Day 32 – Weekly Reads (19th – 25th)

Salutations!
I know, I missed the manga mail on the Saturday but that’s because I felt like mentioning one manga wouldn’t be much of a post and wanted it to join any that is coming in this week, so the little Goldfish wasn’t a lonely Goldfish.

With that formality out of the way, I seem to have read sixteen mangas this week and feel super proud of myself. This following week may have more or less but who knows. Let’s start talking about the lovely mangas that had its pages caressed this week.

The sixteen contestants that was read this week is:

• Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy
• Dead Mount Death Play vol. 1
• Gantz G vol. 1-2
• Happy Marriage?! Vol. 3-4
• Persona Q vol. 3-4
• Platinum End vol. 1-7
• Shibuya Goldfish vol. 3

I didn’t have a favourite or least favourite since I really enjoyed them all. They were all enjoyable, even though for one, I am in the middle of reading since I finally have all the volumes here to read.

Let’s start from the top.

First, we have Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy, which as cute as it sounds, it actually has a dark theme and kind of an amazing ending to me. Seems to be a stand-alone volume, though the internet searches keep mentioning volume one when it seems like the whole story seems to be done in just the lone volume, so I go with my feeling that it is a single, self-contained volume.
It’s the cliché of the beautiful girl is in love with the socially awkward childhood friend and confesses but she is rejected since “you’re too perfect”. Devastated, she transforms into a caterpillar and tries again.

I’m really pleased about how the story seems like a cliché, in a way but it was something I didn’t expect, and I really enjoyed reading it so much. It’s deep, dark and really sweet, in a dark way. I also feels it’s a bit underrated since I rarely hear anyone else talk about it. I enjoy the art and there is so many cute scenes in this manga, especially when Suzume is trying to eat the bun in her caterpillar form, it just kills me with how cute it is.

The next three series make it look like I been playing in the mature section of the only Kinokuniya in my area, which involves an hour plus train trip into the city of Sydney, and basically went “yes, this seems like a great idea”, which it is for me.

First, we have Dead Mount Death Play, which seems to be a recent released manga since it seems to be the only volume available. To me, it seems like a reverse Isekai, since the genre is usually someone going from a fairly normal world to a supernatural place but in this case, it’s more like a supernatural being going into a fairly normal world without magic. Which I find more interesting than the usual Isekai stuff. Which, to me, feels like the same thing with different looks and having a contest on seeing who can make the longest title while being relevant to what the story is about. Yes, one can guess I don’t like Isekai much.

Anyway, the story follows Polka Shinoyama but he woke up feeling not quite as himself cause at the time before he awakens, a showdown happens between a legendary hero and a Necromancer by the name Corpse God, where the God casts a reincarnation magic just as the battle is over. Who knew that one battle could leave someone in another time and place would be feeling like this.
At first I was a bit indifferent about it, thinking it might not have been a wise buy but the more I read it, the more I really enjoyed the story, the art and the characters, gosh, I really love the characters and I cannot wait till volume 2 is available to purchase.

Gantz G is sitting in the middle, where it is less sexual than the two around it and seems to be more violent and gory, which is one key reason to me purchasing it, outside the fact that I do enjoy the Gantz series which I am also buying the omnibus for.

This series now follows a group of students that did not survive a lethal bus plunge and awaken to be faced with a black sphere reminding them that their lives are no longer theirs and they now must fight for the right to live by taking out aliens for points. This is just the beginning where that being dead doesn’t mean you can’t die again.

The first volume follows them being tossed into the world of Gantz and the second one is the characters slowly realising that they must learn about the suits and weapons and how to fight the system in order to live and eventually either bring back themselves, in most cases or Naiki, a fellow classmate, in Kurona’s case. In some cases, it’s more personal and on the path of revenge.
The art is still the same old Gantz and it is really relaxing for me and I am enjoying the story but, in usual fashion of mine, I am a bit miffed about having to wait for the next volume since I am very impatient but I can wait since I also have to wait for the 3^rd omnibus of Gantz to purchase with it. I do plan to keep on top of it, unlike of the single volumes of Gantz.

The final mature manga of the pile and is pretty much violent free compared to the other two.
I have been waiting quite some time to finally read this series in one go and the time finally has arrived, and I am very pleased with that. I did skim the ending of two since I did previously read it and to continue onwards with three and boy, is it getting interesting.
Happy Marriage is a manga by Maki Enjoji where Chiwa Takanashi has married the CEO Hokuto Mamiya to get her father out of debt. To her, Hokuto is a total stranger and this tale follows how these two make it work despite all the obstacles.

Book three follows Chiwa and Hokuto having an overnight trip together in his hometown where more information about his birth is shared, this causes Chiwa to feel closer to him and falls deeper in love with the stranger she married but does he feel the same? Especially when he confesses the real reason of the marriage, but more importantly, will she feel the same?

Book four continues where they are trying to make love but it ends in failure which spirals with Chiwa drinking with an old friend every night but she is not feeling alone in the blame when Hokuto feels the same, but will this distance growing be the end of them?

I really enjoy this series even if it does annoy me sometimes, especially Chiwa, but I do admit she probably is the reason I keep reading it and it’s probably the most smutty manga I own, considering I seem to favour violent, horror and dark manga more but it’s no fun to keep a narrow collection. I have about six more volumes to read and confess at this time I did finish reading 5 but feel like it make a good starting point for the next weekly reads. I really do recommend this manga if you enjoy romance, drama and a bit of smutty sex action.

Now back to the tamer side of manga where violence and sex are not impending and lasting several pages. We shall start with the last two volumes of Persona Q.

Volume three picks up with the two leaders facing off the Priest on the coffin boss. They do defeat it eventually and they continue through the labyrinth where they hope to unlock Zen’s memories and find their way back home. Two out of the four are completed with two more to go, this time they are faced with the “Evil Spirit Club”, will they be able to keep going or will they be frozen with fear!?

Book four brings us to the final volume of this series as the culture fest is coming to an end and we are left following the teams into the final labyrinth, but it seems that their final F.O.E is Rei’s Shadow! This is when Zen reveals the truth behind both him and Rei and in turn, reveals how the labyrinth has come into being. Before long Rei is swooped up by the shadows and traps her in the clock tower. It’s up to the teams to go and save her and bring them all back home.

I was really pleased when I heard that this series was being continued but stunned to find out that it finished with the fourth volume, but I couldn’t imagine it going further than the four. So, in usual collector fashion, I finally ordered the last two and read them and it was one hell of a ride. I still have a fondness for Rei and Zen, and it was such a sweet tale behind their pasts, and I am kind of sad that this had to end. It’s a great series to pick up if you enjoy a fantasy adventure with a lot of comedy or a Persona fan, really nice collection builder too since it’s small and a quick read.

Now, I been a bit tardy on reading this series and I finally got around to reading the seven volumes of Platinum End while waiting for eight to finally be released. Yes, it is currently on pre-order and I am so excited since it ended on an intense cliff-hanger in volume seven. Instead of talking about each volume individually, I will try and merge it into a small paragraph.

From the creators of Death Note and Bakuman, we present Platinum End, a series that follows Mirai as he decides to leave his dark world behind but is saved by an angel. She informs Mirai that she is his candidate in becoming the next god and is up against 12 others who have been saved like him and given a second chance at living while armed with wings or arrows or both. He may have an angel at his side, but he may become a devil in order to survive but he is not the only one, as a fellow candidate has made himself into a superhero to try and out some of the competition. As in the second volume, Mirai is shot by the red arrow by a fellow candidate and it is none other than the girl he always had a crush on, Saki. So, thanks to it, he has become her wings, even after the effects wore, he still vows to work with her. After dealing with a huge ordeal, a new candidate, Mukaido, approaches them and seems to want to form an alliance against the superhero, Metropoliman, who seems to have a drive to remove all the candidates.

Around the fourth volume, they face-off and this is where Mirai seems to make it clear that her has no intention to ever kill anyone, not even a candidate but Metropoliman has every intention to do whatever it takes to make it to the god position, especially killing. Saki still struggles with herself but eventually overcomes it and is trying her best to be able to help in any way. Then a new candidate appears, and he wields a katana for good measures. Things get more intense when Mukaido goes to save his family and becomes trapped, Mirai seems to throw logic out the window in hopes to save him. It’s thanks to Saki, they were able to get out of one problem into another involving a killer virus which is dealt with but is now left with one major problem, what they can do against the merciless and dangerous Metropoliman.

That is basically an overview of seven volumes of Platinum End, I hope to not reveal too much since it is a pretty amazing series and I really hope to see more people read and share it. I honestly like it a bit more than Death Note and that series is high up in my list of mangas I enjoy. I love the details and imagery, it projects so much, and I feel so entranced by the series and I cannot wait to read the next volume, which in usual fashion has been pre-ordered.

Finally, we are left with Shibuya Goldfish who came in this week and was finished in no time. It is also the tallest manga series out of them, but I am glad it came in, especially since it was a lot earlier than anticipated, which surprised me and a few others when I mentioned it, but I will talk more about that in the coming manga mail.

This continues with Hajime and Alisa were basically pushed into danger because of the Sable being his typical self, where he only cares for himself. Despite his violent nature, the duo realises that they can’t chose their allies but can pull them into the same position as you, even if they seem way more capable.
Sable has a plan to defeat the fish and brings the pair into the plan, as the situation grows dire as a new problem comes into the picture which forces them to make the choice; act now by teaming up and taking the fight to the fish or wait to be saved or die waiting.

I enjoy this series cause, like a few in this pile, it’s different and rather interesting, even if I didn’t like the series at first but I now don’t regret buying it since the story gets much more interesting as we progress but I am still keen on finding out how and why this all started, decides the little possible snip-bits that the side stories seem to be giving but I can’t wait to possibly pre-order the next volume since that has been the cheaper option of late with some mangas, got to love Book Depository for that lovely option, since I have a few on pre-order currently.

I may change the image type if I keep writing these blogs as long as I have been doing recently and give you a better look at the mangas in question. I am also thinking of doing my manga challenges here for my own amusement. I do hope you enjoy reading about these amazing reads and hopefully inspire you to pick up a copy too. Until next time, read all the things!