What I Read The Week of Sept 19th

I am literally forcing myself to try and write lol. Please be patient with me, recovery has been rough lately. Thank you for coming here to read this! I have been really getting back into reading manga, like I’m working towards a free pizza from my library’s summer reading program. Thanks to apps like Libby/Overdrive and BookWalker, I have been able to access a lot of manga I have been meaning to get to and also discover a bunch of new titles I hadn’t heard of before. And there’s also Webtoon, the Shonen Jump app, and the MANGA Plus by Shuiesha with tons of great serializations. I don’t want to complicate this opening too much more, so just get ready to find out what I read this week!

Libby/Overdrive

Unfortunately I did not get to read much on this app this week, as I was only able to borrow one manga out of my holds. It was a manga that had really cool cover art, so I thought I would give it a try! The manga is from the Los Angeles Public Library and it is volume one of SHWD (Special Hazardous Waste Disposal) by sono.N. Seven Seas Entertainment’s website has this manga marked as Action, Horror, Science Fiction, Supernatural, Yuri, which surprises me! I didn’t even put a hold on it because it looked like a yuri, I just saw two girls looking cool on the cover and chose it, LOL. The first volume/”episode” introduces the main characters as well as a bit of backstory for the character Koga, and the explanation of the job she and her manager Sawada perform together.

It was good! I went in blind and I’m satisfied with what the story is setting up. I have episode 2 borrowed but I just haven’t gotten to it yet. I also have Springtime by the Windows Vol 1 by Suzuyuki, Our Colors by Gengoroh Tagame, and Sensei’s Pious Lie by Akane Torikai. I am excited to see what these manga are about. I did read My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame so I’m hoping I really enjoy this series as well.

BookWalker

I have too many titles on here I haven’t finished reading yet!! I usually read the chapter of Tokyo Mew Mew that the new anime covers. While it still mostly follows the original manga’s plot, Tokyo Mew Mew New seems to be splitting from it more often in these past two or so episodes. No spoilers, but events are occurring in different order than before, as well as the implementation of new characters that are influencing the plot to go in new directions. 

I ended up buying a few books as well since I had coin expiring at the end of the month. I picked up My Next Life as a Villainess Side Story: Girls Patch and Vol 1 of 1122: For a Happy Marriage. I also bought the first three volumes of Delicious in Dungeon/Dungeon Meshi to read as well in preparation for the new anime adaptation. 

Webtoon

Okay so this happened technically before my criteria of a “week” (Sunday to Monday) but I don’t think it would be right to NOT mention it but technically the webtoon True Beauty ended last week. It’s time really has come, but I am sad to see it be over. It’s bittersweet! I have been reading it weekly for so long, it will feel a bit lonely not having it to look forward to each Wednesday. :,(

I actually am subscribed to quite a few webtoons. On Sunday I was trying to get into Protect The Knight. I love the art but I’m sort of iffy on the premise. I want to try getting through to the first five chapters though to see if I enjoy it more.

I also read a couple free daily series: A Fake Affair, Moon You, and No Outtakes. I was recommended A Fake Affair by a fellow Utena fan and it’s been really fun. Akiko Higashimura really knows how to get those expressions just right. I’m familiar of their work from Jellyfish Princess and I quite love their art style. Moon You can be a bit rough at times but right now I’m in a very tense part of the story so I am looking forward to reading it lately. No Outtakes is cute! I like Jaerin, she’s a little freak lmao. I would absolutely go feral inside if I saw Yui Ito irl in her Sakura costume so I can relate though. I enjoy this series!

Shonen Jump

Whoa we only got Spy x Family this Sunday! I rarely check the dates of when the next chapter of a series will be posted on this app because I always just assume it’ll always be there Sunday morning lmao. Go read Spy x Family!! It’s silly and intriguing, I look forward to the next season of the anime. 

The rest of the chapters showed up on Monday. My weekly reads are: My Hero Academia, Akane-banashi, Blue Box, and Super Smartphone. I SUPER recommend Akane-banashi. It’s about rakugo, which is a traditional Japanese performance art of monologuing stories. It’s so cool, I would love to see a live performance some day! I’ve watched a few videos( [1], [2] ) on youtube. I would love to train and perform at a convention some day!! I’m totally enamored with this style of acting. Definitely check out Akane-banashi!!

I’ve actually started One Piece LOL. I finally did it and it’s totally super good, like mega good! I didn’t not believe it but I didn’t understand it until I finally started reading it. Oda is one of the only mangaka I can really feel having fun with each chapter. Also he’s extremely worldy, and I love how he utilizes that knowledge to enhance the characters he creates. I like reading the SBS Question Corner after each chapter. I am so bummed though, in one chapter around Skypiea, Oda mentioned that the next pages were going to be a mini comic but the Shonen Jump app didn’t include it and ended the chapter right there!! :,,,,,( Man I really wanna read it. I’ll just borrow the volume it’s in from Libby and read it there though. I need to go back and remember what chapter it was after!

MANGA Plus

I just got into this app a week or two back, but I’ve found a bunch of cool manga series to read! Tis’ Time for Torture, Princess, Oshi no Ko, Moebana, You and I Are Polar Opposites, and there’s even more that look hella cool that I haven’t gotten to yet. I don’t wanna overload myself with too many stories at once. 

And finally, I picked up my physical copy of the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga and began reading it in earnest. I know the basic premise of the manga’s plot (which actually has a bunch of differences from the anime!) but I haven’t read it in full yet, so I decided to open volume one on Sunday to read. The differences are a bit to get used to, but I like this direction too. There’s also SO MANY beautiful panels. There’s particularly one illustration of Anthy I am thinking I’d like a tattoo of. The manga is  almost like an Utena AU but even then it’s not a great enough description. If you like or are even interested in Revolutionary Girl Utena, I feel like reading the manga is a great experience that shouldn’t be overlooked.

So… that’s what I read this week! I hope you check out some of the series I recommend. I love to share things that I love! Well that’s it, pray for me that I can keep up with this little writing project I got goin on! Feel free to tell me what you’re reading this week on Twitter!

Please take care of yourself! I’ll see you next week (hold me to it!!!) 🙂 ❀