[misadventures in taiwan podcast]: January 2006

these are japanese comic books (translated into chinese since i can't read japanese) that i've read. they were all rented from comic book rental shops unless stated otherwise.

the books are posted in the order (oldest first, newest at the bottom) i've read them. click on the thumbnails to see larger versions:

這些是我有讀過的漫畫書, 點照片可以放大:

-----------read during the Fall 2004 Semester----------------

-- a detective series called 金田一少年之事件簿/ Young Kindaichi/ Kindaichi Case Files (read all. there were about 20 books in the series). pretty fun reading except a lot of the plots seem rehashed from '60s american pulp crime fiction.

--------read during the Spring 2005 Semester-------------------

yellow tag

i highly recommend these next two. 我強力推薦接下兩本.

-- these two are both written by Hirokane Kenshi. the one on the left is about a japanese salaryman in middle management (but on his way up the corporate ladder). the english title on the 課長島耕作 cover is "Function of Success" but it's called "Division Chief Kosaku Shima" on amazon.

the series (課長島耕作) was set in the '80s. i read all the books in that series. the funny thing was that this was rated "adult/ mature/ only for persons over 18". it was pretty tame though. i mean it's not that sort of pr0n-y japanese comic book (if you know what i mean). there were 17 books in the series i think. read them all.

there's a sequel (a different series) that features the same character after he was promoted but i haven't read that.

the second book (Kaji Ryuusuke's Agenda in English- but some internet sources translated it as Kaji Ryusuke's Argument/ 政治最前線 in chinese/ 加治隆介の議 in japanese) is about japanese politics, power grabbing and things like that. the there were about 20 books in the series and i read all except 4 books in the middle (books 15 to 19 i think). the funny thing was that the main character looked almost identical to the main character in the previous book.

yellow tag

i highly recommend this one. 我強力推薦這本.

-- Confession/ 自白(another source translates it as 告白) by Nobuyuki Fukumoto was really good. the whole story (it's just one comic book, not a series) features the two characters on the cover bluffing each other. each suspects the other of wanting to kill him. it's very well written and well-drawn. it's not formulaic like most of the action/ adventure- themed comics on this list tend to be. one of my favorites too.

-- Dragon Head/ 末日 (in chinese) (the literal translation of the chinese title is something like "End Days"/ "End of Days")/ ドラゴンヘッド (Japanese) by Minetaro Mochizuki is about a bunch of people fending for their lives after Mt Fuji erupts and buries the whole of Japan. bleak, apocalyptic landscape. read all the books in the series. this one's rated "adult/ mature" for some reason. violence perhaps?

------------------------read during the Fall 2005 semester--------------------

--- the Psychometrer Eiji (Psycho Metror Eiji or Psychometric Eiji from some other internet sources)/ 感應少年 (chinese) comic book series is about a boy who possesses some form of ESP. it's an adventure/ detective series. pretty light reading and fun. the plots are better than Young Kindaichi (see above). about 20 books in the series. read all of them.

-- Homunculus/ 異變者 (chinese)/ ホムンクルス (Japanese) is about a guy who undergoes a trepanation and then gains heightened sensory powers. i've read all 5 books in this short series.

-- Gallery Fake/ 真相之眼 (chinese)/ ギャラリーフェイク (Japanese) is a series about an art dealer who sells fake art in his gallery and real art in the black market. pretty fun to read. lots of action and adventure. i'm halfway through this series as of this writing (jan. 21, 2006).

tags: manga review, manga reviews, comic book reviews, comics, comic book, comic books, manga