Ramble about Io Sakisaka

 

Today, I feel like rambling about the three series available in English by a recently popular mangaka, Io Sakisaka.

Most know that I enjoy a plethora of manga, I try not to judge or compare but after a while, you start to since reading and collecting mangas since my early teens, I have finally figured out what I like and dislike. What I want from series. What I expect from series.

So, I am now at a stage where I want to talk bluntly how I feel by comparing the works of one creator amongst their title range. I plan to do this with other creators like Arina Tanemura (Sakura Hime, Idol Dreams, Gentlemen's Alliance Cross), Junji Ito (Uzumaki, Gyo, Tomie) and Maki Enjoji (SP Baby, An Incurable Case of Love, Happy Marriage), just to name a few where I have several of their series.

Let's begin with these three shall we.

Firstly, Io Sakisaka specialises in school life shojo, which is pretty common for most shojo series. I enjoy the art, find it very cute but the story is debatable, depending on which series we look at.
Some of her characters are very distinct but I have moments where I think they all look the same but that's more me than anything else, so I believe.
The covers are usually colourful and appealing to look at and it's one of the reasons why I picked them up, outside of a few amazing friends saying I should give her works a go.

I started with Strobe Edge, which I enjoyed but the pity about it is, I can't recall the series at all. 
Maybe, compared to the other two who is recently ongoing, it didn't stick but I know it hasn't caused any negative reaction.
It is ten volumes long, which seems to be the shortest of the three, I may reread it again just to write a proper review as an apology to why this was so poorly done.

I know, for a fact, the "coven" I speak to really enjoys this title.

Next is Love Me, Love Me Not.
This one is honestly my favourite so far of the three.
I enjoy the characters, the story is rather interesting. Despite how vol3 ended, I think it did a better job of confronting issues rather than bugger around with the characters causing issues which could be seen as basically manipulation.
I could almost relate to the characters, mainly Yuna since she is rather quiet, which I myself was in HS, though I never had a liking to shojo since I wanted to be one of those girls. Yea, those "I ain't like most girls" which I bet I was since people always wanted to go against the grain of societies ideals.
Anyway, back to the series that is only three volumes in, with a few characters feeling around how to deal with relationships and how they progress and develop as the story moves on.
This is currently in print with Viz and Shojo Beat, will complete at the twelfth volume.

The final title happens to be the worst one for me,
I started to read Ao Haru Ride for two reasons.
Firstly, I wanted to support any shojo releases in hopes of gaining more series, like Honey Lemon Soda or even Rainbow Days. Secondly, the synopsis sounded good. It did start off amazingly but it started to go sour for me due to how Kou treated, not just his friends, but the two love interests.
Like many try to debate with me, I get Kou had a shitty past but that, in my opinion, doesn't give a character the right to mess with characters.
You ain't sure on how you feel, tell them, try to be honest, don't mess with people, it hurts them more than just you. In reality, being a dick to people get you ostracised, especially when you purposely push them away. A few may stick around but more often then not, it doesn't happen. I should know, I was like Kou, I had a rotten past and pushing people away, not hurt them and made them ditch me but it hurt me. I hate how this manga romanticises that. He was even a dick to the people who wanted to help him but the Kou fan-girls found this endearing and makes me wonder if they really ever interacted with someone like him, cause I bet you my bottom dollar, they call him an arsehole and ditch him.
Again, that's my opinion.

Otherwise the story had potential, mainly in the back-up cast since they seem more solid and less vapid.
Even Futuba, the main female protag, was as shitty as Kou. Sure, Touma shouldn't have been okay with being a replacement for Kou, even offering that option to her was pretty cruel cause shee honestly needed to be alone to deal with the loss of Kou since he couldn't just chose one or even say "I'm not ready, I have to fix myself" instead of letting the things play the way they did, which involved him screwing with Futuba and making her break off a relationship, cause he now decides that he wanted her.

I really did not like the main characters, I liked the idea but not where it went and I cannot wait for the thirteenth volume to finish this series, which is slated for early November, just to say that I've read it. As I say, I always finish what I have started, especially with collections.

So, in conclusion.
Read them and judge for yourself for I will always be bias and dictate what I like due to how I feel.
Personally, I'd skip Ao Haru Ride but it's popular and easier to get compared to Strobe Edge, as well as being one from the end. Love Me, Love Me Not has great potential to be an enjoyable read and worthy of being collected, it's also super cute.

You can obtain them here
Ao Haru Ride BD: http://bit.ly/BD-AoHaru
Love Me, Love Me Not BD: http://bit.ly/BD-LMLMN
Strobe Edge BD: https://bit.ly/BD-StrobeEdge

Day 1 - Manga and Goals

In a previous post, I stated that I started collecting in the early 2000’s and my collection has been small ‘til I started recollecting in 2016, where my last count was at 152 mangas. I took a picture during mid-2018 and its final total was in the 232 area, meaning I only went up about a good 80 mangas. Now, I have 626 physical books which is about 735 manga volumes to this date.

Collection about 2016

At that time, I started a manga-based Instagram where I felt so self-conscious about my collection due to being so small. This may have influenced my huge jump in mangas within the 6 months. A side of me is ashamed that such a shallow thing influenced me so much, but I really don’t regret it because I got both old and new series I always wanted to read and found a list of things that inspired me to post and eventually blog about since it brings me so much joy.

So, today’s post is more about my goals for this year and a good look on what I have ended the last year as.

I have a few goals in mind when it comes to my manga collection.

Mid-2018 

The first being to reach or at least get near 1,000 volumes.
I have a few sets lined up to procure in the next few days and waiting for a few to come in the mail.

The second goal is to finish at least 10 series I have started in the last year.
One of my main series goals is Fruits Basket, since it is a near and dear series to me. 

I will list the ten most likely to be completed this year, I hope.

• ·        Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition
• ·        Behind the Scenes
• ·        Princess Jellyfish (hopefully the boxset)
• ·        Your lie in April
• ·        Sankarea
• ·        Pita-Ten
• ·        Anything by Junji Ito
• ·        Kamisama Kiss
• ·        Dreamin Sun
• ·        Ghost in the Shell

I also hope to find and finish Battle Royale Ultimate, X and Hellsing since they are indeed much older and rarer compared to the above titles. I also hope not to start too many new series since I have so many ongoing series that I wish to get up to and stay up to date with. I shall share the top ten series 

I want to keep up to date within the new year.

• ·        The Promised Neverland
• ·        Platinum End
• ·        Magical Girl Site
• ·        Vampire Knight Memories
• ·        The Demon Prince of Momochi House
• ·        Machimaho
• ·        The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• ·        Danganronpa 2
• ·        Food Wars
• ·        Gantz Omnibus

End 2018 1/3

This is going to take a lot of effort and time considering that this is only 20 out of about 37 series that are either ongoing or ongoing with final chapters and not including series I hope to one day buy ‘cause either short or very interesting series going for cheap.

The third goal is simple, it’s a mix between reading manga a day and writing a small post about it and so far, I am behind. I plan to write up a small review about K-On 1 and 2 to cover the missing days. I really hope to make a habit of this where I just talk and share my love and enjoyment for manga. I may also do this about other hobbies including gaming and novels.

As mentioned before, the Instagram I started was because I wanted to share my love for manga with others and stumbled into the community. Then I saw all these people with amazing and huge collections, even if a lot of their main titles were recent manga I never heard of cause of my huge break from associating with manga. I do admit I got jealous cause I only had old and obsolete mangas compare to all these new, shiny and super popular manga and I wanted in. I felt at that point, I lost myself to it and it took me stepping back to realise that I was trying to appeal to others for the wrong reasons and so I just posted what I liked, and I am much happier with that.

End 2018 2/3

I also started making challenges to meet and bring new people to myself because I am a wuss when talking to new people and it helped in starting conversations. I honestly believe no matter how long I will do them, I will always be an amateur at it and it will forever be my own title.

During the new year, I posted a few people I enjoyed following and out of that, I found out that in one way or another, my Instagram had been either an influence or a source of enjoyment and that meant more to me than I realise cause it told me that people enjoyed what I shared with them to the extent that they either picked up the manga or gave them a smile. It’s things like that which made me happy I started it. I hope this continues and I hope to one day do giveaways as thanks for still following a potato like me.

End 2018 3/3

On other news, I plan to add more about my gaming and other hobbies as notes within each review since I want to, in a way, use this as a diary as well. I want to share what I like as a person since I feel that is more interesting than my personal issues. I can admit that my next four posts may be about K-On, which is the series I am currently reading or even manga mail because I ordered a lot in December and they are slowly making their way to me. Though I cannot wait to post about Magical Girl Site and finish another review I been delaying since last year.

I hope this wasn’t a boring post since I really wasn’t sure what to write and I hope that all who reads it has a happy and wonderful new year and can’t wait to see what new adventures are in store. Hopefully I don’t triple my manga amounts again, otherwise I won’t have a room to sleep in anymore.

Manga – Where did I begin?

I am not keen on restarting on a professional note but rather a personal one where people can understand where my hobbies started and other things that may not mean much but it could give me a to understand myself and my hobbies. 

I don’t recall when I started collecting manga exactly but I can mention how it all began and in a way, it wasn’t the best of reasons to start a hobby.

It began in HS, around 2003 when I made a group of friends who was into Anime and such. One day, they brought a manga in and I loved it because of how different and interesting it was but the other reason I kept liking it and anime was because I wanted to fit in and stay with these friends. So I kept collecting them.
It was when I was looking at these five that I remember the joy they brought me and that I didn’t buy them because of those friends but because I wanted them for myself. I manage to reclaim some series I nearly gave away at the time and spent a few years in a limbo where I was figuring myself out. It was about 2015 when I made my current group of friends and reminded me of why I loved Video Games and discovered I enjoyed Tabletop Games and games like DnD.
This is why I collect manga. They bring a joy to my usual somewhat gloomy world.

I started with Fruits Basket, Battle Royale, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits and X/1999. Sadly, I wish I recall who was first but I sadly can’t. I can recall going to EB when they use to have this tiny arse collection that I use to think was huge and I bought most of my volumes there, heck being $15aud a volume was a lot then but to me, it was worth spending a large chunk of pocket money on it, then again, I was 13/14 years old and had so little care other than knowing if I could get the next manga or another video game cause I could only have one or the other.

Then the next year, my friends took me to Kinokuniya where I use to save up and buy hundreds of dollars on mangas. I got into more series but mainly the ones my friends liked, since I still wanted to belong with them. This went on till for about a year and then the visits got less and eventually 2012/13 rolled around and that’s when things went wrong with my friends, slander was spread about me and I lost all my friends.

I no longer had a reason to keep collecting mangas or watch anime, the love for them died horribly. I could no longer look at them, so I tried to give them all away but when it came to the first five series I ever owned, I couldn’t let them go.

One of my friends, who is also my Ex, reminded me of why I use to love manga and it sort of rekindled my love for anime. Sadly it didn’t last long since I can’t get myself back into it. He helped me start buying manga again, as a way to help me feel better about my current issue and it worked for a bit but I couldn’t fully love them and I use to get angry at them for being such a bad reminder.

This is what Mouse did and it may not have been much at the time but now I realise it meant a lot.

Then I met my Mouse, he has helped me with myself and in turn, I started to love manga again. I started setting funds aside every pay to buy new volumes, to collect both old and new series, he even helps me buy them too. The one thing that helped me with ending my hatred for manga was the day I lost my temper at the manga, I couldn’t look at them, I couldn’t touch them. Mouse came over and helped me put them back on the shelf and made them look beautiful. I sat there, looking at them and since then, I started to let go of the stigma I had towards them. He really helped me that day when it came to manga and myself. I’m so glad I met and end up with an amazing guy like him.

I started with about 5 series and had fluctuations between the years until today where I have nearly 600 volumes in 90 series and 19 one-shots for a total of 109 manga titles. I regret one thing, it was letting this hobby have it’s love stolen by toxic people and missing out on some rare series or having volumes stolen and now having a hard time finding replacements. It’s the only regret but I am working on making this collection beautiful again, something to be amazed by.

I want to read so many stories, meet so many characters and enjoy what they can offer.

Manga Mumbles: Lets Talk Love Hina

Years ago, when I was a young Lass, I discovered manga and the choices back then was very limited and to make things even more fun, there was even less choices of where to find them and even worse if you don’t aim to travel to the city just for Manga. Back then I also use to be a weeb, into anime, worshipped Japan and thank the lords, I grew out of it, so the city was a frequent visit and back then, I wanted to read Love Hina but I delayed it for other series, like Battle Royale or Chobits.

Recently, I procured my partners 12 volumes of the series and read them all. I don’t look forward to the ending since I am in two minds about what I read to this point.

Let’s start with the first 8 volumes.

I did not like them. It was the same themes and, to be honest, abuse but in different areas and the story was not just going anyway. Sure, I love series that try and establish the goal and characters but I felt like it took 8 volumes to get anyway. The harem concept was a joke cause it’s super predictable that Naru, who constantly beats up Keitaro, is going to be the girl he marries. Another thing about Naru is the constant attacks on the guy, even when she is at fault. After the first few falls which results in tit grabs and garments being taken off, it loses its humour and becomes annoying cause it doesn’t stop.

I honestly wish I could talk more about the other characters but half the time, they are just in the background or props for more shit to be dished out on the somewhat boring and useless main protag. 

I get that when it was released, this use to be the best thing in Manga but reading it over ten years from it’s prime time, it’s not that great.

In my opinion, the first 8 volumes are just one giant filler.

Now, volume 9 started to garner interest from me cause it feels like the story was actually going somewhere. The characters seem to finally have a reason for being there besides props for the main two characters. The plot seems to make sense since they are now in Tokyo U and everything seems to finally mean something to the reader, it means progress.

Then, another character comes in and throws the story into a spin. I mean, at this point, why bother? 

Just means more work for both creator and reader but this addition brings in the whole incest thing which is beyond creepy in my opinion but I do admit, with her in the mix, it gave a spice to the story which also makes Naru pull her finger out her arse and do something about her feelings with Keitaro, which took nearly the whole series to get to this stage which should have been done when Mutsumi proposed herself as a love interest as Keitaro. No, we have to drag out an already dragged out series.

Normally I would rant and rave till the cows come home about how cliché and boring this series is and wonder how this actually got popular if it didn’t have the fan-service and harem themes that usually brings all the hormone driven males to their shores. I am still disappointed that it took 8 mangas to get somewhere interesting. I admit, I kept reading cause I love Tama-chan.

Now, I shall actually talk about the manga themselves.
For an older manga, the art style is still lovely but sometimes it gets really busy and overwhelming sometimes but at least they are utilising all the space.

The story is bland at best but it only really gets interesting after 8 volumes of filler work under the guise of story establishment. I mean, how hard is it to establish a story of a guy wanting to get into Tokyo U to fulfil a promise while living in luxury with a harem of gorgeous women, debatably with underage ones too, and then finally fulfilling that promise and marrying the girl of his dreams? 

Apparently with 8 filler volumes and 7 volumes of actual story where shit gets done.

Now the characters are not that great at first. The progress best when the story actually started to get interesting. Why won’t I say more on this or anything? All I can say is boring, bland and cliché. That’s this series in a nutshell and it’s quite sad. I bet if they remade it with all the good parts, I would probably have bought the series. I kind of glad that I never bought it originally, otherwise it may have ended up being a series I regret buying and would dump it on my friends who gets it up for the harem/fan-service/empty mangas like this.

I do apologise that this is not as positive as I would have liked but that would be lying. I actually struggled to read this series as a whole and I rarely take more than a few hours, let alone two weeks to read twelve volumes of a manga series. This says a lot about the series if anyone knows what I am like with a good manga. Spoiler: I read mangas in an hour or so cause I love a good story and I absorb it so much to the extent I regret finishing it, like I did with That Wolf-Boy is mine. Actually, I’d recommend that more than Love Hina and it could have done more with story.

Ken Akamatsu is a fascinating mangaka since I prefer some of his other series more than Love Hina, such as Negima and UQ Holder which are of the fantasy and supernatural themes but also have a reverse harem thing too. I also like the fact that he is a creator to the J-comi site that distributes digital versions of out-of-print manga. As much as I don’t like Love Hina, I feel that Ken did his best since this was his second series to garner much attention after A.I. Love You. If you are like me and can’t travel to local stores, you can purchase copies of his mangas from sites such as Book Depository.

Volume 1: $25.39aud (https://www.bookdepository.com/Love-Hina-Omnibus-1-Ken-Akamatsu/9781935429470?ref=grid-view&qid=1529977609622&sr=1-1)
Volume 2: $22.09aud (https://www.bookdepository.com/Love-Hina-Omnibus-2-Ken-Akamatsu/9781935429487?ref=grid-view&qid=1529977609622&sr=1-4)
Volume 3: $25.05aud (https://www.bookdepository.com/Love-Hina-Omnibus-3-Ken-Akamatsu/9781612620206?ref=grid-view&qid=1529977609622&sr=1-2)
Volume 4: $25.03aud (https://www.bookdepository.com/Love-Hina-Omnibus-4-Ken-Akamatsu/9781612620213?ref=grid-view&qid=1529977609622&sr=1-5)
Volume 5: $19.85aud (https://www.bookdepository.com/Love-Hina-Omnibus-5-Ken-Akamatsu/9781612620220?ref=grid-view&qid=1529977609622&sr=1-3)

Manga Mumbles: NGE Campus Apocalypse Vol.2

So I have nothing really worthwhile to say about the joys of manga and what this series offers me.

I do simply enjoy the art of Angel Rei and Virgin Mary Asuka that is seen in the second volume of Campus Apocalypse.

More about the series is basically the children of the Evangelion are fighting angels who seem to appear in human forms with their Evas which are weapons made from their will, which in turn dictates that the stronger the will, stronger the weapon is.
I do enjoy this concept very much and makes this series rather enjoyable and unique. I am still reading volume two but this may be short lived since I have gaming activities for the next two days.

I may review them instead of manga for the duration of my weekend. Not that anyone actually read these posts lol