Day 25 – Manga Procurement Squad #5

The recent unofficial collector has picked up a huge bundle for me and they are added to the collection quite nicely. Not all are from that bundle but there is a few that I got from Lifeline and the rest are either cute knick knacks, books and even sweets from the ever so amazing Mouse. Trust me, I will mention which come from where and the usual info, sadly I been a bit slow on reading but hopefully I can fix that up within the coming weeks, since I am reducing on buying the lovely mangas, unless they are a good bundle for a good price.

The newest children are:

• Mayo Chiki (Complete) Omnibus 1-3
• Mysterious Girlfriend X 1
• Genshiken (Complete) Omnibus 1-3
• Yotsuba&1-3
• Beast Master 1
• God Child (Complete) 1-8
• Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz 1-2
• Vampire Game 1-6
• Black Clover 1
• Hana-Kimi Omnibus 1
• Pokemon 1
• Crazy Rich Asians
• 3 Lying Cats
• Basilisk

So, let’s begin with the mangas that I got from facebook.
One bundle consisted of Beast Master, God Child and Alice in the country of Clover and they are pretty good condition, minus the fact that God Child needed a wipe down due to the dirt or what not on the covers. I enjoyed reading the Alice mangas and waiting till I get Cain Saga before I can read God Child as well. Beast Master was an amazing read as well, if it was any longer, it would have been ruined but then again, there is a review about it on this blog.

Bundle two off of Facebook is basically the Omnibus collection and Yotsuba&.
I started to try and Yotsuba& but I was a little turned off from the yelling in it, but I am hoping to read the others to see if it gets better, for now they are on the backburner in regards to buying them.
Mayo Chiki, Genshiken and Mysterious Girlfriend X are a few I am quite happy with and cannot wait to read them. Mysterious only has five more volumes until it is complete while the other two are complete. They came in such amazing conditions and the price made it worth procuring, even the one I am very iffy with.

Now, the rest of manga is the ones from Lifeline.
First we have a lovely collection of Vampire Game where I am only missing, oh, 9 volumes until it is complete.

Black Clover has up to 19 volumes out and surprisingly, not a bad series and I hope to procure the rest at a later time.

Now, Hana-Kimi, I enjoyed a lot and knowing I can get about 7 more volumes to complete, what is normally a 23 volume series, is even better. I enjoy the concept of seeing a girl survive in an all-boys school just to be close to her idol amuses me to no end.

Pokemon was todays purchase and I am kind of hoping to see if it is like the original series but I don’t have the highest of hopes, but I do hope it’s entertaining either way.

The condition of the mangas are pretty amazing for mangas being left in a second-hand store and I am very happy to have them in my collection. I also cannot wait to read them after I finish Sankarea, especially Pokemon.

Now onto the last bits of this purchase/acquisition phase.

I have four new pop friends in the form of Harry Potter’s Basilisk, three Lying Cats and one of them seems to have a lot of fun eliminating a foe. I may not have read Saga, but I do enjoy the looks and concept of the Lying Cat and I only did a bit of research, just to have a little idea of what I bought.

I also recently got Crazy Rich Asians since I did watch the movie, very much enjoyed it and hope the book is just as amazing or even better than the film. It’s just a pity that I haven’t been motivated to read as much as I should have but either way, I am glad to see it join the growing ranks of novels.

The final item is the box of chocolates my lovely partner got because it was a great price and he knows that I absolutely love Cookies and Cream anything. He claims it’s for Valentines and I just glad he got me something I’d enjoy and share with him cause they are so yummy.

So that’s the huge procurement bundle I got some time ago and I am so glad to share these and the others I got because I just a sucker for a good deal. Next coming up is the mail haul, which is a few rare mangas for an even cheaper price than these ones and they were pretty damn cheap. I really need to start reviewing and less procurement stuff. Until next time, read more stuff!

Day 24 – Weekly Reads (29th Jan – 4th Feb)

Smaller pile this week but finished reading one series and read all the Naruto that is in my care. I really enjoyed all my reads this week, but I hope to now add in some novels in the next week since I have a few I have been delaying in my reading.

I am pleased to have read a small pile, even though it’s not as many as I did the last few weeks. We have read the following:

• Naruto 53-60
• Beast Master 1-2
• Black Clover 1
• Food Wars 5-6
• Alice in the country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz 1-2

Surprisingly, Black Clover is my favoured manga this week since I had a very low opinion of it.
I really enjoy the story and where it could go, kind of reminds me of Naruto, about a boy who lacks the skills but aims for the top. I enjoy the seriousness of it and the comedic aspect of it and I hope to read more but that involves buying more, which will be after a few mangas have been collected and finished before I can continue further, such as Food Wars.

The lower end one is Naruto because I hate leaving myself on a cliff-hanger.
I am hoping to one day procure the last 12 mangas to finish the series and lament in the sorrowful ending of saying goodbye to another series that I oddly started to enjoy reading after spending so long thinking it’s kind of not worth reading.

The other series that sits at the bottom is Alice in the country of Clover since it also ended on a cliff-hanger and is probably going to be a bigger pain to procure them. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the series, the art and especially the story, which is also applicable to Naruto.

Why is Beast Master and Food Wars being in the middle?
Food Wars is amazing as always, but I have so much to catch up on since it is nearing the 30 volume and I am super behind on it and its amazing story. I cannot believe that I am taking so long to collect and get up to date with this series. I am also enjoying where the series is going with the Fall Contest and all.

Beast Master was an amazing read for such a short series, and I have spoken at longer lengths about it in the previous review that I have written up and I feel like I couldn’t add more to it here compared to the previous review.

Hopefully I look forward to seeing if I can increase my reading types and hopefully keep to reading a combo of more than 7 mangas and books a week. I am really pleased though that I am at least 60 volumes in to reading Naruto and boy was that a ride. Hopefully this week promises to have more entertaining posts and maybe a manga mail. If not, I will think of something to post about. Until then, read more things.

Day 23 - Beast Master + Black Clover vol 1 Rambles

Since this week brought no new mangas through my mail, I will review two mangas I have read in the last two days, since they are fresh in my memory.

First up, we have Beast Master.

This manga is penned by Kyousuke Motomi and is only two volumes long with two short stories in it.

The story is simple, Yuiko loves animals but they don’t feel the same. Then she meets wild boy Leo, who may as well be a human animal. At the site of blood, he loses control, but it seems Yuiko can apparently tame that beast. This story seems to revolve around them and their relationship.

The art is really nice, expressive and quite enticing. I love how the story makes me feel, to the extent that I basically read both mangas in one sitting, which is quite uncommon for me these days. It’s simple but deep and I wanted to see how they ended. The characters are really funny yet can be serious when needed. I feel like I can relate to this story a lot, especially when they talk about the beast inside everyone and it’s quite a scary being, since I myself knows what it’s like when that beast gets loose.

Complete set

Now, the other two stories called Fly and Cactus Summer surprise are two really sweet stories.

Fly is about a girl named Yui with a dream of becoming a pilot, but her parents expect her to become doctors. So, she believes if she sees one more rainbow by months end, it might not be an impossible dream. Her friend named Arata hopes to see her get her dream come true but does the rainbow come before the end?
Apparently, the story didn’t do well but I think it was a beautiful story about going after your dreams and how a rainbow can lead you there. It’s short, simple and I teared up at the end of it because it was just a super sweet story. Fly is the end piece of volume 1.

The second one, Cactus summer surprise, is a bit longer and is simply about the magic of a cactus which changes the lives and perspectives of the characters in it, it’s also about saying what you truly feel before it’s too late. It’s hard to give an overview of the story since it’s not that simple but it’s an amazing read and I was glad to be able to read it. You can find this story at the end of volume 2.

Now the second review is volume 1 of Black Clover.

I got this volume from lifeline for a dollar because I have always seen people read and rave about how good the series is. So, out of curiousity and being extremely cheap, I picked it up. At first, I was planning to put it up for the giveaway after I gandered through it but changed my mind after reading it.

Volume 1

It reminds me a lot of Naruto in a way.
The rival between the loser loudmouth and the genius silent guy, aiming to be the most powerful position in their worlds and facing things that is difficult but benefits the loser, such as gaining a powerful item or ability/creature but that’s the points I notice the most.

Now, Black Cover is about Asta wanting to become wizard king despite not having any magical ability till he gains the five-clover grimoire and it follows his story as he enters the Magic Knights to set himself on the path to not only beat his rival Yuno but to become Wizard King.

I like the story and I find it really funny despite its serious undertone and I really want to read more about it since it reminds me of Naruto a bit. The art is pleasant, and I enjoy the details it presents in the story. I am unsure on what else to add since this is only the beginning, but I do enjoy all the characters I met so far, not so much the shifty ones or the noble snobs that are proving to be as shallow as a puddle.

Sorry for the lack of mail and also for the lack of procurement blog, since it’s been moved to the upcoming Thursday since the end of month stats come first before an actual post, since I love seeing how much I do or have planned within that month that rolls over to all the other months.
I look forward to writing more rambley reviews since I still have a large Naruto one to do and I am reading a few more that I have sitting next to me. The images should be giving hints on what they will be.

Ratings
Beast Master - 5/5 Bookmarks

Black Clover - 4/5 Bookmarks