So in no way detracting from the previous message and its request for a more generalistic discussion. However, here I'll discuss specific things I've read or are reading. The list is a little long so it might be split in at least two parts.
Series I've finished: Genshiken, Kio Shimomoku: Kanji a new university student is deciding what school club to join, school clubs are a big deal in Japan . He chooses the 'Society for the study of Visual Culture', and its short name in Japanese is 'genshiken'. This group is the ultimate nerd, or otaku, possible, and this group feeds his nerd habits of anime, gaming and manga. After Kanji joins this group gets energized and starts sponsering 'cosplay' (costuming), making its own doujinshi (fanzine, or fan comic). It's a lot of fun.
Love Roma, Minoru Toyoda. HS based romantic comedy. Very sweet.
Mail Order Ninja, Josh Elder. This title won Elder the Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga contest. Indiana boy mailorders a Ninja in order to save his town and his middle school from the evil social clique taking the school over.
DramaCon, Svetlana Chmakova, canadian artist. Young women who is a writer, and writes fan comics, has personal drama all centering at her big comic book convention she goes to every year.
Densha Otoko: Demo Ore Tabidatsuyo(AKA The Story of a a Train Man who fell in Love with a Girl), Hitori Nakano and Wataru Watanabe, and Train Man: A Shujo Manga, Hitori Nakano an Machiko Ocha. Two different versions of the same allegedly true story based on a story played out on an internet forum (2ch) and there's an original version as a Japanese 'light novel'. A typical Japanese otaku (nerd boy, geek) rescues a beautiful girl from a subway groper, and later the girl sends the geek a thank you gift along with an invitation to stay in touch with each other. The hero goes online to his favorite geek forum, 2ch, asking advice how to handle this. There's been a live action Japanese movie and a Japanese TV drama both story.
Kaze no Sho (AKA Samurai, Jiro Taniguchi and Kan Furuyama. Story set during the Meiji Restoration but the action centers around 17th century founding of the Edo shogunate and the famous swordsman Jubei Yagyu.
More to follow.
_________________ Allan Rosewarne Tara's Wizard
W/T are forever
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