Saturday, January 30, 2010

So what if I'm an addict?

Well, now that we've moved into a new house, I've finally got my manga collection onto my new(ish) shelves. It's so nice to finally see them up there properly again. Currently though I'm alternating between not having enough space, and not having enough manga. Darn that collector gene I inherited from my grandmother.

Currently One Piece and Bleach take up most of the space. I only own three Fairy Tail volumes so far, but I intend to remedy that quite soon, especially since I only need six or seven more to be current at the most. Then again...One Piece is leaving me in the dust very quickly. At least I won't have to worry about Bleach getting too far ahead. And I've long since stopped caring about Naruto. The only way I'm buying more of those volumes is if I have a brutal and painful death for Sasuke to look forward to.

When I picked up Unseen Academicals the other day, I also picked up a volumes 13-17, 20, 24 of Mahou Sensei Negima, or as it says on the spine, Negima! For 65% off too, quite a steal if you ask me. Especially if you compare how much I would have spent to how much I did spend. (Let's put it this way, if it weren't for that sale I wouldn't be eating right now). I enjoy the series, but it wasn't high on my list of series to bother buying, but at that kind of discount how could I say no? It also helps that compared to several other manga series, the volumes released in the states are actually quite close to the current Japanese releases.

And yes, before you bother saying anything, I realize that there is quite a bit of squick in this series. But I've learned to ignore that in order to focus on individual aspects of the manga. Ie/ The story. Which frankly I find quite enjoyable. All I can say is that Akamatsu is a smart man for changing the genre from harem romantic comedy, to shonen action series. Because seriously, with a ten year old boy as your protagonist, teaching a bunch of 15 (?) year old high school girls, your romantic comedy is doomed from the beginning. Though, it is nice to see Negi played realistically in this case. Like a regular ten year old kid, he doesn't give a crap about romance and dating. Which is good, because he's a kid. Now let's get him out of that teaching position and let him grow up like a regular kid, shall we?

On that note, what is it that manga protagonists have that I don't? Because if even preteens have more luck with the ladies than me, then I must be doing something wrong. Oh well, slap some shading on me, maybe it'll help.

Anyway, I didn't mean for this to turn into a Negima! rant. But really, I like to advertise the series I enjoy. Now if only I could get my hands on some more Fairy Tail (it's an oddly elusive manga for some reason). I was right to rank it as my number 2 in my collection. One Piece is like Batman, it'll always come out on top. The only current edge that Fairy Tail has is romantic subplots that don't make me want to rip my hair out (hello~ Naruto, and Bleach, but to be fair that has more to do with fandom. Kubo has been quite clear in what he's written, but let's not get into that...). It's only a slight edge over One Piece, since I do quite enjoy a well written romance here and there, so Fairy Tail wins that round. But, One Piece keeps its title as king by realizing (I hope) that sometimes romance just drags the rest of the story down. It maintains its position by sheer awesomeness.

I could go on, but really, would you want me to? If your answer is yes, then know you have my full appreciation, dear reader. But, I'll end it for now, this little rant has gone on a little longer than it perhaps should have. I'm just glad I have a connection.

As you've probably noticed, I love my manga. I'm not as big into anime as I used to be, it does take up quite a bit of time, and I've fallen behind in series I actually like. It also doesn't help that I don't like watching things on my own, while reading is a whole other matter.

Speaking of reading, has anyone else noticed the disturbing decrease in fantasy novels read? I for one have, and frankly as soon as I have time I'm going to do something against it and start reading more novels (fantasy of course, my first love). Once I have time...huh, so this is what this "growing up" is? Well, looks like manga is the perfect reading material for me, considering how much less time it takes.

Short stories are the way of the future? Because we have less time? My friends, I suggest that we start reading more manga and comics if we're worried about saving time. Then again, some people take longer to read graphic novels, because they're looking closely at the pictures. Well, I for one like to read through pretty fast, that way I notice new things every re-read.

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