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Mar 19 2004

Categories: manga

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I went to the bookstore today, and I noticed that the manga section has grown larger than the romance novel section. Who wants to read about heaving bosoms when one can browse crudely drawn black and white drawings of them instead? Actually, I was quite impressed with the selection. A year ago, there would be Lone Wolf and Cub and that series with those goddesses… and that’s it. Now even stuff like Gunslinger Girl and Rave Master are available even before their counterpart anime series’ arrival.

My hatred for Tokyopop’s shoddy quality is already known, and ADV Manga isn’t much better. Azumanga looks like it was printed on newpaper stock, but at least Full Metal Panic manages to keep the original color pages, something I wish more manga did. At least they’re faster than the one volume a year strategy Dark Horse uses, but definitely better than the edit out all near nakkid scenes Del Ray is employing.

I ended up picking up a few issues of Full Metal Panic mostly because I liked Fumoffu a lot and hoped to see bonta-kun again. I wasn’t disappointed– it seems like they alternate between original anime and fumoffu arcs. I still don’t like how Sagura is so damn clueless… he makes Senor Morisato look like Larry Flynt. I really hope he gets a clue later on in the series.

Edit: Bonta-kun appears in the next volume! I can’t wait now…