…I completely missed out on posting last week AND didn’t make it in time for this week’s monday. *hides* My excuse reason this time is actually because I’ve actually been mass-reading manga like a mofo. To be specific, sports manga. *insert shocked gasps here* Yeah, I’m gonna have to update “My Taste in Animanga” Page now… ETA: Updated, take a look
So what’s this post gonna be about? You guessed it, SPORTS MANGA REVIEWS~ =DDD
The reviews will be split into two categories: 1) Exactly My Cup of Tea and 2) Tea’s Okay, Have Doubts on the Milk & Sugar.
EXACTLY MY CUP OF TEA
ETA: Both Tetsuwan Girl and Nononono are under the seinen genre and feature mature content. Reader’s discretion is advised.
Tetsuwan Girl by Tsutomu Takahashi – gawd there are no words to express how much I love this series. Taishou Yukyuu Musume fans, this series is for you. Set after WWII, with the American occupation, Tomo the barmaid, a woman so fierce she could give Senjogahara a run for her money and then some, steps up to the playing field to become the MEANEST, MOST BADASS BASEBALL PITCHER EVAR. Like TYM, but seinen-fied and so, so intense. (Though, I was probably biased to like this series from the start since this is from the genius who invented Skyhigh and Alive!, which I read and loved way back when Omanga was an active scanlation group. But hey, Tsutomu Takahashi is a friggin genius sooo. <3) All-female’s sports manga DONE RIGHT, with all the fierce ambition and competition of the All-Male sports manga I find lacking in the other all girl’s team series I’ve checked. It kinda makes Taishou Yukyuu Musume and Crimson Hero look like a walk in the park in comparison. (I like TYM and CH! I’m just saying that TG sets the bar on a whole new level.)
Nononono by Lynn Okamoto – So, in this manga, Ski Jumping is a males-only sport competition in the Olympics. Enter Nonomiya Yuuta, a guy with amazing flying potential who can take the gold all the way to the top! Except, Yuuta is actually Nono, a girl disguised as a guy in order to achieve her dreams. Female athlete + crossdressing! How can this go wrong? =D And man, when you see this girl jump, the art just steals your breath away. My only complaint is that THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH SCANLATIONS OUT FOR THIS SERIES. *cries*
Pages: 1 2
GAL Imagery 
“Haibuki is a creeper”
omg, this! He just kinda freaks me out. D:
I know! Gawd every time he pulls a move on Nobara I think CREEPER CREEPER GO AWAY. ToT
the first two seem interesting . . . might check them out someday.
I don’t think I’ll like the volleyball one =_= didn’t last long on the mangaka’s other series . . .
I love eyeshield21! but I’m so behind x_x is it really finished?
sports manga to recommend . . . the best for me is SLAMDUNK. hilarious . . . I love it xD
others . . . hhhmm . . . the one I’m currently reading is Takkoku!! (pingpong manga) . . . latest chapter got me hyped because something reeeeeeally interesting is finally happening~
Prince of Tennis is popular. I liked it, but not a huge fangurl. And I’m extremely behind.
oh yeah, I LOVE OOKIKU FURIKABUTE aka OOFURI!!! It’s baseball . . guys though . . . AND IT’S SO ADORKABLE!!!!! xD
I also like Air Gear . . . it’s rollerblades manga . . . though I’m not updated once again~
Cross Game is nice . . . it’s baseball . . . only seen anime though . . .
oh yeah, how could I forget Hikaru no Go!!! It’s well, about go, the chess-like game. I LOVE IT!!!! MARATHONED IT LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW xD
That’s what I remember for now . . .
Ehehehe . . . as you can see, I’m more into shounen sports xD Wheeeee~
lol Tetsuwan Girl and Nononono come highlyyyyy recommended. ESPECIALLY Tetsuwan Girl. <33
Ugh, Akuma no Sourou. *stabs* But Crimson Hero redeems this mangaka for me… Relatively. Not .completely absolved, but relatively. (btw, you would not BELIEVE the crap shoujo calls "sports" manga in that genre. x.x It's pathetic when literally only one series in an entire target audience manages to deliver on the sports genre aspect)
Yup, Eyeshield 21 is finished~~~
Oh yeah I remember you rec-ing Takkoku!! I dunno, the premise kind of sounds silly though. Making someone go out with you by winning the match? x.x But hey, I thought the same about ES21, so whatever. *puts Takkoku, Slam Dunk, Prince of Tennis, & Air Gear on to-read list*
Haha, EVERYONE has been telling me to watch Oofuri since last year. I was planning on watching the anime once Taishou Yukyuu Musume is done its run, but anywho, in your opininon, manga or anime is better?
lol I'm afraid I'll pass on Hikaru no Go. Not counting board games, lol.
You know, this is the third time I came across a Cross Game rec. =D *puts it on priority*
Yeah, I'm on anti-shounen phase right now soooooooo, yeah. Most of the summaries for shounen sports manga make me roll my eyes. (Homg he's the shortest and scrawniest person evar but he play whatever sport BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE!!!! Or, dude doesn't think he has any talent but one day by sheer coincidence someone discovers that he has HIDDEN TALENT for some stupid sports move, MUST RECRUIT HOMG GENIUS. =_____=) I find that I like seinen sports more, actually. Less ridiculous POWER-UPS and SPECIAL MOVES, and also, most of the time (not ALL the time but i'll take what I can get), the females do not suck.
Will be reading them xD
That’s why I sometimes tend to avoid shoujo sports manga >_> It’s easier for me to deal with the shounen sports stereotypes than that kind of crap =_=
I need to catch up on eyeshield21. Impossible for me to finish the anime (I think there had been many episodes) so I’ll try to marathon the manga~
Takkoku is silly indeed~ but it’s seldom for me to encounter shounen sports wherein the main couple is canon and the leading girl is the best in the sport (at least in their country)~
I haven’t read the manga of Oofuri, so I can’t tell. BUT THE ANIME IS SO ADORABLE!!!!! I’m sure the manga is just as adorable~ I recommend you to put this on a priority list xD
I’m behind Cross Game though, but the ones I’ve seen have been good. I think you might appreciate it more than I did, since I’m not really much into slice of life manga~ ehehe
oh yeah, air gear had ecchi if I remember correctly. I liked what I had read so far, but I dunno if later chapters are that awesome to me.
prince of tennis has the bishies and the unbelievable special moves . . . so I’m not that sure if you’ll like it . . . but well, we’ll see xD
I am not sure if slamdunk will be your type either, but if you liked eyeshield . . . then there might be high chances. It’s as manly, but oh the comedy xD it’s freakin’ hilarious. the “love story” sucks though . . . but well, it’s one-sided forever~ ignoring that, this series had been so awesome~ I’ve only seen the anime though. So I’m not sure about the manga ^^;
Alright . . . whoaaaa . . . here goes my ever so long to-read list that is getting even long xD
@sapphy,
but it’s seldom for me to encounter shounen sports wherein the main couple is canon and the leading girl is the best in the sport
*blinks* Wow, when you put it that way, you actually make me wanna give Takkoku another go. @.@
lol I think I’ll put Oofuri on priority anime marathon list then. =D And Cross Game too, once I’m through with Oofuri that is. =D
x.x Ecchi, eh…? well, I’ll try to keep an open mind about it, but no promises.
I actually just tried out prince of tennis today and I’m enjoying myself so far. =D We’ll see if the special moves piss me off or I get too attached to Ryoma when they come around for me to care.
I tried the slam dunk
animeETA:Manga and didn’t care for it at all. I thought ES21 was funnier, personally. And yeah, the romance sucks. But hey, maybe the anime is better? I’ll admit I was also turned off by SD because of the art, so maybe the animation would be more tolerable.that’s why I still gave takkoku a chance, even if it has been so “duh” in some events, chapters, and have been kinda repetitive. ehehe
yay for oofuri~ just 26 episodes (dunno about the manga). enjoy adorableness xD haha *just remembered she hasn’t finished it yet as well* . . . damn . .
ecchi is what turns me off in air gear x_x
Ryoma is love xD I actually like Ryoma x Sakuno (I am surprised that I don’t hate Sakuno >_> *usually hates shounen leading ladies as you know xD*)
ah, yeah, slamdunk’s art isn’t pretty to the majority. but what mattered to me more was entertainment . . . and I got entertained . . . a lot xD haha!
So I tried rereading the first chapter of Takkoku again and nope, I can’t get into it. =_=
!! I like the Ryoma x Sakuno too! Though this may also be influenced by the fact I’m extremely happy the main guy isn’t hooking up with a fangirl/cheerleader/team manager, and an actual fellow sports player as well. And Sakuno as a character seems pretty good so far, so I’m optimistic.
Okayz ^^; So it wasn’t your thing~ but I think I might also be dropping it, if the 8th chapter will disappoint me =_=
YAY TO FELLOW RYOMA X SAKUNO SHIPPER!!!!! xD Wheeeeee~
We are kinda few ya know. Ryoma is mostly shipped with . . . the guys ^^;
Btw, I’ve now read Nononono and . . . I dropped it ^^; It wasn’t bad but . . . really not my type >_>
haha, don’t most guys in shounen fandom get shipped together? It’s ’cause the girls usually suck in shounen. Or, are completely non-existant. *coughHunterxHuntercough* I don’t know which I hate more. /end anti-shounen rant.
btw, I’m so, so sorry about not putting a warning tag here. Especially for Tetseuwan Girl, since I actually knew there was mature content in that series. I forget that people have different mileage than me, and it was rather insensitive of me to not have put up any warnings. =/ I’ll definitely keep this in mind and try to put up warning tags whenever applicable. =)
about shounen, ah yeah, I see that too.
HxH has females! not much though . . . and none on the good guys side if I remember correctly =_= but yeah, really rare. and most of them really suck.
thanks for the warning! and yeah, it will be really helpful if you put warnings on future posts ^^; ehehehe . . . I can’t 100% trust inputs on genres on manga directories anymore x_x