Hmmm⦠good question! It depends on what youāre interested in, I suppose.
Itās a little awkward in general since a main draw around the period discounted is definitely Dungeon Meshi drawing to conclusion, which isnāt going to do much for anyone at this point since if you havenāt read Dungeon Meshi you wonāt care and if you have youād read the final volumes that just came out⦠but Iām sure any issue would still absolutely provide the fun of flipping through and discovering what series stand out to you!
If youāre curious about the magazine and think there could be a chance youād wind up reading it regularly, theyāre all probably about the same quality for that, and a newer one with perhaps a ę°é£č¼ youāre interested in could be the way to go.
My favorite series (along with the veterinarian one) starts in 94. But I donāt know if that series would be to anyone elseās tasteā¦
The favored ę°é£č¼ of mine thatās closest to the bleeding edge of the promotion would probably be ē¬ē«ć®å
å¼ in 102.
If you have low or no interest in the potential of following the magazine, maybe instead of ę°é£č¼ shooting for čŖå would be the way to go?
Harta Alta is a special all one-shots issue of the magazine which might be perfect for a one-off experience of the kinds of things the magazine might offer! Its gimmick is itās all by authors with series in the magazine, asked to do stories in a different genre or whatever than their series. (I havenāt read it yet but I keep meaning to get around to itā¦)
I remember especially liking 89 partly due to a čŖå by Asa Tanuma, my favorite discovery from Harta (since collected in her short story collection).
Finally, if you just want to pick a milestone to start from, issue 100 was a big 10-year celebration so it would definitely be the one to pick if you want the one with the MOST Harta or just want a round number.
⦠And for what itās worth my first issue was 80 and I got hooked.
I think I might have honestly just picked a cover that looked nice - I probably tried to figure out which issue had the first then-unpublished Dungeon Meshi chapter but itās always so hard to tell⦠The covers have nothing to do with the actual contents, but when it comes to spending a dollar on something you arenāt sure if youāll like or even really read, it does certainly help if it looks cool! So really despite all of those possible strategies, judging a book by the cover might be the best way to go after all. ![]()