Good exercise manga

I can't tell if it's a good exercise manga or a bad one, but Genshiken Second Season sometimes leaves me giggling breathlessly at the tremendously awkward situation this cast of misfits find themselves in.  This is unlikely to be actually dangerous on the stair climber unless it makes me laugh hard enough to have an asthma attack, but my manga-reading antics on the exercise equipment have made other folks in the gym crack a smile.  If any of them ever ask me why I'm laughing, I have no idea what I could possibly say, and it's actually more likely that they'll act there because it's hard to keep up your air of reserve when you are leaning drunkenly on the handrails to keep you upright during a sudden fit of laughter when you are already out of breath.

I highly recommend manga as an exercise reward.  Some series are better than others.  Obviously action and shonen titles are good to get the blood pumping, but comedy is a good choice, too.  ANYTHING will work, honestly.  If you find a series you like and want to read but ONLY let yourself read on the stair climber or exercise bike (works with anime, too, if you can do all of this at home), you'll have a REALLY good reason to keep up with your fitness.  You will form a positive association between exercise and treats!  (Granted, you also need a certain amount of self-discipline/control and a regular exercise schedule to make this work.)

Give it a try!  Together, we can help establish manga and anime as part of a healthy lifestyle!


Some fun exercise manga:

• Red River
• From Far Away
• Dengeki Daisy
• Love*Com
• Crimson Hero
• Kaze Hikaru
• Shaman King
• Naruto
• Blue Exorcist
• One Piece
• D.Gray-Man
• HunterXHunter
• YuYu Hakusho
• Bleach
• Hikaru No Go
• Your suggestion here . . .

TurnA Gundam (naked)

I just finished Gundam Unicorn (dang it, so was it really Char still somehow, or was he just possessed or something ARRRGGHH!?!), and now I am watching TurnA Gundam.  It's giving me a bit of mental whiplash, I must say.  The best comparison I can make is that, of all the shows I've watched, it reminds me most of Nadia and the Secret of Blue Water.  I think it's that weird mix of kid show with some mature themes and coming-of-age crap and  old school animation and character designs.

TurnA took place during what I think of as Tomino's Naked Period, when all of his shows had tons of nudity out of nowhere (OP and ET, in the show itself).  It's ridiculous, actually.  Maybe it's supposed to show that they are really innocent / children and whatnot, but it's just so constant and out of nowhere that I just can't help but find it funny.  It may be fueled by residual sniggering about "Full Frontal" from Gundam Unicorn. (I have been watching Tomino and Gundam for a long time, so I am used to bizarre character names in theory but apparently not totally immune.)

Maybe it's just that I'm really mentally 8, but I find myself giggling and looking away from the screen and begging the characters to just put something on (which is a bad idea when you're watching subtitled-only anime because you miss plot due to excessive[ly hilarious and seemingly pointless] nekkidness).

I'm about to watch the next episode, so maybe it will be a vital plot point that he is naked when he climbs into the cockpit of the Gundam, but right now, I'm pretty much just shaking my head and snorting with laughter.

Making Haro worth it

I've been watching some Gundam lately, and I've decided that I would totally be willing to put up with Haro's annoyingness if it ate mosquitoes and wasps.

Gundam Full Frontal Facepalm

Oh, Gundam, honey, you know I love you.  We've been together for 19 years at this point.  This is an eyes-open sort of relationship, meaning that I know that sometimes you go too far, but I must admit I totally forgot about the name of a major antagonist in Gundam UC being Full Frontal.  I nearly fell off the exercise bike when you brought it to my attention again.    I know it's supposed to be sort of ironic because he's a twisty, liar character, the opposite of a full frontal attack, but I have to admit that every time someone mentions him by name, I fill in the non-existent blank with "nudity."  It's not you, it's me, obviously.  But it's also you.