New Read - One Operation Joker, Volume 3 (Final Volume)
The final volume of One Operation Joker has dropped and gave us a full conclusion to the story! We finally find out why Batman was turned into a baby and who is responsible for this unlikely scenario. Through it all, we see The Joker trying, again to be a parent, with guest visits from Robin and The Riddler, both of whom 100% see through his "disguise" of not wearing makeup in public when he's going around with baby Bruce.
We also get a cute chapter where now toddler Bruce gets into a fight at school, only to find out that the baby's sense of justice prevailed as he punched a bully.
The ending pretty much just restores the status quo of Batman as Batman, the Joker as the Joker after an unfortunate situation with the Riddler that mirrored one from Batman's childhood. However, the entire series covers like 3-4 years where Batman was gone in Gotham and the Joker was far less active. The story shows a trickle down impact that a less active, murder spree Joker leads to overall less supervillain activity in Gotham. Which is an interesting thought.
Overall, enjoyed this silly concept. I don't know if it could have gone on much longer with this gag, but it remained funny to the end. Would recommend if you want a silly Batman story.
Suicune! 😍 Eines meiner Lieblingspokémon & Edition neben der Roten 🥰
Kristall ist sehr aufs Fangen fixiert & fackelt nicht lange rum. Krasse Leistung auch nach 1 Woche schon 142 Pokémon gefangen zu haben 😂
Weiterhin sehr spannend 😸
Der Band war wieder recht spannend. So langsam wird Gold auch sympathischer und man bekam ein paar Infos zu Silber. Viel Action, neue Pokémon. Die Reihe macht weiterhin super viel Spaß! 🔥
Neue Pokémon, teils Bekannte, aber viele neue Gesichter. Bin noch unsicher, wie ich Gold finde 🤔 bisher mag ich ihn noch nicht sonderlich, da finde ich Silber interessanter, haha. Mal sehen, was noch so passiert 😄
Ich frag mich schon ne ganze Weile... Die sind ja alle richtig fies und böse! 😱
Ständig will jemand Rot und seine Freunde verletzen oder gar töten!? 😶
Richtig brutal ey 😂
Aber auch sehr spannend weiterhin! Rot ist verschwunden, was ist nur passiert!?
I rarely jump into book stack challenges I find online, however, over on Instagram there is a "Manga or Book User Name" stack challenge from users heygingermaenga, dragonballzowie, and mainly.manga. So, I decided to try it out.
The issue I had was that it was really hard to find an R book.
So, here is how I laid out MDMRN.
M - My Father is a Unicorn
D - Donald Duck Visits Japan
M - My Broken Mariko
R - Return of the Jedi (Pop-Up Book)
N - (The) Nightmare Before Christmas
This was a fun challenge and thanks to the three of you for putting this out there.
Es geht spannend weiter!
Rot begegnet vielen neuen Pokémon & erlebt Abenteuer. Neue & altbekannte Gesichter tauchen auf.
Der Storyverlauf schreitet sehr schnell voran - es wird jedenfalls nicht langweilig! 🔥
Da passierte wieder ganz schön viel!
Der Kampf gegen Team Rocket, den Vorstand und auch Boss Giovanni - zum Schluss ging's dann auch noch in die Indigo Liga! Sehr spannend! 🔥
Rot & Blau wollen den Pokédex füllen & dabei natürlich der Erste werden.
Was ich "doof" finde: Glumanda gehört zu Blau 🥲
Aber gut, es wurde ziemlich schnell zu Glutexo, also ist's nicht mehr so schlimm xD
Die Kapitel sind episodisch aufgebaut, knüpfen aber an das vorausgehende an. Ähnlich wie im Anime 😄
Aber storytechnisch ist es dann auch gleich wieder komplett anders.
Teilweise sind die Plots nicht ganz ersichtlich - da fehlte noch ein bisschen was.
Man lernt die Charaktere nicht genug kennen, kann ihren Hintergrund aber teils erahnen. Die Stories sind melancholisch angehaucht.
War nochmal ziemlich spannend! Wollte schnell wissen, wie es ausgeht!
Mit DEM Ende hab ich absolut nicht gerechnet - hat mich kalt erwischt 😄
Passt echt verdammt gut & rundet es perfekt ab!
Endlich mehr Infos zu den Charakteren & Einblicke in die Vergangenheit. Erst ist ziemlich viel los, dann flacht es etwas ab.. aber zum Schluss gibt's nochmal einen Spannungsbogen. Auf zum letzten Band und dem Finale🔥
In case you missed the summary from my first post (or have never heard of this), the basic premise is that after Superman was in Japan fighting crime, he enjoyed their relatively inexpensive Japanese cuisine and is basically obsessed with it now.
So yes, after reading Volume 1, I ordered Volume 2 of Superman Vs Meshi and pre-ordered Volume 3. Expect a review of Volume 3 in February when it releases.
This volume continues where Volume 1 left off with Superman's continued obsession with Japanese cuisine. This volume brings us more special guests including Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Cyborg. Wonder Woman spends her chapter thinking Superman is going to hit on her, only to realize he just really loves food. The Flash took a second job as a delivery...runner for a fictional version of Grub Hub. Cyborg is shown as the introvert of the Justice League until Superman introduces him to some new food. I mean, he's still an introvert, but they start chatting about food.
One thing I will note is that this is absolutely accessible to kids. There is not really any adult topics discussed, violence, cursing, etc. One of my 9 year olds read Volume 1 and basically starred at me to finish reading Volume 2 so she could pick it up next. Definitely a fun one if your kids are interested in goofy manga, super heroes, or learning about Japanese food.
Overall, silly, cute, makes me hungry. Would read again and ready for Volume 3.
Sehr interessanter Plot & guter Start!
Die Charaktere sind noch etwas "platt", aber ändert sich sicher noch. Bisher hat man noch nicht viele Hintergrundinfos, aber es ist schon einiges passiert. Auf zum nächsten Band!
Have you read any The Ring (Ringu) alternate universe stories?
No? Well why not!
For Manga Monday, I wanted to profile two that I enjoyed about Sadako (the girl in the video).
The first is Sadako-san and Sadako-chan. What's it about? Sadako comes out of a device and meets a small girl also named Sadako. The younger Sadako (Sadako-chan) tries to help Sadako-san upload videos of herself onto their in-universe version of YouTube to curse more people. And adorableness ensues as the two bond and become buddies. It's bittersweet, but also cute and mostly wholesome as Sadako keeps forgetting to curse folks online.
Sadako at the End of the World is a more somber story. It tells a post-apocalyptic tale where to siblings find an old CRT TV and end up bringing Sadako into the world. However, there is not much left of the world and these two kids befriend Sadako. Sadako and the kids then go visiting folks who lost everything in this world and, inadvertently, help them with their grief as their lives end. It's sad, but also cathartic.
If you are interested in seeing Sadako in different scenarios, check them both out!
After reading One Operation Joker, I knew eventually I was going to find myself looking into the other silly DC Comics themed manga out there.
Once again, as a random pickup from Target, I snagged a copy of Superman vs Meshi. It did not disappoint.
It's written by the same author of One Operation Joker, so I knew going into it it would be silly. It did not disappoint.
The basic premise is as follows - Superman was in Japan fighting crime, enjoyed relatively inexpensive Japanese cuisine, now almost every time he get super hungry, he flies to Japan for a snack or meal. And he just walks into random dining locations as Superman, in full costume. Guest stars include Batman and Aquaman, each dining in Japan with Superman.
Basically, silly premise that has a silly execution. If you are looking for a goofy and chill manga about food with recognizable a cast you don't have to think much about, this is for you. Definitely recommend.
New Manga Read: Fist of the North Star - Volume 10
It has finally happened. I have reached the penultimate battle of the first half of Fist of the North Star!
Kenshiro versus Raoh.
It did not disappoint. This volume (10) revealed more about the history of Yuria, Kenshiro, and Raoh that were fantastically done. The truth about Yuria an her sickness; Raoh's realization that he will never be as vulnerable as Kenshiro were huge moments.
For all the beefy dudes beating each other, which is a core component of Fist of the North Star, the masculinity of Kenshiro isn't toxic, isn't oppressive, and shows true emotion, vulnerability, and sorrow. There is emotional depth to Kenshiro that Raoh is unwilling to have. His own internalized misogyny won't allow Raoh to admit he has these feelings of love, compassion, or fear. Kenshiro allows himself to feel all these things.
As the volume concluded, I found myself far more emotional than I expected for a post-apocalyptic tale about beefy dudes fighting. It was so well done.
Now, I move onto Volume 11 and the time skip.
But here's to the story of Kenshiro and Raoh and a very satisfying ending to their tale.
So, I may have bought presents for myself recently, then wrapped them (or helped my kids wrap them acting like I had no clue it was for me) and the pretended to be surprised on Christmas.
...
Yes, that is exactly what I did.
Here's a pic of the stuff including all of the Wotakoi manga (a Cyber Monday deal), The Last Ronin, and the newest Sonic game.
As we're closing in on Christmas, I decided to bust back out Sweet Rein and give it a re-read. I had not read it since 2021 and let me tell you, it's cheesy, but fun.
For those who don't know much about it (which may be many), Sweet Rein is about a girl named Kurumi who bumps into a boy named Kaito. Afterwards, a long invisible rein appears between the two of them, tying them together!
What we learn is that Santa (or Santas) are everyday people who connect with a human-reindeer to give out presents in their specific area once a year. This boy, Kaito, is Kurumi's reindeer. The story then follows Kurumi and Kaito as they are clearly having a crush on each other and also give out presents, work as Santa for Christmas, and overall try to make people's days brighter.
It's cute. I don't remember how it ended, so I'll have to finish it up before Christmas!
Have you read Sweet Rein? If so, what did you think of it?
This weekend I read Volume 2 of One Operation Joker. Much like Volume 1, it continued with the parenting jokes. This time we brought in Harley Quinn a couple times to help the Joker get baby Batman into a good daycare facility. Also, Alfred Pennyworth showed up as said daycare facility happened to be owned by Wayne Enterprises.
It's such a goofy concept and it was able to keep the gag going through a second volume. I feel like this series maxing out at 3 volumes is probably for the best because I'm not sure how much more they can do with this same baby Batman gag.
This weekend I finally got to reading #SailorMoon Volume 5, from #Kodansha's new Naoko Takeuchi Collection reprint of the series. Let me tell you - fantastic.
This set of chapters introduced us to Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, who had such a fantastic introduction. The duo as Mugen Academy students infiltrating the school; Sailor Uranus' sexuality and gender expression; and the pair's willingness for brutality introduced some new elements into the series that just made it hard to look away. I plowed through this volume this weekend.
Overall, solid volume, can't wait until the next one arrives for me in January.
The single volume series follows Donald and his buddies José Carioca and Panchito from the classic cartoon #TheThreeCaballeros work for Duck Furnishings in the US. Being that it is this trio, they're always getting into trouble. So, their boss sends the three of them to Japan to become better employees by forcing them to work at a traditional, and very strict, Onsen in Japan.
Basically, it's a goofy story about Donald and friends becoming good at helping / serving others while working at an Onsen. That's it.
I have read this a few times and so have a few of my kids. It's silly, it's relaxing, and I tend to bring it with me on vacations if I'm looking for something quick to read at the beach.
Are there any single volume manga that you go back to and re-read to relax? Let me know in the comments!
What would happen if Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch, crash landed in Japan during the Warring States period instead of in modern Hawai'i?
That's the question that the late Hiroto Wada answered in the manga series "Stitch and the Samurai" (Tono-sama to Stitch).
The art is so very well done and feels like a historical manga. Then enter Stitch, who is drawn exactly like he looks in the movie. The juxtaposition of serious looking historical manga art with the goofiness of Stitch is jarring and hilarious. Also, our titular Lord / Samurai becoming so head over heels obsessed with Stitch is something else.
TokyoPop consolidated all three volumes of it into a single, physical release omnibus, which is a great way to read it. I already read it and reviewed it digitally for @beneaththetangles a while back, but it was fun to re-read it again.
Now, to convince my Stitch loving kids to check it out too.