Debating Manga

[Succubus_1982]

Who else here is a fan of CLAMP's manga (writers of Chobits amongst others. Usually girly shoujo-type manga)?

I am. And must say I am really really not at all impressed with their 'last chapter' of the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles manga (one of my favourites) not only did it lack any real resolution of the events hitherto or a 'happy ending' but half of the decent members of the cast that people had any interest in were killed off, and not only that but they managed to backtrack and deface the endings of two other manga they write/have written in the process.  Got to say its their shoddiest work ever and I'm really disappointed with it.

What about the rest of you? Any manga you've read recently that's left you less than enthused with the series or the writers? Or maybe anime. A show that's gone completely off track from the original idea with poor dubs or changed storylines etc.?

Interested to hear people's opinions....

[Darkmoon]

Anime sucks.

[Succubus_1982]

Well that answered my question    *waits for this to be sent to the mine since the mods obv hate it*

[thegayhare]

thats not going to happen
just cause it's an anime thread don't worry

and thats just Darkmoon he hates everything

[ooklah]

Tsubasa ended? Thanks for ruining it! =p  I did enjoy it while I was reading it, I have the first 10 of the series, but while I was getting them, ran out of money and never got more yet. I still am hoping to finish it some day.

I've been reading Negima, but now it's about to decend into yet another lvl up fighting contest arc .... for the next several volumes... I find that boring in any series though... I might skip that whole section.

I've watched The Galaxy Railway at work, which I think someone just wanted to make an anime all about trains, it was slow and to the point where I can't remember how it ended, so it was lackluster. Interesting was the character designs were like old gundam series but the trains were all CG.

To-Luv-ru ended very abruptly. It was unexpected. I would have thought maybe there'd be some kind of ending, but it seemed more like oh we ran out of money, quick end it! Or they wrote themselves into a corner, but I kinda doubt that.  I had started reading it because it was done by the same guy who did Black Cat, I liked that one.

[Mao]

I've been reading Negima, but now it's about to decend into yet another lvl up fighting contest arc .... for the next several volumes... I find that boring in any series though... I might skip that whole section.

It started to resemble a bad cross between some random harem comic, magical knights of rayearth.. and dbz.  I stopped reading as a result.

To-Luv-ru ended very abruptly. It was unexpected. I would have thought maybe there'd be some kind of ending, but it seemed more like oh we ran out of money, quick end it! Or they wrote themselves into a corner, but I kinda doubt that.  I had started reading it because it was done by the same guy who did Black Cat, I liked that one.

I think it's because they didn't want to make him choose in the end.  Each of the girls got a pretty decent fan following for themselves.. even some of the creepier ones who wanted to see Rito and his sister together forever..in that way...so it was just going to get stale as a result.  I think it's not so much that they wrote themselves into a corner.. but rather they made too many options for the fans.. and made all of the options pretty equal... despite the creepy factor.  (Celine is not an option damn it!  It's a plant and an infant!)  The fans then wound up being pretty divide over the many girls and there was no clear answer.  So.. probably better to just not answer and leave them all wondering and writing their fanfics.

[Succubus_1982]

Tsubasa ended? Thanks for ruining it! =p  I did enjoy it while I was reading it, I have the first 10 of the series, but while I was getting them, ran out of money and never got more yet. I still am hoping to finish it some day.

You can read it online

But honestly? I wouldn't bother reading anything further that what you've already read. It stays nice at the beginning but quickly sours, loses all point of the plot and just becomes random meaningless angst.

I watched Negima as an anime and it looked quite cute but not got into the manga yet.

[rabid_fox]

Ah, I tried to get into the whole manga/anime/japanimation thing, but a variety of sources and a variety of shows just couldn't make a lasting impact (except one flipping brilliant one, 'Legend of the Overfiend' I think it was called. But more because it was side-splittingly funny when it didn't want to be than any real appreciation).

I suppose I'm not sophisticated enough. I am a man of simple tastes. Like "Innerspace". Remember "Innerspace"? Man, that film rocks.

[Janus Whitefurr]

'Legend of the Overfiend' I think it was called.

Urotsukidoji, or indeed "Legend of the Overfiend" and its hilarious English dub. Making demonic rape and tentacle hentai utterly freaking HILARIOUS. It's like the b-movie of animation. And now, responding to other posts in turn.

a) Succubus: I read Chobits from beginning to end and it is made of adorable. Not really a huge fan of CLAMP otherwise (their crossover-type manga like Tsubasa give me a headache), though I harbour this secret urge to watch undubbed Cardcaptors.

b) Ooklah: Same boat with Negima. Sure it's a harem manga with the obvious gags, but it used glorious amounts of magicspam and bad innuendo in places. But the constant fighting arcs do get tired. Saddening, I was having fun with it.

c) No-one in particular: I used to read One Piece, but oh god it just kept going and going like the freaking Energiser bunny and I got tired of it. Sure it has the typical "level up to fight bigger baddies" thing but it used to be entertaining. Now it just feels like it drags on and on and on... kind of like the aforementioned energiser bunny.

Also Death Note. Immensely popular with some people, of the various spinoffs I prefer the two live action movies,mostly because they come to a conclusion that I like and don't involve certain annoying characters I absolutely hated from the latter half of the manga/anime.

Ceasing waffleage... now.

[Tezkat]

I do like some CLAMP stuff, but a lot of it is just too shoujo for my tastes. I likes my bishis with a little more meat on their bones.


Hmm... anime/manga disappointments? Here are a couple that spring to mind...


Soul Eater anime. Worst. Ending. Ever. Seriously... WTF. I realize that the manga is nowhere near completion at this point, but it's not as if it's impossible to pull off a decent gecko ending. Or, failing that, at least something moderately coherent that doesn't make you want to kill the writers.


Hunter x Hunter manga. Maybe not so much disappointed as sad. I really liked this series, and it was painful to watch it deteriorate. Togashi's been in very poor health and often took breaks of several months or even years between chapters. The stuff that did make it into publication after all that often made no sense and looked like it was drawn by preschoolers. I rather hope they don't continue the anime (which is one of the more faithful manga adaptations), because the stuff beyond the Greed Island arc is just... bad.

I suppose I'm not sophisticated enough. I am a man of simple tastes. Like "Innerspace". Remember "Innerspace"? Man, that film rocks.

"Play with it, buddy. Don't talk to it."

[Succubus_1982]

a) Succubus: I read Chobits from beginning to end and it is made of adorable. Not really a huge fan of CLAMP otherwise (their crossover-type manga like Tsubasa give me a headache), though I harbour this secret urge to watch undubbed Cardcaptors.

I refuse to even acknowledge the dubbed version. It was just GAH! They changed everything and it was just horrid. Although if you watch/read the original be prepared for a LOT of taboo relationships. Seriously CLAMP are in love with the forbidden. The more eyebrows it raises the better in their books.

Also Death Note. Immensely popular with some people, of the various spinoffs I prefer the two live action movies,mostly because they come to a conclusion that I like and don't involve certain annoying characters I absolutely hated from the latter half of the manga/anime.

Oh I loved Death Note. It was made of awesome. Also quite keen on Hellsing for the same reason. Nice and dramatic. Action but for a good reason not just for the sake of angst. I can deal with gore if its kick-ass. Otherwise I'm more into girly-girl shows like Ouran and Love Hina etc.

[Tezkat]

I refuse to even acknowledge the dubbed version. It was just GAH! They changed everything and it was just horrid. Although if you watch/read the original be prepared for a LOT of taboo relationships. Seriously CLAMP are in love with the forbidden. The more eyebrows it raises the better in their books.

Heh. Rewriting a shoujo coming of age love story and creatively editing it into a gotta catch 'em all shounen anime... how could that possibly go wrong?

Cardcaptor Sakura was one of my guilty pleasures back in the day. The anime was actually fairly tame. The "taboo relationships" were a bit less subtle in the manga.

[Succubus_1982]

For real 

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

I never saw the Death Note anime, but the Manga annoyed me. I dunno, all the "I know that you know that I know that you know" games got tiring for me pretty fast, especially since the entire game of cat and mouse between Kria and L involved the assumption that the other person would think exactly along the same lines that they were.

That they were both right is what turned me off the manga. Also, Mello? There is no way that's a guy. I'm sorry.

I'm a die hard fan of Fullmetal Alchemist. The Anime was reasonably good, but it got me into the Manga, which IMO is about 50 times better. I like immersive worlds, and that's a manga that does it for me, a deep fictive world I can really sink my teeth into. (although seriously Ed, stop being an idiot)

The only other Anime I really have strong (positive) feelings about is Paranoia Agent. Real short, clever, and to the point. The surreal atmosphere was creepy, and I liked the whole consensus reality angle.

[Succubus_1982]

Yeh I've just started watching FMA myself and its pretty interesting so far.

[Darkmoon]

Ah, I tried to get into the whole manga/anime/japanimation thing, but a variety of sources and a variety of shows just couldn't make a lasting impact (except one flipping brilliant one, 'Legend of the Overfiend' I think it was called. But more because it was side-splittingly funny when it didn't want to be than any real appreciation).

I suppose I'm not sophisticated enough. I am a man of simple tastes. Like "Innerspace". Remember "Innerspace"? Man, that film rocks.

That's about my stance on it. Few anime flicks or series ever impressed me. Something about the genre as a whole.

And Innerspace for the win. So awful, so awesome.

[Tezkat]

I'm a die hard fan of Fullmetal Alchemist. The Anime was reasonably good, but it got me into the Manga, which IMO is about 50 times better. I like immersive worlds, and that's a manga that does it for me, a deep fictive world I can really sink my teeth into. (although seriously Ed, stop being an idiot)

The first anime broke off from the manga about halfway through. They've started a new one (FMA: Brotherhood) that's almost word for word out of the manga.

The only other Anime I really have strong (positive) feelings about is Paranoia Agent. Real short, clever, and to the point. The surreal atmosphere was creepy, and I liked the whole consensus reality angle.

Satoshi Kon =

[Teh_Hobo]

I havent yet read a manga that I didnt really like, but I havent read very many, so its probably a matter of time. I read all of Rurouni Kenshin, all of FMA up to a year or so ago, a couple Hellsing, and a few others here and there thanks to a friend who owned them and would lend them out periodically. Dude was like my dealer my senior year.
Only started buying them on my own recently. My cousin recommended Ranma 1/2, and I've been buying them where ever I can find them. Pretty good, if a bit ridiculous.
Tekkon Kinkreet is one of my favorites so far. A good mix of violence, story, and bits of humor. I really want to see the anime now, if I can find it anywhere.

[Succubus_1982]

Ranma's okay. A bit like Inuyasha though. God now that was an annoying manga. I wanted to murder half of the characters. Stupid freaking Kikyo

[Janus Whitefurr]

RE: FMA - am I the only person who liked the movie they did to cap off the first series? Even if it did involve evil magical Nazis? It was still good, I swear. (I also must be the only person who read some of the manga and found the anime to be more palatable.)

I have a (relatively) small and eclectic collection of anime ranging from series to OVA, and I'll sound off on a few just to see if anyone else has seen or witnessed them.

a) Appleseed / Appleseed Ex Machina - delicious Masamune Shirow movie drama. With technology and the whole what it means to be human shtick. Besides, how can you not love the name Briarareos Hecatonachries?

b) New Getter Robo - because a 2000s rebuild of the original combiner mecha is completely awesome. And ridiculous. But, well, awesome.

c) R.O.D (three-part OVA) / R.O.D the TV (series) - The British Library loves you. And creates adorable bibliomaniacal papermasters. And cloning of dead famous people. And then the series goes on to be -really- weird.

d) Heat Guy J - more delicious drama / police noir of sorts, with futuretech and the occasional android (one of those being the titular character).

e) Elfen Lied - Blood, violence, bloody violence, and plenty of psychologically screwed up people. YAY! 8D

f) Slayers (first three series): Comedy-fantasy that builds up to drama at the end of each season. Full of large hams. And explosions.

And I'll stop there for now. I have more but if I listed off everything people would shout at me. :u

[Sprocketsdance]

FMA is awesome, completely awesome. I was slowly collecting the manga after seeing most of the anime (or at least a little over half. ). I loved the movie even though it made me sad. *shrugs* that's what happens.

I must say that Code Geass is very good.. although be warned for very attractive males and females..... 

That..... that's all I have. 

[Turnsky]

b) New Getter Robo - because a 2000s rebuild of the original combiner mecha is completely awesome. And ridiculous. But, well, awesome.

no matter which version, the scream of "Getter Tomahawk!" sends a shiver down my spine.

[Jer-oh-me]

My two favourite series are "Battle Angel Alita: Last Order" by Yukito Kishiro and "Yotsuba&!" by Kiyohiko Azuma. I like Alita for its grim view of the future and gorgeous detail, and Yotsuba for its happy view of the present and gorgeous detail. Not to mention I really enjoy all the characters from both.

[Alondro]

"Paranoia Agent" was cool.  The anime's opening theme was very surreal and freaky with all the people standing there laughing manically whilst images of mass destruction played all around them.

I agree with the opinion of "Tsubasa Res. Chr." manga ending.  It really did just bottom out with very little point.  Anime endings frequently disappoint, often because the manga is still ongoing and thus the series wraps up with something written by the anime writers, which usually means they throw things together in a hurry and don't make much sense.

Let me see... which manga am I reading now/have finished that I like...

"07 Ghost" which is remaining interesting.

"Soul Eater" has taken a twist which seems to be interesting, plus it's not just raw powerups.

"Cyborg Grandpa G" insane and hilarious.

"Chibi Vampire" a spoof of vampire stuff, with a vampire who produces too much blood.

"Ghost Sweeper Miakami" a spoof of spoofs and many genres.  Has often made me lol.

"Dragon Half" an adventurer spoof.  Lol'd much.

"Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro" humor and action in just the right amounts.  I liked the ending.  It tied things up nicely.  Plus, Neuro is such an amusingly sadistic bastard, yet has a unique character growth he keeps mostly hidden until later.  You have to love that demon!   

"D. Gray Man" is on semi-hiatus, because author is in poor health, which is a shame because the series is quite interesting, with many unpredictable, yet sensible twists and revelations.

"Ga-Rei" I just like it for some reason!  Demons and possession and a neat-looking demon-dog thingee that I want for my very own, cuz it looks cool!   

"Kyuoran Kazoku Nikki" One of the oddest 'families' you'll ever see.  Has an interesting enough plot and characters, plus a very noble lion in the family!  I <3 Teika-kun!  *squeee!*  (somewhere in the mangaverse, Teika gets a very cold shiver of dread  o_o  )

"Pandora Hearts"  Anime just 'ended', not sure if ther will be another season, but the manga is still ongoing and has remained interesting.  Elements of "Alice in Wonderland" made into a very dark story.

"Hajimete no Aku" The remnants of a dreadful evil organization have taken refuge in the house of an average school girl, Eriko!  Though, most of them don't really seem that evil... they tend to be quite goofy, except for mad-scientist Jiro contantly wanting to 'modify' Eriko's body!  Me like. 

[Sunblink]

I've kind of drifted away from manga and anime as time has gone on. I like the early volumes of One Piece, but reading the manga has become tedious because of the really, really long fight scenes. I'll probably move on to the anime because that really makes the zany fights look awesome. I also like Trinity Blood (the dub was shockingly good), the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (ditto), and some other ones that I've completely forgotten.

[Zina]

I'm in the "used to be a fan but now I've drifted away" boat, as well. The only manga I even bother to keep up with these days is One Piece, and I haven't read the last several chapters of that. I know most of the popular titles(and, thanks to my students, the general plot and the characters names and which ones are the coolest), but none of them seem to really interest me.

Except for Hetalia. That manga is just hilarious to me.

[Azlan]

Except for Hetalia. That manga is just hilarious to me.

That's the name... Hetalia: Axis Powers.  I caught a bit of the anime for it on one of the Japanese channels that you can pick up on Oceanic Cable when I was in Hawaii. 


Anyways, I have largely given up reading manga and watching anime.  I have so little time now, and I'm finding a lot of it to be falling into areas I don't find interesting and I'm understanding the humor and stories far less than before.  Despite my atrocious understanding of the Japanese language.