Manga Readers/Fans

[betmen]

Have you ever read Shigurui by Yamaguchi Takayuki?

i have not, summary and genre?

[North Star]

i have not, summary and genre?

Here you go betmen!

Genre: Seinen

The story begins in 1629 Shizuoka during Tokugawa Tadanaga's rule. The daimyo staged a tournament where the participants fought with real steel Japanese swords rather than bokken ("wooden sword"), against his vassals' strong objection. The story revolves around the first match between the one-armed swordsman Fujiki Gennosuke and the blind samurai Irako Seigen and deals with the circumstances that led the two to participate in Tokugawa's tournament.

And here's my review:

I read and finished Shirugui by Yamaguchi Takayuki, and it was an excellent read. Taking place in 1629, a tournament was held by Tokugawa Tadanaga and the participants were to use real swords in each duel. This was essentially illegal, but being the younger brother of the shogun, Tadanaga was known as a cruel lord and he held this tournament to satisfy his insatiable bloodlust. The main story revolves around two combatants, Irako Seigen and Fujiki Gennosuke. These two are among the greatest swordsmen of the era and this Shakespearian tale did not disappoint. There are no feel good moments in this story and shows how dark and brutal the era could be.

The sword fights throughout the series were very well done. Mangaka Yamaguchi did an excellent job of illustrating the fights, people, and environment, and truly places you in the setting of post-feudal Japan. I would recommend this to those of you that love the Sengoku era pieces and samurai stories in general. I would put this story and series up there with Lone Wolf and Cub, as it very well done and absolutely serious in sticking to historical dialogue and structure. It was a fascinating couple days worth of reading.

[North Star]

Yo guys, I've been on a break from manga and was reading some hard science fiction novels. I read The Expanse series, which is phenomenal, and just finished up the Atlantis Gene trilogy, which was decent and nothing to write home about.

But now it's back to manga! I finally started up One-Punch Man, and it has been great like others in here have mentioned. Only about 25 chapters in, but I am really enjoying it. I dig the art style and comedy action that this manga presents. I'm looking forward to watching the anime once I'm done. Great stuff.

[North Star]

Quick update: Finished Onepunch-Man and it was a good ride! Lots of funny stuff and there's still a lot of story to go, I'm sure. I am looking forward to that manga releasing more chapters to continue the hilarity.

Currently reading a different manga, which happened to be written while the mangaka was in America, and it's kind of stylized like an American comic or cartoon. It's called Ketchup Ninja by Daromeon.

It is about a teenage ninja being forced to move to America due to Ninjas being outlawed in Japan, so now she is in the state of New Jersey and going to high school. The culture shock and language barrier create quite a funny manga, and I was pleasantly surprised that I have been enjoying it so much. I like how at the end of each chapter, there is an American term lesson for Japanese readers, and they are kind of hilarious! The high school life in the US is much different than Japan, so it is funny to see the parody and exaggeration and to know that this is being read by teens in Japan. I am sure they find it both fascinating and funny.

[North Star]

Been a while guys, but I've still been keeping up with the manga. I read a handful since I last posted. I finished up Ketchup Ninja and it was pretty funny. It either stopped or the mangaka stopped drawing it. I haven't found any other chapters since.

I read a bit of Soul Eater and it was okay. I couldn't get too far into it as I didn't care much for the artwork.

The last manga I finished was Bakuman, about a mangaka duo and their pursuit of being the number 1 mangaka in Weekly Shonen Jump. It was a really good read and did a good job of capturing the stress and endless hours these people put in to their work. There were a lot of shout outs to other manga within the story, so that was cool to see. I got a pretty good idea of what the typical life of a mangaka may actually be like reading that story.

The manga I am reading now is a mainstream one, Hunter x Hunter. I am about 60 chapters in and it's been a fun read so far. I am quite a ways back in chapters, so the image quality and artwork is still being polished. I anticipate by the time I get to the middle and recent chapters, the quality should go up significantly. I got about another 300 chapters to go, so until then keep reading manga!

[North Star]

Finished up what was available of Hunter x Hunter, and it was pretty good. The Chimera Ants arc was good, but the Dark Continent arc that followed was a little tedious, well the transition from arcs were anyway. There was way too much dialogue and little action for a good 40 chapters or so. The Dark Continent arc is still in it's opening after those 40 chapters and is just now starting to pick up. However, the available chapters have already caught up and this new arc has yet to even reach the destination of the main plot of the arc. Overall, it was a good battle manga.

The next manga I started reading is Hinomaru Zumou by Kawada. It is actually really good so far and gets takes us in to the world of sumo. Here is the synopsis:

It is a divine ritual, a martial art, a combat sport—it's sumo!! A "small" new student, Ushio Hinomaru, appears before the weak little sumo club of Oodachi High School! The words "big" and "heavy" are the rules to this sport, which does not fit this newbie any inch, but this guy goes and does what...!? Ushio and the small sumo club climbs its way to the top! The goal is *Hino****a Kaisan! A fired up high school sumo tale—no retakes allowed!! *Hino****a Kaisan - A title for the highest rank in professional sumo, equivalent of Yokozuna.

[North Star]

I am still reading Hinomaru Zumou, but I have to say that this has been a really great manga so far. It ranks up there with my favorite sports/martial art mangas already (Grappler Baki and Karate Shoukoushai). The artwork by Kawada is fantastic. I especially love the way he draws the eyes of central characters. It's a bit different from your typical manga style eye shape. If you notice in the above picture, Kawada does a similar eye outline that harkens back to old Japanese woodblock prints, where the eye outline is defined on the samurais.

Try to find time to read this one guys, it's really good and there's a reason it's ranked as the #1 sports manga at the moment.

[North Star]

Finished up what was left of Hinomarou Zumou, and it left off just before the final match in the inter-high tournament! Damn, right at the peak of the arc and I'm already caught up. I will have to wait a while for new chapters to be released and uploaded. This manga was an awesome read though. I'm looking forward to seeing it's continuation for years to come. There are still lots of story to tell, especially with the characters that Kawada created. It's a really great series.

Next up is Clover by Tetsuhiro Hirakawa. It is described as a fighting manga, revolving around a trio of high school students. It's got over 300 chapters so it should be good if it's been in serialization long enough to hit that many chapters.

[betmen]

Finished up what was left of Hinomarou Zumou, and it left off just before the final match in the inter-high tournament! Damn, right at the peak of the arc and I'm already caught up. I will have to wait a while for new chapters to be released and uploaded. This manga was an awesome read though. I'm looking forward to seeing it's continuation for years to come. There are still lots of story to tell, especially with the characters that Kawada created. It's a really great series.

Next up is Clover by Tetsuhiro Hirakawa. It is described as a fighting manga, revolving around a trio of high school students. It's got over 300 chapters so it should be good if it's been in serialization long enough to hit that many chapters.

have you ever read Kingdom?? if you havent you should check it out, the epicness are on par with the like of vagabond or berserk

[North Star]

have you ever read Kingdom?? if you havent you should check it out, the epicness are on par with the like of vagabond or berserk

I have read a chapter or two of Kingdom, but was reading other stuff at the time too. It's the story of the unification of China, right? The whole "Dynasty Warriors" epic with Cao Cao and Lu Bei?

I'll have to get back in to it soon. I am just about finished up with Clover.