Just type ももきだ like normal people do. 
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Why don’t you just add it to your IME’s dictionary?
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To be honest, I didn’t even know you could do that!! I’ll take a look at it! (Though I am on a chromebook, don’t know how much that affects things)
Also omg yay! The original Sean noticed me!! 
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Ooh nice review this looks so fun and chilled, thanks for tagging me! I just need to get my kanji
knowledge moving … 
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Found this while shopping at BookOff yesterday! It’s a special edition of Haruta that only contains one shots! It’s also printed on much better quality paper that the standard magazine. Thought you would be interested, have you heard anything about this?
I got it and flipped through it but my buddy also wanted it so I let him get it, so I don’t have any other pictures of it sadly!
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I have heard of it yeah, and I am interested!
I actually bought it on Bookwalker a long time ago and have been meaning to read it for ages. 
It’s always next after finishing the main magazine! But then a new issue comes out…
It’s specifically a collection of stories from artists with series in the main magazine, where if I remember right they were encouraged to do something different genre-wise than their ongoing series. So It’d be especially neat the more of the artists you’re already aware of (though it’s old enough not all of their series are ones I read or caught up with when they were running).
Harta has a few interesting spinoff/extra issue magazines. There was one year where they filled the gap months (there’s no new Harta in January or July) with an all one-shot magazine called Terang a concept I kinda wish they’d kept up with. Nowadays they use the ハルタオルタ name for their free comic website. The series and one-shots on there are neat! And probably the same kind of thing you’ll find in that collection. (But unfortunately they don’t keep chapters up on that website so series that have been running for a bit are missing their middle chapters…)
Anyway, thanks for thinking of me, and it’s definitely a neat find!!
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Fullmetal Alchemist looking a bit different to how I remember it, there.
But seriously though, is that つくみず, by any chance?
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I’m really sad that more magazines don’t do this, cause its such a great concept! But I imagine for a weekly or bimonthly magazine they just need a break more than anything. Also, I didn’t know Harta was only 10 issues a year! I don’t know any other magazines with that schedule! Thanks for elaborating on Harta, I definitely need to look into it more (maybe my next magazine project?? 
)
My buddy said nearly the exact same thing! We desperatly hoped it would be a series and were saddened that it wasn’t!
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That’s Harta for you! Another idiosyncratic thing they do is all the covers are bespoke art, never having anything to do with any particular series (which seems relatively rare outside of like ones with models on the cover, or Big Comic Original with the cats)
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Today’s write-up is very short and to the point, for reasons that will become very clear. I promise future ones won’t be like this, so please look forward to the next one!
とりま民宿やどり的な! (Guesthouse-Esque) By 安藤優
Genres: Wish-Fufillment, Slice of life?, Wish-Fufillment, College Life?, Wish-Fufillment, Romance?, Wish-Fufillment, Comedy??
Triggers: sexuality
Background on the artist:
Ummmmmmmm, I got nothing. Normally I can at least find something even if it is in all Japanese, but even the Japanese manga news sites have nothing on him.
He apparently has the same name as a famous performer of some kind, though I think this is just a coincidence. Could be wrong, but tbh its not worth looking into for such a short series.
Dammit, I wrote all of that and seriously gave up, but then I checked one last time and found out he is a mangaka who I’ve read before. He made Strike or Gutter, which I can only charitably described as softcore bowling girl written by someone who has never met a woman before. At first it seems like it will be an interesting female-led sports story that cou-
Oh. No. It’s just an excuse to draw anime girls in short skirts that flip up while bowling. Oh, thats disappointing. Maybe it gets better, but I doubt it, and I didn’t bother to find out.
I kind of wish I knew the author did Strike or Gutter before I read, I think it would have set my expectations better…
Manga Summary:
I think if I show you the very first page of the manga, you can deduce everything you need to know about it. Lets try!
Was that not enough? Here, how about this bonus hint?
Well, was I right? This is a manga about a young college student who, due to a fire in his apartment building, moves into his friend’s mom’s inn. And, of course, she is…
A 34 year old MILF… Ah… I see where this is going…
Shockingly, this is actually not porn. Well, not technically. It might as well be though. Lemme explain.
Sean’s Thoughts: RANT INCOMING
For those who don’t read a lot of modern manga, let me first congratulate you for having taste. In all seriousness, there is a lot of great modern manga, and I don’t want to harp on the old days of manga because I do believe some of the greatest manga ever are being made right now.
But, with the changing of the times, there have been certain stories that have become much much much more popular. These stories are romance (and ocassionally harem) stories that are just deliberately slow to allow more pages for illustrations of the pretty girls, that are so vapidly shallow that they are completely see through. Sometimes, they make room for the illustrations by just having less pages, sometimes only one page! Typically, each one appeals to some niche subgroup, (there is a foot one, a bowling one, a tights one, just about anything you can name, there exists this type of manga for it). The rise of pixiv and online distribution has aided in this phenomenon, lowering the barrier for entry and increasing the need to make the manga bite-sized and full of niche-appeal, even more so to go viral on twitter or pixiv.
If you don’t believe me, go to the r/manga on reddit and look at just how many ‘chapters’ are a single page illustration with some basic concept/niche appeal with a girl providing some form of fanservice. Its more than you think! (looking for a name for this type of manga so any name ideas would be appreciated!) Its all just Wish Fufillment, all at the cost of providing an interesting story. Wish Fufillment is fine, of course, thats part of the appeal of fiction. But like damn, at least try to tell a story (or don’t and just post your MILF drawings on instagram I guess).
That is what I mean when I say its not directly porn, but it might as well be. It targets that same part of the brain, the same Wish-Fufillment as porn for all intents and purposes. And I’m not saying that its bad, but that in a lot of cases it comes at the cost of having a good story. I’m sure its for someone, but at this point in my life, its not for me.
Disclaimer: I know this is not completely unique to the modern manga scene, this has been going on for ages, but its prevalence has gone up with the ease of creation and distribution that the internet provides, and I personally think that many of them lack the basics of storytelling that other fanservice manga used to be required to at least pretend they care about. The difference between this and the similarly-premised Love Hina is night and day.
Disclaimer 2: I’ve read a lot of manga, especially a lot of garbage manga. I don’t mean to insult anyones tastes with this rant. I just want to say that I wish they didn’t come up in my manga searches as much. I wanted something a bit deeper and less blatant in its intentions.
Disclaimer 3: I know that I just said this is type of manga is basically a pointless series of pictures of pretty women, but ironically both Wear the Sky and Can We Live Together both have more nudity than this one. The difference is that those manga each have a story that is not connected to the romancing of the pretty woman. Wear the Sky is, first and foremost, a shonen battle for the top, and Can We Live Together is a slice of life drama. Where the line is drawn between these types of manga can be vague, and I know I’m not describing it well. But please believe me when I say there is something different between this and the other manga I’ve read for this project.
Final Disclaimer: THIS MANGA ISN’T EVEN THAT BAD
Ironically, this manga is actually not as bad as some of the other manga of its ilk. The premise is dumb as hell sure, but the main girl is fun and expressive. The art is, at least for the main girl, very… detailed is the most polite thing I can say about it though seriously the art isn’t bad its pretty good. Its just reallllllly obvious where the mangaka spends his time. The dialogue is full of slang and isn’t that stilted. And the manga may eventually try to explore some themes of growing up and going to college and making friends.
It also may never do that and be content showing the readers pretty drawings of pretty women. I would probably put my money on that one.
Sorry for the incoherent rant, I was just pretty disappointed by this manga though I should have expected this I will keep reading it, mostly out of morbid curiosity to see if the story goes how I expect it to, and because well I’m technically paying for it each issue I get.
TLDR
You should read this if:
- You want something very short to read? (5 chapters so far)
- You want to read something with an approachable amount of slang?
- You like pretty pictures of women?
- You like MILFs I guess?
Skip if:
- You want a story
- You like realistic characters
- You are like me and this kind of manga is pretty tiresome
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Lol. You’ll look the other way when you’re in the strike zone of one of these! Honestly I’m reading a metric tonne of gyaru manga based off essentially the same premise and it’s a relatively enjoyable time. I guess it’s just down to execution in my opinion.
I thought you were going to talk about how cliche it is to be sent to live with some landlady/become a landlord of some boarding dorm etc. In my mind that goes to, what, love hina? Maison ikkoku?
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Lol thats super duper fair!! I used to read a lot of these because they were like popcorn, so easily consumable! l just slowly fell out of love with them I guess, that and I don’t think I found anything in the Strike or Gutter lol zone for me. This one actually has pretty solid execution, I can definitely recognize that. I’m willing to try out some other ones, I think I’ve just been burned by a few bad ones and its been coloring my tastes haha. What are the ones you liked? I’m down for recommendations (though I will probably read them in English)
You are so so so right because that has been a staple for absolute ages! I think that the premise was this in combination with my burnout from these types of manga is what got me ranting this time. It was also such tonal whiplash from 百木田家の古書暮らし ！！
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Gyaru-wise, there’s a few, though I honestly haven’t read that many yet because it’s hard and there’s only so many high school works you can read at once before you brain goes numb:
- その着せ替え人形 is probably the standout, basic concept is ‘gyaru + cosplay’ (+ ecchi) but the execution is really good my opinion. Helps there’s not really any ‘external’ drama factors so it’s really mostly just two dorks being dorks.
- 怒りっぽいギャル~白石浩平短編集~ 1 which is literally just a bunch of twitter comics about a girl who looks like she’s angry but is actually super sweet. Almost literally what you’re talking about!
- ギャルとオタクはわかりあえない。 1, gal x yuri? x idol otaku, another comedy 4koma. I need to read more of this series.
Haven’t read this one yet but I plan to:
- ギャルの背後にれいがいる, comedy manga. ‘Gyaru + ghost’.
- Gal x Dino
But more to the point, I think I’m just still in the learning zone for Japanese where anything that holds my interest for more than a chapter is good enough for me right now. Certainly I think a lot of these types of stuff (not necessarily gyaru related, but call it ‘concept’ or ‘niche’ SNS manga) I would probably skip right over in eng, but they’re more fun/a challenge in Japanese.
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While you’re on that vein, how about おしえて! ギャル子ちゃん?
Komi also picks up a gyaru main character after the first few volumes.
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Yup, both are on the list! Manbagi was a really good add for Komi… I hope it gets a third season on Netflix, I actually really enjoyed the first two seasons
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Oh I absolutely LOVE this manga!!! I’ve been reading it since it first came out, and I eagerly await it, even if it is a bit of a guilty pleasure!
I almost don’t even think of this as a ギャル manga, since her gyaru-ness is pretty underplayed on comparison some of the ギャル manga I’ve taken a look at before. She does have that genki energy, but she feels almost more of a otaku than she is a gyaru, at least in my opinion. Anyway, absolutely love this manga, though it is definitely for its combination of concept, characters, and execution (2.5 seduction, by contrast, has a similar premise but is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much worse in comparison)
Thats super duper fair!! I think I was in the same zone until relatively recently in my Japanese journey. That definitely makes sense!
Completely completely agree! She is my favorite non-komi/tadano part of the series, and she is why I like the second-year arc so much! A fantastic character!!
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課長! ダイエットのお時間です! (Boss! It’s Diet Time!) By サザレイシ ヤチヨ
Genres: Lifestyle, Comedy, Office Work
Triggers: light sadism, eating disorders (later)
Read the first chapter for free here!
Background on the artist:
Incredibly short this time, this is the author’s first major work, at least as far as I could find! This was actually originally serialized in Grand Jump Mucha, the much smaller 6-times-a-year sister magazine to Grand Jump. The successful manga (like いっしょうにくらしていい?) from that magazine can get promoted to Grand Jump. Nearly all artists will want this, since its a big increase in readership and pay, even if you need to produce the chapters 4 times as fast. Starting in a small sister magazine before getting to one of the top 15 manga magazines in Japan is the path for most successful mangaka. This is an example of that success story!
Manga Summary:
Ummm, I think I may have somewhat discovered this manga, at least for non-Japanese readers. I made the Natively entry (which in fairness I’ve done for a lot of these manga now lol), but there isn’t even a mangadex entry, let alone anything posted online about this at all as far as I found. Unlike いっしょうにくらしていい?, which had interest from the time it started due to the fame of its mangaka, there is no such interest or passion for this manga.
But more importantly, what is this manga about? Well, its the story of a successful 課長, who is living his ordinary salaryman life, except he is suddenly realizes he is very メタボる (obese) and is ashamed of it.
He checks out the gym, and he finds a beautiful woman who is super duper jacked.
He soon discovers that she is he woman from the accounting department who he is constantly at odds with, and who normally dresses very plainly and hides her face with glasses. Soon, he begins his journey towards a healthy lifestyle and waistline!
Oh, one small thing, his trainer is a sadist and loves humiliating him and toying with him!
There are a few other characters who join in, but that is the basic premise. This is a manga meant for people (especially older men) who don’t know shit about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and walking them through the basics. If you don’t have a background in fitness or exercise, this is actually a pretty helpful introduction!
Sean’s Thoughts/Should You Read This?:
So, last time I went on a really long rant about wish fulfillment manga, and how I don’t really like them. Just from reading the premise, you probably think this is a wish fulfillment manga. And it kinda is?
Surprising given the premise, but this manga is not ecchi at! In fact it’s rather wholesome (aside from the sadism). This is not wish fulfillment for horny young office workers, but rather this is wish fulfillment for older men who are self conscious about their bodies and don’t know where to start with self improvement, and who would love to have a beautiful (but not overly sexual) trainer to guide them along the way. It is primarily a guide for older men to get into fitness more than it is a chance for wish fulfillment, and eventually spins off into some dramatic elements about some of the side characters, all of whom are struggling with a different element of health and fitness. It’s actually kind of sweet, and the 課長 carries a lot of the wholesomeness.
The main character, the 課長 is very realistic, by which I mean he is kind of an asshole, and a grumpy oji-chan. Now, he isn’t really an asshole, but just that he is from a different generation, and as such loses his patience with the new juniors and with things he doesn’t understand. But he is genuine and has a kind and simple heart. He is not the brightest bulb, but is capable as a businessman, even if he is old-fashioned. I have met like 10 middle-aged Japanese men who are identical to this 課長, so watching his journey into a healthier lifestyle is honestly really warm-hearted and reassuring.
I went into this expecting a kinda-perverted series that primarily exists to provide fanservice, and was completely surprised to get almost the exact opposite! It’s not perfect or even amazing, but it’s a more than fine manga, and I will continue to read each upcoming chapter! The explanations for the science part of it are a little hard, but the conversation is really easy to follow!
TLDR:
- You should read this if:
- You have interest in self-improvement
- You like stories about beginners learning something
- You want to learn Japanese words related to health and the body, and bonus かたかな practice!
- You want a pretty easy-going manga
- You like more realistic settings/scenarios
- You think the main girl is pretty
- You are a masochist
You shouldn’t read this if:
- You need actions or romance or like a plot that isn’t barebones?
- You are an expert in fitness already
- You reeeeallllllyyyyy need furigana
I hope people consider checking this manga out!!
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Woah, way different premise than what I expected, nice find!
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That looks interesting. I really love the breadth and depth of manga moreso than anime, if only because I feel like there’s more weird and experimental things going on and often (as this topic is about) whole magazines dedicated to it - as well as stuff that is just sort of throwing together different tropes, but often they’re weird and unexpected trope combinations, so that’s fun too!
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