Happy Monday! To celebrate the return of Ruridragon, how about a new general thread! Feel free to talk about things you have read, want to read, want others to read, or want to know more about.
Like normal, please be careful with spoilers. I wrote a guide about spoilers in case you need a refresher on how to handle them (also linked in the sidebar).
Hi. I watched and am watching a lot of anime, but recently I also want to get more into manga as well, as I only ever completed a handful. I also want to get into the discussion side of things too, which I feel is easier with currently releasing manga, as opposed to completed ones. Currently I’m reading one that’s completed and four that aren’t yet (although two of those four I’m nowhere near caught up, as I’ve only recently started them and they were already well under way by that time).
Right now I’m looking for some recommendations of new(er) manga that don’t have a lot of chapters just yet, but which seem promising. If you want to throw a random completed recommendation in here too, that’s fine too, go ahead, but the main thing I’m looking for is something I can follow along with other people.
If it’s good I’ll read most genres. Basically just don’t give me horror recs and you’ll be good lol. To give you at least something to go off of, my favorite manga from my limited pool of ones I’ve completed are, in no particular order: ReLife, Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu, House of the Sun, Spirit Circle, I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl. And here are some of my favorite anime too, again in no particular order: Non Non Biyori, Steins;Gate, Vinland Saga, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Bocchi the Rock, BanG Dream (specifically the MyGO season. I’ve seen the others too, but this one in particular is the one I’d consider one of my favorites), Yuru Camp and I could go on, but this comment is long enough already heh.
This is a great question, and a very specific one. I remember seeing posts in the subreddit in the past where people would recommend to have at least one series that is being regularly published which you are up to date on so that you can partake in the discussion threads. If we are just talking about series that tend to get the most comments in this community, I think the clear standout is Nagatoro, but that is well over 100 chapters in, so it wouldn’t be quick to catch up. If you are looking for more general recommendations, I made a comment with some in a previous response to a different user.
Here are a couple series that are still fairly early in their run that I see at least a couple comments in their chapter threads:
- Renge to Naruto - 9 chapters - This has been an interesting SOL or (probably) romance that is still early. I remember seeing the chapter 1 thread posted to this community and it is coming out every 2 weeks to at least a couple comments each time.
- Damedol to Sekai ni Hitori Dake no Fan - 21 chapters - This one is a little further along, but it is a lot of fun. It started as a simple twitter comic, but has since been picked up by a magazine and been serialized, expanding the story and characters in the process. It also comes out every two weeks.
- Star Tripper: Planetarium Ghost Travel - 12 chapters - This one has long chapters, but there aren’t too many of them yet and it is excellent. I usually only see myself and @[email protected] posting in the threads, but I am listing it here to hopefully have more people reading this series (I still haven’t read chapter 12 yet as I am on vacation).
- Vtuber Confucius - 9 chapters - This one is a pretty silly 4-koma type series that actually comes from China (I think). It is a pretty silly take on Chinese philosophical schools of thought. Similar to above, I have yet to read the most recent chapter due to vacation (sorry @[email protected])
- Ruridragon - 7 chapters - This one just came back from a long hiatus. It has been a lot of fun and I am expecting lively discussion threads going forward.
Backlog is not something to be finished, just chased. Besides, I’m not the author so no need to apologize. I just share what I find interesting or enjoyable.
I think the clear standout is Nagatoro, but that is well over 100 chapters in, so it wouldn’t be quick to catch up.
I’ve actually watched the anime for that, but the first season only. It didn’t really make me compelled to check out its second season, to be honest. But yeah, that wouldn’t be an easy one to catch up on anyway.
If you are looking for more general recommendations, I made a comment with some in a previous response to a different user.
Some of those I’ve seen the anime of or am currently watching the anime of (in the case of Frieren and Dungeon Meshi), but I’ll check their descriptions too when I’ll be looking for something that’s either completed or has a lot of chapters already.
Here are a couple series that are still fairly early in their run that I see at least a couple comments in their chapter threads:
Alright, so all of those sounded interesting lol.
I’m probably going to go with Star Tripper and Ruridragon to start things off. Do we know how often Ruridragon’s chapters are expected to come out? I see Star Tripper has pretty consistent releases (3 days ago, 10 days ago, 16 days ago, last month, and so on), but with Ruridragon I can’t really tell since it came out of the hiatus so recently that there’s only 1 post-hiatus chapter.
Thanks for the recommendations!
Ruridragon is having a weird release schedule right now because it is having a couple chapters released in the magazine and then is transitioning to a digital release format. If I remember correctly, the plan is to have it be every 2 weeks after the transition.
Star Tripper is one of those cases where the raws are significantly ahead of the scanlators, so the releases have been pretty frequent while they catch up, but I am not sure how frequent the raws come out. I am guessing with the length of the chapters and the fairly involved art that it is monthly.
Like I mentioned in the anime general thread this week, I have been doing a lot of traveling this past week, so my reading has been intermittent. So, I thought I would mention a couple other series that I recently checked out and provide some quick thoughts:
- Koi wa Futago de Warikirenai - This series is about a love triangle between a high school guy and his two childhood friends. The catch? Those two friends are actually twins. I have enjoyed what I read of this series so far (I also found out there is an anime adaptation in the works). It is a bit dramatic, but it is handled well. I am going to continue reading.
- MONMUSUGO! 〜Living in Another World with the Strongest Monster Girls with Translation Skills〜 - This series features an isekai protagonist that is really weak. His only ability of note is the ability to speak and understand the language of all other living things. This leads him to befriend the legendary fenrir with the promise of feeding them tasty food. Now, if you feel like you have heard this premise before, it’s because that is almost the exact setup to Campfire Cooking. And, frankly, this series doesn’t do it nearly as well. I am not going to be continuing with it.
- I, a Level 9999 Blacksmith Who Was Told That “Blacksmithing Is Suitable for a Small Fry lololol” Was Expelled From the Guild, so I Changed My Job to an Adventurer - I Will Live Happily in the Guild While Using the Strongest Weapons! - With that enormous title out of the way, this is a pretty cookie-cutter story about an immensely talented, but epensive blacksmith getting kicked out of his guild. Then, he brings his talents elsewhere to great success while things fall apart without him in the old guild. Not really reinventing the wheel here. I won’t be keeping up with this one.
- An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! - This has actually been a lot of fun. I have actually been keeping up with this series for a while, but I don’t think I have posted about it before. It’s premise is pretty predictable, but I find it is actually executed pretty well. It can be pretty tropey and cheesy, but it is still endearing. Looking forward to more going forward.
I, a Level 9999 Blacksmith Who Was Told That “Blacksmithing Is Suitable for a Small Fry lololol” Was Expelled From the Guild, so I Changed My Job to an Adventurer - I Will Live Happily in the Guild While Using the Strongest Weapons! -
Hoooooly shit. That’s a title.
Now, if you feel like you have heard this premise before, it’s because that is almost the exact setup to Campfire Cooking.
Makes you wonder how uncreative the author must be. How hard can it be to at least change the Fenrir to something else. Just to pretend it’s not a ripoff.
Yeah, the title is pretty ridiculous. I actually didn’t realize how long it was until I copy/pasted it since I always stop reading after Level 9999 Blacksmith.
As for the Campfire Cooking knockoff, I kept waiting for something to differentiate it more, but it really felt like a lesser version of the original with even less focus on the cooking (which is one of my favorite parts of that series).
Most of the ongoing series I follow tends to update once every few months (weeks if I’m lucky) so despite my renewed free time I haven’t read much - just the latest chapters of Frieren, Girls’ Frontline and Mieruko-chan.
I guess this would be a great opportunity to get back to watching El Cazador de la Bruja. I mentioned it before in the anime thread but still haven’t finished it due to lack of time. Alternatively, I could start something from my manga backlog instead. Decisions… decisions…