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273rd out of 578 books
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1,799 voters
Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 1 (Kingyo Used Books / 金魚屋古書店 #1)
R to L (Japanese Style). Every bookstore has a thousand stories to tell. Every bookstore has a thousand stories to tell.An art student finds inspiration. An archer hits a bull's-eye. A homemaker rediscovers romance. A teenager discovers his true self in the pages of a manga magazine. All this and more at Kingyo Used Books, a place that helps people find their dreams.
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
April 20th 2010
by VIZ Media LLC
(first published December 24th 2004)
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For those of you who really enjoy manga--especially the part of sharing your favorite stories with friends and newbies alike--this collection of short stories really hits the spot. If you picked this up expecting a continuous string of adventure and shennanigans, just get that idea out of your head. These are short stories concentrated around one specific used book store, about the people who run it and the people who visit it. Each mini story was equally good, showing how meaningful good books...more
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Manga about manga. How very Japanese. (I say this because it's done with such seriousness and love, and no irony.)
It really deserves 4 stars as far as quality, but I didn't, ultimately, care for it that much personally. Mainly because it's about old manga- like serialized 1970s titles - and how they affected people's lives - and that's not something I'm into. I can respect the quality, the research, and the notes (which I really appreciate, since this subject is so foreign to me) and the utter...more
It really deserves 4 stars as far as quality, but I didn't, ultimately, care for it that much personally. Mainly because it's about old manga- like serialized 1970s titles - and how they affected people's lives - and that's not something I'm into. I can respect the quality, the research, and the notes (which I really appreciate, since this subject is so foreign to me) and the utter...more
I've been looking for a manga about books for a while, but I prefer slice of life style stories to action or supernatural manga, so I couldn't find one. I happened across this title in an issue of OtakuUSA magazine and decided to order a copy and give it a try. The premise is about a used bookstore that specializes in manga. Various people come to the store for different reasons, be it to buy a manga or to sell their old volumes. The characters find a manga that ends up changing their life, in s...more
1 like · like · see review
[Review of volumes 1–3]
I love books and I love reading stories about books. Books are this grave mystery. There is something transcendent about holding another person's brain in your hands, about receiving crystal-clear messages from the dead (if your author is indeed passed on). And books that explore this mystery are a delectable wonder to me.
Half my joy in reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Shadow of the Wind (beyond the entrancing period and twisting plot) was the book's love affair with The Book....more
I love books and I love reading stories about books. Books are this grave mystery. There is something transcendent about holding another person's brain in your hands, about receiving crystal-clear messages from the dead (if your author is indeed passed on). And books that explore this mystery are a delectable wonder to me.
Half my joy in reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Shadow of the Wind (beyond the entrancing period and twisting plot) was the book's love affair with The Book....more
I have to admit, I can't quite make up my mind as to how I feel about this manga. I like it, but I don't know if I like it as much as some of the other similar "episodic slice of life" books that are out on the market right now.
The series surrounds a used book store that specializes in manga. The checkout girl is the granddaughter of the store owner & is a focus of interest for the resident manga otaku that works there. (Mostly because he knows if he marries her, he'll inherit the store.) Pe...more
The series surrounds a used book store that specializes in manga. The checkout girl is the granddaughter of the store owner & is a focus of interest for the resident manga otaku that works there. (Mostly because he knows if he marries her, he'll inherit the store.) Pe...more
I've had this manga on my shelves for a while now, and today was finally the perfect lazy Sunday to pull it out. A really charming book - I'm glad I had already picked up volumes 2 and 3 and could keep reading. It's really a series of character stories/vignettes all tied together by the characters' love of manga/books and the stories that moved them/meant something to them at given times in their lives. And of course, the Kingyo Used book store figures prominently throughout, often as a a place...more
I really enjoyed the first book of this series and am excited to see more volumes of this manga. Another one that if I ever decided to start a manga library would be a chosen title. (Along with Mushishi and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service).
Each chapter highlights a different famous manga, most of which I had never heard of and many of which are unavailable here in the States. However, that did not affect my enjoyment of the various stories, which had slice-of-life charm and very universal theme...more
Each chapter highlights a different famous manga, most of which I had never heard of and many of which are unavailable here in the States. However, that did not affect my enjoyment of the various stories, which had slice-of-life charm and very universal theme...more
I'm a bibliophile - something that should be obvious to anyone who is using this site. Also, considering that you, too, use Goodreads, then the odds are high that you are also a bibliophile. Well, this series is basically a fan-service series for bibliophiles. Yes, they're talking about manga instead of more conventional books, but the points still stand - this is a manga about books and the people who love them, for people who love books, by someone who loves books.
The writer, Seimu Yoshizaki,...more
The writer, Seimu Yoshizaki,...more
This is a happy little store, that just sells/buys manga. Several short stories--each with a little lesson. Cute and crazy characters co-exist well within the pages. Each story refers to various manga titles/types-giving you a little history lesson along the way. But you need a magnifying glass to read the little margin notes. The last pages give you greater detail about the manga series titles/artists mentioned in each story.
The drawing of the book is well done, the cover has a built-in book ma...more
The drawing of the book is well done, the cover has a built-in book ma...more
I just have a thing for bookstores. I love reading about them. I was obsessed with 84, Charing Cross Road and Marks & Co when I was younger. So why should a series about manga bookstore be any different?
Kingyo Used Books is a slice of life series about a manga bookstore and the people that cross its path. It's not earth-shattering, plot wise, just lovely easy going stories. Through the doors, we learn about the history and culture of manga, but we also see how the stories impact the people...more
Kingyo Used Books is a slice of life series about a manga bookstore and the people that cross its path. It's not earth-shattering, plot wise, just lovely easy going stories. Through the doors, we learn about the history and culture of manga, but we also see how the stories impact the people...more
It's a manga about manga or it's a manga about a manga store or it's a manga about the love of manga around a used bookstore. I liked this perhaps because I can identify with the love of books. As I understand it only four volumes were translated. Recommended for people who like books and manga.
Delightful stories about the power of books, specifically manga. Although I am unfamiliar with 90% of the books referred to (talk about otaku paradise) I can really connect with the love for books and the respect for the way stories can touch our lives. Drawn in a beautifully realistic style.
I love the meta discourse about the importance of various manga in various people lives and so many of the ones mentioned here I have never heard of, it is fascinating. I also find the characters sympathetic and the art pleasant to look at. Plus one of the chapters concerned From Far Away ^^
It's hard for me to rate this accurately--maybe I would have enjoyed it more had I any frame of reference whatsoever for all of the obscure manga referenced in the stories. Since a lot of the plot centered around the characters' love of classic manga, I didn't get much out of it.
A love letter to manga, done as a lot of individual stories about people who encounter a particular manga that touches them during a difficult point in their lives. It made me want to read every single manga mentioned, even the ones I knew I wouldn't like.
Sep 29, 2010
Lord
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
every manga lover
Shelves:
manga,
slice-of-life
This manga is a treat for any manga lover. Although the western reader can hardly know those manga and mangaka this series is about, its beautiful art style and heartwarming story make it a pleasure read non the less.
Anyone reading this who isn't already vaguely familiar with manga will be lost, but otherwise this book makes me nostalgic for books I haven't even read. D'aawww!
No lover of reading - whether books or comics - should miss the opportunity for this manga to pull at your heartstrings in the most unexpected ways.
As much as I love the concept of books uniting people, helping in a time of need, etc. I just found this series too dull of a read.
I wish I had grown up reading manga like so many of the characters in this title. I also wish I was more familiar with the old-school manga that they refer to in the series. On the one hand, it's great because it kind of motivates you to go out and find all of the series discussed in the book, but on the other hand, it's a little frustrating since it seems like many of the series are pretty old. The only one I was familiar with was Doraemon!!!
If you ever wanted to know why there are manga fans out there no matter the age you need to read this book.It will open your eyes! Smiles.
This was fun.Sweet and funny.
This was fun.Sweet and funny.
Really sweet manga about a used manga shop and the people who visit it, and how manga has changed their lives.
reviewing for No Flying No Tights
A nostalgic look at the meaning of reading -- and re-reading -- manga.
Interesting, but not super compelling for me.
This is a manga for manga lovers... who love older manga.
I get the feeling that I didn't get the "full Kingyo experience" because I'm not a middle-aged Japanese reader. Many of the books they bring up are from before I was born, and many of the things that happen are for older readers, especially Japanese ones.
I think I was just the wrong audience for this one.
I get the feeling that I didn't get the "full Kingyo experience" because I'm not a middle-aged Japanese reader. Many of the books they bring up are from before I was born, and many of the things that happen are for older readers, especially Japanese ones.
I think I was just the wrong audience for this one.
A sweet tribute to manga and the people who enjoy it. Feels warm and welcoming, like the title shop, and really gets across the joy of a used bookstore.
Nothing happened!
This is a book lover's book. The plot of each small story isn't full of adventure or suspense. These are quiet stories about people who use reading to cope with their everyday lives and how reading makes their lives a little bit brighter. You don't have to read manga to enjoy these books, you just have to have lived enough to recognize the emotions and hopes that reading brings to the people in them.
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