Just finished Full Metal Alchemist. What a genuinely fun read. In addition my 2023 choices are Sunny, 20th Century Boys, Solanin and The Girl From the Other Side. Loving this new format Chris 👍🏼👍🏼
A little past the point but do you have different type of shelves for manga? Storing many pocket book size comics might require new ideas if you want to be efficient with space. I’ve learnt a lot about manga from you.
Billy bookcases (IKEA) are better for manga than Kallax. If you buy one of the taller ones, you can get an extra shelf or two to fit even more on there, since manga is generally closer to standard paperback size. So generally, Kallax for omnibus/western hardcovers, so you don't get shelf sag. Billy (+optional extra shelves) for manga. [Having said that, I think @OffMyShelves has some built in shelves which he uses for manga, iirc from a previous tour video.]
As Dax mentioned Billy’s are solid choices for cheap manage storage as you can get an extra shelf in there for their size, though there are some mangas that break all size rules. I have tried them on my kallax but they just looked strange to me. I have seen some put a stand behind on a shelf so they have a row in front and a raised row in the back that looked nice. I have some built in shelves that are too small for standard comics too so the manga have gone there. Then I have a thin billy and a small kallax type case which is smaller than ikeas kallax and that useful for manga too. I will say though I have bought a shelf with manga in mind specifically I’ve just tried lots of setups and they generally seem more at home on longish shelves which are not too spaced apart.
Some great pics here, really enjoyed this list. Me and Jake just completed our views on Lone Wolf and Cub so our video will drop this week. I couldn't agree more, it's a timeless classic and in our opinion can be enjoyed by readers new to manga. Dororo is probably the only Tezuka title I have a personal interest in reading (controversial, yes) so I'll be picking that up at some point. And as a massive fan of anything Taiyo Matsumoto, No.5 is on my list of purchases/reads for this year. Best, Kam.
Thank you! And I started watching your thoughts on Lone Wolf, will finish later. Matsumoto is amazing fair play, utterly unique and creative, never know what to expect from him.
Oi, spoilers 😂 A real shame Dororo got cancelled before Tezuka could finish it properly :'( I managed to find the second volume of Ping Pong for a great price last year, then quickly grabbed a used copy of v1 off eBay, so that's on the reading list for this year (while I'm busy ignoring any other recommendations from you :P). I have got No.5 on a wishlist somewhere as really liked the look of the covers. Perhaps this is the year I finally get round to reading through the FMA box set I bought years ago too 😅 I love the TV series (both of them!) Actually speaking of TV, there was a pretty good Dororo anime a couple of years ago. I think it was on Am*zon Prime. Best manga I read last year was The Drifting Classroom. Blazed through all 3 volumes. Not perfect by any means and loses steam towards the end, but very impressive overall. Another very enjoyable video! Looking forward to the last Top 5 😄
I didn’t think I spoiled anything?! Whoops if I did! I really love how strangely enjoyable ping pong is. That explains Dororo’s shortness I didn’t realise it was cancelled. Still awesome! I did start to read drifting classroom and then stopped for some reason, will have to revisit it and commit properly. Thank you for the kind words!
