Update, update, update. Let's see:
Claymore has upped the ante yet again since last the last manga update. Abyss-eaters? Ha! As terrifying and disgusting as those horrifying beings were -- so much so as to make me weep for Easley, Destroyer of Towns & Claymores, they are nothing compared to what has come next. If twins weren't creepy enough in RL, Yagi (the mangaka) has found a way to make them creepier. Every chapter, which frustratingly only comes once a month, is so chockful of well-drawn plot and surprises, I cannot recommend this manga highly enough. Due to its limited release status I need other manga to fill the gap. As it turns out, I need a lot of manga to fill the gap ^^ and each one in different ways have stolen my heart away.
Midnight Secretary ended its run exactly the way I expected a smutty josei manga to end, happily. The girl got the guy; the guy got wise and thoughtful; and all the naysayers and get-in-the-way-ers were made to bow down before the glory of their love. Very satisfying. I'm not sure if this is truly the end for the characters of Kyouhei and Kaya. The mangaka, Ohmi, has a habit of returning to the scene, has done so with her last mega-manga hit so I half-way expect a return to Kyouhei's and Kaya's world. If not, that's okay too because it was all very satisfying.
And Bleach keeps on trucking... The pace has picked up and our hero has learned a new trick whether he likes it or not. Kubo (the mangaka) has turned the action to a semi-curious place and I'm interested in finding out what he plans. This manga is a weekly release and is a standard read for me. I don't think much about it but when a week is missed due to various RL reasons I fiend like a crack addict, so yeah, I think I like it. LOL
Deadman Wonderland is still alive and well but there is a glitch -- the scans on it have ground to a near-halt which is a damn shame. I'm not complaining... not really... Do I want the scans to continue? Hell, yeah! Do I understand that these guys are doing this out of the kindness of their manga-loving hearts and placing demands on them is unfair? Yes. Damn it. ^^ A new group picked up but I don't know what's going to happen from here on out. I have read rumors of an anime series in the works which would be kick-ass! Each time I read a chapter I think how wonderful it would be as anime. From the artwork to the f-ed up plot and scrawny hero granted unasked-for abominable powers, it just screams 'anime!'
Veritas is my number one manhwa. Yes, above Bleach, above the manga listed above and the ones to be listed below. I obsessively check for updates, spoilers, have been known to re-read chapters and have even read it again from beginning to temporary end. I heart this manga, manhwa really. The Koreans have it; S. Korea already owns my heart when it comes to television shows (except for Fringe, that is better than everything on TV so far), now they are dominating my manga with their manhwa. The protagonist is atypical in the freshest, most interesting and engaging way. He's a scrapper, a dog-fighter, and while he lacks the clearly-defined moral hang-ups and principles most manga/manhwa heroes have in spades, he is not without honor or a code. He's just pretty carefree and doesn't spend much time moping or many blocks pondering or looking determined... unless it is to fight. Boy does like to fight! Really, number one manhwa/manga and only one other comes close to threatening its crown. More on that later.
Cage of Eden is different from the others I tend to read because no one has any special powers and the only supernatural element involves the characters's plane crashing onto a 'Land of the Lost' type island. Actually this manga recalls some of my earliest loves as I child. I loved survival/rustic novels, some of my favorites being 'Island of the Blue Dolphin', 'My Side of the Mountain', Jean M. Auel's 'Earth's Children' series (Clan of the Cave Bear, etc.), Gary Jennings's 'The Journeyer', etc. Nothing thrilled me more than novels depicting people thriving on the land and their wits alone. I was such a city girl I guess it tickled me pink. Reading this manga recalls those precious times I sat on a cold bare floor, back to the bed, transported by the quick-witted hero or heroine as they caught abalone, trained a falcon to hunt or tanned deer-hide in a hollow stump. It's why I like Cage of Eden so much. Unfortunately, like Psycho Buster, its releases have stalled.
Ane Doki trucks on and, I suspect, is coming to its conclusion, although I could be wrong. I have enjoyed the ride. It's a light, easy read demanding nothing -- not overt excitement or profundity. It has its easy charm and that's enough for it and for me. Though it isn't listed on OneManga.com as harem, I consider it harem because at some point all girls in the manga aside from one has felt an attraction for the main hero. I tend to have a problem with harem. Harem situations quickly become ludicrous and annoying for me, the hero frequently stuck in some horn-dog state, the girls brainless in their need to be close to him. Plus the constant "comedic" situations and accompanying drawing affects are not funny and bother me to no end. So, that I enjoy this manga is something of a surprise. Then again, it isn't very harem about its harem. The girls are fairly charming and not brainless at all when it comes to the hero. The main guy isn't some helpless horn-dog but a pretty sweet kid just trying to get the gist of girls and to get the gumption to confess to a girl. It's fairly straightforward and as I stated, sweet. Charming.
Onto the new stuff:
In Psycho Buster a kid discovers a special little talent to affect time. He and a group of government test-subject runaways then work to stop a mad man and his special group of psychic crazies (also former government test-subjects) from, well, f-ing up the world. It's a lot of fun and was on the fast track to being one of my favorite manga due to the likable, if standard, protagonist and his cool ability. However the manga release has stalled out a bit, hopefully it will resume.
Psyren is a weekly and kick-ass! It releases in the same magazine as Bleach so the releases are as steady as clockwork, yes! It is also entertaining as hell with a well-realized world and great characters. I have a fondness for the supernatural (and shounen) so expect a lot of my manga recommendations to contain special powers and/or bishies, lol. This one is no different: in order to save a classmate, Ageha enters a savage world beyond his imagining, a future too terrible to allow to come to pass. He and others essentially spend the rest of the manga working hard to thwart the bastards who will bring the world and the human race specifically to its knees. I highly recommend this manga. In my opinion it is a standard read like Bleach and just as addictive.
Wolf Guy has crap artwork. Okay, scratch that. The artwork isn't crap, it's just not my cup of tea. Usually that's enough to turn me off but the characters are strong, so brashly drawn that it took me to a place where I didn't mind the artwork. If the title didn't give it away, it is about a werewolf. He's born one, not made, and apparently -- like in the song 'Woke Up This Morning' -- this kid was born under a real bad sign because a gypsy once told him violence and bad luck trails him like a shadow. The manga then bears this out. The characters are strong, even if the plot is a bit undetermined. Violence seems to be the prevalent theme and honestly I don't shy from it. If it's not your thing, I'd avoid this manga because it doesn't avoid that or other mature situations like attempted rape, nudity or sex. For all that it isn't sexual or sensual in spite of a few explicit scenes, those scenes simply are. This manga isn't for everyone but I suspect it is going somewhere worthwhile.
Here it is, the one which threatens the supremacy of Veritas; it's also a manhwa, go figure, and it is tight, tight, tight!!! This is a recent discovery and just as I did upon first discovering Veritas, I blew through all the available chapters of the one, the only, The Breaker. The protagonist is your basic manga/manhwa hero but what the mangakas excel at is placing a fresh twist on a standard point. The main hero, Shi Woon, is bullied to the point of brutality and we, the readers, are made to take that humiliating journey with him. Many manga would simply devote a chapter or two to something like this, but this isn't done in this manhwa. To understand the mettle this young man develops as the manhwa develops -- from cowardice and fear to courage and strength -- they can't, we can't afford to skip out on the painful journey that prepares and provokes Shi Woon for what comes next. I love this character almost as much as I love Gang Ryung, the main character of Veritas, yet the two heroes couldn't be more different. Both, in their own ways, are atypical and that excites me. As for the plot it is similar in its foundation to Veritas: young man meets future master/martial arts badass after having the crap beaten out of him; this meeting leads him into a hidden martial arts world that exists in tandem with normal society. Crazy fighting ensues. However, the two plots are really quite different and this is revealed from the first page of each manhwa. It sort of reminds me of YuYu Hakasho and Bleach. The first time Bleach was described to me, I dismissed it as a YuYu Hakasho wannabe. However, the first five minutes of the first Bleach episode wiped that idea right out of my mind. I highly, highly, highly recommend The Breaker. Seriously. Go read it. Go fall in love. It is insane!
