fosstodon.org is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Fosstodon is an invite only Mastodon instance that is open to those who are interested in technology; particularly free & open source software. If you wish to join, contact us for an invite.

Administered by:

Server stats:

10K
active users

#mangareview

4 posts3 participants1 post today

Wanted: Eiichiro Oda Before One Piece (Pixtagram Repost)

Wanted is a collection of single stories written by Eiichiro Oda before he developed One Piece. These include Wanted!, Kami kara Mirai no Present, Ikki Yakou, Monsters, and Romance Dawn. Monsters is the one I had already read before, including the anime adaptation from Netflix. The others, I had no familiarity with.

Overall, it was fun. From gunslingers to a traveling monk to one of the early precursors to One Piece itself, these stories were a lot of fun and had that Oda flair to them.

New Read - Otaku Elf, Volume 8

Every volume of Otaku Elf flies by. Not a lot happens. it's a slice of life series about a geeky elf who is the local deity for a small temple and her miko (Shrine Maiden). It's day to day life of the elf not wanting to go out much, playing games, talking about her past as she has lived a long, long life, and day to day stuff of our miko as she is in school.

It's a mix of Japanese history lesson with about their culture in the past with slice of life.

It's very chill. And I appreciate that.

Anyway, enjoyed it. Will probably enjoy Volume 9 whenever it drops.

Fist of the North Star, Volume 15 (Repost from Pixtagram)

Wow. Again. I feel I say that after reading EVERY volume of Fist of the North Star. Still valid.

This volume continues with Kaioh manipulating everyone. However, as Hyo and Kenshiro battle, secrets are revealed. Histories of Kenshiro, Hyo, Raoh, and Kaioh are revealed. It's a lot and so good.

Love is, once again, at the center.

The volume ends with a battle beginning between Kenshiro and Kaioh, Rin sent off with her memories erased. It's a lot.

New Read - The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy At All, Volume 1

I have heard good things for a while, so picked up Volume 1 from the library. Short version: I enjoyed it.

Summary: Teenage girl has a crush a music store employee who she thought was a boy but, as it turns out, is a girl in her class. When they both figure it out, they wrestle with those feeling as the both kind of dig each other.

It's cute. A lot of references to American rock music. Also, very short chapters which makes it read similar to Wotakoi, if you read that one.

Overall, liked it.

New Read - Hi Score Girl, Volumes 8-10 (Final)

So, I finished Hi Score Girl this weekend.

The last three volumes flew by. They were so well done. So many fighting games. So much about these characters, Haruo and Oono, finally owning their feelings for each other.

At long last, they both know that it's love and the ending had me tearing up while reading it on the couch.

It's so cute. Glad I read the manga.

Hatsukoi Nooto || First Love Note
===
Amekiri
===

Shouya, a teenager with no knowledge of love, accidentally stumbles upon the blog of a gay teen while browsing the web. But surprise surprise, he discovers that the author of that blog is Sanjou; an unapproachable loner in his class.

The story plays out in many ways. Confused about love, Shouya, being the innocent child who always tries to make others smile, slowly breaking down the walls of his new friend without revealing his knowledge as to the author of the blog.

This book is obviously aimed at teens yet covers heavy topics of consent and abuse, but it's never crass. This gorgeous, funny, and sweet book wears its heart on its sleeves and hopes you do too.

CW: Non-consentual acts (discussion), street-level homophobia, mantra (speech), extras after main story contain mild kink (bondage).

New Read - Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Volume 7

End of the First Class Mage exam. I genuinely like how it ended and congrats to Denken and Fern. I hope we see Denken again someday.

The other part of the volume is some minor adventures and the importance of enjoying / experiencing life.

But, also Stark and Fern go on a date and it's so adorably awkward. So cute.

Anyways...yea, still loving it.

Continued thread

Volume 7

Another one.

Haruo and Hidaka are basically at war, kind of. Haruo can't go to his normal arcade cause Hidaka's posse have made him uncomfortable. So, he goes to a different arcade. And then there's arcade turf wars. It's wild.

Also, Hidaka is pushing again for Haruo all while Oono is finally getting SOME reprieve from her home life.

The ending of this volume.

Phew.

Need to get Volumes 8-10 to finish this up.

Continued thread

One more note, before I to into Volume 7. Their slow burn arcade romance is great because Haruo isn't an "I want this hottie" person, but "I want an equal partner / gamer that I want to make happy." He just hasn't figure it out yet.

It's very sweet. And the nostalgia is huge.

Continued thread

Volume 6

Phew, this volume.

The first half is entirely comprised of the battle between Haruo and Hidaka via arcade fighting games. Hidaka dropped the gauntlet saying, "If I beat you, date me." She trained. Hard.

However, she ultimately lost. And, frankly, that's for the best. Haruo doesn't feel the same way about her and doesn't fully get his feelings, However, he is clearly in love with Oono. Everyone sees it, except him. And it's adorable. When he describes his feelings for her, Oono's sister said to him, "Do you know what you call that?" And he is so confused.

Solid volume.

Continued thread

Volume 5

Short Plot Summary: Set in the early 90s. Haruo is a hardcore arcade gamer obsessed largely with fighting games. Oono is a wealthy heiress who is a natural at video games and loves them. However, because of her wealth, she is constantly on lock down. The two meet at arcades and get close.

Enter Hidaka who became a gamer and has a huge crush on Haruo.

This volume follows after Hidaka's confession to Haruo; and Oono gets more isolated. There were also some great flashbacks from Oono's perspective.

Solid volume for this slow burn romance based on mutual gaming respect.

Hi Score Girl, Volumes 5 through 7

More of my transfer of my PIxelfed manga posts over to Mastodon. Here are the covers of Hi Score Girl volumes 5 through 7. I finished Volume 7 this past weekend, so I'll talk about that in the following thread.

I'll also be transferring over my comments from the original posts here.

Continued thread

Volume 6

Volume 6 is the entirety of the next part of the First-Class Mage examination, as well as a beginning to the next part. The part after that, is brief and amazing, but I'll let you read it to find out. There's also flashbacks to a younger Frieren and the head of the entire magical program. Very well done.

The section in the cavern is great as you see how each of the mages from the previous volume deal with the conflicts of entering this unimaginable dungeon. Including a monster that can duplicate the powers of others.

Also, Frieren trapped in a mimic.

Continued thread

Volume 5

Volume 5 saw our magic wielders begin trials to become registered as a First-Class Mages.

We met a host of new, interesting characters. However, my favorite was Denken. He's an older, wiser, bearded man who, like Frieren, is in it not for the prestige or the authority, but largely for the love of magic and to return to see his hometown. I appreciate that. He also has a soft spot for younger mages, which I also appreciate. I feel this aspect will be on display as the trials progress.

Continued thread

Volume 4

Volume 4 largely contains the full tale of our party with Sein. Sein is a priest with divine magic whose friend disappeared years ago. Frieren sees herself in him, which gives us some great bonding moments between the two of them.

However, Sein is only with the party through this volume and leaves to continue on his way to find his lost friend.

Regardless, this volume had some great moments and also we see it help Frieren begin to pick up on more emotional aspects of her past friendships that she never did before.

Continued thread

Volume 3

Volume 3 has 3 parts. The first finished Frieren's battle with the demons from the previous volume. It is an intense battle of wits. The second is a journey north where they meet a priest and Frieren is encouraging them to join them. The third aspect, is a lot of flashbacks.

The flashbacks are some of the more interesting parts of this volume. We see when Frieren first learned magic, how she reduced her aura, and then used that ability for centuries to trick and defeat demons.

It was a well done volume and hard to put down.

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Volumes 3 through 6

As my old #Pixelfed Instance is going down, I'm bringing some of my reviews and posts over from there to Mastodon.

First, here are the covers for Volumes 3 through 6 of Frieren.

Second, they were all VERY good.

Third, my favorite new character introduced in this set of volumes is Denken.

More thoughts in follow up toots.

New Manga Read - Primitive Boyfriend (Series)

I finished Primitive Boyfriend.

Premise: farm girl feels modern boys are too soft, wants to find her soul mate. Goddess of the harvest helps her by sending her to ancient men who are the previous incarnation of her modern soulmate.

In Volumes 1 & 2, Mito is an unlikable sexist who thinks all modern boys aren't manly enough. In Volume 3 she realized "Wait...people aren't 1 dimensional." And after her final whisking away to a previous time, she finally meets her modern day soul mate.

It's dumb popcorn romance, but easy to read.

Manhole
===
Tetsuya Tsutsui
===

A naked, confused, puffy man dies in a Sasahara street. Medics attend and police make enquires.

A lead detective and his newbie start chasing down why this man died. Forensics say it's a parasite not known to be local. Before long, an outbreak takes place and, through clever deduction and a little writer's magic, it's discovered to be the machinations of a single hurt scientist.

The art in this manga is gorgeous. Beautiful perspective, interesting action shots, great use of space and set design, and not a small amount of 'fan service' (I hate that term). The characters were a little flat, seemingly better placed in a jingoistic American war film, but the story makes up for the flaws.

CW: Gore, body horror, removal of agency, sexploitation, misogyny, child abuse, CSA, power play, on paper gun play.