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[heatherbooks]

OUT OF TOUCH THURSDAY

[heatherbooks]

I return with manga.

It’s been a little while since I posted anything. Well, I was doing a moderately large ish project. Inspired by Gavin Reads it All on YouTube, I picked up a number of volume one manga to have a go at. The list is in the blog, and in the tags.

#Reviews #manga review #jujutsu kaisen #spy x family #durarara #rosario + vampire #nights with a cat #the promised neverland #DRCL #bungou stray dogs #your name #negima #made in abyss #monster

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Zou arc.

Oh my goodness, I forgot how good the transitional arcs could be in this series. Jaya, Sabaody, now Zou. All simply fantastic.

I’ve known Carrot for exactly 11 chapters at this point, but she’s fantastic and I love her. If I could draw, I’d make fan art.

#zou arc #one piece #first time reader #Carrot

[heatherbooks]

Dressrosa again.

That picked up! I’m on chapter 784 right now, waiting on the Gear Four reveal, felt like a good place to stop for today. After Law’s backstory, the whole arc seemed to get kicked into really high gear. The writing for the side characters feels the most complex and compelling it’s been for a little while and the whole thing is moving so so swiftly. Cabbage and Rooster are surprisingly fun.

Doflamingo is a great villain. He’s just evil for the sake of evil and I love it. Does he compare to Crocodile? It’s tough, honestly those two are right up there among my favourite ever antagonists.

After I finish Dressrosa, around chapter 801 if I recall correctly, I’ll be taking a lil break from One Piece to do a small manga collection review that’ll be going on the blog. But then, onwards to Zou.

#one piece #first time reader #dressrosa

[heatherbooks]

The very next chapter. The very next one. Introduces some truly cursed lore.

I still love this series, but no series ever needs ‘wiped from the memories of loved ones’ as a part of it. None. None.

okay, I’m done here. Enjoy your day.

Dressrosa thoughts.

Just started (chapter 716), but I seriously hope it’s more than just the colosseum. Tournament arcs, no matter how they’re disguised, are always fairly boring to me. I get the stakes and all but…

We did get some fun powers, and we never really know if a one shot character really is (Bellamy). So, the knock outs are potential recurring villains/allies, but the deaths are likely sticking. (Laughs in Pell).

Meanwhile, outside, we have some interesting things happening that don’t seem to be getting enough page time. I’d like more Nico Robin. Too soon to criticise for that, since there’s another 8 volumes left.

[heatherbooks]

Dressrosa thoughts.

Just started (chapter 716), but I seriously hope it’s more than just the colosseum. Tournament arcs, no matter how they’re disguised, are always fairly boring to me. I get the stakes and all but…

We did get some fun powers, and we never really know if a one shot character really is (Bellamy). So, the knock outs are potential recurring villains/allies, but the deaths are likely sticking. (Laughs in Pell).

Meanwhile, outside, we have some interesting things happening that don’t seem to be getting enough page time. I’d like more Nico Robin. Too soon to criticise for that, since there’s another 8 volumes left.

#dressrosa #one piece #first time reader #quick thoughts

[heatherbooks]

Immediate thoughts on Bonesmith

I’m two chapters in so far, about 20-30 ish pages. And I already have thoughts. The main one being ‘oh my goodness, this is something I would have written back when I was trying (and failing) to be goth’.

I got interested when the Goodreads page described it as ‘Gideon the Ninth meets Game of Thrones’. I like both of those franchises, and honestly yeah. It’s the first time I’ve read something is X meets Y but it actually is.

Shame about all the fantasy spellings though. Valkyrie and reaper are already fun words without the shortening, or the extra y. And the word ‘bone’ has officially lost all meaning. I’m fairly sure around half the words I’ve read so far are ‘bone’ ‘ghost’ or related to either one. Fun read though, little bit predictable so far, but it’s only the set up. Still. YA fantasy is a fairly paint by numbers genre, but I’m hoping we go off in some fun directions.

#Bonesmith #not a review

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Getting back into writing.

Hey all. So, after quite a break, I’ve decided I would like to get back into writing more regularly. To get myself started, I’ve written a very brief introduction to manga. Because I’m a nerd.

#Manga #first time reader #writing #Writing about manga

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Punk Hazard!

Just finished volume 70 of One Piece and. Wow. The next set isn’t arriving until early October, so, some time to theorise/write some fanfic maybe?

The difference between Fish-Man and Punk Hazard was staggering. There was good stuff in both, but my goodness, there was so much more good stuff in PH. It’s less self contained, clearly spreading out into Dressrosa and beyond, but that’s okay. My favourite arcs so far have been the ones that tie together.

The evil scientist thing was wild, and I look forward to more of that going on (I assume, since Caesar is staying around). Trafalgar Law is very very cool. Love his power, so many options. Plus, Smoker and Tashigi!

#one piece #punk hazard #first time reader #fishman island

[heatherbooks]

Live action One Piece.

So so much better than I thought it would be.

Spoilers. They missed out some things that might be an issue later. Hatchi for a start.

Plus, I may have made some noises for the Smoker cameo. It’s just a cameo, but he’s here! We have Smoker!

Looking forward to the next series. Fingers crossed for more than 8 episodes for the Arabasta saga.

#one piece #live action one piece #finished the series #Smoker is best girl (punk hazard joke)

[heatherbooks]

Nearly done on Fish-Man Island

It’s okay. Hody Jones is not a fantastic villain, but then, I suppose he isn’t meant to be. I’m not going to go into a big ol’ analysis of the themes and all that of this arc.

It’s just okay. Wimpy is a fun character, I like her a lot. Already sick of Sanji doing his thing. You know, the thing. Apparently that gets toned down? Good.

But in the overall One Piece experience, I’d rate it ‘okay’. Not as good as arcs like Drum Island, Marineford or Arabasta, better than ones like Long Ring Long Land or Post-War.

#one piece #first time reader #fish man island arc #nearly 650 chapters in

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More fungus horror

Recently, I finished ‘What Moves the Dead’ by T. Kingfisher. It was the second of her books that I read, but I’m already a fan.

I’ve briefly summarised my thoughts on my blog thing (below) but the TLDR is I fully fully recommend it.

#t. kingfisher #what moves the dead #horror #gothic horror #review?

[heatherbooks]

Okay! More One Piece.

So. I just got to the time skip. Spoilers, by the way. Loving it.

Given that I do not care at all for Ace (sorry), the combination of Impel Down and Marineford was a definite one-two punch in the gut. Enies Lobby still takes it for me in terms of ‘oh my god why am I crying about this’, but the story! Plus, we get some time away from Usopp! Gift that keeps on giving. What a way to show us that the Straw Hats are out of their depth here.

Crocodile has become a firm favourite, outside of the Straw Hats. Liked him in Arabasta, so seeing more of him was a delight.

#One piece #first time reader #Arabasta #impel down #marineford #donut

[heatherbooks]

A very very brief overview of Romance Dawn (spoilers, liked it)

Romance Dawn is the first arc of One Piece, consisting of chapters 1-7. It’s fairly simple, compared to the later arcs within East Blue (and beyond) but really does not suffer from that. 

The first chapter is by far one of the strongest. But, again, that’s not really surprising because it has twice as many pages as your regular chapter. It’s also where the overarching plot and several important characters are introduced (though, we don’t actually see Shanks again until the end of the saga). 

All in all, gotta say that it’s one of the strongest first arc of manga that I’ve read, beating out the Black Swordsman of Berserk and whatever the bit before L is introduced is called in Death Note. Expanding beyond manga, I’d compare it to the first volume of Sandman, where Dream is being introduced. 

What I’m saying is, if you have the time, check it out. If you aren’t sold, you won’t find what’s coming next interesting. If you are, you’ll enjoy East Blue. If you like East Blue, you’ll like One Piece. 

#One Piece #romance dawn #Review #First time reader #nearly 200 chapters in #Nami is still my favourite

[heatherbooks]

Well, I started One Piece.

After a false start last year (somehow deciding I didn’t like Nami and not wanting to read any more after around 2 1/2 volumes) I have finally started reading One Piece properly. I am currently about 3/4 through East Blue and loving it. 

They’ll be a proper blog post/review thing coming out when I finish this saga. So, probably in less than a week, if I can get my thoughts all together. It’s definitely a good time to be getting into One Piece, and I’m looking forward to the journey. 

#one piece #new reader #east blue saga #Nami became a favourite #Just behind Zolo