ZA Furries

I dun think that's really necessary Adagio. :v I doubt people really pay much attention to what's posted on this thread anyway. ;3

This time I'll be recommending Miss Kitty's and her Bodyguards. http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Miss-Kitty-a ... Bodyguards

It's actually a furry webcomic about the bodyguards of the daughter of this mob(?) boss and their shenanigans. Milady is so adorable. <3

Also, it has a little thread of something more than just an ordinary comedy so that's also nice. :3

Zannen Jokanbu Black General-san, by Jin (the same guy who made Ii Orc no Hi). http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Zannen-Jokan ... ?id=310573

Summary wrote:Miss Black General is the villainous leader of RX, a secret organization bent on world-domination. Unfortunately, Miss Black General also has a huge crush on Brave Man, a costumed superhero dedicated to foiling RX's evil schemes, and she often mistakes his violent heroics for an overly enthusiastic form of flirtation. So how exactly is she going to conquer the world when she can't even conquer her own feelings? And how will Brave Man respond to this odd twist?

This starts off a little repetitive, but the humour quickly ramps up once more characters get introduced and their quirky personalities have a chance to play off of each other. It even has a few furry and semi-furry characters. Absolutely hilarious. Also...

>.>
<.<

I love girls with fangs and/or shark teeth. :3

Anna Karenina, recently I completed an arduous slog through War and Peace so I've decided to work my way through all of the Russian classics. So far it's been considerably more engaging than War and Peace, although many of the dramatis personae have exhibited similarities to those of War and Peace.

"Out-Of-Placers" by Valsalia. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13286847

The main plot points sort of come flying out of left field, so it'd be difficult to say too much without spoiling anything, but what I will say is that the strengths of this story are the world building and the social interactions of the different species and races, which are nicely varied, original, and quite entertaining. Overall, this is a fun, humorous little romp full of laughs and even occasional feels.

PS: Like most webcomics of this nature, the art gets progressively better.

"The Knight of Flower, Dakini" by Shibamoto Sho. http://kissmanga.com/Manga/The-Knight-o ... ?id=388663

Summary wrote:Eyden L. Schutzer always had a passion for art. He enjoyed his peaceful life as an art school student in a town filled with life and beauty. But everything changed when the Sky Golems--mythological creatures of destruction--appeared without warning. The Sky Golems unleashed a storm of thunderbolts and destroyed the town, along with Eyden's days of peace. One year passes; Eyden is now suffering from depression after witnessing the fragility of the world. Desperate to rekindle his passion for art, he wanders around a town's landscapes and finds Dakini, a mute girl who carries a wooden sword around her waist. Eyden's meeting with Dakini will change his life forever.

There are only two chapters out so far, but I absolutely love it. The central theme revolves around the power of art and its ability to change the hearts and minds of those it touches, and as a writer this is something I hold very dear.

The entire cast is made up of anthro's, and that makes things even more interesting.

I'm paging through Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer.

This is the first Rick Riordan book I've had the pleasure of reading, and his writing really does live up to the hype! The characters are extremely likeable and despite all the crazy twists and turns, things do somehow end up connecting!

I just finished reading "Kinata Kara", by Hikawa Kyouko. http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Kanata-Kara/1?id=66124
It was the cheesiest, most hackneyed and melodramatic thing ever, but I loved every minute of it. :3

Summary wrote:Walking home from school one day, Noriko is innocently caught up in a terrorist bombing. Rather than being blown to bits, she finds herself transported to another world; a world in which darkness seems on the rise, as its powers desperately search for a being known as the Awakening whom it is said will awaken the Sky Demon. She finds this new world to be dangerous and overwhelming, and Noriko has little choice but to throw her lot in with the mysteriously powerful man she encounters upon her arrival. The enigma of this world and her role in it will gradually unfold, but first things first: Noriko must learn their language!

In 2004, this manga won the 35th annual Seiun Award for best science fiction comic.

I recently finished "Pandemonium" by Shibamoto Sho, the same guy making "The Knight of Flower, Dakini". It takes place in the same universe, and is about a guy wandering through the desert with a box on his back, apparently searching for something. He collapses from exhaustion and dehydration, but gets rescued by some very... unique individuals.

This story was sooooo good. I cannot recommend it enough. And, like Shibamoto's other work, all the characters are anthro's.

PS: Unlike most manga, this one reads from left to right.

http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Pandemonium- ... ?id=216233

Contrast wrote: ↑Sat Nov 25, 2017 10:09 am I recently finished "Pandemonium" by Shibamoto Sho, the same guy making "The Knight of Flower, Dakini". It takes place in the same universe, and is about a guy wandering through the desert with a box on his back, apparently searching for something. He collapses from exhaustion and dehydration, but gets rescued by some very... unique individuals.

This story was sooooo good. I cannot recommend it enough. And, like Shibamoto's other work, all the characters are anthro's.

PS: Unlike most manga, this one reads from left to right.

http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Pandemonium- ... ?id=216233

I actually remember reading that a few years ago. I think I remember what the twist was but I won't spoil it. I know it's good, as I remember keeping it bookmarked cause I never wanted to forget it. This was on my old computer. A pity I ended up doing just that when that PC fried. Thanks for reminding me. ^^


**************************************
Now onto what I've been reading recently. Beware this may end up being a bit long so bear with me.

A week or so ago, I've finally, after hours of agony, finished one of the books I mentioned I was busy with. Kiss the Dead by Laurell K Hamilton. And I have to say that I have never in my life been so offended by such poor storytelling in my life. (I'd even go as far as to say I was... triggered. Dun-dun-duuuuun.) I mean, I had already been half-way into the book for about a year, and was postponing it cause I knew this would be how I felt at the end, but the open book was eating at the back of my mind so I finally gave in finished it.

And boy was it a challenge. There are parts in this book that are so cringe inducing you literally have to put the book down, and walk away. I'd say its about as bad as watching a stand-up comedian fail. Here's an example. There is literally a character that she introduced that is basically that cliche token gay character you see appear in every series/movie/whatever. Like. This guy is supposed to be part of the police force and we're supposed to take him seriously, but here he's going on about how he's jealous of the MC's boyfriends and how hawt they are and I'm like bish. Honestly, it wouldn't have been so bad if there had been anything else to his character. ANYTHING. But naw.

But that isn't even the worst part. The part that really got to me was the nonexistent plot of the story. I'm not even exaggerating here when I say it was almost as if she was writing a bad fanfiction about her own characters. It was that bad. The main character does nothing to resolve the issue in the end, the bad guy literally turns himself in for no reason and its resolved. You could even tell that in the last act the author herself was bored and was rushing.

There's literally two scenes in this book, one where one of her boyfriends 'dies' and the other when one of them is being held hostage. And you're sitting there, reading these scenes thinking. Bish, you don't have the balls the kill off your characters. There's no tension. And what happens, the one gets resuscitated and the other saved.

You know what the funniest thing is? After reading this, I literally went and bought the ebook the first book in the series to see if perhaps my perception of it was wrong all those years ago. (I mean I had a Twilight phase back then in school so eh.) But it wasn't. It was still pretty good (not amazing) but good. And all I could think of was how the story and characters have fallen.

I literally spent a week after finishing this story hating on it. Going over every detail as to why it was bad. So excuse this rant that you probably don't care about and won't read. I just needed it out of my system. Lol.

It's not like real reading but perhaps Contrast would find it interesting. It's all about power lines in anime.

Rakuen Growlithe wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2017 6:50 pm It's not like real reading but perhaps Contrast would find it interesting. It's all about power lines in anime.

That was interesting, thanks.
I remember Steins;Gate did that a lot, too.

I checked and it happens twice just in the intro sequence for Wolf's Rain.

Rakuen Growlithe wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2017 7:45 pm I checked and it happens twice just in the intro sequence for Wolf's Rain.

*Regains composure after flipping out seeing Wolf's Rain referenced*

... Just leaving a reminder that Wolf's Rain is pretty awesome.

That's kinda what inspired my name.

Rakuen Growlithe wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:34 pm That's kinda what inspired my name.

Holy crap, you're right!
I don't know how I didn't figure that out...
Go to "Rakuen" is a beautiful song. The whole soundtrack is gorgeous, really.
But that's really neat. I guess I had also forgotten that Rakuen is "paradise", what they're searching for.
... Goodness I love that anime. It might be about time for a rewatch.

Chio-chan no Tsuugakuro, by Kawasaki Tadataka. http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Chio-chan-no ... ?id=225751
This is, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the funniest mangas I have ever read. It's about a high school gamer-girl named Chio on her way to school. That's it. That's the premise of every chapter. A girl on her way to school. But where the absolute brilliance comes in is how every single little thing gets exaggerated to ridiculous extremes. The writing, the art style, the relationships, the situations, all of it gets blown up to such a degree that you can't help but laugh your ass off. A simple argument between two characters can escalate into something that would look more at home in a shounen manga like Dragonball rather than a slice-of-life comedy. Even the facial expressions are gold! Just look at what happens when Chio realizes that something bad is about to happen to one of her classmates:
That face. That freaking face! There are dozens just like it, and some even funnier.

In case that Smirk of Doom hasn't tipped you off yet, the characters are unabashed assholes. They are total jerks who gladly dick each other over for no other reason than personal gratification. Never before have I read anything where the characters are so openly bitchy and downright nasty towards one another, and you know what? I fucking love them to bits. Every single one. Despite being so horrible to each other, their friendships feel so genuine and honest, and it's the way they go after each other at every opportunity that adds so much magic to this manga.

Oftentimes they need to resort to some pretty spectacular bullshittery in order to extricate themselves from whatever outrageous predicament has befallen them. Take the very first chapter as an example. Chio is late to school and her normal route is blocked. Oh no! Whatever shall she do? She could just take the long way around, like a disgusting normie, OR she could scale the buildings like a frikkin' assassin! I found this particularly funny because I have been in that exact same mindset, as I'm sure many others have been as well. If you spend too many hours playing Assassin's Creed, you can't help but look at the buildings all around you and think, "Yeah, I could totally climb that." The fact that Chio actually does this is something that firmly ingratiates her with the reader as someone who would actually attempt something way too outlandish for the rest of us relatively sane individuals to even contemplate, and it's like that throughout the entire manga.

It's ridiculous, it's funny, it's over the top, it's one WTF moment after another, and I loved every page of it.

Also, I learned quite a bit about the sport of Kabaddi!

Boyfriend of the Dead, by Ushio.
http://www.webtoons.com/en/comedy/boyfr ... isode_no=1
Just because there's a zombie apocalypse going on doesn't mean you can't find true love. Or a tasty snack, depending on your perspective.
A hilarious comic that effortlessly combines the zombie horror and rom-com genres, filled with quirky, likable characters and an abundance of humour, both dark and light.

I just finished reading volume 2 of To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts. The manga series is set in a country in the aftermath of a great civil war, where a large part of the war was won by creatures that came to be called The Immortals: soldiers that had volunteered to undergo a process to turn them into monsters in order to become more effective fighters.
When the series begins, the war has been over for quite some time... but the Immortals remain, trapped in their bestial forms. The main character is the daughter of one of these Immortals, who seeks out the man who killed her father, and then becomes entrenched in delving into his reasons for doing so.
It is a cool action series with some wonderful creature designs and an awesome steampunk-ish setting, but is also a rather brilliant metaphor for the aftermath of real wars. What happens when people who have been turned into monsters and taught to kill return to "the real world", after the fighting is over?
It gets into some heavy themes, while avoiding the trap of being overly preachy. So far I have been very impressed.

Contrast wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:47 pm Boyfriend of the Dead, by Ushio.
http://www.webtoons.com/en/comedy/boyfr ... isode_no=1

botd.jpg

Just because there's a zombie apocalypse going on doesn't mean you can't find true love. Or a tasty snack, depending on your perspective.
A hilarious comic that effortlessly combines the zombie horror and rom-com genres, filled with quirky, likable characters and an abundance of humour, both dark and light.

Holy crap, this actually has a trailer. o.O

Can we have a thread for what manga are you reading right now?
How do you feel about that Contrast? You started this thread?

Adagio wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:54 am Can we have a thread for what manga are you reading right now?
How do you feel about that Contrast? You started this thread?

I have thought of that, actually, but I'm pretty sure I'd be the only one to ever post in it.
I wanted this thread to be as inclusive as possible (novels, manga, webcomics, cookbooks, what have you), but if people think this thread would be better suited just for books/novels, then I don't have anything against it.

Contrast wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2018 8:56 am I have thought of that, actually, but I'm pretty sure I'd be the only one to ever post in it.
I wanted this thread to be as inclusive as possible (novels, manga, webcomics, cookbooks, what have you), but if people think this thread would be better suited just for books/novels, then I don't have anything against it.

I mean, I posted a manga pretty recently.
But I have appreciated this thread being used for everything.
I have to say, I also really enjoy getting to see what you've been reading, Contrast, and I am rather fond of your "mini-reviews".

Trace wrote: ↑Tue Feb 13, 2018 10:52 amI mean, I posted a manga pretty recently.
But I have appreciated this thread being used for everything.
I have to say, I also really enjoy getting to see what you've been reading, Contrast, and I am rather fond of your "mini-reviews".

Oops, my bad.
I actually started reading "To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts" recently. I'm only on the third chapter right now, but it seems pretty interesting so far (Hank is kind of a douche, though. )

I've done some good reading over the past few days. I finished:
Thank you, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
Animal Farm by George Orwell
And have nearly finished Furry Nation after a long period of not reading it.

Welp, I'm dead. I'm stone cold dead. This manga murdered me.
Toki Doki, by Komi Naoshi. http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Toki-Doki/Ch ... ?id=327448

Started reading the Legend of Drizzt Series.

Nekogahara, by Takei Hiroyuki. http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Nekogahara/C ... ?id=406327

Summary wrote:In medieval Japan, a bell hanging on the collar is a sign that a cat has a master. Norachiyo’s bell hangs from his katana sheath, but he is nonetheless a stray – a ronin. This one-eyed cat samurai travels across a dishonest world, cutting through pretense and deception with his blade.

It's about samurai cats, and not of the pizza variety. (I wonder how many people will get that. ) On the surface it may seem a bit absurd, but Takei Hiroyuki has done a superb job creating a vibrant and believable world where cats are equivalent to people and humans are revered as god-like beings.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed was the colourful cat-based terminology (although that might be thanks to a creative translator). There's all kinds of slang in this story that just fits so perfectly, like "moggies" (the feline equivalent of "mongrel") and "mollies" (a derogatory term for a female cat). I say "slang" but only because that's the way these words are used for the story. In reality, they're all factually accurate. "Clowders" of cats roam the streets, dealing "nip" (actual catnip, but this story's equivalent of opium). They shout "scat" instead of "shit". Tons of cat-based puns and wordplay. It all comes together to create a world that feels, above all else, perfectly natural, every bit the kind of place you'd expect to be inhabited by anthropomorphic cats.

The story itself revolves around Norachiyo as he travels through medieval Japan, encountering all kinds of dangerous cats along the way: bounty hunters, nip dealers, and even ninjas (yes, this story has ninja cats ).

An anti-hero with mysterious origins, a gritty art-style, tons of violent sword fights, and even a few jokes here and there. If you like anthropomorphic cats and/or surprisingly accurate historical fantasies, then this is the manga for you.

Contrast wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:31 pm It's about samurai cats, and not of the pizza variety. (I wonder how many people will get that. )

Ooh, I do! I actually own that show. XD I should probably watch more of it sometime.
I have noticed Nekogahara before and considered picking it up. I may have to look into it some more. :3

Trace wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:18 am

Contrast wrote: ↑Wed Mar 07, 2018 12:31 pm It's about samurai cats, and not of the pizza variety. (I wonder how many people will get that. )

Ooh, I do! I actually own that show. XD I should probably watch more of it sometime.

I bet it's one of those things you remember being awesome as a kid, but then, when you watch it again as an adult, it's just the stupidest thing ever. That happened with me and Power Rangers. "Alpha! Rita has escaped! Recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!"

Right now I'm reading "Marry Grave", by Yamaji Hidenori. http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Marry-Grave/ ... ?id=396731

It's basically Trigun, but in a fantasy setting. So if you liked Trigun, but wished it had more magic, zombies, demons, orcs, fairies, and topless harpies, then "Marry Grave" should be right up your alley.