What I read in January: Digest Version (4 of 4)

Well, why not.  Let's finish out January today.

b Otomen 4, 9:  I had to schedule a special exercise session to read this the day it arrived because I knew I didn't have the self control to wait until the next morning when I was scheduled to exercise again.  Who said manga isn't healthy?

b Ouran High School Host Club 15:  Oh, Milord.  I hear the anime voice actors when I read this now.  It's pretty fun.

b Sand Chronicles 10: An ending in keeping with the tone of the series.  More of an epilogue since the actual story ended in volume 8, but I still found it moody and interesting.  A fitting farewell.  A reviewer I really like admired this manga but could never really like it because she's a happy person, and she can't understand why these people can't let themselves just be happy, dammit!  Because they just can't.  Because they know how bad things can go.  I love the series for the same reason it irritates her.  Viva literature.

b Sasameki 1:  Slippery.  I still don't know quite what kind of manga this is and whether I should expect absurdity in the end or whether some kind of storytelling with serious stuff will be accomplished.

b Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei 4: My nose hurts from snorting, as usual.  Brilliant social commentary and funny entertainment for those who like their humor acid-black.

b Seiho Boys' High School 3: I have to read this series at home where I can just crack up without people looking at me funny.  More stories about the boarding school in the middle of nowhere Seiho students.  You can count on them to usually say things in the worst way possible, which is endlessly entertaining.

b Time Stranger Kyoko 2-3 of 3: Well, I actually need to go back and read a different copy of 2 because someone really liked that book and cut out about 1/5 of the pages in the book. (Really?  Seriously?!  Who does that to library manga?!  How did the librarians not notice?  I mean, yes, they probably don't read so much manga that they can feel that somethings' not standard simply by the weight and thickness.)  It's embarrassing how long it took me to figure out that's why the narrative seemed so disjointed . . .  I apologize for all those mean things I thought about the author before I figured out it wasn't her fault big pieces of plot seemed to just be missing.

b We Were There 4: Whoa.  Well, then.  That was some honest stuff there.  Ladies, if you ask your gentlemen to tell you the truth and promise them you won't reject them no matter what they say, please stick to your guns.  It's brutal when you betray them by being too weak to handle the truth.  Truth is not for the faint of heart.  If you think you want to know the truth, figure out what it could be, figure out what the worst could be, and make sure you can actually deal with the worst being a reality before you ask.  If you think you can't handle it, maybe you should disengage before you get any further involved.  I'm glad we could have this little chat.

Next time we'll do some DVDs and maybe some February.