your first manga

what was the first manga series you ever read?

I personally can't really remember how I first started to read manga, but I think that my first series was Rurouni Kenshin, followed by Crescent Moon (which I still haven't technically finished)

I believe my first exposure to manga was either Ranma 1/2 (flipped) or Oh My Goddess (also flipped). At the time, I didn't see the appeal.

Manga didn't "stick" for me until some friends of mine at college translated their Imadoki! volumes and let me read them with the translations. That was eight or nine years ago now.

Ranma 1/2 and also the earlier Sailor Moon series.

Wow. That's a good question. I think it was Oh My Goddess!, but it might've been Love Hina or No Need for Tenchi!

>4 MadLudwig:

I figured that if I was going to start a group, that I should start some conversation :)

Love Hina was also one of the first series that I've read (and did not like).

Sailormoon, when Tokyopop first released it in the US (so it's easy to remember--1997).

I only watched Sailor Moon, I did not read it :)

I really liked that series.

I read volume 1 of Battle Angel Alita (aka Gunnm) while standing around in Dark Carnival (a great sf/f/mystery/geeky stuff bookstore in Berkeley, CA). I remember that one of the guys working there told me his roommate was one of the translators. This must have been in about 1995. I had no idea what I was looking at; I just knew it wasn't like anything I'd seen before.

A couple of years later, I ended up going to my high school's anime club and from there got into Ranma manga, belatedly realizing 1. what Gunnm was and 2. that a whole lot more of it was now out.

Her Majesty's Dog, I fell in love with the cover art and then found out what it was about and really wanted it. It took about three months of going back to look at it at Borders before I convinced myself to buy it because I thought it was too expensive. I knew nothing about manga at the time and it was a whole new experience for me.

Naruto

>11 mene:

Sailor Moon was my first anime series that I watched :D

I find that there a lot of people that read anime that like to learn Japanese.

Alice 19th was the first series that I ever read and I loved it. It was soon followed (the same night) by Juvenile Orion.

The first manga i ever read was Fruits Basket, one of my moms friends daughter in colledge suggested i try reading it because at the time i hated reading. I wouldn't even read school assigned books and my grades were dropping drasticly. Now i love it. Not just manga either, but like normal books 2. Thank the heavens for manga.

>14 yukikome:
I've never heard of Juvenile Orion, what is it about?

>15 tearsXsolitude:
I read a bit before discovering manga, but just small books. After I started reading manga, especially the 20+ volume series, I know read much more novels and I am no longer intimidate by the # of pages.

oh i love Juvenile Orion. I wish they had made the series longer though =

to novelandmangacrazy: oh I hear that. I'm reading like one or two books every week. I know that's really hard to believe, but I'm completely in love with them and I just keep finding new ones to read. Right now I'm reading a book called Saint Iggy and I just finished Last Exit to Normal yesterday. woohoo for me!

I wish I could spend more time reading, but I don't like to read much during the school year because I'll really get into the book and not want to put it down, which means that I wont be working on my homework. However, earlier this week I thought that I might try reading a short story now and then. With a short story at least if I get really hooked, it wont take me as long to finish it.

...yeah, see I kinda just...don't do my homework anyway. well not true. only in chemistry and algebra 2. In those classes I'm doomed cause I suck at math so i usually just spend the class reading. i wish i cared more about school like you lol. short story? like what?

>19 tearsXsolitude:
I'm a college student and I have very big group assignments, so I have to do my work. I also have a math class. Math is not my forte either, so I have to do my homework in that class too.

As for short stories, I only just started to read them. I actually just finished my first one like 2 minutes ago, lol. As for what type of short stories, for now I was just going to read some romance stuff.

the first one i read... was probably either akazukin chacha or tokimeki tonight.. but only one chapter. the first manga i ever bought was sailormoon, followed by hana yori dango.

>21 lilasia:
It's funny because when I was a kid I only new about the anime Sailor Moon and not about the manga, and years later I discover manga and become an absolute manga fan :D

However, I don't actually like the art in the SM manga.

The first manga I have ever read was Alice 19th by Yuu Watase. It wasn't a favorite of mine but it was the one that introduced me to the manga world and I have been buying manga since then. I guess it was 2004.

>23 HatsumiShinogu:
I've probably started reading manga in 2002 (if my calculations are alright). My friends were the ones to introduce me to manga.

I can't really remember the first manga I ever read but I definitely remember the work that got me into manga: Goth by Otsuichi and Oiwa Kenji. Before I just used to wait for anime releases, but upon reading this I realized the beauty of manga just as it is, (without it needing to be animated) and that there are a lot of other interesting stories out there than the mainstream shoujo and shounen titles I grew up with.

(oh, of course i still watch anime, but honestly i read more manga than watch anime ^.^")

I also real a lot more manga then I watch anime. I just find that it is faster to read the manga then to watch the anime. Also in anime series they often add filler episodes, which I don't always like.

My first was Sailor Moon back in 1998. I remember Ghost in the Shell was also one I read back then.

My first manga was MARS. Classic shojo crack, and still one of my favorite series.

>27 jmillar:
I never actually read the Sailor Moon manga, but I loved watching the anime. Back then, I didn't even know what manga was, lol. Sailor Moon was a great series.

>28 wme43:
I love Mars. It's one of my favorite series. The art is really nice.

Started watching Sailor Moon and didn't get into the reading part until much later (it used to be really hard to find manga, even in comic book shops). I think I started with Fruits Baskets... I really like a lot of the more independ press stuff. I love Her Majesty's Dog - Mick Takeuchi's new series (Bound Beauty) is also good - but I am very upset because the publisher (Go Comi) has completely stopped their printers (since last summer) and I can't get any new volumes...

>30 Jess_in_Ottawa:
Ya that sucks. I bought what I though was the end of a series, just to find out that it was not the end and that the series is discontinued :(

My first manga series that I started reading is Descendants of Darkness. I really enjoy this series, I hope that it continues but it has been in limbo for years.

>32 CryBel:
Descendants of Darkness, I have never hear of it before. What is it about?

hmmmm, I guess the first manga series I ever read, was either Love Hina, or the Inuyasha ani-manga, but I only became interested in manga, after I watched, and then became obsessed with the Inuyasha anime!

>32 CryBel:

I was at the Hana to Yume website last month and they had a whole thing about another Decendants of Darkness release.

(Link here: http://www.hanayume.com/yamimatsu/)

There had been some uncollected Japanese chapters years ago (8 years ago to be precise - I remember reading the translations online w/o scans back when I was in college and breathing manga) and now they're releasing them in volume 12! As far as I know they've been heavily changed from the originals though and her art is different. Less subtle on the emotional plot and heavier on the snake tentacle pr0n. I confess to not having yet read the comparisons, I just saw the discussions going on.

I doubt it will come out in English though - did they ever release the all of the first 11 in English?

I'm slightly embarrassed to say my first manga was InuYasha. Looking back on it now, the anime drawing is so rigid, unanimated and, well, different. Kind of surprising I liked it in the first place! But then again, I have much more manga expiereience now - but no spellling abilities, as before.
What's your guy's favorite manga? mine is Chibi Vampire, FMA, Cresent Moon, of course, FRUITS BASKET!!!
-Zanya

My first manga was Tsubasa Chronicles, which got me obsessed in the first place. It has great artistry, and I'm still following the series. Volume 26 . . please come soonn . . .

Hmmm, I believe my first manga was Hellsing or Battle Angel Alita, hard to remember which came first

>35 macsbrains:

Well, whaddya know. Here I was about to say no one had released an English version of Descendants of Darkness, and it turns out Viz has released all of the first 11 volumes: http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?series_id=47

Guess it pays to investigate first, eh? :)

(I wouldn't wait too long to pick these up if you're interested, though - seems like Viz released them a few years ago, and they've been getting stingy with new printing runs lately.)

EDIT: Central Park Media released the DoD anime, but since they're out of business, that might be hard to find now (it shows up on SyFy's Ani-Monday every now and then, though).

>35 macsbrains:

Go figure! Looks like I'll have to track some down.

The first I read was Inu Yasha

Descendants of Darkness is about two Shinigami (guardians of Death) and the various cases they work on (gotta get those dead people to the afterlife). The two main Shinigami are Asato Tsuzuki and Hisoka Kurosaki. It is a somewhat funny series but it does take some weird turns and their is some sex in this series. Some people have called this series the gateway series into Yaoi.

I've never actually read any of the InuYasha series but I used to love the anime. I just found that the anime dragged on too much so I stopped watching it at about episode 100.

As for Love Hina, I thought that it was a wast of money. I bought most of the series at my first anime convention. It was also one of my firsts manga series and at the time I did not know many other series so I just bought it.

Mmm...my first manga....well, I was reading them LONG before they were available in the states, so I'm not quite sure, maybe Berserk, Saiyuki, or Rurouni Kenshin. My first purchased series was actually a combo of Mars and Planet Ladder. Mars I still own...but I gave up Planet Ladder a while ago. I just didn't really enjoy it that much; the story kinda fell apart at the end.

My first Maga was Vampire Knight and then I started the Rosario and Vampire. I started reading them because my friend said they were so good so I started reading them and I got hooked.

>44 purpledragon42:
I love Mars, and it's still one of my favorite series. I also own a few volumes of Saiyuki (which I still haven't read yet) and Kenshin, which are in French. Hopefully this summer I'll have the chance to re-read and finish Kenshin.

And possibly start Vampire Knight, since it seems very popular (and my library has it) :D

It is really good i can not wait till volume 10.

My first was Hellsing by Kohta Hirano. A friend of mine in high school recommended it to me based on the fact that I enjoyed Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. Both had the same over-abundance of violence, but Hellsing was an entirely new experience for me. It's definitely the book that got me into manga.

It was Inuyasha. Here's my progression: 1) a friend summarizes the show for me, tells me I would love it; 2) I stumble across my first fanfiction (ends up being an AMAZING story--even though I only know the basics of the show--because the story isn't canon); 3) I'm have to know more. I start taping Adult Swim; 4) Barnes & Noble sells manga! Wow! So I go and read the first 30 volumes in the store.

Those two days of reading were awesome. I had very recently gotten my license and I got to drive across the river to the store (like an hour away!) and stay there for hours just enjoying myself. Two great days, definitely. *reminisces*

Inuyasha was a huge thing for me. Sailor Moon was /technically/ my gateway drug into this world but Inyuasha was really what did it.

Wow, it sounds like a bunch of you were gateway-ed by these two series as well!

Yu-Gi-Oh! was my first manga, courtesy of my best friend in year 6.

My very first was Sailor Moon. In French. Years and years ago :)

>51 Gendy:

One of my first mangas was Kenshin and that was in French too.

Sailor Moon. I started watching the tv show as a kid, so when they started publishing the manga when I was 15 or so, I read that. I didn't get many when they were in print, so I've had to assemble the series piecemeal from used book stores. I've got the whole thing now!

My first manga was probably Inuyasha. After that it was Bleach then it was a little Naruto, though I don't really like it anymore.

I have so so many others that I read at the same time:
1. Shaman King
2. Kitchen Princess
3. Ouran High School Host Club
And so on.

And then I had to read my manga online because I was too impatient to wait for my manga in the library. www.mangafox.com has helped me by helping me read different genres of manga. So now I guess I have READ over 500 different series of manga in the last 2 years.

The first one i ever read was Akira. I was in Barnes and Noble looking around when i saw the cover for the first book and started reading. I stayed in the store for hours to finish the entire series.

>53 heatherheartsbooks:
One of my first animes was Sailor Moon, but I never read the manga. At first I did not even know that it existed, and when I found out that it did I did not really want to read it since I don't like the graphics.

>54 crazygemtrees:
500 series, that's a lot in 2 years. Ive read about 35 series in about 7 years. I guess I don't always have that much time to read, especially when I'm in school and reading textbooks. I also read novels.

The first manga I bought was Trigun Vol. 1, although I ended up liking the anime a lot more (had enough of the manga around vol. 3 of Maximum).

>57 9kyuubi9:
I have heard of Trigun, but I've never read or watched it.

>58 novelandmangacrazy: I really liked the Trigun anime, but I know it's entirely different from the manga. I also know that the things that I liked about it were all the things they invented for the anime, so I'm ok with not seeking out the manga.

Like several previous posters, my first anime/manga was also Sailor Moon. I noticed it on TV one morning before school and I noticed that every episode they wore different clothes which I'd never encountered before! After mentioning it to a friend at school we started watching, and then an acquaintance had a full set of rare and elusive fansubs. Thus began a beautiful obsession.

Eventually I got a hold of the manga in Japanese, and since I was already into comics in general, and already had formal training in other languages, I just more or less stared at the books until they started to make some sort of sense.

I do like the anime more, though. Which doesn't happen often. And I still love Sailor Moon, I do. It speaks to the 10 year old in me.

I followed up Sailor Moon with Fushigi Yuugi - and there went most of high school - I mean it takes MONTHS to watch them in full, even when you are young and can marathon them for days. And then it takes more months when you sit each friend down with it.

>59 macsbrains:

I'm surprised you remember all of that, lol.

I love Sailor Moon too and was introduced to the anime as a kid. At that point I did not even know that the manga for it even existed or what manga was. I discovered the books years later, not knowing that it was manga, but I did not read any of the series because I was not fond on the graphics. I was only introduced to manga in about grade 9, when I started reading Kenshin and crescent moon.

I did read Fushigi Yuugi too, but it was not as good as Sailor Moon. I read the entire series in 2007.

I was also a Sailor Moon fan. It was my first anime and manga. My second anime was Neon Genesis Evangelion, and I think my second manga was Ceres. Now my collection has grown to 500 +/- a few :)

Peach Girl was my first manga! It was one of the first shoujo to be brought to the US, I think. At least, the first non-fantasy one at any rate. I still have mine. It's funny, they're the same size as Japanese tankouban (so they're smaller than most US manga volumes now) and they're flipped. They're also translated strangely - they left out Japanese cultural references (like Namie Amuro or ganguros) and things like that. I really need to buy the second translation that Tokyopop did.

>56 novelandmangacrazy:
Well I guess thats alot, I read faster online than I do with a hard book in front of me. haha.

Oooh, that was long ago. My Brother was first into the stuff when they still released them in comic book size before switching to paperback. The first series I read were Ranma 1/2, Appleseed and... I think Silent Moebius. I fell for the first hook, line and sinker. Fun times... *reminiscences*

Mine was Fruits basket. I put off reading manga for a long time, as I knew that once I got into it, I would be totally hooked and blow my budget! But we sold FB when I worked at Tower Records so I gave in and used my staff discount for it. Then I started reading Shojo Beat and NewType USA magazines and, yeah, I've been addicted for a while now!

>61 VykiC37:
500 volumes, I wish! I only have about 200, but I also read a lot from the library.

>63 crazygemtrees:
I'm the opposite. I find that I read much faster when I have a book, vs reading online.

what really got me into manga, was actually, anime. my little sister convinced me to finally sit down and watch an episode of inuyasha, and I was hooked! my favorite anime. a slippery slope to manga, lol, and now I own almost..... 1300 manga, lol

>67 sweetandsyko:
That sounds like me! My little sister also made me watch Inu Yasha, back in the day. I don't have as much as manga as you though! That's like, twice the amount that I have! Wow!

I bought 2 manga in a row. Only the ringfinger knows (after I discovered that boyslove is actually a big thing in manga) and Wild Adapter 1. I still like them both, and now I have almost 500 manga in my collection.

I feel eventually I'm going to own as much as 500+, but I've been collecting for about four years and I only have a bit over 160. I have a GIGANTIC wish list, but my book store doesn't carry many of the titles that I want. Their manga section is only three shelves long!!

I wish I owned more. I met someone last fall at an anime club that had over 3000 volumes. I would be in heaven with that much manga.

>70 Taigamimi:
check out rightstuf.com
their prices are good and they have a large selection

death note

My first series was Fruits Basket in 2005, it was already up to 7 or 8 volumes in English by then. I had watched the anime and knew there had to be more to the story than what they showed. I haven't stopped since then, although my wallet wishes I had. I wish I had room to keep all my volumes but I have had to sell them off as I go(including FB) for bookshelf space and $, even so according to my librarything I still have over 800 on my shelves.

I remember the first series i ever read was Love Hina, which i borrowed from a friend. But the first two manga series that I ever bought was Hana-Kimi and Ouran High School Host Club. Since then, my collection expanded to over 1200 books. lol

ummm the frist manga i read was yugioh but the frist series i read was vampire knight (hint the user name)

my first manga i think was vampire knight i really dont know but that would be my guess

i take that back my first was miki falls

Akira was the first I read seriously.

>73 Prettyvillain:
You can always find room for books. I love the Billy book cases at IKEA, their great for book space (I also add an extra shelf). I can't imagine getting rid of my manga unless it's something I really don't like. Have you tried your local library for manga? That way you can enjoy new titles without getting rid of old ones. Sometime you can also find manga at used book stores.

>74 TsubasaHime:
Love Hina was also one of the first series I read. I practically bought the entire series at my first anime convention. It was such a wast of money. As I was just learning about manga, I guess I had not yet discovered different genres. Love Hina would definitely not be something that I would buy again today.

>76 evansriza:
That reminds me, I should probably finish reading Vampire Knight. I think I'm at volume 10.

>78 Death_By_Papercut:
the first series you read seriously? lol, what had you read before that?

>79 novelandmangacrazy: Before that I hadn't really known/realized what manga was yet. Nothing memorable read before that either. Unfortunately much of manga is just fluff. I want stuff to read that is serious but NOT BORING. :-)

I'm fairly new to manga. The first manga I've ever read was Vampire Knight. I fell in love with mangs right then and there and I've loved it since

Gosh... I'm not sure I even remember my first manga... Samurai Deeper Kyo, maybe? Or Hellsing? I've been collecting for more than 10 years now, so it is really hard to remember back that far.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my first manga was Sailor Moon. My first shonen-ai was FAKE by Sanami Matoh. I have been buying up the new reissues of Sailor Moon and Sailor V, but most of my manga are yaoi.

>83 heatherheartsbooks:
Sailor Moon was one of the first animes I watched but at the time I did not know what manga was. To this day I have never read any Sailor Moon, but I'm going to get the new release of the Sailor moon manga. I already got the first two for Christmas.
I have yet to start a good yaoi series. (I have read volume 1 of Fake, lol)

I think my first manga was Shadow Star, which I don't think the publisher I read it from ever finished translating it, once they realized how dark it was. I moved on to CLAMP, Tenchi Muyo, Love Hina, and the rest of the classic 90s titles.

Fullmetal Alchemist, it was sometime in the spring of '06. Saw the first anime on tv first and looked it on online and found the manga and that was that.

Sergent Frog was the first taste of manga I ever got. I read the first volume in fourth grade.

>85 AmyLynn:
I also read Love Hina. Love Hina and Psychic Academy were both series I read before really understanding manga and the different genres. Looking back, buying both series was a waste of money. lol, there is much better manga bout there.

Honestly, I don't remember what my first exposure to manga was, except I know it was probably in Shonen Jump in the late 90's. First anime was My Neighbor Totoro, which likely explains my raging fanboyism for Miyazaki. Watching Totoro when you're like, six and over at your best friend's house will do that.

The very first one I read was Real Bout High school. or something like that

Oh wow, this brings back memories. My first manga ever read was Peach Girl. Adorable little shojo.

I can't remember how young I was, I was probably around 12/13 and my cousins loved anime. That was how I was exposed to Dragon Ball Z the anime, which eventually led me to reading the manga. As a girl, I don't know WHY it appealed to me the way it did, but I just remember all of the characters being so cool, fighting to save their planet from all of the villains that they faced. I probably liked it more than I would have if my cousins hadn't shown me it. I always looked up to them and whatever they thought was cool, I did too. :P

When I was younger I watched anime without knowing that it was anime. I absolutely adored Sailor Moon. I also liked Pokemon (not sure if that's officially anime or not). I think I liked it more because it was really popular at the time. I still remember going to the theater to see the movie with my parents who hated it, lol.

>92 Char739:
When I was in elementary school (grade 4 or 5) there were not that many older kids on the bus, but there was one guy my age and one 2 years older who really liked Dragon Ball Z. I think I started watching it so that I could understand what they were talking about. Even as a girl, I really enjoyed it and still do. My dad even watched some with me (at which point I believe I was watching the cell games).

My first manga was Chobits.

I don't own it, but the first Manga I ever read was Fruits Basket.

The first manga i read was naruto,and may favorite is rock lee,he be kicken ass

kero kero i love dororo

My first manga was Naruto. I was getting tired of all the filler episodes for the anime to catch up to what's in the manga, so decided to read it. Was hooked on manga ever since.

My first manga was the Legend of Zelda series and the Pokemon series, both of which I started simultaneously. I was such a video game nerd when I started reading manga.

I started a few years ago with Chi's Sweet Home. Then I completely forgot about manga. I started up again recently with Tale of the Waning Moon, volume 1 which I found in a BookCrossing book box. That got me started into creating a manga reading challenge. You can read more about that here. I'm definitely hooked now. Some of the books are really fun. I love the Yotsuba&! series and am on volume 5 of that series now.

By the way, am I the only one over the age of 60 is this group?! :D

Naruto

It was before I was really an anime fan (and I was 4 at the time) so my dumbass read it the wrong way lmao, and it was only when I was almost done with the book that I realized I was reading it the wrong way

mine was love chnybu and other disslutions realy sleepy so i probly butcherd that

mine was at the age of 5 reading in the public library and finding yowamushi pedal books

my first was the legend of zelda ocarina of time. i got it from my schools book orders.

mine was pokemon but the one that actually got me into manga was Kitchen Princess which is deadly underated-

mine was aot and im reading the bleack tybw rn.

I don't remember, but I think it was Fruits Basket. At least that was the first series I think I completed.

I read My Hero Academia first, but Inuyasha is the first I owned.

Berserk is the best manga in existence and nothing else can compare

>1 novelandmangacrazy: during a hurricane, i had to go to my cousins house and they had pokemon adventures red and blue just lying around, and there was no internet so that was pretty much the only thing i could do for a good week

I haven't finished any manga series just yet but first one I picked up was Ouran High School Host Club after I had finished watched the Netflix adaptation.

My first manga I read/bought was those CHIX Comics Sailor Moon comic books because I couldn't afford anything else and they were ~ $3 each. Sailor Moon, Vol. 1 Chix Comics

my first manga was given to me, it was mha, and I still haven't found the time to read it along with haikyu...which was also gifted to me.

Haikyuu is sooo good I cant count how many time ive read it and watched it lmao

My first manga ive ever read was probably Inuyasha, Ragnarok, or Ranma 1/2 though

Ragnarok never ended though :(

>113 FRICKINGTURTLEBURPEL: OMG I LOVE MHA AND HAIKYUU they are such good anime shows

My first manga was probably part of whatever I could find poking around online. The first manga series I remember reading all the way through were Hikaru no Go by Yumi Hotta, Library Wars: Love and War by Kiiro Yumi, and Millennium Snow by Bisuko Hatori.

>116 Sxkurablossom: i wanna read it sooo baddd

which Ragnarok though there is multiple one the one I read was by manhwa lee myung jin

>120 Sxkurablossom: wait- THERE'S MULTIPLE?!?!?!

different series such as ragnarok records, ragnarok, ect

they are completely different things though

damn..

pfft-

oop-

>126 _luh_Baddie_bae: i-

>127 FRICKINGTURTLEBURPEL: Rawr-

>128 _luh_Baddie_bae: pls stop- LMAOOOO

>129 FRICKINGTURTLEBURPEL: LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OK-

>130 _luh_Baddie_bae: xd

>132 _luh_Baddie_bae: That's a manga title?

Seriously, y'all, this is not a general chat. Stay on topic.

>133 aspirit: Sry-

I'll be honest- I haven't read a single manga before...

>135 Covid_Karin: *gasp* not even one on accident??

:0

>135 Covid_Karin: You know, we can help you change that.

>135 Covid_Karin: https://1stkissmanga.tv/

My fist manga was One Piece. Also, does anyone have any unblocked sites I can read manga on?

>140 MrFlimFlam: Where to ask.

Unrelated note: LibraryThing series touchstone now appear in the list in the topic sidebar (which drops below the messages on small mobile devices). This is a very new and nice feature. So I'm adding One Piece to take advantage of it.

sour roll

>140 MrFlimFlam: I haven't seen you in a awile :)

I've started to watch the Anime One Piece (Water 7 arc is TOO LONG)
Which is better the Anime or Manga?

>142 Sxkurablossom: For a sec I thought you said "SUSHI ROLL" but you said SOUR ROLL LMAOOOO

>143 Covid_Karin: ANIME IS BETTERRRRRRR. BUT AT THE SAME TIME ALSO MANGA..... SO ABOUT
50-50

>144 _luh_Baddie_bae: lmao

pokemon adventures manga