Just marathoned Gakuen Alice the last one week. I forgot how incredibly dark shoujo manga can get.

Time to hunt for the next completed series.

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I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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Just putting this here, I accidentally clicked on this title when going for another one and decided why the heck not.

Title is Koi wa Amaagari no you ni, and the first released chapter is pretty sweet and promising. Quite recommended.

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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I bought the 23 vol series of "Fruits Basket" and it arrived yesterday... I've already read the first vol and starting on the second. Since I saved money in food and bingo last month, I was able to afford it. Got it cheap at $200...

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I finished "Fruits Basket" yesterday and I must say that it was one of the best manga that I have read. I won't go into any detail for the benefit of those who haven't read it yet.

The ending was a surprise to me and that is about all that I can say about it, but I can see why it is one of the best manga worldwide according to the promo's that I have read about it.

I highly recommend it.

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Hare Kon. It's... I'm not sure where it's going. It's a harem thing with a difference and is pretty... well, different, is all I can say. Artwork is very good. Characters are interesting.

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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

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Originally posted by Saddletank
Hare Kon. It's... I'm not sure where it's going. It's a harem thing with a difference and is pretty... well, different, is all I can say. Artwork is very good. Characters are interesting.

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I'm reading The Rose of Versailles at the moment. It's relevant to some university work that I'm doing just now but I've been meaning to read it for some years anyway. I adore Oscar, she's perfection. So noble. Is this my first crush on a female character? I think so.

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I talked about The Rose of Versailles during my BL presentation! Because I had to talk about representation of gender in manga, and because the mangaka is part of the Year 24 Group and is important to the development of BL as a genre. There's some really cool theory out there on gender in manga, especially about female characters dressing in men's clothing and what that symbolized in early shoujo manga.

I totally didn't realize how interested in gender I am in Japanese media until I did this project. Now I'm obsessed with reading any articles relating to it.

I've seen the anime version of Hunter x Hunter but I've never read the manga so I'm starting it now. I just finished reading Anyone as well.

Ah, I forgot to post this before, but I thought Kaz and FFF might enjoy it. I went to Takarazuka last week, and as you may or may not know, the theatre there has - I think on several occasions - performed a version of the Rose of Versailles. And they even had a statue to commemorate it!

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Yay, you went to Takarazuka!! My best friend picked me up a tin of sweets from the theatre and a post card. Most of my Japanese friends are from that area. ^^ So cool, didn't know there was a statue.

Just so happens I gave a presentation on the Takarazuka Revue last week! I'm really hoping to go while I'm in Japan. I saw a picture of that statue in a book, that's so cool!

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I didn't go into the theatre, because I got the impression there's not a lot to see inside if you aren't attending a show, and I just didn't have a lot of time. The Osamu Tezuka museum is in Takarazuka too and that was good.

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Mm, that's what I thought. ^^ I hear you have to book the theatre months in advance, much like the Ghibli Museum. And that's cool, he was the one behind Astro Boy, wasn't he? And Princess Knight.

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Yep, that's him. It's not that I'm a massive fan, but considering my interests I thought it'd be worth seeing. The temporary exhibition just now is about his female characters, and when you see them all lined up there you can see the importance of him having grown up in Takarazuka.

And I don't think the tickets work quite like the Ghibli museum ones, but the presale tickets just sell out very fast, as far as I know. You can also line up early on the day of a performance for tickets.

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I can ask my best friend how she got her tickets before, if you want. My friends go all the time when there are shows. Often when the exchange kids go back to Japan one of the first things they do is go to the revue. haha That, or USJ.

Also, totally didn't know Tezuka grew up in Takarazuka! That's so cool. I get so excited when I find out someone grew up in or is from Hyogo. haha The only male mangaka I read anything by is Ishida Sui so I didn't know much about the lives of others.

How/why did I start reading Killing Stalking?????

For a presentation I had to do in one of my classes recently, I had to find and speed through a couple of manga with transgender-themed storylines, so I found Wandering Son and No Bra.

No Bra should never have seen the light of day, frankly, it was complete and utter rubbish. I wanted to wring the protagonist's neck, horrible little creep. Even the art was bad.

Wandering Son couldn't be more different. I'm a long way from completing it but I'm loving it so far, seeing the characters grow and change little by little, overcoming difficulties and supporting each other... it's really great. It brings lots of bittersweet feelings, and makes me reflect on my own experiences. I like the art style too, it's simple and soft.

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I haven't seen it, but it reminds me of a certain someone who was going through the same things that you mentioned from Wandering Son and, I hope anyway, was helped by his family here in the Tavern...

No Bra sounds like the kind of title that was likely to have been put on a book of the caliber that you mentioned.

I still hate you an arren!!! You're both in Japan and I'm not....

edit: spelling

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I've heard of No Bra but now I wish I didn't. lol

My Neighbour's Husband is a really great manga that tackles what it means to be gay in Japan. It's about a single father whose estranged twin brother's husband from Canada comes to visit after the death of his brother. I really love the way it's written, and how we have a child who is perfectly accepting and a father struggling to understand but constantly challenging himself and his preconceived opinions, regret over his relationship with his brother, and noticing how judgmental the people around him can be.

I've been really into Korean BL webtoons because they have such an interestingly different take on BL from Japanese BL. It's also really cool how diverse the series are on webtoon sites because there's tons of BL and GL available. I find Korean BL is more likely to focus on real life issues, particularly sexual orientation and homophobia. The aggravating thing is (and this is kind of an issue I have with media about men aimed at girls in Korea anyway) violence is perpetuated a lot.

I'm really interested now in the topic of bisexuality and biphobia/bi-erasure in Japanese media and BL. Some mangaka will poke fun at this. Was actually surprised no one seems to be publishing academic work on this subject specifically, although it's sometimes included. I've been interested a lot since several of my Japanese friends identify as bisexual and how it's generally not accepted or erased.