What are you Reading?

[usamimi]

Picked up the first volume of Devilman Grimoire and I've really been digging it, especially all the little changes that were made to the Devilman mythology. The artwork is fantastic, and I like how they turned Miki into a literal witch, complete with pointy hat and cape!

I thought that was an interesting choice, too! I dig the art style as well, it's kinda squiggly-messy, which is kinda perfect for a Devilman thing imo.

[Drew_Sutton]

Did some shopping after my birthday last week and picked up some manga from Amazon.co.jp and started reading one immediately - JJM: Joshi Judobu Monogatari - Girls' Judo Club Story. I'd looked up manga based on Judo (since I'm completely nuts about it) and saw that it was short - only 3 volumes (so far?) and if I didn't like it, I'm sure I could resell somewhere else. I felt like my Japanese has been getting rusty, too.

The art is by Makoto Kobayashi (What's Michael) who has a related manga in the same magazine, Judo Club Story. But he teams up with Yuko Emoto for her to tell the story; Emoto is an Olympic Gold Medalist judoka (which I didn't know until I started reading). I dig the art because unlike most stories that would run in a seinen magazine and feature the word 'girls' in the title, this is not a "cute girls doing cute [judo] things" art style.

The story revolves around Emo Kagura and her classmate, Sachiko Nihei, who gets Emo to reluctantly join the judo club with her. Emo and Sachiko are going to compete in the local high school competition in the team event; Sachiko recruited Emo specifically because they were short one member of the team for a specific weight class. Emo starts training with the club and by the end of the first book, the team enters the competition.

Really loving this so far; it's near impossible for me to put down. Definitely thinking about doing a longer review when I am done with the next two books.

[usamimi]

oh sounds fun Drew! I like Makoto Kobayashi's style, I'd never heard of this one before

[scriptweaver]

Hmm, wha? The Mars Chronicle actually started up?
Blah. I read all the Last Order stuff as it came out and then during the gap I stopped paying attention. Thank you for reminding me.

Yeah, its a pretty great change of pace imo. I like this focus on the backstory, I think it's been a little overdue. Also there's this new plot line with her childhood friend and how she ties to the main story. You might like it.

Also, if you want, I run the official Gunnm Reddit Discord if you want a link. There's like 36 Battle Angel fans in there and we occasionally talk about the manga as well as any interviews or updates we can scrounge up on the new movie.

[Drew_Sutton]

oh sounds fun Drew! I like Makoto Kobayashi's style, I'd never heard of this one before

It's a fairly recent work, only starting in 2016 and I don't really know how well seinen sports manga do in the scanlation scene but I imagine that no one is beating down Kodansha's door for a license. I was too lazy to run up to the scanner but I got some decent pics so you and others can sample the art style a bit.

Here's a title spread:


Kobayashi's expressive style is definitely what I think is intertesting - it's part of what I think of as being almost anti-moe but none of the girls are ugly or unattractive:



Wouldn't be a judo manga without some action:


And since you're a What's Michael fan, usamimi, here's a cameo:

[usamimi]

Ahh thanks for the pics!! Haha the what's Michael cameo is great! And it looks super fun, as expected. This looks like the kinda thing I'd love to see get made into an anime, but I bet there wouldn't be enough interest. Sad

[PinkAppleJam]

Picked up the first volume of Devilman Grimoire and I've really been digging it, especially all the little changes that were made to the Devilman mythology. The artwork is fantastic, and I like how they turned Miki into a literal witch, complete with pointy hat and cape!

I thought that was an interesting choice, too! I dig the art style as well, it's kinda squiggly-messy, which is kinda perfect for a Devilman thing imo.

Haha I agree! I wasn't sure about making Miki an actual witch but it grew on me upon a re-read. The Silene/Devilman scene in book 2 was pretty shocking. I like the modern takes on the story in many formats.

Loving that Kobayashi work, you can tell who drew it immediately! I was also a big fan of Club 9 but so sad the final volume 4 was never released in graphic novel format.

Earlier this month, I got Queen Emeraldas vols 1 and 2. Very lovely hardcovers but was a bit sad they've released it with shiny coated paper interior pages. It didn't make sense to me to release a black and white comic like that. Fingerprints can be very visible so I have to take extra special care...

I've also got loads of other random series, including Utena special edition/2 vols and the Speed Racer box set/2 vols, so looking forward to having a read of them over the Easter break! <3

[gaijinpunch]

Maison Ikkoku: Japanese wide edition.

Having timed episodes (back in the genlock days) I am very familiar even still w/ the TV show. Never read page one of the manga, til recently. Enough differences to hold my interest, I'd say. I'm on volume 4.

[Char Aznable]

I've been reading Cutie Honey a Go Go! and it doesn't disappoint. I like the art style and really appreciate Seven Seas doing the 400 page 'omnibus' style for these releases. Hopefully sales are good enough so that other volumes get published (along with more Devilman Grimoire).

[llj]

The Trouble Makers by Baron Yoshimoto. Good old school gekiga stuff.