Wishlist: Attack on Titan

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! BUY THE MANGA ALREADY!" is what you would say after seeing the title. Let's see, the anime really went well and it satisfied the hype, it also promoted the already famous manga. The first volume came out back in 2012 and I can say that it's pretty new and the only way I can get those volumes are through buying them NEW. People wouldn't sell them yet because it's still ongoing and it's a pretty epic title. As you know, I'm a cheapskate and I only buy used (except for the overstocks).

Attack on Titan Volume 1

Update: December 31, 2013

Hi readers!

I'm posting this as an end of the year update. Some of you may know this, I have a lot of material to work with BUT I don't know which one to do next. So, if you are curious about a title that I own, I would gladly accept your request and review it. I will attach the full list of my collection and I hope some people will cooperate! Please comment below if you are interested! Thanks!

-Chuk!

Review: Limit Volume 1

First off, have you read Battle Royale? If you haven't, why haven't you? I don't own it and I read it online *cough*illegally*cough* and finished it. Anyway, if you liked that title, then I'm sure you'll love this!

Warning! This volume contains graphic violence, verbal abuse and blood.

It's a shoujo manga despite it's serious, dark and somewhat horrifying atmosphere. It's mainly about the hunted being the hunter. This is too serious to be a shoujo manga, it should be a seinen series! I like shoujo but I don't think the young shoujo audience should read this. It's just too graphic. It also has a live-action drama that aired recently which is awesome! (I'm gonna watch it after I finish the whole series!) Anyway, come with me as I review the volume! Yeah!

Review: Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Volume 2

Training for the swim team, learning how to play the guitar, playing with a band on-stage, skinny dipping with a really hot babe. Koyuki works hard and plays hard.

We're finally getting closer to what that cover art is trying to get at, Koyuki playing the guitar in a live setting. I wish I had more volumes of this title.

Manga in the Mail: 11

Arisa said, "What a Wonderful World!" because she's part of MANGA IN THE MAIL! OOHHH SNAP! ERMEHGERD!

The first five volumes of Arisa by Natsumi Ando (other works: Zodiac P.I., Wild @ Heart and Kitchen Princess)

Arisa Volume 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5: I don't know much about the story, it was an impulse buy, kind of. As I said in my "Haul" post that I like Natsumi Ando's Zodiac P.I. That was an old shoujo manga but she did pull off a series. I could not judge her work based on what I remembered because I was not in the mood for shoujo anymore at that time so I might have given it a poor grading. That said, I did get through the 4 volume title, though it was slow. My first impression as of reading the synopsis on a manga website, I find that the two titles (Zodiac P.I. and Arisa) have the same mystery element playing. I'm not into mystery really, except for those that kill off people in gory and graphic ways.

The story is about two sisters (identical twins) separated at birth. They promised to write each other after their parents' divorce. Now Arisa attempted suicide because of some secret that Tsubasa doesn't know about. Arisa is in a coma and Tsubasa is bent on finding out why her sister had attempted to commit suicide.

That's the gist I got through reading the synopsis. I have two new Natsumi Ando works, I hope I don't have a hard time reading them. Anyway, the reviews are probably not gonna be shown until late January because I'm not sure when I'll have the time to read them. Anyways, cheers and have a good day!

Review: Pastel Volume 2

Hi! Two days have passed since Christmas. Be glad I'm doing this for you! Joudan! Joudan! (It's a joke)
I'm getting the hang of putting out 4 reviews a week, the only thing I'm worried about is the days that don't have any reviews. Sorry if those days are kinda boring. I do hope you look forward to my reviews! Like this one!

Warning! This volume contains FAN SERVICE! REJOICE MEN!
Seriously, this volume contains scenes that is only suitable for older teens and up.

As I told you all before, I like Toshihiko Kobayashi's cover art made with Pastel colors. I'm in love with his cover arts like crazy! Kokoro no dokidoki! (Am I trying too hard?!)

Wishlist: UQ Holder

I've been reading this weekly since it started on August this year. I'm really into it since I'm a fan of Negima! Magister Negi Magi series. I currently have 22 volumes of this title which is the most number of volumes for a title I have. Enough about Negima, we're here to talk about it's successor, UQ HOLDER!

It's Ken Akamatsu's signature style!

The author of A.I. Love You, Love Hina, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Ken Akamatsu comes back with a new series! He's mostly know for his work Love Hina which is one of the titles that established the Harem genre. After finishing Love Hina, he came out with another series; Negima! Magister Negi Magi that is far from what he published before (Sci-fi and Slice-of-life).

Manga in the Mail: 10

I got this along with my order of a crappy MP3 Player. I'm loving one the first one I'm gonna mention and I'm really stoked to read the second one.

Kingyo Used Books Volume 1 and Blade of the Immortal Volume 1

Review: Dogs: Bullets & Carnage Volume 2

Just as promised! I've come back with the second volume and it's filled with more action than you can chew!
Also, it's Christmas today so... Merry Christmas! Hope you have an awesome day ahead and like this review, BANZAI!

Naoto + Nill + Nuki + Lokie = Awesome Cover Art

Warning! This volume contains graphic violence, gore, blood and mild nudity.

So you've read Volume 1 and the Prelude. If you have not, you can't catch up to this review. This is mostly about the story. The art is still the same awesome style.

Haul 1: December 20, 2013

I just had this idea of a new segment where I post what I physical bought at a bookstore. My wallet is literally crying right now. I kind of regret this purchase because it ate up a lot more than what I was thinking of spending. Here we go.

bee-tee-dubs, 1 more night and it's Christmas Day! Send me some manga! (A guy with a blog can wish right?)

From left to right, top to bottom:

xxxHolic Volumes 15 & 16, Negima! Magister Negi Magi Volume 24, 26 & 28, Wild @ Heart (The Complete Series Omnibus) and Hell Girl Volume 7, 8 & 9 Omnibus

Review: Black Lagoon Volume 2

Neo Nazis, Nuns with guns, Cigarettes kissing and psychopathic twins, all in one volume! Yay! What more can you ask for a seinen series?

After finishing volume 1, don't you feel satisfied? Because of the stand-alone stories that are inside volume 1, you don't a volume 2 really. It felt like a one shot manga instead of a series. It figures, Rei Hiroe took his sweet time to complete the first volume within 2 years. Enough about that, time for the real point here, volume 2.

Review: Alive: The Final Evolution Volume 2

Spoilers ahoy! You need to read the first volume to get ready for this because I'm going all out on the story here. You have been warned!

Warning! This title contains graphic violence, gore and blood.

This volume continues the story where volume 1 left off: A few chosen people who survived the strange virus have gained unique powers. Most of these chosen ones call themselves "comrades" as they possess the power to lead people to "death," because life means suffering. Taisuke Kano now knows about these unique powers and has discovered that Hirose was the one who killed his bullies at the rooftop. Hirose comes for their friend; Megumi Ochiai, to save her. Accidentally, Hirose pushes Megumi off the rooftop but Taisuke comes to the rescue. Taisuke grabs a hold of her and falls with her. Landing on his feet, Taisuke and Hirose are both surprised to know that he has powers of his own but Hirose does not welcome Taisuke as a comrade. It ends with Taisuke fainting.

Wishlist: Neon Genesis Evangelion

If you are an anime loving person then you should have come across this show. It's a masterpiece, a classic and a mind-trucking journey towards insanity of a show. I wrote about this show on one of my papers and I said:

This anime is a deconstruction of the *mecha subgenre. It focuses on the psychoanalysis of each character in the show and how a character breaks into more pieces as time goes on. On the outside, it looks like a regular super-robot anime but as the show progresses, its true colors show up and kids might be turned off by the unusually long dialogue and flashbacks into a character’s past. Anyone who first watches this will not understand the show in face value and this just shows how great an anime can be.

Review: Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Volume 1

I've watched the anime adaptation and it's 9/10 for me. I'm actually starting to write a story about my experiences because I'm really inspired by the anime. Enough talk about the anime, let's talk about what started it all: the manga.

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Volume 1: (by Harold Sakuishi) Yukio Tanaka is a 14 year old senior in junior high. He complains about his everyday life being dull and wants to do something about but he has no idea on what to do. When Ryuusuke Minami entered Koyuki's life, he started to change and began to have a challenges that made his life better.

Manga in the Mail: 9

Battle Royale, a theme that is gory and is down-right awful. When I think about survival, I think about Bear Grylls. *Crickets chirping* Just kidding.

Let's do that again. When I think about survival, I think about the human instinct. The basic command of finding food, water and shelter. If a situation deals you with more people, it becomes a disaster. You can live by yourself and survive by yourself if you are extra careful. Adding people into the survival mix is gonna get you killed sooner or later. Why? Conflicts, self-preservation, lies and other stuff that people can do for their own survival. That's what made me buy this series. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you: Limit.

Update: December 19, 2013

I'm experimenting with the scheduling of my posts. I've decided to post reviews on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday every week. Every review day is gonna be a different volume of the same title for two weeks. Confused? I'll clarify.

Let's say today's Monday. I'm going to review Ninja Girls Volume 1 today and post it. The next Monday would be Ninja Girls Volume 2. The next Monday after that would be a different title, like a review of Air Gear Volume 1. The Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would be the same. I'll only review two volumes of each title for two consecutive weeks, and then I'm changing the title. Some time after that, I'll go back to the past and review volumes 3 and 4 of that title.

Here! Have a Meruru break!

What about the other days? Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays are kind of meh. I don't know what to put in between but I might as well post some Manga in the Mail stuff or Now Reading posts to fill the gap. I might put two up because I feel like Mail and Now reading aren't as heavy as the reviews, in terms of content.

I also want to try something new, something I don't have and something I want: Wishlist. It's a post that tells people what I want to read and what I'm looking forward to reading. It's kind of like a Manga in the Mail post without having the physical books.

So expect the posts to be somehow longer, and fewer. I don't want to run out of material to post so I'm saving some. There you have it! Thanks for sticking with me!

Review: Dogs: Prelude

I thought about reviewing more of Dogs: Bullets & Carnage but I think I'm gonna pass that up and review the prelude first. Since I have read only the prelude and the first four, my information regarding the whole story might be incomplete .

Warning! This volume contains graphic violence, gore, blood and mild nudity.

This is a prologue to the series Dogs: Bullets & Carnage. The Dogs series wasn't planned to be 10 volumes long and it was only meant to have this oneshot of a title. Because of the demand for a continuation, Shirow Miwa created the main story Dogs: Bullets & Carnage which has the meat of it all. This volume acts like a compilation of different characters, each story has highlights each of the four characters.

Manga in the Mail: 8

So, I just received a huge package containing 13 volumes of manga and 2 light novels. Then there's another package with a complete set. I'll reveal the bigger of the two and put a first impressions on them. Here we go!

Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Volume 1 and 2

Review: Pastel Volume 1

I've got doubles of this manga that are in fair to good condition. This is title is amazing and I can't wait to fangirl over this series!

I love cover art that's made with pastel.

I bought the first 6 volumes hoping that it would be an awesome series with realistic fan service. (I'm a guy so I have my eye candy needs.)  It turns out, this is more exciting and more frustrating than what Love Hina offered! Awesome sauce!

Review: Alive: The Final Evolution Volume 1

It's another review! Woo!! I don't want to bog you all down with manga haul impressions and what not so I'm reviewing stuff. Please bear with the shallowness of my reviews. Arigato!

Warning! This title contains graphic violence, gore and blood.

My first impression of this title goes like this: "Whoa! Suicide Virus! Lethal Pandemic! This is awesome!" If you've read my past posts, I really like dark themes. I'm not making fun of it, I'm just really interested in the psychological aspect of it all. My psych teacher once told me that people who have killed a person in their life had a change in their brain. That, to me, is interesting so I'm sorry if this is too morbid for you. Anyway, let's move on to the review shall we?

Now Reading: 5

I'm trying to finish the other Now Reading titles but I feel like I lack the enthusiasm to finish. On to more unfinished business!

WARNING! This volume contains graphic violence, implied rape and a ton of gore.

Okay, I think I've seen the title that could possibly compare to the bloody roller coaster called Batlle Royale.

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit Volume 1: A country (most likely Japan) passed a law that randomly selects one person a day; between the ages 18-24, to die in 24 hours after receiving an Ikigami (Death Papers, documents that notify a person that he has 24 hours left to live). This law is to get people live healthy and happy lives. If people think that their life is short, they become more productive with their time.

The story is about a man who delivers Ikigami's to the person who is going to die; Kengo Fujimoto. He doesn't side with this law 100% and he still questions this law. Is this job really honorable? It must be! It's for the best of the country! But after a few months, he starts to get used to it somehow.

Art: The art is very good and it complements the story so well. To get the scare factor, you have to draw it as realistic as possible. You can definitely say that it truly belongs to Viz Media's Signature series. The details and expressions on peoples face are accurate.

It's gory and graphic, like it should be. It instantly clicks.

Story: I'm in the halfway mark of the volume which finishes the first story of the first Ikigami recipient in this title. I like how the plot, incorporates the Ikigami recipient's past into the story. It felt the same like when I was reading Battle Royale, as it highlights each "victim" as a main character. I like that kind of story telling: introduction, backstory, present day. How did each character come to be? Will the past factor in the person's actions within his/her last 24 hours?

The pacing is good and it doesn't waste space on useless action. It skips time of inactivity but sometimes, it feels like it jumped over some details that I want to know. Overall, it's a nice page-to-page experience.

Bottomline: Read it. If you want some realistic action and some inhumane rule/law/act, this is for you. I warn you though, I don't want novices to be reading this yet. This is a dark manga that presents a realistic plan to make people do what you want them to do. This is Machiavellian stuff right here.

Manga in the Mail: 7

These are kind of the leftovers from the last big haul and a floating one. (What's floating?!)

Wolf God Volume 1 and Variante Volume 1

Review: Genkaku Picasso Volume 1

Sublimation, a defense mechanism that turns a negative feeling into an acceptable form. Most artist (painters, musicians, writers and other creative people) have this defense mechanism as they tend to express their anger, happiness, sadness and every other emotions humans have. I have this but I don't think I've needed it for so long. What does this have to do with the review? Well, you're about to find out!

From the outside, it looks like a manga about an artist who dreams to become a big hit. I took this title at it's face value. I love art, so why don't I read a manga about art. If you thought the same thing I did, well, we're both wrong.

Manga in the Mail: 6

I've received three volumes in my mailbox back at the 10th of December. Here they are!

Blood Alone Volume 1, Full Metal Panic Volume 1 and Genshiken Volume 5

Review: Genshiken Volume 1

"I want to read a manga series that deals with manga, can you recommend one?" Why, yes! I'm glad you asked! Here's a favorite of mine:

You learned about how to get published, manga-wise, in Japan. This title tells the life of an otaku, the consumers of anime, manga, video games, cosplay and such. I'm writing a paper about this and I'm kinda occupied with anime right now.

Review: Nabari no Ou Volume 1

Here's a really nice shounen manga that you can follow quick. It took me more than 2 weeks to finish these 4 volumes I have of this title. It's not as exciting as any other shounen manga with a ninja theme (No, not Naruto. Just, not that type of ninja.)

Nabari no Ou Volume 1 (Japanese for "King of the Hidden [World]") is a shounen manga with a fantasy-esque kind of ninja story. It revolves around Miharu Rokujou who constantly tries to be indifferent as he does not want to burden people. He's a version of Shinji Ikari that can be a hero if need be and not just whine all the way.

Sweet little Asuka!

Review: Black Lagoon Volume 1

I want to review this so I can satisfy my OCD-ish part of me. I posted a Now Reading about this title but it was about the 2nd volume and because of that, I felt like I should do a proper review on the first one. Here goes!

Warning! This title contains graphic violence, gore and blood.

Black Lagoon Volume 1: (by Rei Hiroe) a tale of bullets, adrenaline, high-octane action, delivery of important packages and girls that can't contain their lady boners for action. Yes, that's right. That's just about the sum of it.

Maji?

Manga in the Mail: 5

I'm gonna finish this manga haul with a bang! Everything that's not been included in previous manga mails post (except for one.) So here we go!

Hino Horror Volume 3 and 4: Oninbo and the Bugs from Hell ; Hell Baby; School Zone Volume 1

All of these are horror manga. HORROR! I bought these because I'm craving for horror manga. I feel like I really need to read more from the horror genre since I have a ton of stuff about romance, action, fantasy and such.

Review: Bakuman Volume 1

So I just finished volume today, like, really early today. Early, as in 1AM early. I posted this volume in one of my Manga in the Mail days ago and I was too excited not to read it.

Bakuman Volume 1, a manga about making manga. It's all about the two main characters trying to reach their dreams of becoming the number 1 mangaka (manga artist/manga author) in all of Japan!

Manga in the Mail: 4

The third pair of volumes I got in the mail: 12-08-2013.

Black Jack Volume 4 and Ray Volume 1