Ten episodes later and it looks like something serious is about to get started! The fuel ran into filler again for a while but... maybe it's getting back on track again? I'm excited to see how this'll get started.

Woes. The inconsistencies of long-running shows.

I haven't posted anything all Manga-related since this have I? Oh, this too.

Since then I've read out the rest of the Ranma 1(2 books I had, and the books of Death Note I was missing (I actually bought the whole series again just to get my hands on the two I was missing - 1 and 6). I managed to get the final two earlier, and an English variant of Death Note titled #13... that I was hoping would delve into what happened AFTER all that... happened. It didn't. It contained a shitton of character summaries and Q and A though, so that was interesting too. Early promo and four panel comics as well.

I've picked up a few more Detective Conan books, the last segments of Ranma 1/2 (hoping to get the ones in between before I pick it up again), and maybe I didn't mention I managed to get a batch of Naruto, Dragon Ball Z and Bleach in English, and before that the whole Dragon Ball series (in Swedish)? And before that the final numbers of One Piece (which I've now read) along with a bunch of duplicates, and the last number of DNAngel, also with a bunch of duplicates, and some Keroro, .Hack, Rebirth and Ragnarok?

The first of the latter three was easy to read through. With the other two I'm still missing a few. Right now I'm making my way through Naruto, which considering how downhill the anime went I've been positively surprised with so far! Hope the manga doesn't go the wrong way too.

And then, guess what.

Also here's an alternative picture since I didn't realize I'd made one. It's not as good. Thus the alternative.

So that should probably last me a while huh. Manga Mania (coincidentally the name of a now discontinued but at a time very popular manga magazine over here). Hopefully this'll last me all summer, and winter... and then some. And leave me with plenty of duplicates to trade for the ones I'm currently missing.

...and over half a year since I first started writing up this draft, yupp, it really has lasted. There's still plenty to read, and trade, and a few ones missing too... I caught up as far as I could with Naruto, but priorities shifted and me and manga took a break, for a while. I read out the first book of Keroro at an airport recently, but that's about it.

To be continued, whenever surprise amounts of spare time might appear and my maniac manga obsession returns anew...

Oh holy shit. One Piece. It's back!

This is the One Piece I love. The feels. The twists. The build-up... it's all boiling down to a point now, and yet I wasn't expecting this one. It's like I'd been spoiled on filler, but suddenly I realize I've been going without real food for so long, and get a taste of the real thing. If I can persevere a few weeks without it feels like this would be the right time to take a break from the series, and then catch up in one big batch. It's about to go down down down down down. Like never before.

Or AKA the longer title: Luffy and His Four Crewmates' Great Adventure!

Oh man... the feels in this one! Even though it's a very compact flashback they get through quite a few of those! And yes, two hours is compact for a flashback on this scale! Considering how many weeks worth of episode content they tried to pack in and summarize in just one episode it sometimes doesn't seem nearly enough.

It's more than just a flashback too. Everything's re-drawn. It feels cleaner, and flashier, and yet some of the 'charm' of the older episodes is no longer. Expressions are more ruthless. The action is violent. I'm impressed by how well they manage to bring it all together, and impressed with the quality, yet I miss some of the warmth and lightheartedness of the earliest episodes, and how some vital details (like the importance of Luffy's hat) are left out.

All in all though an appreciated summary, and I hope they make one like it later on for all the adventures that follow, and all the friends and foes they stumble into along the way! It's been one wild ride so far, and though it's far from over it's never wrong to get back to their humble beginnings every once in a while; refresh your perspective. Especially if the show's been running for soon... as many years as I have. Almost two decades so far. Holy shit. No wonder it's such a big part of my life now. Good episode.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

I'm no huge Star Wars fan, but this little tribute's worth watching!

Apparently it took four year's worth of weekends to make. A one-man operation. Inspiring work.

Brings me back to the days of - as intended - good old quality eighties of anime! I've got to get back to the world of Macross some day soon.

I haven't posted anything anime-related in a long long time now, but then again I haven't picked up any new series in a long long time now. The only series I'm still following is One Piece. It's the one. It's time again today. The latest episode comes out each weekend, and the latest manga whenever I manage to buy the books... which since the 64th one was also... a pretty long time ago.

Ellipses for added length since I feel I'm going overboard with the longs, though I do long to get my hands on some of the newer manga...

There used to be Naruto too, but as of this year the show's over, and I am not picking up the new one. Naruto's kid? The show seems to be going the same way Dragon Ball did, and I assume I'd feel similarly if I watched this one: that it just doesn't compare to the original. Like they're building upon the story to sell, and keep people entertained, rather than tell the story they set out to tell in the first place from start to finish, and leave viewers with a lasting impression (not like they didn't get sidetracked from that mission anyway).

Not that the motivation behind a manga is probably to tell a particular, or meaningful story either, but the original stories somehow feel all the more original in their original form, as did Dragon Ball, as I assume will Naruto, and as is also probably the case with Ranma 1/2.

I started on this manga a couple weeks ago, after a long sick week in which I finally managed to catch up on what material I had yet unread of Death Note (wasn't super-happy about the ending there), Rebirth, Ragnarock and Detective Conan. It started GREAT. Ranma might seem a bit arrogant and carefree a character, but he/she's a strong personality too: kind, passionate and naive, and as with all of Rumiko Takahashi's work: he (as main character) really leads the story.

Akane and the rest join in quickly, and make a combined effort to entertain more than I've been entertained in a long time, all the while building upon relations that... suddenly get butchered down.

For a while it seemed to be going the right way, but new characters keep popping up, the main plot gets hijacked, Ranma doesn't develop as a character, relations stagnate and run into unnecessary issues because of excess characters and simply the stubbornness of the main characters. Occasionally they see the light and you start thinking it might go back to how it was, but it never really does, and the more characters jump into the picture the messier it gets, till there's little else than comical value to redeem the reading.

It's fun, it's fast-paced and ferocious, and I do love the creative elements in the plot, but 3-4 books in the atmosphere's gone. It's like Macross 7 turned to Excel Saga. Or Naruto turned to 2x2 Shinobuden. Or Hunter X Hunter turned into... Bleach? Dragon Ball to Toriko? I can't find the right correlation between similar series to show the example I intended to! But don't take my word for it: it's copyrighted.

I'll keep reading though, hoping maybe it'll jump back on track soon, though not so hopeful... (ellipses for long face)

I've known about this title a long time by the way, but for some reason never picked up neither manga nor anime, so it's about time. I always thought 1/2 meant a half, but if you see the show it'll make sense soon enough. It's not bad but... not consistent. If you don't go in expecting that (maybe you'd be better off skipping the first and flawless chapters entirely - just run straight into the random) it's not bad.