Task #11: A book of manga

[Book Riot]

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 11th Read Harder task.

[Kate]

This is the category that I saw and immediately thought "ugh." I've found graphic novels I've liked, but never manga. I find it difficult to read and the panels are so stuffed and overblown that I can't parse them. Anyone have short, easy to read suggestions that aren't in the action genre?

[Ann]

Kate wrote: "This is the category that I saw and immediately thought "ugh." I've found graphic novels I've liked, but never manga. I find it difficult to read and the panels are so stuffed and overblown that I ..."

Japanese food manga: Oishinbo a la carte, Volume 1 - Japanese Cuisine (Oishinbo #1) by Tetsu Kariya, Akira Hanasaki (Illustrator)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

[Chrissy]

I'll be watching for ideas here, since I am in the same boat as Kate. I do like graphic novels, but Japanese style I haven't enjoyed, and I don't want action-focused.

[[deleted user]]

Kate wrote: "This is the category that I saw and immediately thought "ugh." I've found graphic novels I've liked, but never manga. I find it difficult to read and the panels are so stuffed and overblown that I ..."

I read She and Her Cat last year and really enjoyed it--it's about a young woman living alone for the first time and is written from the perspective of her cat as he observes her moods and relationships. It's a bit sparse and ambiguous, a far cry from the action and high-school-romance that seems to dominate the genre.

[Shelley]

My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 is a manga written by an apparently well known gay creator so it works for both this and the other comic prompt. I'm not sure which one I'll end up using it for yet.

[Jordan]

Okay, here's a bunch of more slice-of-life kind of manga for those who don't like action ones:

Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 1. This one is aimed at a younger audience, but it's really adorable. It's about a cat who gets adopted by a family. It's sweet and fun and great if you're looking for something light and quick.

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 1. About a single dad and his young daughter who is ridiculous and adorable. It's all the weird/funny things that kids do without being overly saccharine.

GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class, Vol. 1 or Sunshine Sketch, Volume 1. Both are high school slice-of-life focused on art students. They put lots of little bits and pieces about art and technique in.

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story. It's The Life-Changing Magic of tidying up in manga form. Good if your New Year's resolution is to clean up your place.

The previously mentioned My Brother's Husband, Volume 1. A Canadian goes to visit the brother of his recently deceased husband in Japan. Looks at prejudice and societies.

Saturn Apartments, Vol. 1. It's about a window cleaning service on a space station and the youngest member of the crew. Slice-of-life sci-fi.

Thermae Romae I. A Roman bath house designer gets transported to modern Japan and learns some new bath design ideas to take back with him. Strangely relaxing.

And more action focused, but I highly recommend Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1. I promise it's not just fight scenes.

[Karen]

A couple more slice-of-life recommendations:

Sunny, Vol. 1 This series feels like it could have been put out by Fantagraphics or Drawn and Quarterly (very high publishing standards!) and is about a group of kids living in a foster home/group home.

A Silent Voice, Volume 1 About bullying and its repercussions and the fact that people can change.

Also - if reading from right to left trips you up, try using a guided reading app like ComiXology or Hoopla!

[Kate]

So many awesome suggestions - thanks all! Looking forward to finding something that'll work for me :)

[Emily]

I read the first three volumes of Full Metal Alchemist for the three comic prompts this year and I loved them! It was my first time reading any sort of comics/manga.

[Julie]

Leah wrote: "Kate wrote: "This is the category that I saw and immediately thought "ugh." I've found graphic novels I've liked, but never manga. I find it difficult to read and the panels are so stuffed and over..."

Sounds like She and Her Cat would work for Challenge 12 too then

[Justin's 52 Books]

For people who would rather be caught dead then read Manga:

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths
Showa, 1926-1939: A History of Japan
Planetes Omnibus, Volume 1
Opus

[Kimberley]

My local library has a big manga section and I will be plucking a random one off the shelf I think. Not my area, but I look forward to trying it.

[Brittany]

I was already planning on trying Battle Angel Alita next year after I saw the trailer for the movie. I enjoy graphic novels but have never read and manga so I guess I’ll see how it goes.

[Emily]

Try Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono
Or
Solanin by Inio Asano

I believe these are stand alone slice of life manga stories

[Milena]

My local library has manga in the kids' section and on the lowest shelf. That's just cruel to someone my age. And they all look the same from the side. I get dizzy turning my head sideways to look at books on shelves at eye level, something that low is not going to happen. I would rather buy it.

[Tracy]

I went with Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1 on my list but I'm getting some inspiration here. Showa, 1926-1939: A History of Japan looks like its really good, I may end up switching to that.

[Brandon]

These are from the NPR article about their most-loved graphic novels and comics:

Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin's Road
PLUTO: Naoki Urasawa x Ozamu Tezuka, Band 001
One Piece: Romance Dawn
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 1

[Doris]

Can I use The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra?

[Tabitha]

Can anyone suggest something not to intense, maybe lighthearted that is a stand alone instead of Vol. 1, etc.? Otherwise I may just do a random and grab whatever I can find that fits this task.

[Jenny]

I just discovered they've translated volume 1 of Danganronpa 2 so I'm definitely going to read that! I love the series so much! Also, I read all manga for the three comics series in the 2018 challenge!

[Jenny]

Tabitha, Kindred Spirits On The Roof is a cute little one volume manga, two short f/f stories in the one volume

[Tracy]

Tabitha wrote: "Can anyone suggest something not to intense, maybe lighthearted that is a stand alone instead of Vol. 1, etc.? Otherwise I may just do a random and grab whatever I can find that fits this task."

I found this one awhile back Tabitha...Fruits Basket, Vol. 1. Maybe that would work for you?

[Jordan]

Tabitha wrote: "Can anyone suggest something not to intense, maybe lighthearted that is a stand alone instead of Vol. 1, etc.? Otherwise I may just do a random and grab whatever I can find that fits this task."

All of the volume 1 books that I listed (with the exception of fullmetal alchemist) would stand up just fine if read alone. The volumes are episodic and don't really have an overarching plot line that makes it necessary to continue on.

[Thegirlintheafternoon]

I'm going to use My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 - I read Volume 1 last year and it was lovely. Definitely recommended for anyone struggling with this task!

[Teresa]

This'll be my first Manga. I'm thinking Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile, a twisted fairytale/urban fantasy (?), or Goong: The Royal Palace, Vol. 1, a Korean alternate history.

[Tabitha]

Jordan wrote: "Tabitha wrote: "Can anyone suggest something not to intense, maybe lighthearted that is a stand alone instead of Vol. 1, etc.? Otherwise I may just do a random and grab whatever I can find that fit..."

I looked more closely at your list and immediately was sold on the one about the cat. I love cats. Of course, the space station ome sounded interesting too as did the suggestions by Jenny and Tracy which I'll have to mark down on my TBR. =) Thanks everyone!

[Hella]

Kimberley wrote: "My local library has a big manga section and I will be plucking a random one off the shelf I think. Not my area, but I look forward to trying it."

Good plan, I've never read manga, I'm not really into that world, so I'll nee help. And the library is the best place I know where to look at.

[Kendra]

Lots of great suggestions here! I second Chi's Sweet Home, Yotsuba&!, Oishinbo, My Brother's Husband. PLUTO: Naoki Urasawa x Ozamu Tezuka, Band 001 is by far one of the smartest and engaging manga I've read in a while. There are a lot of good translations of manga available for kindle.

Here are some of my favorites:

Mizuki Shigeru's NonNonBa is fascinating for its treatment of life in rural pre-WWII Japan, and for its use of Japanese folk tales and the yōkai (ghosts) that populate them. It's also an endearing story of a boy's relationship with his grandmother as he comes of age. This is a stand-alone text.

Akiko Higashimura's Princess Jellyfish, Tome 1 and Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 1 are both smart and funny first volumes that stand on their own well. My favorite thing about Higashimura's work is that her main characters in each are adult women with strong networks of female friends-- something that can seem like a rarity in the manga world.

Yuki Suegetsu's Chihayafuru ちはやふる 1 Chihayafuru 1 is a sweet slice of life with high school-aged protagonists that introduces karuta, a competitive card game that requires intimate knowledge of a 12th-century poetic anthology. Seems a bit unrelatable, perhaps, but it's light-hearted and fast-paced.

Tezuka Osamu's Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu and Phoenix, Vol. 1: Dawn are classics that are moving and memorable.

Finally, I've had Inio Asano's Goodnight Punpun Omnibus, Vol. 1 on my TBR for a while, so I'm going to read that.

[Hope]

This is going to be soooo challenging for me lol

But I picked Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 1

[Maddie]

Yes! I've already read Vol. 1 so I'm excited to finally read Vol. 2 (which I've been waiting for) and this is a perfect fit! Shelley wrote: "My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 is a manga written by an apparently well known gay creator so it works for both this and the other comic prompt. I'm not sure which one I'll end up us..."

[Tracy]

Was looking for a graphic novel to read for a read a thon Im working on right now and I realized that I own Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 1, which when I picked it up off the shelf is actually Manga. So I might use that ( although I'm still curious about a few of the others mentioned here).

[Kristina]

Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "I'm going to use My Brother's Husband, Volume 2 - I read Volume 1 last year and it was lovely. Definitely recommended for anyone struggling with this task!"

I think for it to count as manga, it has to be japanese.

[Kearston]

Kristina wrote: I think for it to count as manga, it has to be japanese.

I just checked to be sure b/c I want to read this. Gengoroh Tagame is a Japanese manga artist; the manga was translated by Anne Ishii. My Brother's Husband was originally published as Otouto no Otto #1-2.

[Brandon]

Barnes and Noble did an article on the best manga in 2018: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/s...

It reminded me that there is plenty of video game spinoff material in the manga world, including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

[Tammy]

Here's an article from the NY Public Library blog called a Beginner's Guide to Manga:
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/12/27/...

Also, yesterday I was at a used book store that had a manga section, but all of the books were wrapped in plastic, which seemed weird to me, at least for a used book store. I wanted to flip through them but didn't due to the plastic. I guess I was somewhat easily deterred:)

[Heather]

I'm finally going to read American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, another that's been on the tbr list forever.

[Jennifer]

I told my husband this was his once in a lifetime chance to pick a book for me from his shelves, so I'm reading A Bride's Story, Vol. 1 - which does sound interesting, a 19th century Silk Road bride.

[Shay]

Heather wrote: "I'm finally going to read American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, another that's been on the tbr list forever."

That's a fantastic book. I'd also highly recommend his two-part books:

Boxers & Saints

That story made me cry.

I'm not sure if it counts as manga, but they're good stories all the same.

[Shay]

Kendra wrote: "Lots of great suggestions here! I second Chi's Sweet Home, Yotsuba&!, Oishinbo, My Brother's Husband. PLUTO: Naoki Urasawa x Ozamu Tezuka, Band 001 is by far one of the smartest and ..."

PunPun is a truly fabulous manga, but be warned that it's incredibly dark and goes over disturbing material. I wouldn't recommend reading it if you're possibly already going through depression or the like, the way that I was when I read it at the time. It's like throwing gas on a fire.

[Shay]

I have some in mind that I've been wanting to read because I liked their anime counterparts, like Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club. However, if I read series, I want to read the whole story, and I'm afraid of getting bogged down by several volumes when I'll already be reading a lot this year.

Does anyone know any good One-shot (single-volume) mangas?

[Shay]

Jordan wrote: "Okay, here's a bunch of more slice-of-life kind of manga for those who don't like action ones:

Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 1. This one is aimed at a younger audience, but it's really a..."

I second The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story. It's simplistic and has great advice in it. It's also a great single-book non-series to read.

[[deleted user]]

The Honey and Clover series is a great fit for this challenge. I just finished Honey and Clover Volume 10.

[Elizabeth]

I think I'm going to read Clover: Omnibus since I got a copy of it super cheap awhile ago and never actually got around to reading it.

[Lucia]

Jenny wrote: "Tabitha, Kindred Spirits On The Roof is a cute little one volume manga, two short f/f stories in the one volume"

Do you know if the author is LGBT because then it would qualify for the other comic challenge?

[Lucia]

Teresa wrote: "This'll be my first Manga. I'm thinking Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile, a twisted fairytale/urban fantasy (?), or Goong: The Royal Palace, Vol. 1, a Korean alternate h..."

With Fables, since both the author and illustrator are white and the actual volume is not drawn in a "manga style" I don't think it counts for the challenge. I would recommend just reading it cause it's great though! (Also the video game based on it "The Wolf Among Us")

[Lucia]

I would highly recommend +Anima 1 by Natsumi Mukai

It's an absolutely fabulous fantasy series that focuses on kids who can partially transform into animals

[Lucia]

Hi! I'm compiling lists of everyone's suggestions for the challenges in case that's easier for people (I know it is for me!) c:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Julie]

Ditto what Kristina said up thread -- in order to be considered manga it does need to be Japanese.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga

[Julie]

I play Pokemon Go with my BF and his son, so I'm taking this category as an opportunity to read The Electric Tale of Pikachu Vol. 1: The Electric Tale of Pikachu. For real. LOL