a.q.u.a.m.a.r.i.n.e v3.0| Can't Kick This Habit: Manga (& Anime) Addiction

Can't Kick This Habit

I love manga and (to a lesser extent) anime.

I love the stories, the humour, the angst, etc. etc. But most of all, I love the eye candy. The kawaii characters: hot boys that don't exist in real life; gorgeous girls that I wish I'd resemble, I love them all. Whether it's manga (Japanese), or manhwa (Korean), or even manhua (Chinese), I love these comics which contrast so uniquely to the American DC and Marvel art styles. What I love about anime on the other hand is that they bring the paper-based characters of manga to life! Now they have voices! Actions! Theme songs!

My anime love is nurtured by my boyfriend, and I don't know how he gets his crack but it involves something shiny and soul-stealing called BitTorrent. Meanwhile I feed our manga addictions by purchasing and/or downloading titles from the following good people:

English Manga Publishers
these are the people getting manga to your local bookstores
(not a definitive list; see your local comics store)

	ADV Manga is a division of A.D. Vision Inc., which is also the parent company of ADV Films (a.k.a Madman Entertainment) who brought the classic anime series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, to us.
	CPM Press is the manga/manhwa publication division of the New York based company Central Park Media, which distributes East Asian cinema, television, and comics (including anime and hentai).
N/A	ComicsOne began as a collective of 20 people who translated comics for the love of it, and are one of the few publishers who do Chinese manhua. They seem to have disappeared.
	DarkHorse is the fourth largest comics publisher in the United States, they got into manga with the belief that great stories are great stories no matter what form they take.
	Del Rey is the baby of the publishing giants: Random House and Kodansha. Launching their first title in 2004, they were selected as "Top New Manga Publisher of the Year" of 2005.
	DH Publishing currently has minor manga output, but the titles they do own are classics, e.g. InuYasha. They intend to expand the line-up of books of Japanese pop and underground culture.
	Digital Manga Publishing was originally a shounen-ai and yaoi manga specialist, but those were relegated to JunéManga (a subdivision) when they expanded their line up of manga titles.
	IceKunion is a joint venture by some of the largest Korean manhwa publishers who believe that their ability to work with the original authors/artists means they produce higher quality translations.
	An off-shoot of DMP, JunéManga (previously named YaoiManga) specialises in shounen-ai and yaoi manga. Their catch-line is: where girls gather & boys play.
	One of the first and largest English manga publishers, TokyoPop releases hundreds of titles from Japan and Korea. They also encourage and nurture budding Western manga artists/authors.
	One of the first and largest English manga publishers, Viz owns the popular ShojoBeat and ShonenJump, monthly magazines featuring chapters from some of their most popular titles.

Manga Scanlating Groups
these are the people getting manga to your computer screen

This is just a short sample of the many scanlating groups out there,
a more comprehensive list, including the manga titles they do, is available at
Manga Jouhou.

And more manga-related news can be found at
DailyManga.Net.

There are also sites that don't scanlate and merely host:

Titles I Love

	Manga: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, by Takeuchi Naoko English Publisher: TokyoPop (ISBN: N/A ... no longer in print) Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Usagi one day falls over a black cat with a bald spot resembling a crescent moon. She's told that she's the legendary warrior: Sailor Moon, who has to save Earth from evil forces. Review: My gateway drug; and I've been collecting ever since. This was TokyoPop's first manga and it shows in their translations; while adequate, the content is simplified and some details were discarded, it was also to be read in the Western left-to-right way. No longer in print, you can still read a text version on Alex Glover's site. [6/10]
	Manga: NANA, by Yazawa Ai English Publisher: Viz Media (ISBN: 1-4215-0108-2) Synopsis: Two girls with the same unique name of 'Nana' (but spelt differently), incidentally meet one day and thus start their work, love, and music adventures together (and separately) in Tokyo. Review: I LOVE THIS MANGA. Honestly, I love just about everything that Yazawa-sensei does. The art is high quality as usual and the storyline is gritty, complex and not completely happy-happy, leaving you with a sense that it may not end happily ever after. I'd give it [10/10] except the Viz translations leave a lot to be desired. [6/10]
	Manga: Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances, by Tsuda Masami English Publisher: TokyoPop (ISBN: 1-9315-1479-8) Synopsis: Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou is the story of vain and egotistical high school student Miyazawa Yukino (a fake Miss Perfect) falling in love with (a possibly real Mr Perfect) Arima Soichiro and discovering that there's more to life than getting praise and perfect test scores. Review: This manga is more than a high school romance, it explores the dreams, hopes, and pasts of the entire cast of characters. The story is well balanced between light-hearted and humorous art, and dark and psychological issues. [9/10]
	Manga: Dramacon, by Svetlana Chmakova English Publisher: TokyoPop (ISBN: 1-5981-6129-6) Synopsis: She's the high school student writer to her boyfriend the manga artist and they've made a manga that they'll be selling at her first anime convention. At said convention she meets a college guy and ... Review: Discovered in "Rising Stars of Manga", Svetlana was offered a contract to do this story and not only does she capture the frenetic insanity of conventions so well, but her art, juxtaposition, and dialogue are all excellently executed. [8/10]
	Manga: The Wallflower, by Hayakawa Tomoko English Publisher: Del Rey (ISBN: 0-345-47912-2) Synopsis: Four gorgeous high school boys are offered free rent on the condition they turn their landlady's niece (who will also be living with them), into a proper lady. Review: At first glance I wasn't impressed, but when I actually read the manga, I immediately fell in love. This is not your average ugly duckling transformation. Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge is anything but a normal story, with a morbid and gory heroine who is somewhat allergic to the beautiful boys and refuses to become a lady. [9/10]

... to be continued ...

Gallery

How to Use IRC

There are many tutorials available on the net (e.g.), and this is yet another one. What makes this page unique is that is catered especially to me. No, I am not insane (despite indications to the contrary), I am merely forgetful and unable to handle IRC with confidence. This step-by-step is for when I need the help. ShoujoMagic.Net has a picture-by-picture IRC tutorial that's more detailed, and more helpful than what I've got here.

To get on to the IRC network, Windows users are advised to download and install mIRC. For alternatives, check out Mac clients, and UNIX/Linux/etc. clients.
Once installed, open the program and connect to the server of your choice by typing:
/server irc.irchighway.net
To connect to the channel of your choice in the connected server, type:
/join #ShoujoMagic
Once you're in and you want to download manga (but not anime, because bittorrent is better for that), the first thing you type is:
!list
This will list all the fservs (people who have manga and are willing to share).
Choose an fserv that may have the manga you're looking for, and type:
/ctcp (the name IN FULL between the square brackets after the word TRIGGER)
This will open up a window directly to them. To see if they have the file you want, type:
find (manga title)
(do not use this if they specify that you cannot)
Alternatively, you could do a simple list of what's in their directory by typing:
dir
(this is most useful if their manga is not in lots of folders)
if it's not in folders, go to #9.
If it is in folders and you want to go into a folder, type:
cd (folder name)
... and then repeat #7.
Once you're in the folder where your desired manga title is, type:
get (file name, include the .ZIP or .RAR)

And just a reminder ...

Please! Buy the titles if you do enjoy them.
Support the authors and artists that make their living from creating these stories that you enjoy.

h.o.m.e