Vaginal Fantasy Book Club discussion

I started this topic to see what manga people could share with each other about Geek and Nerd culture. The one I would recommend for started would be DreamCon by Dramacon, Volume 1 by Svetlana Chmakova.

What is a 'magna person'?

I guess I'm not one.

Manga are comics created in Japan, that have a specific style of there own. I guess if you like comics you could get in to manga it would depended on your taste and if you like the genera and story line.

Ooooooh, I guess I did know about that. Is that awesome animated movie Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) considered Manga?

If so, consider me manga-fied.



(If you folks haven't seen Spirited Away, it's just about the most awesome animated movie ever made. Safe for children 10+)

I love Spirited Away, its a great movie by Hayao Miyazaki an movie my Studio Ghibli is a great watch. If you like Spirited Away you should try Howles moving castle, which dos have a manga that fallows the movie. Howls Moving Castle Picture Book

A list of movie from Studio Ghibli: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_G...

Haikufall wrote: "I love Spirited Away, its a great movie by Hayao Miyazaki an movie my Studio Ghibli is a great watch. If you like Spirited Away you should try Howles moving castle, which dos have a manga that fal..."

For Manga/Anime series one of my favorites is Honey and Clover by Chica Umino - a well written romance (Shojo style manga) and coming of age story about students at an Art college in Tokyo. For something a lot darker try DeathNote and/or Black Butler.

Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favorite Miyazaki films! It is based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones which I am currently reading. The book moves slower than the anime (IMHO - which is why I still have not finished reading it yet) but gives some of the background story to the main characters that is not included in the anime.

There is not one of Miyazakif films I don't like, there all endearing. If were talking about Managas I have read which is alot, anything by, Rumiko Takahashi ( Ranma, Inu Yasha), Perfect Girl Evolution is a fun one, Skip Beat, Fruit Basket, Death note, Boys over Flowers and Tokoy Crazy Paradises, just to name a few.

If there is any manga people can think of, that high light geek/nerd culture I would love to hear about them.

Outbreak Company, it's a recent anime about a teenager sent tp teach the otaku culture to another dimension.

"1/2 prince" tells the story of a girl that decides to play a male character in an MMO, just to proove she can play without being patronised.

and also "Accel world" is quite good.
And I feel the need to mention "kaibutsu oujo" or "princess resurrection". It may be not exactely about geeks, but come on! an immortal tiara-wearing princess wielding a chainsaw, robots, vampires and werewolves...

I didn't think of 1/2 prince I have read it and you make a good point about it. Ill have to look in to your other recommendation immortal tiara-wearing princess so looks like fun, thanks! Just thought of another one that should have been first on the list and feel like I should smack my self up side of the head, Ghost in the Shell is a great anima and manga.

If you liked Soulless, I would recommend the Manga adaptation Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 1: lovely, expressive illustrations that perfectly capture the tone of the novel. There are two currently published, with the third coming out this Nov.

I'll have to give that a look, thanks for the post!

Definitely check out Sword Art Online! It's about people who get trapped in a virtual MMO and have to beat the game to escape with their lives

Olivia wrote: "Definitely check out Sword Art Online! It's about people who get trapped in a virtual MMO and have to beat the game to escape with their lives"

or Log Horizon for a more comedic aproach to being trapped into an MMO

Olivia wrote: "Definitely check out Sword Art Online! It's about people who get trapped in a virtual MMO and have to beat the game to escape with their lives"

Right now I'm reading 1/2 Prince and its looking like that is were the story is going. I am really loving the sires so far and if Sword Art is like that then I'm on board.

I'm thinking that if this discussion keeps going I may want to start a manga book club, were we vote on geek themed mangas to read.

Haikufall wrote: "Olivia wrote: "Definitely check out Sword Art Online! It's about people who get trapped in a virtual MMO and have to beat the game to escape with their lives"

Right now I'm reading 1/2 Prince and..."

SAO has a bit darker tone, since death in that situation is definitive.

Hmmm, ill give it a reads sound really interesting.

I would also recommend "Haiyore! Nyaruko-san", it has a funny twist on all lovecraft's elder ones.

I'm at my local library now is ill is what they have in.

So the weather were I'm at has really turned, so if anyone else has good geek/nerd manga reads please let me know. As of now I have already read up on the two mangas I have talked about before and looking to start another sires.

Ok guy let have suggestion about great Manga Halloween reads. My pick would be Soul Eater, its a run interesting read.

"Sankarea", and here's the blurb
Furuya's obsessed with zombies. He collects any figurines, watches any movie, and plays any game with the living dead, and is even only interested in zombie girls. When his cat dies, Furuya begins trying to raise it from the dead using an ancient book of the occult he bought from a shop. But what will happen when he sees the idol of a nearby all girl's school walking close to where he conducts his experiment, wishing to die and be reborn as a different person?

This sound like a fun read I'm so looking this up now!

Haikufall wrote: "Ok guy let have suggestion about great Manga Halloween reads. My pick would be Soul Eater, its a run interesting read."

Halloween Manga reads Cage of Eden, Deadman WOnderland, Kuroshituji(Black Butler),Shingeki no Kyojin, Cradle of Monsters, Monster Princess, Zombie Loan, King of Thorns, D. Gray-man

The creepiest horror that I've ever read was Uzumaki... pretty much anything by Jinji Ito. Check here for more:

http://spiraphobia.tumblr.com/recomme...

Viscerally violent fantasy would be Berserk by Kentaro Mizuno, hands down.

Strange and whimsical, yet irreverently fantastical, would be Cinderalla (sic) by Junko Mizuno, where the titular character is changed into a zombie by her father.

For chasing a psycho, Monster by Naoki Urasawa is my all time fav.

Um... not really sure what you mean by "geeky?" Isn't any fighting/robot/sports manga considered geeky?

Sweetpixiesmile wrote: "The creepiest horror that I've ever read was Uzumaki... pretty much anything by Jinji Ito. Check here for more:

http://spiraphobia.tumblr.com/recomme...

Viscerally violent fantasy would be ..."

I would have to say yes, any fighting/robot/sports manga considered geeky, but I also like to find mangas were geeks are featured as well.

Thanks everyone for all the great Halloween reads! I have already stared reading some of them this week, Sankarea vol 1-2 and I am working my way through the rest. I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween and would love to hear what everyone dressed up as. This year ill be dress as Dark Alice!

How about some manga about geeks?

"My Girlfriend is a Geek" by Pentabu, drawn by Rize Shinba? It is a slightly fictionalized account of a man who falls in love with a woman who is "fujoshi", a hardcore fan of the BL genre and his bemused but not unwilling journey into the world of Komiket, cosplay,and butler cafes.

Also Train Man by Mahiko Ocha. It is a rather sweet love story about a shy otaku who finds his inner hero but what makes it most interesting is that the story is culled from real life postings on an otaku forum.

Thanks for the books recommendation i'll have to look them up.

A fun geek/manga/webcomic/tokyo-based series is Megatokyo by Fred Gallagher. It is available online as a webcomic at www.megatokyo.com as well as a series of books (i found the series at a local library and now own the first two books). Worth checking out...

Thanks for recommendation I will differently give it a look.

Do Mangakas count? I've been reading Manga no Tsukurikata by Hirao Auri. Cute, but yuri. If you don't like yuri, its a warning; if you do, it's a perk.

I did like Perfect Girl Evolution by HAYAKAWA Tomoko. It's about a beautiful girl who is a dedicated Goth. Her aunt wants her to be more feminine and blackmails five bishies (bishonen) to tutor her into becoming the perfect girl.) I loved the fashion, but not the story.

I also really really loved Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (karekano), but the main leads aren't geeks or otaku per se, but very smart people.

Did a search on my favourite Manga website (MangaTraders.com, free downloads and online viewing) and came up with this list (I haven't read any of these):

Omae o Otaku ni Shiteyaru kara, Ore o Riajuu ni Shitekure!
Author: MURAKAMI Rin, Artist: AOKI Mutsumi

Mousou Shoujo Otakukei
Author/Artist: KONJOH Natsumi

Otaku no Musume-san
Author/Artist: Stu-Hiro

Akiba Romance
Author/Artist: KIJIMA Renga

Densha Otoko
Author/Artist: NAKANO Hitori

Metal Heart
Author/Artist: YOON Jae Ho (this is a Manhwa.)

The problem with so many manga and anime is that they are just fan service or fetish fuel.

What web sites do people use for reading?

I love MangeTraders and have been using the site for years along with manga fox and my local library for great reads. Thanks for the recommendations I have not read a few that you have posted. I read a wide verified of books and manga and if you ever want to compare books just find me on the GR site.

Haikufall - has anyone mentioned GENSHIKEN to you yet? There is a manga (which I haven't read), and an anime series (which I've seen the first season for - there has been an OVA and more recently a second season since I finished it years ago).

Or has anyone suggested COMIC PARTY, if you enjoyed DramaCon? (I've only seen the first volume of DramaCon - and I met Svetlana just before it was published, with photocopied samples of it back in 2006!)

Genshiken is about an OTAKU club at a Japanese University.
Comic Party are about doujinshi (self-made comics) artists, prepping for cons - especially Comiket. (I think the main character is in highschool).

If I think of some others that surround nerd culture, I'll come back.

Kind of SCOTT PILGRIM as well, another OEM (like DramaCon), although the main characters are in a band, a lot of Otaku-ish things happen. Or videogame-like things, anyway. (Especially in the movie - I haven't finished my boxset of manga yet, myself... ^_^; )

Happy reading!

EDIT: I see Sword Art Online being mentioned (I haven't watched it yet myself, but a friend has recommended it to me - it's on my list), so before SAO, there was .hack//Sign (commonly referred to as .hack.). It's also about people in an MMO!! But about 10 years older, and based on a series of VIDEO GAMES for PS2.

I don't think anyone has brought up Genshiken yet but Ill have to look in to it. So far I have started reading a couple of the books that people have subjected for example Jack Frost. No one has suggested Comic Party but ill have to look for it because it sound like a fun read. That is so cool that you got to meet Svelana at a con. I just happened to find her manga at my local library and really liked her sires.

I have read some of the the .hack// but not sure what incarnation I read. So far I am really like 1/2 Prince and am currently up to date on that manga. Thanks for the great recommendation I will be looking in to them.

I'm currently reading Saki (by KOBAYASHI Ritz), about playing Japanese Mahjong. It's confusing because I play HK Mahjong, and they have different rules and use different terms. Very much like Hikaru no Go (Author: HOTTA Yumi; Artist: OBATA Takeshi), which is about the game of go, which I also play. I played with my daddy, who is an avid traditional board gamer (chess, checkers, Chinese chess, Go) and I learned MJ from my partner's family (but am too slow to play with the adults, so I play with the adult children, who are close to my age, haha.)

Yeah, 1/2 Prince sounds like a really neat concept - I'll have to read that too. Let me know what you think of Genshiken and Comic Party when you get to them, Haikufall! (And anyone else!) :)

Christine wrote: "Yeah, 1/2 Prince sounds like a really neat concept - I'll have to read that too. Let me know what you think of Genshiken and Comic Party when you get to them, Haikufall! (And anyone else!) :)"

Christine wrote: "Yeah, 1/2 Prince sounds like a really neat concept - I'll have to read that too. Let me know what you think of Genshiken and Comic Party when you get to them, Haikufall! (And anyone else!) :)"

I read the first volume of Comic Party, and it was cute book but I think I liked DreamCon Better. I have not gotten to Genshiken yet but I think ill get to it to day. For some reason I started reading mangas by Mi-Ri Hwang, Cute Boy, and Hot Blooded Woman and am kind of hooked. There not geek/nerd manga really but just fun reads.

sweetPixiesmile wrote: "I'm currently reading Saki (by KOBAYASHI Ritz), about playing Japanese Mahjong. It's confusing because I play HK Mahjong, and they have different rules and use different terms. Very much like Hik..."

I don't really play board games but I did pick up Hikaru no Go from my Library and really liked it. I don't always know what is going on in the game but I like the characters and how they interact with each other.

Christine wrote: "Yeah, 1/2 Prince sounds like a really neat concept - I'll have to read that too. Let me know what you think of Genshiken and Comic Party when you get to them, Haikufall! (And anyone else!) :)"

1/2 Prince is such a fun read let me know what you think!

Loved Deathnote. Got really into Vampire Knight as well.

Deathnote is a great read, have you seen the movie based on it?

I loved the movie version. Thought they did a good job with the CGI Shinigami. :)

Wonder if I should have watched the anime instead of reading Deathnote? When I read the manga, I felt that the whole Good is dumb and too Xanatos Gambit tropes were way too heavy handed. Monster was much better... or at least made more sense to me. Deathnote was just too unrealistic: style over substance.

Is it just me that thinks Manga is the cool one you wanna date and Manwha is the dorky little brother?

I've noticed though that ever since I started writing, I'm less able to simply accept or enjoy lazy/tired plot.

Downloading 1/2 Prince right now.

sweetPixiesmile wrote: "Wonder if I should have watched the anime instead of reading Deathnote? When I read the manga, I felt that the whole Good is dumb and too Xanatos Gambit tropes were way too heavy handed. Monster wa..."

I have not watched the anime so I can't comment on the two. But I know how you feel about lazying writing, if you have not notices I my self can't spell wroth a damn. So if I can pick up on bad grimmer or spelling along with tired plots I can't get behind the story. I hope you enjoy 1/2 Prince and another manga I really like is perfect girl evolution which is not a geek/nerdy manga but just a fun read.

Been reading Geshiken; it's funny and scarey since I know people like that who are all into the cons and even cosplay. However... Genshiken had a great start because the characters were sort of not so stereotypical, but as the story progressed, it seemed like they fell into the same trap as Big Bang Theory, relying on popular stereotypes or outrageous characterizations. That being said I really enjoy the feud between Ohno-san and Ogiue-san!

Am sort of disappointed with Saki, and it's led me to believe that Japanese MJ is needlessly complicated. I mean, I can see why people like it, there's a lot of strategy involved, but unlike Hikaru no Go, they don't really explain any of the strategies...

I've got 1/2 Prince just waiting while I finish reading Genshiken up to whatever MT has.

Some fighting series I really enjoy are Claymore, One Piece, Girls of the Wild's and I admit to but not as much anymore, Naruto and Bleach.

Just finished watching Drrr! REALLY liked Celty's character but didn't like the way they chickified her halfway through the series and the weird cranked in ending. (Am a big fan of tvtropes, if you haven't noticed! ;) )

My problem with certain mangas is that the story can go on and on with no real movement in the story. When reading story's like, One Piece, Bleach and Nautro ( which I started out really like but just got last after sometime) I loss positions with it and stop reading. Its like trying to watch the old Dragon Ball Z anima and after 20 ep so the same fight I really stop caring.

Haikufall wrote: "My problem with certain mangas is that the story can go on and on with no real movement in the story. When reading story's like, One Piece, Bleach and Nautro ( which I started out really like but j..."

For Long series Like One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach which I love they do get a bit tedious if your reading them week by week . Which is why I wait for a story arc to finish then read the chapters back to back so I have a clear beginning, middle and end, it makes for a more satisfying read.