flagged for abuse.

I'm reading 101 Hitome no Alice, which is a manga centered around a music school written by Kawai Chigusa (La Esperanca). I think I prefer this one over La Esperanca so far.

trollsdotter-I haven't actually gotten very far in AnotherHolic yet, but the eye glasses story seems very, very familiar. That was picked directly up from the manga, wasn't it? I'm reading a couple other books at the same time so am switching back and forth between the three without accomplishing a lot on any of them *sigh* I'll have to come back on this!

I have seen some of the anime and have really enjoyed them. The only complaint I have about it is that the anime completely excludes any Tsubasa tie ins.

Helcura-Our Kingdom is one of the first yaoi/bl theme manga I read and I'm still holding on to the set. I really enjoyed the story. What did you think?

I'm liking Our Kingdom better than I expected to - at first I thought it would be a very generic school boy thing, but it turned out not to be. I particularly like the contrast between the adult and the teen romances.

The characters are very charming and the artist does a GREAT job of capturing unique facial expressions - especially embarrassment in all its variety.

I'm still waiting for a couple of issues to come in at the library, but I may add the set to my wishlist. I think volume 6 is coming out in English pretty soon.

>137 Jenson_AKA_DL:: The eyeglasses story wasn't in the manga, but they did adapt it for the xxxHOLIC anime (so sayeth the intro to the story when it was included in Faust vol. 1), which might be why it seems familiar.

Aria vol. 4 just arrived today, so that's next on the list.

>139 MadLudwig: That would explain it! I knew it was familiar.

trollsdotter - Getting back to you on my general feelings on AnotherHolic, I think I was most disappointed that we didn't get any of the other regulars other than Watanuki and Yuko. But, like you, I'm not sorry I read it.

I did a review here, if you're interested:

http://www.librarything.com/work/4854396/reviews/38944608

Helcura - The kidnapping plot gets a little overdone in the later volumes (although it becomes a running gag in the manga) but other than that I think the series is great!

Over the last couple days I've read volumes 7 & 8 of Black Cat, still enjoying the series.

I am currently reading The Wallflower aka Perfect Girl Evolution, it is my favourite manga, along with Inuyasha.

I am currently reading:

Vassalord
Loveless
Kyo Kara Maoh
Vampire Knight
Junjou Romantica

I wish that the six volume of Vampire Knight would be released soon. I'm really anxious to see what happens.

onemanga.com has Vampire Knight online (or at least they did a few months ago) if you're interested.

I'm re-reading Our Kingdom. After talking about it on here I was inspired :-)

Yeah, onemanga has Vampire Knight and lots others, that's where I get all of my manga fixes!

For New Year's I started a couple new series, Vassalord which was really different and Wild Adapter. I liked them both although they both suprised me.

Another new series I'll be starting soon (maybe tomorrow) is Satisfaction Guaranteed. I received and finished off the Psychic Power Nanaki manga trilogy for Christmas and really liked it so I'm definitely looking forward to Satisfaction Guaranteed by the same manga-ka.

Wow, you do like manga! I'm currently waiting for a mass release of PGE. Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting ..

I am currently catching up on Midnight Secretary and Jackals

I finally received and immediately read Her Majesty's Dog Volume 11. Since this was the manga that started it all for me, reading the last volume of the series was a little bittersweet. I think I'll miss looking forward to more volumes although it makes it easier on my pocketbook.

Also reading Satisfaction Guaranteed and am part way through volume 2. I really enjoyed Psychic Power Nanaki by the same manga-ka much more although I'm holding on to the hope that SG will get better as it goes along.

Does anyone know how many volumes of Case Closed by Gosho Aoyama there are?

149: 63 and still going, in Japan. ^^;

that's so cool! my library only has up to 26 so I was wondering if it was finished or if my library is just slow :)

Volume 27 has only been out for a few weeks. At least VIZ is publishing the series bimonthly, but it seems like it will be 8 years before we catch up.

I read Monochrome Factor last night and was disappointed despite the very nice artwork. The main character annoyed me a bit too much.

Right now I'm reading Inu-Yasha. There are other series that I'm in the middle of but I'm either waiting for the newest one to be translated or for my library to get them: Full Metal Alchemist, Fruits Basket, Black Cat, and Case Closed.

Fate/Stay Night vol. 1 & 2
The Flowers for the dragon Vol. 2
Naruto Vol. 37

Currently reading: Dramacon

Following:
Hollow Fields
Can't Loose You
Aqua
Snow Drop

I just started Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind yesterday. I didn't know it was a manga as well as a movie until I saw it at my library! It's great!

I also just read this random volume I picked up at the library called "Gothic Sports". It's...interesting. good though.

I have Black Cat Volume 11 out from the library to read and a couple in my tbr pile, but nothing I'm in the middle of right now.

I did watch the first six Fruits Basket anime episodes this afternoon which were very cute. I think I get the appeal now.

Oh, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is on my "masterpieces" side of my bookcase! I'm happy to see others speaking kindly (or enthusiastically) of master Miyazaki.

fruit basket and warrior cats

i love Miyazaki's movies. My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service are two of my favorite childhood movies. I love his other ones too like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

I like the manga of Fruits basket better than the anime..I tend to do that with a lot of series. I guess I'm just too attached to the original.

Does everyone follow manga online to save on how godawful expensive it can get, or is that just for poor students? :D

I'm currently following:
Tsubasa (so much love for that on here lol)
The Tyrant Falls In Love though that's been in release limbo for a while now :(
Saiyuki Reload/Gaiden when I can find it
Wild Adapter
Totally Captivated, a manwha but whatever
Ouran High School Host Club
I'm trying to keep up with Reborn! now too, and maybe Loveless, I've got up to volume 6 on that but it's so damn confusing I hardly ever know what's going on. The beautiful art kinda makes it worth it, tbh.

I'm reading Tokyo Mew Mew and Naruto right now.....and I'm still in the middle of FMA, Case Closed, Furuba, and Inuyasha.

>162 narcissus_in_theory:

I think it is just for poor students. :) Since I am technically neither, I feel that I shouldn't read manga online, but I have developed some guidelines that I try to follow.

I'll read it if:
1) I pay for it (Netcomics ~$.25 per chapter)
2) It hasn't been translated and sold in America (Come on Tokyo Crazy Paradise)
3) If it is available to purchase, I'll read it online if
a) I've purchased it already (but it is at home or in storage)
b) I only read a few chapters as if I were browsing in the store.
c) It's a series I am reading and purchasing, but I can't wait for the next dead tree copy to be sold here (Skip Beat). As a thanks to the author for writing what I am clearly enjoying, I make sure that I buy it when it becomes available.

I like to reward the people who produce things I like—books, music, etc.—by making sure they get paid for the time, effort and love that they spend creating them.

>164 trollsdotter:

I *am* a poor student and I still follow pretty much those exact guidelines. But this is a topic that I can get pretty passionate about, so I won't say anything further than that.

>164 trollsdotter:,165

I'm very similar. I'm a grossly underpaid grad student, yet I still manage to buy mountains of manga. Any online reading usually leads to more purchases. Recently I read a few oneshots by Shimizu Reiko (I'm used to her long stories), which prompted me to track down her entire old, out of print backlog. :ching: That's usually how it works out.

I'm currently reading.. hundreds of things. Too many. Most recently, rereading Asterisk I guess.

166> "...which prompted me to track down her entire old, out of print backlog. :ching:"

This is another reason for me to stay away from the online manga. I would be obsessive enough to do that too, and there's only so much space in a house.

The sad thing is that good reviews, online discussions and bookstore browsing have also caused searches for out of print backlogs. I even ordered direct from a company in Singapore and waited over 12 weeks (to keep shipping reasonable) to complete one of my series.

Back to currently reading: I like Maid Sama! more than I was expecting and I'm trying to decide if I will like Honey Hunt or if I'm overdosed on teen idols.

>166 shinkeikaku:

I'm loving Asterisk! So cute. *_* I hope it gets licensed, I'd love to have it in English hard copy.

Wow I totally set off a discussion there :D

I would follow those guidelines if I didn't have to pretty much buy all the stuff for school and if work didn'r pay me pittance, and if I get suddenly rich (bearing in mind that's awful rare) then I do normally go out and actually buy a few volumes of whatever I'm on (which is why I have like volumes 1, 6, 8 and 14 of Tsubasa lol). I would like to support the artists for the hard work they put in, but needs must. :( When I'm rich and famous, I'll buy them alllll :D

>164 trollsdotter: Netcomics is a godsend! Do you follow Totally Captivated? It's over now I guess, but still. Love that series. And the not translated problem is where I get stuck with Saiyuki Gaiden, the prequel to Saiyuki, which hasn't been translated over here at all :(

>167 trollsdotter: Somedays, I think I need my card taken away from me (but then I'd miss all those oop treasures..ha!). I have tons of bookshelves, but I've gotten to the point that I think they are all filled while stacked double-deep. O:

>168 trollsdotter: Yes, Asterisk is great. :D I hadn't read the beginning in a while, but started to again for a book club-like thing on myanimelist. I forgot how cute and fun it was. :D I hope Asterisk or at least something else by Morimoto Shuu gets licensed so her work can spread.

>170 narcissus_in_theory: Totally Captivated is a series I'm considering starting at some point. It looks interesting, nice to know you like it!

The only manga I've been following online in the last few months has been Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles and I've still been picking up the volumes as they come out. For whatever reason I can't seem to "get it" reading online and need the manga in my hand to understand what's going on better.

Last night my copy of Our Kingdom 6 came in from amazon *does happy dance* It looks like June is cutting back, the manga didn't have the customary dust jacket and the paper even seemed a bit different. Still, I was happy to see that there are new volumes coming out.

Due to finances I'm trying really hard to cut back on my manga buying, and really my book buying in general. I think the Our Kingdom volume is the first I've bought in the last couple months.

I don't read online manga or buy it...I get everything from the library. I need to start buying manga though. Currently I only own 2 volumes of Black Cat.

#172 TC is awesome. And pretty. The art distracted me a little for a while, because it's quite different in style to other manga (it's very smooth and sparkly lol) but I really like it now. I just need to get the last volume - I read Netcomics online but I like to buy hard copies of my favourites.

Reading online can be difficult ... like I can't read too much TRC on the computer in one go or I just lose the plot, literally.

>173 mjrcatgirl: Black Cat is one I've been taking out through the library. In fact, I'm heading over there today to pick up the next one. I also have Tactics volume 1 waiting there. I've been watching the anime (soooo frustrating Netflix has 1-4 but not volume 5!) but from the reviews it sounds like the manga is better.

>174 narcissus_in_theory: I definitely know what you mean about Tsubasa online! So confusing (but still good).

Every time I go to the netcomics site, I get tempted by Totally Captivated, but I have resisted so far. I may have to give in now that there are recommendations. (At least they're not out of print if I decide to add paper copies to my collection.)

I can't remember where I left off reading Operation Liberate Men, In the Starlight and 100% Perfect Girl, but I'll get back to them when time allows.

>172 Jenson_AKA_DL: It looks like June is cutting back, the manga didn't have the customary dust jacket and the paper even seemed a bit different.

I believe June is owned/distributed? by Tokyopop and I was very disappointed with the quality of their books that have come out this month. The paper is rough, cheap stuff that will probably yellow very quickly. If memory serves, their manga has never been as nice as the old Viz larger-style, but this is a big step down as far as I'm concerned. I know they probably had to balance costs; I just don't like the results.

>177 trollsdotter: It's Blu that is owned by Tokyopop. June is DMP.

I re-read the three Legal Drug manga the other night. I'm a sucker for punishment, I so wish they'd resume this series!

I started rereading Silver Diamond, my current favorite series. It's good to see that I still love the beginning. Hopefully I'll finish them all before vol 17 comes out in June.

I'm currently reading the Sakuragari series by Yuu Watase.

Also, I saw someone above talking about the lack of dust jackets on the new releases from Juné Manga, they aren't the only ones. The new releases from 801media are also without dust jackets, I suppose this is a way to cut back on expenses.

does anyone know how many volumes are in the Inuyasha series?

>182 mjrcatgirl:

According to animenewsnetwork.com, Japanese volume 56 came out on 2009-02-18. Currently, I can only see up to volume 55 cataloged here.

ok thanks! unfortunately my library only has 37 currently.

Ooops. I think I misunderstood the intent of your question. I believe the current VIZ release schedule is:

Inuyasha (GN 37) 2009-04-14
Inuyasha (GN 38) 2009-07-14
Inuyasha (GN 39) 2009-10-13
Inuyasha (GN 40) 2010-01-12

As long as there are people buying the series, I believe VIZ will continue to publish translations. From the animenewsnetwork site, it appears as if the Japanese series has not ended yet. I'm sure that someone else here can correct me if I'm mistaken.

>185 trollsdotter:

Inuyasha ended its run in Weekly Shonen Sunday last June. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-06-10/inuyasha-confirmed-to-end-next-w... Not sure if the GNs have finished over in Japan yet, but they're close if not.

A little while ago, Viz announced that they'll be releasing the rest of Inuyasha unflipped, and will be re-releasing the original volumes in their Viz BIG 3-in-1 format http://www.animevice.com/news/quickie-rinne-is-online-inuyasha-goes-unflipped/10... .

And as long as we're talking Takahashi -- her latest series, Rin-ne, is being simultaneously released in English by Viz with the Japanese chapters. You can read them for free at http://therumicworld.com/

Did InuYasha wind up having an "ending" or did it just kind of leave off? I heard the anime kind of just left off without a resolution, but I'm watching it anyway.

My most recent reads were xxxHolic volume 13, Totally Captivated volume 1 (which was excellent!), Earthian volume 3 and Angel Dust Neo.

i read to many series to keep track

I'm waiting for PHD: Phantasy Degree vol. 2 to arrive in my home town library. I am currently, obviously, following the series PHD: Phantasy Degree by Son Hee-Joon.
I have vol. 1 of Fruits Basket waiting for me at the library also =). If I end up liking it I'll follow through the rest of it, even though its super long!
That's about it, I'm a manga newb.

fruits basket is great! I hope you enjoy it!!!

Yesterday I went on a bit of a manga reading spree:

Kingdom Hearts II vol. 1
Tokyo Babylon vol. 7 (re-read)
Loveholic vol. 2 (re-read)
Il Gatto Sul G

I haven't read any of the Fruits Basket manga but liked the anime. I have Fruits Basket vol. 6 waiting for me at the library because I wanted to pick up the series approximately where the anime left off. I hope you enjoy it too!

the anime is a bit different from the manga....but it has the same basics so I'm sure you'll enjoy the manga too. :) have fun

I didn't know there were Kingdom Hearts mangas! I just thought it was only a game, awesome! =) Its probably different though, huh?

The first set of Kingdom Hearts manga seemed to follow the video game pretty closely, at least for the first volume I read. The first set also seemed to be written for younger kids. I'm not sure if they did a manga series for Chain of Memories (the second game).

The one I mentioned before, Kingdom Hearts II takes place after the events in the Chain of Memories game and I think it is only a manga, not a game. It is written to a more advanced level (although still pre-teen to teen) than the original Kingdom Hearts manga set.

Hopefully that all makes sense!

I've been re-reading a lot of my manga including Dramacon and Tarot Cafe

Right now I'm up to volume 8 of xxxHolic. I can read through the whole series (which is out) since the library has it.

Other series take a bit longer...

Other series I'm following:
Bizenghast (3)
The Drifting Classroom (2)
Paradise Kiss (3)
Tsubasa (1)
X 1999 (1)
The Dreaming (1)
Dokebi Bride (6)
Monster (1)
Mushishi (2)
Chobits (1)

I think maybe I should start focusing my money all in one place at a time, rather than just random volume 1s of different series... (There are a heap more volume 1s than I listed - the ones I listed are the ones I think I'll continue) Then I might actually finish some series.

As for Inuyasha, I'm hoping to follow the Viz Big editions when they come out.

I'm also reading xxxHolic through the library although I'm buying the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles as they come out (although I'm behind on the most recently released volume).

I know what you mean about starting too many different series. It is great that the library carries some that I've been actively reading like xxxHolic, Black Cat, InuYasha, Tactics and Fruits Basket but there are so many out there they don't carry that I want to read and can't afford.

I think right now I'm going to concentrate on Totally Captivated and Tsubasa when I have the money. I also have volume 1 of Switch that I've been afraid to read because I don't want to get started on another series.

I know all about reading too many series at once. Because then, you developed a problem like mines. I read so many series, that each month I have a bucket load of manga to purchase, because I don't like to be behind in releases. :P

I've just started reading hitman reborn, and I've got to admit, I'm a sucker for babies as hitmans. lol

I just got Fushigi Yuugi, volume 1. Still deciding how much I like it. I'm really enjoying Vampire Knight though, and I'm only on volume 3.

I think I'm going to focus on The Drifting Classroom and Paradise Kiss for now. But it's so hard... I want to buy everything!

Recently read and reading:

Princess Resurrection, Vol. 6
Oh My Goddess! Colors
Oh My Goddess!, Vol. 32
Black Lagoon, Vol. 6
Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei 2

I've tried a couple of issues of XXXHolic, as I like other things by CLAMP, especially Tokyo Babylon.

Have just finished volume one of a Youi by Makoto Tateno called Yellow which was a very enjoyable mixture of action and unrequited love.

I read a little bit of Vampire Knight in a Shojo Beat magazine and I liked it. I might start reading that if any of my series ever finish :)

or death note

Over the last couple days I've finished InuYasha volume 3, Tactics volume 3 and The Wallflower volume 1.

I was surprised I enjoyed The Wallflower as much as I did. I'm glad I gave it a try.

I've just had the first two parts of Trinity Blood arrive. It doesn't half look like David Bowie on the cover!

look at all the messages!!!

Recently read Black Jack, vol. 5 and the latest issue of Yen+ magazine; currently working on Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service vol. 9 and the Clover Omnibus.

Part one of Trinity Blood was sort of fun but very confusing, like the writer hadn't really figured out what was going on till part two, when he wrote a quick introduction to explain everything. I also had a hard time working out what the hell was happening in many of the action scenes, which really isn't a good thing.

I imagine things will get clearer in part 2, as I've started other manga series which have only really worked out what they were doing after the first issue. On that subject, does anyone know when the fourth part of Catergory Freak is finally coming out?

I've just ordered the first three parts of Fake, as I was quite enjoying Yellow but am told this is the original it models itself on.

Fake is excellent, Sanami Matoh was one of my first manga authors and I always enjoy her work. I read Yellow much later and liked it as well. On the surface I guess there are kind of similarities between the two series but not so much that I felt I was reading the same thing over again.

I prefer the art in Yellow, but the straightforward, clean style and storytelling of Fake is something of a relief after Trinity Blood.

The only thing about Yellow I didn't get is their profession - what the hell is a drug snatcher? Are they good guys or crims?

It was pretty ambiguous. I got the impression that their boss is a former cop and that he kind of does the vigilante thing now that he's not a cop anymore. I think I remember mention that the authorities were the ones who wind up with the drugs after their snatched. I'll have to do a re-read to jog my memory.

I think I posted two years ago in this thread LOL :D time for an update! I'm currently following (mostly in German):

* BAA/Gunnm Last Order
* Biomega
* Blood Alone
* Fullmetal Alchemist
* Homunculus
* Mushishi

I'm also buying everything by Taniguchi Jirō I can put my hands on... though I still don't have all of them because those big volumes are friggen' expensive.

I thought Homunculus was cancelled (in German... I don't think there is an English release) because there was no new volume for such a long time... but #07 was just released earlier this month.

What to read? Midnight Secretary is done, can anyone suggest a new manga to start. I also like Jackals, Midnight Secretary, Bleach, Black Lagoon, Naruto. I need suggestions to read, please!!!!

you should read from far away by kyok0 hikawa!! i love it. it's fantasy/adventure/romance.

>215 encbks::
If you like Black Lagoon, give Hellsing a try. It's a horror manga, but it's got a lot of action and a wicked little sense of humor. If you're thinking of something more in the "girls with guns" genre, you may want to check out Gunsmith Cats.

Since you like Bleach and Naruto, there's a couple of other Shounen Jump titles you may enjoy: Rurouni Kenshin is a tale about a wandering samurai trying to atone for his past as a ruthless killer. Hikaru no Go is the story of a boy who becomes possessed by the spirit of a past Go genius and decides he wants to become a master of the game himself. A series based around the game of Go might not sound like an interesting read, but it really gets its hooks into you. :)

You could try Black Cat as well!

yes! definitely try that! i'm so sad it ended T.T

Last night I finally got around to reading both manga of Le Portrait de Petite Cossette. I don't usually like horror manga, but this was interesting. The second one was way freakier than the first, if the first had been that bad I probably wouldn't have gone on to the second!

Not really a manga, but I am also currently reading the graphic novel Welcome to the Jungle, based on Jim Butcher's Dresden books.

i just finished the nausiccaa of the valley of the wind series by hayao miyazaki. so good! and sad.

I'm reading One Piece, and love it so much. Also Bleach, but still at volume 1 XD

I'm currently reading Fruits Basket, volume 3, and, since I've only just started reading manga, it's also the only series I'm following at the moment. :-)

Via a Mangatude trade I received Demon Diary vols 1&2 yesterday in the mail. It has a lot more humor in it than I was expecting which was a very pleasant surprise!

On-going series that I'm reading as each volume comes out in English:
Black God
Sunshine Sketch
Yotsuba
Doujin Work
Empowered
Hitohira (assuming Aurora is able to rebound from it's financial difficulties)

Yen Press gets a lot of my reading love. They definately release the most good moe titles out of all the companies out there.

I am currently reading Nana (volume 5)

other series that I've read:
1. Dramacon
2. Tail of the moon
3. Fusigi Yugi
4. Mars
5. Psychic Academy
6. Love Hina (I did not like it)
7. Paradise Kiss
8. Forbidden dance
9. Cardcaptor Sakura
10. Girl got game
11. Angelic layer
12. Land of the Blindfolded
13. Princess Ai
14. Millennium snow
15. Fruits basket
16. D.N.Angel
17. Emma
18. Platnum Garden
19. Kenshin
20. Crimson Hero
21. Crescent moon
22. Steady beat
23. Cardcaptor Sakura: master of the clow
24. The tarot café
25. Demon diary
26. Whistle
27. Angel Cup
28. Ghost Hunt
29. Battle Royal
30. The queen's knight (vol 1)
31. Basilisk (vol 1)

>226 novelandmangacrazy: That's quite a collection!

Last night I finished off The Wallflower volumes 6,7 and 8 and have B.O.D.Y. volume 1 out from the library to try.

i just started reading death note. i like it, but i'm not sure how i feel about light. he's a little pyschotic :)

I think I'm one of the few and far between that didn't really like Death Note. I read the first three volumes but just didn't really like the characters enough to keep going. Light was definitely a little too psychotic for me!

No, I definitely didn't like DN either!

>227 Jenson_AKA_DL:

and of course that list does not include the anime that I've watched :D

so what do you think of The Wallflower? I am planning on reading it sometime.

I'm enjoying The Wallflower, it certainly isn't a typical tale. Sunako is a very fun character since she honestly does not care what anyone thinks of her and is rather strange besides.

I have the first disc of the Wallflower anime coming up on my Netflix list so I'm hoping it lives up to the manga.

well, in that case maybe I'll start reading it soon, but first I want to finish reading Nana (or what published of it) and I think that I want to re-read fruits basket, it's been so long since I've read it.

1) I am currently reading angel against death witch is a fantastic manga series!! =
2) I love to read the sailor moon series because i love the characters especially rei (Sailor Mars)

P.S. A good website to go on to read lots of mangs serises : www.manga volume.com

>234 fionaabaybeex:

thanks for the website. Another good one is http://www.onemanga.com/directory/

I just finish reading Pluto 3 yesterday. Got to say it's one of the best manga getting published out there right now.

I also started Naoki Urasawa Sensei's other series, 20th Century Boys 1 last night.

I read volume 1 of CyBelievers the other night and really enjoyed it. I looked it up and it currently has four volumes. Does anyone know if it is complete?

I finally picked up Volume 4 of Totally Captivated at Borders yesterday which I enjoyed as well.

Amongst many, many other, I totally like Oishinbo.
With a passion for manga and Japanese food, this series is an absolute must.

BTW bookdepository.co.uk has a long list of cheap manga and no shipping costs.

I'm in the middle of naruto, death note, fma, inu yasha, case closed, and i'm waiting for the last volume of fruits basket.

I just finished Death Note! It was good...but I'm not sure I really liked the ending. Was that Misa at the end?

mjrcatgirl
As far as I know it is NOT Misa at the end. This was revealed in Death Note: How to read

At the moment I am reading Skip Beat one of the few shojo manga that I like, funny and just great!

really? ok. i just thought that last scene was weird and kind of random..almost like it was setting up for another series? it confused me. i'm sad death note is done.

i am reading
gto
negima
sdk
ai love you
i am following
puri puri
my-hime
dragon head
... and others

mjrcatgirl
Yep it is true. I was confused as well, I also thought it would be Misa.. also I'm sad that Death Note is done...

Currently I'm reading D.Gray-man 1-13, I just got lucky with an auction a few days ago.

I'm following these series:

Bleach
Vassalord
King of Hell
Dazzle
War Angels
Bizenghast
Daemonium
Demon Flowers

I've also started reading a bit online and have found one called Zombie Loan that I really like. I've also started Bleach in the original Japanese.

I'm really anxious to get Vassalord Volume 3! It is definitely on my Christmas List.

I caught up on Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle on onemanga.com yesterday (the only one I'm keeping up with online) and watched the most recent Tsubasa anime on YouTube. Love that series even though it totally confuses me.

Most recently read Voice or Noise which was interesting enough that I'm going to keep an eye out for volume 2. I like the cat.

ahhh i just read the last volume of fruits basket!!! oh no it's over!!! i enjoyed it so much...

>247 mjrcatgirl:

ya, I can't wait to read the last volume of fruits basket, but first I want to re-read the entire series. I started to re-read book #16 last week. Hopefully I'll have the series finished by the end of October. I get really busy with school so I can't read as much, plus I don't actually own the series, I get it from the library. I hope they get the last book at the library soon. If not I'll go out and buy it.

>246 Jenson_AKA_DL: Vassalord 3 for Christmas? Jesus Christ, I couldn't wait so long!! I already ordered it.. Must Have now.

249 - Lack of money and such *sigh* My mum always gives me a spending limit and lets me pick out what I want to bring to her and then she wraps it (she's disabled). I always get piles of books for Christmas :-) The first two Vassalord books were part of last year's Christmas present.

Has anyone read Dear Myself? Does anyone know how many books are in the series?

>249 zierli:
I think we all understand the frustration involved in having to wait for the next volume of a series. That's one of the reasons I try reading series that are already completely published.

>250 Jenson_AKA_DL:
My mom also let's me go out and buy some of my own gifts and then she will wrap them for me for Christmas/ my birthday.

>248 novelandmangacrazy:

i get them from the library too (i only have like 5 volumes of manga that i own..i know it's crazy) and the last furuba vol. came in at my library like a few weeks ago. we had to put a hold on it though 'cuz everybody wanted to read it :)

>252 mjrcatgirl:

I've been reading manga for maybe about 6 years know and the library has only carried manga for the last 3 years, so when I first started to read manga I had to buy them. Though when I was first introduced to manga, I was borrowing it from friends.

I also buy some series that the library does not carry or series that the library did not complete. I own maybe about 117 manga volumes, and at least 10 of those are discount manga (0.99$ to 6$ CND)

Owning only 5 volumes of manga is not crazy. Manga can get expensive, especially with really long series. If I had to pay for all the manga that I read from the library if would cost me about $3000!

I have never heard of furuba. What is it about?

Waiting on library lists can get annoying. Fortunately, at my library I can request an item and be put on a waiting list, but then I can put the request on hold. What this does is that when it’s my turn to get the item next, it simply skips my name and gives it to the person after me. This allows me to request items in advance and choose exactly when I want to take it out.

>253 novelandmangacrazy: Furuba (Fruits Basket) is a story about a high school girl who's lost her parents, and while trying to find a place to live, runs into a family under a curse - when hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into one of the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Pretty entertaining, with some great characters.

Tokyopop just released the final volume in the US, so you don't even have to wait to find out how it finishes if you try the first volume and like it, and Tokyopop's re-releasing the series in "ultimate editions" that contain two volumes in one. There's probably a good chance your library may have it, so that's worth a try, too.

I'm currently reading:

Saiyuki Reload I've all of them and I'm waiting until the 9th volume comes out before starting Saiyuki Reload Blast.

Elfen Lied After a year I'm very determined to finish this series.

Fullmetal Alchemist One of my favorite manga. Starting volume 15.

Yuyu Hakusho on Volume 15 I think.

>254 MadLudwig:
Ya, I know what Fruits basket is, I've just never heard it called Furuba before. I actually started re-reading the series not that long ago. I can't wait to finish the series now that the last volume has been published.

>255 lanaura:
I've heard of YuYu Hakusho but have never read it or watched it. Is it any good? anime vs. manga?

>256 novelandmangacrazy: haha yeah well it's in the side messages the author writes in the volumes...i guess in japan people started calling it that and it got really popular? yeah so that's where i got it from. :)

From BookMooch today I received volume 1 of High School Debut so I'm off to try it out.

>258 Jenson_AKA_DL:
lol. hope you like it. I've heard good things about the series :D

I did like it :-) and it turns out the library has at least the first five volumes of the series. I've already requested the next two.

>256 novelandmangacrazy:

I haven't read the Yu Yu Hakusho manga, but I caught the early part of the anime when it was on TV. Fun stuff, classic Shonen Jump-type story. I'd say it's at least worth trying the first volume of the manga or the anime.

I am currently reading Full Metal Alchemist and Naruto and am waiting for the new volumes to come out. I am thinking about starting Death Note.

>260 Jenson_AKA_DL:
It's nice that your library offers it. I already check mine and they dont have the series :(

New package arrived today with some much-awaited volumes:
Chibi Vampire, Volume 14
Yozakura Quartet, Volume 5
School Rumble, Volume 13
Fate/Stay Night, Volume 5
and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya (technically not manga, but it is a light novel, so close enough, IMO :)).

Should keep me busy for a while.

>262 Katie7:
ahh i love those mangas! i'm reading fma and naruto as well and i finished death note. definitely read it!

i'm on vol. 44 of naruto, waiting for vol. 45 to come in at the library.....and then for the rest to get translated to english!

>264 MadLudwig:
so what do you think of School Rumble? It's on my tbr list.

>266 novelandmangacrazy:

I've been finding School Rumble a fun comedy with some great screwball moments and characters. I'm really enjoying it. It's one of those titles that moves to the top of my to-read pile when the next volume comes in.

If you've watched the anime, the manga and anime track each other fairly closely - though it seems Vol. 13, which just got released in the US, goes to the end of season two of the anime and beyond.

my library only has up too volume 11. Do you know how many volumes will be in the series?

>268 novelandmangacrazy:

There were 22 volumes of the original School Rumble manga released in Japan. There's also a one-volume sequel series, School Rumble Z, that AFAIK hasn't been licensed yet in the US.

>269 MadLudwig:
In that case I'll probably wait till the entire series is published before I start reading it. I don't really like having to wait for the next volume to come out.

This weekend I plan to do a re-read of After School Nightmare (sans volume 2 which I don't have) so that way I can tackle volume 10 that I took out from the library yesterday. I don't usually re-read but it has been ages since I read the last volume and this is one I have a hard time making sense of anyway.

At the moment I'm reading Saiyuki and I just love it. I can recommend it to anyone who likes beautiful art, humor, and bishie boys...;-)

>271 Jenson_AKA_DL:
I don't re-read manga often, but it's definitely nice sometime, especially if you have to wait a long time between books. At the end of the summer I started to re-read Fruits Basket just to refresh my memory before reading the last volume that came out earlier this year.

>272 zierli:
I have not read Saiyuki yet, but I do own volumes 1,2, and 4. I bought them used for only $0.99 each. At that price I just bought them without even looking what it was about. It's nice to see that you like the series so far.

Next up for me:

Black Lagoon, Vol. 8
Oishinbo, Vol. 5
Pluto, Vol. 5

I enjoyed re-reading and finally catching up with the last volume of After School Nightmare. Quite a different ending than I expected!

Over the weekend I also read the first couple volumes of Tail of the Moon which I liked and Vassalord Volume 3.

>274 MadLudwig:
I've heard of Black lagoon and Pluto but not Oishinbo. What is it about? Do you like it so far?

>275 Jenson_AKA_DL:
*claps*
I love Tail of the moon. It's one of my favorite series. I have read and own the entire series (except for vol1 of the prequel). I'll probably ask for it for Christmas.

I'm partway through Fruits Basket Volume 10 and have volume 11 waiting along with volumes 4 and 5 of High School Debut. All of them are out from the library so I hope to get to them all over the weekend.

I just picked up RIN-NE, Vol. 1 by Rumiko Takahashi and Hero Tales (獣神演武) by Hiromu Arakawa and Huang Jin Zhou.

>276 novelandmangacrazy:
Oishinbo is about a food writer who's given an assignment to create the "ultimate menu" to celebrate his newspaper's 100th anniversary. There's also a running subplot about the writer's rivalry with his father, a famous food critic and pottery artist. Each story is about the writer either preparing for a food battle with his father or solving people's problems through food.

The American release is kind of a "best of" collection, because the Japanese series is apparently at 100+ volumes now. Each US volume collects stories focusing on a particular type of food - Volume 5 was about vegetables, but earlier volumes focused on fish, sushi, and sashimi; sake; and so on.

As a result, sometimes the story feels a bit disrupted as the stories hop back and forth through time; the Editor's Notes will tell the reader the background of new characters whose backstories haven't appeared in the US volumes.

Overall, though, I'm really enjoying Oishinbo; it's another one of those series that go to the top of the to-read pile when a new volume comes in. If you're interested in food at all, I'd say it's worth a shot.

Currently reading: Honey and Clover Vol. 7.

>277 Jenson_AKA_DL:
Is it the first time you read Fruits Basket?

>279 MadLudwig:
Sounds interesting. I think that that's the longest series that I've ever heard of. Do you know how many volumes are out in English? If you like food related manga, Mixed Vegetables is really good.

Yep, this is my first time reading Fruits Basket. I watched the anime and then started skipping around in the manga series to try and find approximately where it left off. I'm now up to volume 12 which is on its way from the library. I'm really starting to enjoy it because it seems like things will be getting more exciting now that Tohru has met all the Zodiac animals and has made a decision about Akito.

I'm slightly less excited about the Yuki/Kyo/Tohru love triangle, but that's only because love triangles aren't really my thing. I am curious to see who she winds up with, if she winds up with either one.

>280 novelandmangacrazy:

Oishinbo's up to five volumes in the US right now; Volume 6 (The Joy of Rice) is due out in November.

I've got Mixed Vegetables in my to-read pile; sounds like I'll have to move it to the top. Thanks!

EDIT: Oh, and if you like food manga, give Iron Wok Jan! a try. It's about a chef, Jan, who's brilliant but also an egomaniacal jerk, and centers around Jan's Iron Chef-style battles with his friends at work and with chefs from competing restaurants. It's got more of an over-the-top spirit to it, while Oishinbo tends to aim for more of an everyday life feel.

Isn't there one where the food are actual mon that fight each other or something? Saw a couple eps of the anime years ago and wasn't that thrilled by it.

Other fun food manga are Yakitate Japan! and Kitchen Princess. The first is more like Iron Wok Jan—which I haven't read—and the second is more light-high-school-angst with the requisite love triangles.

In the last few days I read Tail of the Moon volume 3 which I am really enjoying, gave up on High School Debut volume 4, read Descendants of Darkness volume 1, read Serenity (well, this is more a comic than a manga, but it was still interesting) and just read Gorgeous Carat L'Esperanza on Mangafox. I caught it as an entry here and then discovered that although TokyoPop was supposed to release it in August, for whatever reason they canceled the release. I really like the Gorgeous Carat series and am bummed that it looks like they won't be publishing it.

Oh! I almost forgot that I also read the epiloge for Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle on onemanga and while it wasn't completely satisfying it was certainly better than where the last chapter left us. I was rather frustrated after reading that a couple weeks ago. Now I just have to catch up with xxxHolic and see what happens with Watanuki.

>281 Jenson_AKA_DL:
I’m re-reading the series (though I haven’t read the last couple of volumes) and I’m up to book 16. I also get them from the library. I’ll probably wait till Christmas before finishing the series. I hope that you like the end.

>282 MadLudwig:
Iron Wok Jan! sounds interesting. I’ll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

>283 DeusExLibrus:
Sorry I can’t think of a series like that.

>284 trollsdotter:
Ya, I’ve heard of Kitchen Princess before, but not the other one. I’ll check them out too. Thanks.

>285 Jenson_AKA_DL:
I’m glad that you like Tail of the Moon. It’s one of my favorite series. I can’t wait to read the prequel.

Currently reading:
Hayate the Combat Butler Vol. 13
xxxHOLIC Vol. 14
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Vol. 23
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Vol. 4
Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning Vol. 9

i think... i read the volumes of manga i buy too quickly for it to last longer than a couple of hours on my "currently reading" list... XD

i am currently following:
vampire knight by hino matsuri
arakure by fujiwara kiyo
skip beat! by nakamura yoshiki
suki tte ii na yo by hazuki kanae
kinkyori ren'ai by mikimoto rin
beri beri by hidaka banri

and a few others...

>288 lilasia:
what do you think of Vampire Knight? How many volumes are there?

>289 novelandmangacrazy:
i think it's pretty ok... i couldn't really say that the story is excellent, but it's entertaining enough. there are still some more things i could ask from it, but i can see why people are hyped about it. the art is pretty nice and solid like all the rest of her work, and she's attempting to reach for more depth on this series. i suppose it all depends on what you're into... :)

the series isn't over yet... and, with the way it's going, it doesn't look to be ending any time soon. i believe that the 11th volume is about to be released - if it isn't already - in japan. i don't really know about the english translated volumes. ^^;

Yay! Aria Volume 5 finally arrived today - so that's up next for me.

just layed by hands on What A Wonderful World 1 vol. 1&2, so I'm excited to read that, since, I loved Solanin which is by the same author.

>285 Jenson_AKA_DL:
Don't give up on High School Debut! It's one of my favourites and the story really picks up in the later volumes.

Maybe I should try re-requesting High School Debut again and start with the next one. I got so bored with the Christmas shopping in volume 4 I just brought them both back to the library. I might in the future.

Last night I read Descendants of Darkness volume 2 and have Fruits Basket 12, xxxHolic 14, Ouran High School Host Club 12 and Tail of the Moon volumes 4 and 5 all out from the library to read. I hope to get through most, if not all, by the end of today.

Next up:
Apothecarius Argentum Volume 8
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE, Volume 24
Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka Volume 6
Oishinbo: The Joy of Rice
Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 21

Berserk 6
Claymore 4
Pluto 5
Astro Boy 3
Cafe Occult

Last night I read Descendants of Darkness Volume 4 and am currently reading volume 5. I love this series, it has everything I like, humor, drama and the supernatural :-) Also, Tsuzuki is an older manga character so there is no guilt in saying he's totally hot LOL!

The night before last I read Tail of the Moon volume 6 and I have volume 7 on its way from the library. Hanzo annoys the heck out of me so I'm anxiously waiting for him to get his comeuppance.

>296 Jenson_AKA_DL:
I love Yami no Matsuei--one of my favorites! ~Vol 5-6 is when the art really starts to look nice too. I haven't read it in a couple of years.. I'll probably revisit it soon. :)

I'm reading a couple things.. 恋する宇宙 (3) (Koi Suru Cosmo) is a recently found series that I like. But I'm mostly waiting on a ton of things to come in the mail. :)

Been catching up on a couple of series:
Hikaru no Go Vols. 9-16
Eden: It's an Endless World Vols. 6-10

usagi drop 1-6... and my husband is now reading it, too... (i'm happy he likes it..) *____*
bokura wa itsumo 1-3
momoiro heaven 1
...and re-reading suki tte ii na yo 1-3, for what is probably the 4th time since I bought them... I don't know why I like the series so much. XD

I've ran out of manga to read, any suggestions?
Previously I've been reading Host Club, Fruits Basket, Vampire Knight, Hana Kimi, and SA.

>300 optimusprimeismyhero:
I think you might like Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances) - it's a shoujo story that balances the romantic and comedic aspects quite nicely, with some great characters.

> 300 and 301
this makes me squee because those are all hana to yume titles - my favorite label. could also try skip beat! (although it's not over yet) and i hate you more than anyone!

>300 optimusprimeismyhero: You could try Her Majesty's Dog (I always recommend it!)

I just finished reading/re-reading Fruits Basket. It was such a nice series.

S.A. Special A Vol. 1 and Kodocha Vol. 1

Last night I read volume one of Godchild. It was interesting, more horror oriented than I expected, but that's okay. I also didn't know that it is a spin off series of one she did years ago. They did an excellent job of updating you about what happened before without taking away from the current story.

Thursday and Friday I read the entire Demon Diary series and Knights of the Zodiac (Saint Seiya) Vol. 1.

I got vols. 1-10 of Knights of the Zodiac from the library and thought that it would be great to read the series since I used to watch the anime. The only thing is that the library does not have the entire series, so I probably won't bother reading the rest :(

I also got Yuyu Hakusho from the library, but again, they don't have the entire series :(

Mina-sama, I know little about translated manga and mostly read 4-frame (yon-koma) manga for the humor -- once I introduced a score or so to the Japan Times -- Tsukikage Ken for the best erotic drawings in the business (Edo era, but when I quizzed him, he said he used Occidental models!), Genten Papa for the depiction of the postwar salaryman and more from which I shall mention just one:

Let's Michael!

I am curious if any of you mangajin know of it. And if you do, if you know what "retsu maikeru shite iru" came to mean as an idiom and whether anyone still uses it.

Mvrdrk-sama

Hisashiburi desu

Re #2 letter, and Hyakki Yakoushou, aka 百鬼夜行抄

I have a dozen or so poems minus pictures from 百鬼夜狂 by Yomo no Akara and his Tenmei kyoka gang in Mad In Translation and the shorter Reader of the same (both 100% readable at Google Books, where my newest, just up tonight, THE CAT WHO THOUGHT TOO MUCH has the answer about retsu maikeru-ing.) Did the manga borrow from it? Mizukaki Hisashi 水垣久, a wonderful man who has the larger yamatouta website, put most of it online but stops after 60 or so because odd things were happening to him -- the collection was said to be jinxed.

敬愚

After 5 volumes of Fruits Basket, I'm gonna start on my Ranma 1/2 volume 1 book. I love the anime series, and have been looking forward to the manga since it came in the mail last year.

>309 keigu: I don't know as I'm not familiar with those works. I suspect not but I'll have to go check out those and let you know.

No, the poems you have translated in Mad In Translation do not appear to be related to Hyakki Yakoushou. The ghosts and goblins from Japanese culture appearing in Hyakki Yakoushou are likely to appear in any work from Japan dealing with traditional beliefs.

I am not sure what any work from Japan dealing with traditional beliefs means, but I guess you mean the changelings/ghosts/goblins that were so well known that they did not only come-up in the usual time for telling such stories in gatherings on hot summer-nights for the chilling effect -- but in a broader context. The fox-bride, the doppelgonger, the poster-peeler etc selected by Lafcadio Hearn in his presentation of Goblin poetry?

As I have not seen the modern manga selection, i was curious how much it might owe to certain predecessors -- as i have not seen the illustreations in either the huge book Hyakumonogatari somethingorother Hearn referenced or the more selective one by the Tenmei mad poets. My favorite goblin/ghost story is the bloody rebellion of thrown-out old furniture and other household utensils, but i have only seen a couple old paintings in a Taiyo or some other fancy magazine.

Are there any good modern manga that you know of about that? And are they/it Englished?

Yes, broader context and generic, I suppose. I'm not familiar with Lafcadio Hearn and his presentation of Goblin poetry, but yes, I mean things like the fox-bride, etc.

Hyakki Yakoushou isn't available in English, though it's available in Japanese, French, and Chinese. Similar in atmosphere, though different in narration, characterization, and setting is Mushishi, which is available in English.

Good depends on what you like. I've just started Youmi Henjou Yawa (妖魅変成夜話) by Reiko Okano (岡野玲子) which is very ... odd. The art appears to be ink brush, which is different and unusual in manga and intrigues me.

OOH! m current addiction is called Black bird! It's adorable and funny and intense. I've also just finished a series called Shugo Chara! They're both amazing.

I'm reading Oishinbo, Volume 7: Pub Food now.
Japanese comics about Japanese food. My favourite combination.

I finally got my copy of xxxHOLiC volume 1 in the mail the other day, and I had to do a happy dance. Then we got the first disc of the anime of Tsubasa, and it looks like it's after the xxxHOLiC anime series and before movie. I don't like Tsubasa as much as xxxHOLiC, though. The white mokona is a bit sweeter than the one in xxxHOLiC, who's a bit bossy and greedy, lol.

i recently started Bleach. it's pretty good I especially like the Chad :) but orihime's chest is waaaaaay out of proportion

i'm also reading Loveless but I got up to around Vol. 8 and my library doesn't have any more. does anyone know how long the series is?

Loveless hasn't actually finished up its run yet. The most recent new volume is volume 8 and came out in 2008. I'm still waiting on word of the next volume in the series. Looks like it will be a while.

Over the last few days I read Ghost Hunt volumes 1 and 2, Fruits Basket volume 15, Rasetsu volume 3, Love Round (yaoi) and Tail of the Moon volumes 12 and 13. I'm picking up the rest of the Godchild series from the library today and am really looking forward to it!

Volume 9 of Loveless was released less than two months ago, so give it a little time. :) It's a really slow serialization.

I'm reading 闇の末裔 (12) (Yami no Matsuei 12). A new volume after... oh, 7-8 years?! My other books have yellowed in age from waiting.. still, it's very exciting. :)

320:
YnM 12 isn't really *new*, though, they just finally published all the chapters from 2002-2003 (ETA: actually, scratch that--some of the chapters from 2000-2001, so there's still more waiting) that were never put into tankoban form before. :/ That there's some revisions is a good thing, but still... AFAIK there still hasn't been any announcement that it'll be returning to serialisation.

321: Yeah, I know.. that's why I said new volume after 7-8 years (There were many uncollected serialized chapters and even those 2 oneshots since then..). I like reading things in book format, not scavenging for scans of the uncollected chapters. And no, no news yet on reserialization.. been watching for that.

suki tte ii na yo! 4
kimi ni todoke 10

absolutely squeeable.

been waiting for LDK 2 and bokura wa itsumo 4 for a really long time now, but our kino's just not stocking it... might have to order from amazon japan. _-_

I most recently read volume 9 of Ghost Hunt and am totally bummed that my library system doesn't have volume 10 :(

Also recently read Trash by Sanami Matoh and Fruits Basket volume 21.

I'm currently reading Naruto Vol. 47! excited.....

I just finished rereading Loveless so I could know what was going on in vol. 8....does anyone know when 9 comes out?

also I am up to date with bleach and waiting for vol. 30 to come in at my library. :D

are mo shitai kore mo shitai by hazuki kanae
usagi drop 7 by unita yumi
hapi mari 3 by enjouji maki

i'm excited to dive in! i absolutely adore usagi drop. ♥

Right now, I'm reading Naruto Vol. 1.
I'm following Vampire Knight, Tsubasa RC, Negima!, Fruits Basket, and Xxxholic.
I love CLAMP.

my MAL says I'm currently reading 38 titles, but I don't really follow all of them XD

reading: (completed series)
Lament of the Lamb
Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro
Death Note
Superior

following (publishing series)
Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo
The Embalmer
Beelzebub
Dokuhime
Black Butler
bakuman
Black Rose Alice

I haven't started it yet but I have the first volume of Library Wars out from the library. It looks quite promising.

I'm still waiting on volumes 4 and 5 from Two Flowers for the Dragon to come in as well.

Update to last post: I read the first three volumes of Library Wars and I'm really enjoying the series so far. Last night I read Two Flowers for the Dragon Volume 4 which was very good as well. I have volume 5 on my bedstand for tonight.

I am reading XXXHolic and Tsubasa by Clamp.

i'm following way more series than i can probably keep up with... but most notable right now are: taiyou no ie by taamo, aoha ride by sakisaka io, heroine shikkaku by kouda momoko, sensei ni ageru by yamada daisy, kinkyori ren'ai by mikimoto rin, iya da nante iwasenai by nanajima kana, kiss yori mo hayaku by tanaka meka, suki tte ii na yo by hazuki kanae, tonari no atashi by minami atsuko, kore wa koi desu by yuchi yayomi, kanojo wa uso wo aishisugiteru by aoki kotomi, kokoro botan by usami maki, etc......................