舞妓さんちのまかないさん(27) so far, I was up to date at some point but now I need to catch up when I’m done with Fata Morgana, it’s already at volume 30.
Same, plus it’s not like they were easy to find and buy at the time if not for the main stream ones. I’m regularly mind blown at how lucky we are now that they are so easy to find and to buy!
Didn’t know either, sounds nice!
I would like to try to tackle it one day too. I remember someone here writtng that they were going to read them all and calculating that it would take them a year, doesn’t seem all that bad. Though I would probably rather take a break between each arc to not get bored of it and also do other things I think.
Wow that’s a lot! Guessing that you liked it then? Are you going to reread in Japanese?
Still want to try it one day, the day has not come yet, I keep committing to other things :x
Legally buying translated versions is still expense af, though. I usually got what I could from my local library and then switched to fan translations (which had the added benefit that you’d get new chapters faster, an essential perk when you’re already hooked).
I sort of liked it (and it still makes me very nostalgic), but it’s very filler-heavy, so the length is very much not a good thing. If there were a condensed 15 volume version without the most repetitive parts of the fight scenes, I’d probably read it, but I can’t get myself to reread the whole thing.
It’s alright because the longer you take to commit, the more the vocab lists and comprehension questions get made. I hope they make things easier on future readers. I still need to go back and fill in more vocab for Part 1 but I’m behind on running the club, whoops
I don’t enjoy shounen manga enough to commit to One Piece I think. I have started on Dragon Ball though, but it’s significantly shorter at only 42 volumes and I really like Toriyama’s style and humor.
And it was a staple of my youth in the nineties, so it’s fun to revisit that.
I also have all the volumes of Dr Slump (Toriyama’s earlier manga series) but I’m not even done with the first one. I really like the old school slapstic humor. It’s an easy read too. I hesitate to nominate it to the BBC, but my plate is full lately.
Those Dr Slump books look awesome. I would vote for it although not sure I’d commit to reading all the volumes.
Dragon Ball SD is a remake of the original Dragon Ball but in SD style. It cuts some stuff out so it moves along more quickly than the original, is in full colour, and has lots of fourth walling, asides and in-jokes that add to the enjoyment.
I admit that the cover design was a big draw for me committing to the full series. This edition also uses smaller and thicker (but not more expensive) volumes, so the full set is 9 volumes instead of 18.
I lurked in your Dragon Ball SD thread so I’m familiar with it, I started with the OG version though. We’ll see if it gets tiresome, I suspect that I will enjoy the “Z” portion of the story less than the start.
And weird age-inappropriate jokes remind me so much of the Bande Dessinées I read as a kid that it’s oddly nostalgic for me. I do think he goes a bit far at times given the age of some of the characters however, but that’s Japan for you…
By the way, with our current pace we will finish the last published volume (14) on November 15th this year. No worries though, I talked to some people and arranged it so that volume 15 comes out November 21st, so we don’t even need to take a break!
I think I might have to fall behind, too. I’m flying to China in 2 weeks and for now, I’m terribly busy learning essential Chinese and finishing those of my clubs I don’t want to drop on a cliffhanger before I get too distracted by it. But since I like to speed-read this anyway, maybe it’s for the best. You’ll finish volume 14 the week I come back, so I’ll be able to finish the whole volume in one go.
OK, both of you say that it’s fine if we just continue without you for volume 14, but let us know if you prefer that we take a break. I’m not commenting a lot as I’m not enjoying the story that much, I hope the threads won’t get too lonely :X (thankfully there are other readers too)
Probably would be fine to have a break before volume 15 though, even though the stars aligned for the release date to happen to be just after we are done with volume 14, I imagine that people can use some time to get the new volume? (not to mention people who have a life, I don’t have that problem myself, but it does seem to get in the way sometimes)
I liked the build up to the 銀夜祭 and through to the 銀夜行列, with the tension of Coco and Tartar wanting to help Kustas and Dagda even as they get sucked into the “dark side”. And them not being able to go to Quifrey for help even though he can tell that they need help, and being more or less complacent in that 魔警団 member getting his memory erased.
I was really looking forward to seeing it all come to a head with Coco winning or losing, and the following consequences, especially since the royal family were also clearly gunning to obtain magic themselves.
It did feel like a very, very long build up though! This 銀夜祭 arc feels like it’s been going on for several volumes at this point. I probably would have felt a lot more down on it if I were reading one chapter per week instead of five.
Also, now this completely unrelated thing happened with the leech going on a rampage, which feels like it’s kind of thrown all that build up out the window. I really hope that doesn’t end up being the case, as then all the build up will feel like it was kind of wasted.
I guess whether or not that happens will determine what I end up thinking of the pacing in the end.
So as we are finishing Volume 14 now, let’s have a vote for when we should start Volume 15 (which should be out 2025/11/21)
You can vote for more than one option. If you don’t have any preference, vote for all the options (or don’t vote at all)
Volume 15 is available since today
So far “one week break” and “two weeks break” are the winning option, so not posting the new thread today. Maybe next week, unless the poll results have changed by then!
