I have a bad habit of buying manga and then just… not reading it.
The same applies to anime as well. I love buying anime and manga, whether that’s from a shopping day out or from some online retailers, but I just never sit down and watch the DVDs or read the books I buy. It’s a bad habit that I really want to fix. Which is why I was glad to see the Manga Love Readathon being mentioned on Twitter one day.
Organised by Shaegeeksout, the Readathon is taking place this weekend – from the 12th to the 14th of February. Although I’m using this as an opportunity to get through as much as my manga backlog as possible, Shae has also given us some challenges, should we care to accept them! These challenges make up the foundations of my own readathon choices for this weekend, so let’s take a look at them!
Read a Shae Fave
This was quite easy to pick. Shae has a lot of content about manga, after all. Personally, for this one I chose a manga from her Top 10 Manga of 2020 video. A lot of these were already on my radar, but I decided to go with volume one of An Incurable Case of Love, basically just because the plot sounded the most fun! It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a Shoujo Beat title (I’m pretty sure the last one I read was volume one of Daytime Shooting Star), so I’m actually quite excited to give this one a go!
Read A Reccommendation
I’ve lost count how many times a manga has been recommended to me and I’ve just forgotten about it or explicitly chosen to ignore it and read whatever else there is out there. That being said, there is one word that seems to circle these recommendations quite a lot.
CLAMP.
CLAMP is an all-female manga artist group, crticially acclaimed and are known for series such as Cardcaptor Sakura and xxxHOLiC. Despite that, I’ve never actually read any of their works. I had a brief encounter with the anime adaptation of Tsubasa Chronicle way back when, but I had put it on hold due to someone telling me I was watching it in the wrong order, or something. (My memory of this could be hazy, but it was definitely along those lines.)
So, as CLAMP is often recommended to me, I’ve decided to take the plunge. I picked up Clover from when I was shopping in Oxford simply because the omnibus edition looks so cool. Reading more into it, the sci-fi aspect just seems unique to me. I don’t necessarily read too much sci-fi, so it’s definitely going to be a breath of fresh air no matter what I think of it upon completion.
Try a New Series
Okay, I’m going to admit something here. I wasn’t sure whether to go for a new series in terms of trying something you haven’t tried before, or whether to go to for a new series in terms of it being a new manga. If that makes sense?
Regardless, I’ve decided to go with a bit of both and I’ve decided to give Spy x Family a go. I have heard nothing but good things about this series, so I’m super excited to give it a try! Sure, it started publishing in Japan almost two years ago, but the Shounen Jump app still has it under its ‘new series’ category and that’s good enough for me!
Finish a Series
This was quite a difficult choice to make. I have quite a few series which I could easily finish, after all. However, I settled on a rather short series for this one. I feel like now is a great time to actually finish reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood – the first of the JoJo series. There are only three volumes, but I’ve had this on my ‘On Hold’ list since July last year, simply because I was wishing to buy the physical copies before I read it. As things stand, I currently have Volumes 1 and 3, and I’m waiting for Forbidden Planet to deliver Volume 2 so I can actually read this this weekend! Fingers crossed that happens!
Just in case that doesn’t happen, though, I’ve decided to plunge myself into the world of rugby once more and finish reading Beast Children. I began reading this as it was being published via the Shounen Jump app, but, in true to Mia style, I became distracted and ended up unintentionally ignoring it. The protagonist reminds me of when we are first introduced to Hinata from Haikyuu!! and his enthusiasm for a sport that I follow anyway was just struck a chord with me. Definitely need to get around to finishing this one!
Re-read a Series
If I was to be perfectly honest, I do not have the capacity to re-read a lot of the manga I have read over the years. I would love to be able to re-read Ouran, for example, but I read that long before I was even into buying manga, never mind collecting an entire series. (I really need to fix this one day… it’s just quite a big financial commitment to buy the boxset – especially when I have no room on my bookshelves anyway!)
That being said, I do have the capacity to re-read a series that I’ve mentioned a couple of times here on A Girl & Her Anime – Orange. I have repeatedly mentioned how much I love the series, and how important of a series it actually is, so I truly cannot wait to experience the story all over again.
Read Three Volumes in One Series
Finally, if there’s anyone who enjoys a nice, short series, it’s me. Most of my manga collection is made up of series that are three volumes in length. Thus, rather than read three volumes of a series, why not read the entire series? Makes more sense if you ask me!
My pick for this prompt is a shounen romance based in a school called That Blue Sky Feeling. I really like a series that focuses on self-discovery and this one has been on my shelf for years without being read. I can remember practically buying all three volumes at once as well, so I was definitely eager to have this on my shelf, and I’m very eager to sit down and finally read it.
So, they are my picks for this weekend’s readathon! It’s my first time taking part in an event like this, so I’m quite excited to just dedicate some time to manga. Quite frankly, I’ll be quite pleased if I can get through the six I’ve put aside for this weekend, but who knows? I might read some more as well! Regardless of much I read, however, I will keep you all updated on my Twitter and Instagram, so make sure you’re following those if you want to know how I’m doing with these goals!
Are you taking part in this weekend’s Readathon? Have you participated in one before? Let me know in the comments below! I’m interested in hearing about your experiences!
Also, another shout out to Shae for creating this event. I’ve been binging a lot of her content since hearing about this weekend and I absolutely love it! Go check out her YouTube channel if you’re looking for some manga content – her collection is quite impressive!
While I can’t say I have a habit of buying manga and not reading it, I have been buying more manga then I can keep up with in recent months and my to-be-read pile has been slowly but surely getting out of hand. I’m planning on spending the weekend attempting to get caught up on my reading, so, hopefully, it will be back to a more manageable size soon 😉