Darlo's World

So a couple of people have been asking what manga I’ve read/bought since being here, and the truth is I’ve not really read too much. Yeah I’ve bought a fair few titles, but unlike reading it in English where it normally wouldn’t take longer than an hour or so to read one book, trying to read (and understand!) it in Japanese is quite harder so it takes a lot longer (my current record is reading book 4 of Yotsuba in just over a day). So here’s the list, hopefully with all the information you’ll need.

(in no particular order)

げんしけん (Genshiken) The Society For the Study of Modern Visual Culture
Books in Series: 9
Bought/Read: Bought books 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9
Why: I enjoyed the anime and wanted to give the manga a try.
Notes: The reason there are gaps (2 and 6) is because I bought the majority of these books cheaply, and the shop didn’t have the missing two volumes. I did also buy the Return of the Otaku novel.

ジャングルはいつもハレのちグゥ (Janguru wa Itsumo Hare Nochi Guu)
Books in Series: 10
Bought/Read: Bought all
Why: Absolutely loved the anime and these were a bargain.

涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 (Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu)
Books in Series: 8 so far
Bought/Red: Bought 1 and 2
Why: I enjoyed the anime and they were cheap.

The 山田家 (Yamada-ke)
Books in Series: 7 (I think … up until 10 minutes ago I thought there were 6)
Bought/Read: Bought from 1 to 6.
Why: Incredibly cheap.
Notes: There isn’t much information on this series out there (at least not on English websites). When I bought these I thought it was the whole set, but 10 minutes ago thanks to Amazon.jp, I realised I was wrong.

さよなら絶望先生 (sayonara zetsubou sensei)
Books in Series: 16 (still ongoing)
Bought/Read: Bought 1 to 9, read up to 4.
Why: Loved the series and wanted to know more about the characters I guess.
Notes: This series is still ongoing so once I get back in the UK I’ll be pretty stuck without closure (and in despair >_<).

働きマン (hataraki man)
Books in Series: 4 (so far)
Bought/Read: Bought 3 and 4.
Why: I currently have 1 and 2 back in the UK.

マリオとワリオ
Books in Series: not really sure
Bought/Read: Bought … it.
Why: very cheap

Bus Gamer (and Pilot Edition)
Books in Series: 1 (and pilot edition which contains book 1)
Bought/Read: Bought both thinking they were different … no.
Why: I enjoyed the anime (cheap too).
Notes: I’ve been keeping an eye out for book two, but have just realised that “It only exists as a single volume ‘Pilot Edition’ due to difficulties in serialization.”, so yeah.

がんばれみどりちゃん (Gambare Midori-chan)
Books in Series: I think 3
Bought/Read: Bought and flicked through book 1
Why: It looked cute and was cheap.
Notes: The pages I’ve flicked through may be cute, but their content can be pretty freaky *points to the dog getting in on with the PE (i think) teacher* o_O;;

よつばと(yotsuba to)
Books in Series: 8 so far
Bought/Read: Bought and read 1 to 6.
Why: I bought the first book from the Japan Center in London for the flight over here, partially based on the fact it was by Azuma Kiyohiko, but have loved every moment of it.

The Crush Special from Osaka Animator Gakuin
Books in Series: 1 (presuming it’s not a ‘series’)
Bought/Read: Picked up the book
Why: It was free and I was interested in the school.

Panty
Books in Series: Seems to be a one-off
Bought/Read: Bought it
Why: It’s … a gift for my brother ¬_¬
Notes: Information for this manga doesn’t seem to be online at all … yeah.

Assassins
Books in Series: 1
Bought/Read: Bought it
Why: Reminded me of my own time as an assassin”.
Notes: It’s not big, but for some reason it’s pretty damn heavy!

30 Girl.com
Books in Series: Just the 1 I think, but it (bits of) can be read at the website.
Bought/Read: Bought it
Why: It was colourful and cheap.

らき・すたコミックアラカルト (raki・suta (lucky star) komikku a la karuto)
Books in Series: I seriously have no idea, possibly a(nother) one off
Bought/Read: Bought it
Why: I like lucky star.

天地丼 (Tenchi don)
Books in Series: 1
Bought/Read: It was bought
Why: I enjoy Tenchi, and with it being a one off I didn’t have to worry about sequels.

いいなり!あいぶれーしょん (ii nari! aibureishon)
Books in Series: 2 so far, apparently on going
Bought/Read: Bought 1 & 2, halfway through 2
Why: I thought the cover was … interesting. And it was cheap.

演神 (enjin)
Books in Series: 1
Bought/Read: Bought the 1
Why: This was one of (if not the) cheapest mangas I bought, at just 10 yen (just 6.8p at todays rate).

魔術っ子！海堂くん！！
Books in Series: 1
Bought/Read: Bought it
Why: Colourful & Cheap

Ok, I wanted to leave the ひぐらし (higurashi) section until the end because unlike the series (plural) it’s not quite so easy to work out what I bought in relation to any kind of order and/or structure, something I get very confused with when I’m at bookshops and have one of those “did I buy that one?” moments. So bare with me.

*Consults with Wikipedia*

Ok, there’s no way I’ll be getting all these before heading home! Damn!

Right, so here’s what I have.

Both books from the 鬼隠し編 (onikakushi hen) and the four books from the 目明し編 (meakashi hen), meaning at least I have some complete chapters and stories going on. I also have 2 comic anthologies and have no idea where they fit in, something Wikipedia seems to have little knowledge about (though some guy on eBay is selling a different one which appears to be by a different publisher (to throw a further spanner in the works)).

*tries consulting Japanese Wikipedia*

Ok, so apparently quite a few of these anthologies have been made … but I couldn’t quite decipher what they followed >_<. The two I have are the 希多し編 (maretashi hen) and the 暮愛し編 (boaishi hen) which conveniently are next to each other in the series … in the middle of the series.

So there we have it. I’m making one final trip to Nippombashi before heading home to hopefully fill some of those holes, but hopefully not spend too much money. Like I said these are pretty damn heavy at the moment so it’s going to cost an arm and a leg to ship back. Wish me luck!