Seeing as it’s taking a while for the new season to start up, I thought I might try something new. Like my Manga recommendation corner or video game reviews, don’t expect these to come up often. What we have here is a simple post to highlight some manga that have just started and seem interesting. I say this now, there is no guarantee that any of these will prove to be fantastic but out of what’s presented so far its given me reason to continue reading. I don’t even promise these will be good, merely intriguing.
Gleipnir
Shuichi Kagaya isn’t human. He has an unnatural sense of smell, and can transform into an incredibly powerful beast… of sorts. He does all he can to avoid standing out and being discovered, but no good deed goes unpunished, and his decision to use his power to save a girl spells the end for his quiet life.
Currently at four chapters. The setup of boy meets girl and other elements are rather typical but there are interesting aspects to this. For one the main characters power transforms him into a strange mascot character. Another is the lead female is has a fairly flawed personality as she seems to be blackmailing him into playing her bodyguard. It’s rather refreshing to see a heroine with genuine bad traits and not just bad traits made to look like good ones. It also looks like she will play a much more active role by making use of the mains power. It’s a strong start so far and while the lead male’s personality is a bit too timid and pathetic, the character have enough to differentiate them from the standard stereotypes. Fanservice is also the usual demon to bear here. The story is hitting some same beats but has potential to go somewhere. Keeping an eye on this one.
Hatsukoi Zombie
According to his childhood friend, Tarou Kurume is not interested in love. One day Tarou is struck on his head by a ball rendering him unconscious. When he wakes up, there’s a girl floating above him.
What has happened to Tarou? Who is this mysterious girl? Find out in this one of a kind romantic comedy series!
Two chapters so far and this one could turn out to turn bad in its next chapters. The zombie in the title isn’t quite what you would think. It mainly refers to the main leads power to see guys mental image of their first love. I am curious as to what the plot of this series will do with the concept. There’s also a good twist at the end of the first chapter with the leads first childhood love transferring into the class and it turns out that…he’s a guy. I was waiting for the old reveal of him being a girl cross dressing but it honestly seems like he is truly a guy. The power is interesting though is surely getting used for fanservice and the main lead seems different from your average Highschool Student. Whether this turns out worthwhile or not depends on what the main plot will be as right now I am having difficulty seeing just where this is going.
Kyokou Suiri
Meet the cute, smug, cane-wielding 17-year old Iwanaga Kotoko as she aggresively tries to woo the older Sakuragawa Kurou and act as a mediator/problem-solver for the supernatural world.
Currently four chapters with about 80 page length which is fairly chunky by manga standards That synopsis doesn’t really do it justice. The lead male is at least different in that he doesn’t react to woman like one reacts to being sprayed with pesticide. In fact the main joke for the comedy often involves the lead female trying to come on to him and failing miserably. Not because of him being oblivious, he’s fully aware of how she feels, but simply because she’s not his type. I like this girl because unlike most female leads who ditter around waiting for the target of their affections to notice how they feel, she outright spells it out for him at their first meeting. The main story involves them facing supernatural beings with her Natsume book of friends style legion of Youkai minions and the lead males strange body constitution. Its the character interactions that really make this for me as the lead female feels fresh with her overwhelming confidence matched with childish romantic sensibilities toped off witht he fact that she has a false leg and a false eye. And our lead male protagonist breaks conventions by being someone who had a previous romantic relationship. The banter between the two is quite entertaining and newest character introduced looks to be being her own dynamic to the group.
I just finished reading “Hatsukio Zombie” chapter 1, ao far it is the best in fact it is favorite. Thxs alot
I haven’t tried the other two yep, I will after I finish chapter 2 of “Hatsukio Zombie “.
And now It is very much interesting..
Two of those sound interesting.
Have you checked Sakuranbo Syndrome? I mean it’s a bit of soap opera but it’s well drawn, a mature story, it’s already completed. But also has a like or hate premise, I thought it handled well for the most part but I can see it not suiting certain views.
What’s your stand in regards to fan service? I mean to me, judging by the summer season I saw it:
Pros
Setup for jokes or charisma.
Empowering either gender.
Surprisingly more alluring when insinuated.
In regards to bad is all over the place. I mainly dislike when series rely too much on fan service to try to hide the show being boring conversations with little action. I also see it can hinder investment if it distracts. Finally depending on each person there’s still room when the fan service can really leave a sour taste if the series has developed in a certain way, this might be the worse since it’s like how in a “serious” series the author suddenly plays the rape card.
Bottom line, I think I’ve become habituated, and mainly is annoying when fan service is boring. Makes me nostalgic on how old ecchi series actually had some quirkiness to compensate for less fidelity in their fan service [or maybe that was the point].
I will have a look at Sakuranbo Syndrome. I seen it around a few times but never really had the incentive to pick it up.
I don’t hate fanservice but I dislike it when it’s lazy. More often than not, series rely on overused tropes like the accidental Pervert or just so openly blatant. I think that’s the reason I actually enjoyed monster musume, because it approached fan service in a different way. (And that’s surprising because monster girls do nothing for me.)
On the same note, I like Bayonetta and she’s basically a walking double entendre. She’s sexualized but that’s a part of her character. It is something that makes her who she is. Meanwhile in KyoAni’s newest anime we have a girl who gropes herself to gain superpowers. It adds nothing to her character and you can tell that the only reason this is like this is so to get people off. A moment that is there for no other reason that titillation. It has about the same value as Game of thrones pointless sex scenes, for the people watching the show for the wrong reasons.
Yeah lazy sounds about right, I mean if that’s the way to go why not rip off something oldie and brush it with a coat of paint, like Cutey Honey, which is essentially Kirby just that every transformation is female trope.
TBH I find Bayonetta more stylish than sexy. I don’t know if its there with a satire at fan service but her looks both physical and clothing are so over the top that it makes me feel like when looking to fashion model. It’s kinda like a Cruella Deville style the one Bayonetta has. Although the camera pans and the moves she makes can be alluring.
Also yeah, even ridiculous shows feel boring when there’s this lack of self awareness, kinda like the ones in scary movie in which the character reactions feel more like “because the script says so” than being part of how their stupid characters would react or not react for that matter.
Prison School and Shimoneta while likely focused to teen humor at least put effort into using sex for comedic effect. Though at the same time there were situations in which things just felt wrong instead of hitting with some jokes.
Bottom line, I think like with violence there needs to be weight with fan service to be effective. Also subverting expectations would be nice, like why not some anime takes a trip to one nude beach and be casual about it. I don’t know, in that sense feels like wasted potential.
Hey, thanks for the manga update! I’ve been keeping up with the new josei/shoujo but kindof fell behind on my shounen/seinin. gleipnir looks like a cool concept, a little bland in terms of characters but we’ll see how it goes…
Gleipnir might be interesting from a few perspectives. The idea of the MC being a costume worn by another is itself interesting metaphorical fodder. Further, the name of the series was chosen for a reason, presumably, Gleipnir being the binds that keep Fenrir under control and all. There’s no question who Fenrir is in that manga.
Hatsukoi Zombie has the potential to explore some interesting issues when it comes to young love. Obviously it has already been pretty explicit about the dangers of idealizing others. One downside is it seems a little strange that he can’t see the first loves of the young women (and that fact hasn’t even been mentioned or questioned), though perhaps that will be an important plot point down the line and not just a way to hide certain information from the MC.
I’ll have to check out Kyokou Suiri simply on the basis of this blog having mentioned it.
I have only read Hatsukoi zombie so far(at chapter 51) and i must say that this story is a blast!
There are some great twists in the story and the fact that Tarou(the MC) does’t want his Zombie Eve to vanish makes for fun dialogue while also keeping some of the girls around him wondering if he’s gay or not 🙂
I will be checking out Kyokou Suiri to see how it is, the other one does’t really sound interesting for me.(i hate weakwilled MC’s)
thx for the suggestions 🙂
Ya..Hatsukoi Zombie is very good…keeps plot interesting to be kinda twister(as not showing girls’ first loves is not yet given any thoughts..and also it will be interesting to see the mc’s choice…Ibusaki(real eve) or Eve(Lovezombie Eve) or Ebino🙃
It would probably be Ibusaki(Has a much higher chance if she revealed her secret). Ebino for the win tho, although Eve is the best grill for me.