Chinese cartoon books Sep 3, 2017 1:49 am

I wanted to do a writeup on the mangas I’ve been reading. Since I’ve been spending most of my time in the Mojave desert (what I call the shit-ass desert), I’ve had spare time to read these. As much as I’ve been willing to carry in my backpack anyway, but I’ve got good at traveling light.

I’ve been reading No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! (私がモテないのはどう考えてもお前らが悪い! ‘Watamote’) since the English release started in 2013 and it’s been as entertaining as ever. Whether you consider that a good or bad thing, but it’s consistent. Funny but tough to read at times since the authors are so good at getting that cringy feeling. My only hope is that they come to a satisfying conclusion, better than petering out or choosing some cop-out ending.

I’ve been keeping up with Please Tell Me! Galko-chan (おしえて! ギャル子ちゃん ‘Oshiete! Galko-chan’) and it’s great. Genuine, funny and entertaining, my only concern is that the covers are way too sexual so someone looking at it might get the wrong idea (look at this).

I picked up Nichijou (日常） for reasons I can’t remember. It took me a bit to get into its absurdist sense of humor but it’s pretty funny once you get past the expectation that it’s supposed to make sense. It’s something fun to read at the airport.

I made it through 3 volumes of Haganai: I don’t have many friends (僕は友達が少ない ‘Haganai’). It was OK but I couldn’t really get into it. Maybe once I’m done reading what I am now I’ll pick up the next volume.

Kokoro Connect (ココロコネクト) I read the first volume of but couldn’t get into it either.

I picked up the first volume of Your Name (君の名は ‘Kimi no Na wa’) but I haven’t read it yet since I think I should watch the movie first. I’ve heard it’s really good so I’m looking forward to it. I’ve really liked Shinkai Makoto’s previous films. ‘Looking forward to it’ but the only reason I haven’t seen it is due to my laziness lol.

I read the manga version of 5 Centimeters Per Second (秒速5センチメートル ‘Byousoku 5 Centimeter’) . It’s quite a bit longer than the anime and expands the story a couple of chapters. Maybe it’s because I’m in a different place in my life now, or maybe because the manga expanded a lot on the anime, but it hit me a lot harder emotionally. I’d really recommend it. Watch the anime first for the beautiful visuals, but read the manga for the story. The final chapter really made it, a much more positive ending, or at least more ambiguous and not as negative.

On the recommendation of PaperChazz I’ve been reading Mysterious Girlfriend X (謎の彼女Ｘ ‘Nazo no Kanojo X’). I’d agree with him that it’s a really great romance manga. If you just read the synopsis of the story it might seem like this weird drool-centric story, but it’s really great. I’m on volume 4 right now. If it seems interesting to you go check it out.

That’s all I can think of for now.