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Prague: A Novel
Honestly, I only liked this book because I identified highly with the Charles character. Phillips got the American-Hungarian spot on, making me laugh out loud at some points. But if you've never been to Hungary, I don't really know why you would want to read this book.
Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 1
This builds on the Fruits Basket formula of a reverse harem, adding maturity and depth, probably due to the less overwhelming number of characters. The art is more frou-frou and overly shoujo, I imagine in parody of series like Rose of Versailles. I'm not up to date at the moment, but I do want to catch up.
Paradise Kiss Vol 1
This is good stuff. I got a self-insert feeling from it, but the environment she is in is so wonderfully crafted, it don't matter, because you want to be her tooo. Maybe. Unless any kind of entitled whiny Mary Sue vibe pisses you off. Seriously though, if you like Ai Yazawa's other stuff, this is just as good. Watch the anime too, it's not that long and it has an unbelievably good soundtrack. So good I opened my SAT test results to it. So yeah.
SPOILER ALERT!
Death Note, Vol. 1
I stopped reading this after L died, simply lost interest. Heard from a friend who finished it that it definitely lost its power after that point. If the series had ended there, then it would be a 5 star series for me. Still, I would like to reread the whole series one day to finish it. The first several volumes were such page turners, and my first "serious with a plot" manga, only had such a feeling from novels before.
Against Nature
these pictures in my head are so beautiful. my senses are overwhelmed. and yet everything is sad somehow.
SPOILER ALERT!
Angel Sanctuary, Vol. 1[ ANGEL SANCTUARY, VOL. 1 ] by Yuki, Kaori (Author) Mar-24-04[ Paperback ]
I love Kaori Yuki's aesthetic. But the story here was far too esotheric for me. Too many kabbalistic names. It started off well, with the brother-sister thing being all scandalous and intriguing. Then I got lost. Read it all around the same time too.
Jing: King of Bandits--Twilight Tales Volume 1: King of the Bandits, Twilight Tales v. 1
to the funeral of a wilting leaf, two snails depart in a trail of slime...
Nana, Volume 1 (v. 1)
This series and its film definitely defined a month of my life. Like all of Ai Yazawa's stuff the fashion, oh my. Although this series is less focused on it than her others, there is no one's closet I want to raid more than Nana's. Eeeh, the punk one o'course. The premise is quite original, and the story maintains that without wandering into triteness. Art is in her usual angular style, I likes it.
Loveless, Volume 1
So I went through this strange shounen-ai period for a while, I blame 4chan and teenage sexual confusion. Also having no straight friends, but I don't really blame them. I think I have the first 6 volumes of this series. The only other manga I actually own are the 2 FLCL volumes, so I hope this says a lot. I only buy a manga when the art and the story completely blow me away, which they did in this, utterly, when I first read it. A friend lent it to me, but a few pages in I thought "I MUST POSSESS THIS" so I bought it and continued to buy new volumes when they come out. The amazingness has kind of lessened in the later volumes, possibly because the story isn't really going anywhere, possibly because I've lost all interest in shounen-ai and find the college student & 12 year old boy dynamic mildly creepy. In short, it was the art (and amazing binding! well done tokyopop) that drew me to actually purchase this series. It's the best I've seen in such a long running series. Don't take my recommendation too lightly just because you don't like the "messy" style of FLCL that I mentioned above. This has a much wider appeal.
Pilgrim Jäger 6
I read only the first volume of this series. It was, sadly, my first introduction to the concept of indulgences after a lifetime of catholic school. It's a good historical fiction, two witches fight evil to earn money to pay for their sins.
Prelude (X/1999)
CLAMP needs to finish this up, yo. Please? I know this is like 20 years old. And the world didn't end in 1999. I need some closure though. I feel like this is canon, but I hardly ever see it mentioned anywhere. It's about a group of Japanese people who band together as the elements to save the world, woo super-lame summary.DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE. EVER. it is simply awful. The anime is, however, quite good.
Full Moon: O Sagashite, Vol. 1
Cute, adorable, perfect mahou shoujo. Go for it if you like the archetypal genre.
Notes from Underground, The Double and Other Stories (B&N Classics)
picked this up because of white nights, which i heard the movie "la fille sur le pont" was based on. finished notes from underground and have had existential/teenage angst since.
Chobits, Volume 1
herp derp I was one of those kids in the manga aisles of barnes and noble, reading these thangs. This is manga canon. Read it if you haven't already. Classic story appeals to everyone, clamp art is beautiful, be happy you aren't a robot. And now whenever I think of poor Japanese students, I think of Hideki.
