Huge stack of manga

This post is about everything that has come to mind in the past week while I’ve been reading this huge stack of manga (above image appropriately named).

Negima!

Setsuna is really cool, huh?  Yeah, she’s super duper cool.  She’s really, really super duper duper luper stupor pooper cool.  Plus she’s really pretty and cool and awesome and beautiful and cool and strong and cool and cool.

Fun fact: Setsuna was my first obsession (note: not “waifu” because “waifu” sounds really stupid).  She’s the reason I spent $274.75 (not including tax) on 25 volumes of Negima!.  If Mikoto had never come along, you’d have http://setsuna.wordpress.com bookmarked instead of this site (well, not really.  Some German person took that).

On another note, there are practically no good Setsuna pictures online.  After searching for an hour (not counting the random searching I’ve done over the years) on danbooru, google, deviantart, etc. (not pixiv, though, since I can’t understand that site), I finally found one good picture which I stole for my new header.

The rekindling of my interest in Setsuna has also led me to realize a very important thing: characters are everything.  In a previous post, I talked about (among other things) how I rate anime according to my gut feeling.  That still stands, but now I finally understand what my gut wants.  It wants characters.  It wants pretty or cool characters that it can enjoy watching prance around on screen, regardless of how shitty the story or art is.  Heck, if Setsuna were in some sort of slice of life spinoff and still looked/acted the same, I’d buy 25 volumes of that spinoff.

But then again, if the characters are good, then the story and art are usually good as well, so it doesn’t really make a difference in the end.  Except with Bakemonogatari.  That show is a waste of perfectly good characters.  It should’ve been Nadeko Crab, Nadeko Snail, Nadeko Monkey, Nadeko Snake, and Nadeko Cat.

Gintama

Yes, I bought sixteen volumes of this series.  Yes, I have seen it all via the anime.  Yes, it was still a very, very good buy.

I used to read only the manga that I bought.  Then I hit One Piece.  I started buying manga that I thought was worthwhile.  Then I hit Rosario+Vampire (OOPS.)  Now I buy comedy manga that I think is worthwhile (with Negima being a notable exception).

The reason for this is that comedy manga, as long as they aren’t total crap, are always worth reading again.  What’s the point in reading a comedy manga you’ve seen before?  To laugh again, of course!  What’s the point in reading an action manga you’ve read before?  To drag your feet through ten chapters before Ichigo tells you that everybody’s fucked up and hit the wrong person (HEY GUISE WUT R U DOIN??)?  No way.  Predictability may exist in both comedy and action manga, but at least one’s always funny.  The latter is just annoying.

After reading Gintama for one week straight, I’ve also realized that Hideaki Sorachi is a brilliant comedian.  Gintama is funny enough, but the one-page omake things between chapters are where you see Sorachi’s real genius.  He reveals that he never makes deadlines so his editor draws up random “next chapter previews” trying to predict what he’ll draw next, asks readers for tips on treating hemorrhoids, answers a question about D.Gray-man, and comments on how all the seiyuu who tried out for Gintoki sounded the same.

He’s my role model.  If I hadn’t bought Negima volume 25, I probably would’ve renamed this blog “Sorachi-senseiism.”

Everything else

Bo-bobo was funny for the first two (three if you count that very first ‘test’ volume) volumes, but I found this latest volume to be very un-funny.  Maybe Gintama raised my expectations, or maybe it’s the lackluster effort the U.S. Jump team puts into this manga.

Seriously, even if nobody actually buys Bo-bobo, you might as well start at the beginning of the story!  Volume 1 of the English Bo-bobo starts in the middle of the story and we have no idea what’s going on (of course, we never do.  It’s Bo-bobo.)  The translations suck a lot, and the very first two volumes feature the same exact character, except with different names (Over and Halekulani).  The first volume shows “Halekulani” dying, yet he is consistently called “Over,” and neither “Halekulani” nor “Over” even appears in the second volume.  Who the hell is he?

DMC is great, Soul Eater is great, and I’m too tired and bored to type any more.  This was a very shitty filler post.  I think it’s my way of doing a “blog update” post without actually doing a “blog update” post.  Those posts really suck.


10 Comments on “Huge stack of manga”

  1. glothelegend says:

    I’m going to comment here, only because I actually have something relevant to say for once.

    Setsuna is quite obviously the best character from Negima, and actually, she is the only reason why I decided to read the manga (after watching both anime adaptations).

    Sadly, I do not have 247 dollars to spend on all of those volumes, although I do have ten dollars to b-

    …..

    Okay I actually have no money. I have been wanting to buy at LEAST volume 14 (that’s where I am) for about 2 months, but FUCK. I keep using my money for obnoxious things like FUCKING GAS! 40 DOLLARS A WEEK ON AN INCOME OF 25 DOLLARS A WEEK DOES NOT YIELD GOOD RESULTS.

    Anyway, I have never bought anything manga/anime related, and I’m still trying to pop the cherry on that….I guess I could use this massive stack of quarters….but who the fuck pays in ten dollars worth of quarters?

    • fangzhao says:

      Setsuna is amazing. She is so perfectly tsundere yet still so damn cool at the same time!

      I actually never spend my money (except on food). I hoard it all up so I can make huge manga purchases on Amazon or at anime conventions.

      On another note, I bought my lunch today in change! It was great feeling all those coins suddenly gone from my wallet.

      • glothelegend says:

        I too only spend money on food (and gas)……yet I still have no money, because I buy a SHITLOAD OF FOOD.

        I once spent a whole year buying things only in change, so I know how to be poor and still make it work, unfortunately that means not buying manga, which I can’t eat (or digest at least).

  2. mefloraine says:

    It’s named “Bo-BoBo” and you expect quality!?

  3. kluxorious says:

    You are made of fucking win because you bought Gintama.

  4. DS says:

    Wow, expensive to get an entire series all at once! Unless you got some kind of deal…


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