New Manga Read - Fist of the North Star, Volume 12
Welcome to the apocalypse!
Volume 11 is about this man on the cover, Falco.
Falco is the inheritor of Gento Kōken (roughly translated as Original Dipper Imperial Fist). The followers of Genko Kōken were sworn to protect the Celestial Emperor (Tentei) from harm.
In this volume, Kenshiro is returning to help the Hokuto Army which is led by Lin and Bat to free those under the thumb of Jaco. Falco, who appears to be nothing but good and compassionate, is somehow the evil Jaco's second in command. Why? Jaco has kidnapped the Tentei and kept them hostage.
This volume is filled to the brim with reveals. Some about Lin. A lot of backstory about Falco, which makes him such a fascinating character. Also, the reveal about the Tentei and who they are was HUGE. Doing minimal spoilers despite this manga being as old as I am.
Falco has a prosthetic leg due to Raoh destroying his leg in the past. Raoh told him that he needed to kill Jaco or, one day, Jaco would manipulate and dominate him. Raoh was right.
While we get a brutal match between Falco and Kenshiro, the ending of the volume is well done with a cliffhanger for the next volume.
ALSO (which I say a lot), Fist of the North Star constantly reminds you that toxic masculinity is bad and that you can be masculine and have feelings / cry. Kenshiro feels, always. Kenshiro allows himself to cry over loss, cry over the suffering of others. He allows himself to feel. There is nothing un-masculine about having emotions. Kenshiro constantly reminds the reader of that...amongst all the brutal violence.
Snippet: "For all the missteps in Disney’s approach to Star Wars since purchasing the IP from George Lucas, there’s one aspect to the business they’ve gotten right: the manga adaptations. Heavily influenced by Japanese culture and film, Star Wars is a property that fits like a (black, L-hand 980 prosthetic covering) glove in the anime and manga world..."
Reader’s Corner: Issak (Vol. 7), The Mandalorian (Vol. 2), and SHY (Vol. 6)
May the 4th (give or take a few days) be with you! We've got the latest manga volume of The Mandalorian this week! Oh, not a Star Wars fan? How about superhero fare with the latest volume of Shy? We also have webtoons, romance, and much more this week, including a series we highly encourage you to stay away from.
So, I was tagged on Intagram by facetious_manga to talk about my "Bookstagram Backstory." I don't know if a Pixelfed equivalent exists. Bookselfed? Pixelbook? I don't know, I'll use both hashtags and share.
Regardless. Let's go, I guess.
When did I start on Bookstagram?
This account is and remains a personal account. While I post (often), about manga, this isn't exclusively about books or manga. My first post was in April 2016. Wow...that's a long time ago. I started getting more active in posting about books / manga, participating in things like "25 Days of Manga" in 2020. But it was early 2023 when I started posting a lot more manga pics / reviews.
What inspired your username?
I started on Twitter and needed a small handle. MD - I'm from Maryland, MRN - My initials. 83 - I'm old.
What was your 1st review?
The first "review" I posted was saying that the Free Comic Book Day 2016 Firefly comic was good. It got more detailed in my reviews after that.
Favorite part of Bookstagram?
The community. So may good folks to talk, discuss, and share.
Booksta made me buy?
My Lovesick Life as a 90s Otaku. I couldn't NOT get it, the reviews were just too much and I was not disappointed.
Aesthetic?
Middle aged nerdy, bearded Dad-core? I really have no idea.
Recent reads?
A Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Ōima
Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku by Fujita
Re-Reading Your Lie in April by Naoshi Arakawa
Describe your aesthetic using emojis
🤷♂️🎵🤡🤭🐱👨🦲🧔
Tagging no one. Feel free to participate if you like!
Shadow Eliminators just ended this week. Another week with another series I was reading ending.
However, don't feel that bad about this one. If this series didn't end, I was about to drop it anyway. It went from a story a week with a teenager who could summon spirits to fight evil spirits, freeing them of the burden.
That said, when it started to do world building, IMO, it faltered and the world they built became unnecessarily convoluted.
Manga Review: Bocchi the Rock Vols 1-2, Team Edition
The average anime cour adapts 4-6 volumes of manga; Bocchi the Rock adapts 1.5. Yes, you read that right, one and a half volumes ONLY! Clearly, something unusual is going on with this 4-koma manga.
As a fan of pretty much any series about samurai, Vagabond might be my favorite of the big three seinen manga. It's just too bad it's on indefinite hiatus.
New Read - My Lovesick Life as a '90s Otaku, Volume 2
Okay, internet, I'm caught up!
I finally read Volume 2 of My Lovesick Life as a 90's Otaku and my goodness - the emotions. The feeling of being a nerd in the 90s and trying to be...normal around others. It's too real.
Volume 2 finally sees Meggers embrace her otaku-ness publicly, kind of, but also not. It advances the slow burn romantic tension between the class President and Megumi in such an adorable way. You see Masamune, his anime / manga obsessed Mom, and you see that he's basically solo parenting his siblings. It brings in some sad, but also sweet moments.
Also, Megumi makes an unexpected livelong friend this volume too by defending another girl who has a hard time making female friends. It's adorable and I love every second of it.
I am so glad I jumped into this series and looking forward to Volume 3.
Flying solo today with the kids and Mrs out after I got home from work.
So, decided to get myself some sushi for dinner and catch up on some Sailor Moon. I'm on Volume 7 of the Naoko Takeuchi Collection re-releases of Sailor Moon.
This volume is all plot, no side stories, with a new enemy arriving - the Dead Moon. They set up a circus in town and there's an eclipse; no stars show up in the sky. Throughout the volume, each of the Sailor Scouts loses their power and digs down to find a new, more potent power.
This includes our trio who ran off to raise Sailor Jupiter as a throuple in the woods. They regain their powers, all four of them, and are on their way to rejoin everyone to eventually take on the Dead Moon Circus and their leaders.
It's a solid volume and there's some concerning magical sicknesses hitting Mamo and, by the end, maybe Usagi too. We also meet a powerful new character who can project as an alicorn.
This weekend I sat down and read through the manga adaptation of the One Piece side story "Ace's Story." Originally released as a novel entitled, "One Piece Novel A," this manga adaptation was setup by Ryo Ishiyama with art by Boichi of Dr. Stone fame.
The volume is gorgeous and stylish, as is all art from Boichi. The story is well done, telling about how Ace first got his Devil Fruit powers, but also the formation of his original pirate crew, the Spade Pirates.
It follows Ace's initial adventures in piracy, his second in command Masked Deuce, and his plan to take on the powerful pirate, Whitebeard.
Along the way, we meet some familiar faces and it's a great journey focusing in on Ace.
If you like Ace as a character, check this manga adaptation out.
The volume ends with Boichi's adaptation of One Piece chapter 51, "Roronoa Zoro Falls Into the Sea," where Mihawk and Zoro battle for the first time. It's a great chapter, and Boicihi's art just makes it look so cool.
Can't wait to dive into Volume 2, which concludes this side story, when it drops.
Our weekly Reader's Corner dropped today with mini-reviews from Insomniacs After School (Vol. 5), Sword Art Online: Progressive: Canon of the Golden Rule (Vol. 1), and The Eminence in Shadow (Vol. 9).
New Read - My Lovesick Life as a '90s Otaku, Volume 1
Mangagram had been talking about this nonstop it felt like, so I decided to pick up Volume 1.
Now, before I get much further into anything review-esque, let me tell you a bit about myself. I have always been a big nerd. In the mid to late 90s, I was a teenager who loved comic books, Dungeons and Dragons, and video games. Me and a friend created our own card game called "Tragic: The Saddening," a spoof on Magic the Gathering. I tried to be as normal as possible at school, but I was a socially awkward teenager who said the weirdest things sometimes which led to awkward moments of my peers just looking at me.
By the time I was a senior, I had learned to fake being more average and sociable, a skill which I have honed to this day.
I did not discover anime or manga until college cause, I'm an American and where I grew up it wasn't really accessible.
However, all of this is to say that this series was relatable. Socially awkward teenager who has crushes and is trying not to gush about their geeky hobbies. Check and check.
I plowed through this first volume so fast and already pre-ordered the remaining 3 volumes.
Suffice it to say, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading more.
Sand Land is interesting. This was a single volume, self contained story from the late Akira Toriyama. It tells the tale of the titular "Sand Land," where after a major apocalyptic event, there is limited water and the King hoards what remains, selling it to the people at high rates. There are also demons walking the world for reasons.
Enter our heroes - Thief, a sneaky and balding demon; Beelzebub, the son of the King of the Demons; and Rao, a human on the mission to find a secret water supply to the south to free the people from the King's tyrannical rule.
The story follows this trio as they travel south, run into various fights, and eventually save the day. In the process, the story rails against those who hoard resources and has some social commentary about how governments / militaries lie to their people. There is also sub-textual commentary about climate change and how certain governments treat indigenous populations and (sometimes purposefully) disregard their existing knowledge of the world after crushing them.
Overall, it's a fun story and I'm glad I had a chance to re-read this great, physical edition before the new anime / video games drop. Toriyama gave us a bunch of stories before he passed and I hope you get a chance to check out some of his stories outside of Dragon Ball.
Last night I sat down and finished reading Volume 6 of Kodansha's reprint of Sailor Moon. This volume had three components. First, it finished the story arc of the Outer Sailor Scouts (Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus) and Sailor Saturn / Hotaru Tomoe. The story's conclusion was well done, with the world saved once again with Saturn giving the final blow to Pharaoh 90. Hotaru is then reborn as an infant to be raised by a trio of Sailor Scout Moms. It was an unexpected (to me, who is learning about all this for the first time now) plot point, but I appreciated how it was handled.
The remaining chapters of this edition include a side story with Sailor Chibi Moon for her birthday followed by a special story entitled "Kaguya Hime's Beloved." This story was adapted as "Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S: The Movie," too. It also has Luna falling in love with a human. The story was cute and well done...and absolutely brought some tears. While I loved the main story plot conclusion, this side story was just so well done; it makes me want to watch the movie - even if parts of it have been adapted and changed.
Overall, looking forward to the next edition so I can keep reading about these Sailor Scouts.
When last we left off our rooster hero, Keiji, he had met his brother and was on the way to go after some devils - which can control demons. This continues that search for his father, kind of team up with his brother, and an attempt to free the good demons they had met along the way from being brainwashed by the devils.
I'm going to be real for a moment. If you like the idea of a group of literal chickens fighting monsters, then just pick this up. I don't need to tell you more. It's ridiculous.
If that sounds too absurd for you, then feel free to pass.
Also, at Hot Topic, I happened to find official Rooster Fighter merch. So, I got to wear the shirt while reading the chapter. Good stuff.
New Manga Read - Fist of the North Star, Volume 11
Volume 11 is the first volume of Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) after the time skip. This volume includes a bonus chapter that Buronson wrote and Tetsuo Hara drew from 2014 that fills in the gap between the end of Part 1 to the beginning of Part 2 where Bat and Lin are now adults leading an army of rebels called the Hokuto Army.
Ken had been isolated with Yuria until her death. Now he's returning to the world to help make things right and destroy some enemies. This volume introduced some new characters and the adult versions of both Bat and Rin are well presented.
Bat is brash and bold, trying to protect others. Rin is soft and kind, but also ready to fight if needed. They are, in many ways, the two sides to Kenshiro himself. And I love to see it.
The volume ends on such an unexpected moment that I really can't wait until Volume 12 finally drops on my lap.
New Read - Superman vs Meshi, Volume 3 (Final Volume)
We have reached the end of this silly, Superman story. The final volume included a lot of funny moments similar to the previous two.
It also had the following goofy stories: Death of Superman story where delicious Japanese food brings Superman back from the brink post-Doomsday battle; Superman and Supergirl hanging out getting food together in Japan; Superman tracking his bucket list; and an adorable finale with Lois and Clark together.
Overall, glad I read this silly series that was fun from beginning to end. Fun side adventure with Superman and friends just enjoying Japanese cuisine.
New Read - One Operation Joker, Volume 3 (Final Volume)
The final volume of One Operation Joker has dropped and gave us a full conclusion to the story! We finally find out why Batman was turned into a baby and who is responsible for this unlikely scenario. Through it all, we see The Joker trying, again to be a parent, with guest visits from Robin and The Riddler, both of whom 100% see through his "disguise" of not wearing makeup in public when he's going around with baby Bruce.
We also get a cute chapter where now toddler Bruce gets into a fight at school, only to find out that the baby's sense of justice prevailed as he punched a bully.
The ending pretty much just restores the status quo of Batman as Batman, the Joker as the Joker after an unfortunate situation with the Riddler that mirrored one from Batman's childhood. However, the entire series covers like 3-4 years where Batman was gone in Gotham and the Joker was far less active. The story shows a trickle down impact that a less active, murder spree Joker leads to overall less supervillain activity in Gotham. Which is an interesting thought.
Overall, enjoyed this silly concept. I don't know if it could have gone on much longer with this gag, but it remained funny to the end. Would recommend if you want a silly Batman story.
I rarely jump into book stack challenges I find online, however, over on Instagram there is a "Manga or Book User Name" stack challenge from users heygingermaenga, dragonballzowie, and mainly.manga. So, I decided to try it out.
The issue I had was that it was really hard to find an R book.
So, here is how I laid out MDMRN.
M - My Father is a Unicorn
D - Donald Duck Visits Japan
M - My Broken Mariko
R - Return of the Jedi (Pop-Up Book)
N - (The) Nightmare Before Christmas
This was a fun challenge and thanks to the three of you for putting this out there.
In case you missed the summary from my first post (or have never heard of this), the basic premise is that after Superman was in Japan fighting crime, he enjoyed their relatively inexpensive Japanese cuisine and is basically obsessed with it now.
So yes, after reading Volume 1, I ordered Volume 2 of Superman Vs Meshi and pre-ordered Volume 3. Expect a review of Volume 3 in February when it releases.
This volume continues where Volume 1 left off with Superman's continued obsession with Japanese cuisine. This volume brings us more special guests including Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Cyborg. Wonder Woman spends her chapter thinking Superman is going to hit on her, only to realize he just really loves food. The Flash took a second job as a delivery...runner for a fictional version of Grub Hub. Cyborg is shown as the introvert of the Justice League until Superman introduces him to some new food. I mean, he's still an introvert, but they start chatting about food.
One thing I will note is that this is absolutely accessible to kids. There is not really any adult topics discussed, violence, cursing, etc. One of my 9 year olds read Volume 1 and basically starred at me to finish reading Volume 2 so she could pick it up next. Definitely a fun one if your kids are interested in goofy manga, super heroes, or learning about Japanese food.
Overall, silly, cute, makes me hungry. Would read again and ready for Volume 3.
Have you checked last week's Reader's Corner yet? We had mini-reviews on Kaiju No. 8 (Vol. 9), No Longer Heroine (Vol. 5), Solo Leveling (Vol. 8), and more!