February 2012
3 posts
11 tags
Manga Review: Karakuri Odette
Odette Yoshizawa can be best described by her classmate’s reaction, “She looks like a doll.” In one sense of the meaning Odette is very beautiful. However, in the other sense of the meaning she looks like a doll, this is because she is an android. Created by the renown Professor Yoshizawa, Odette is the closest thing machines have ever become to humans. She can express all...
8 tags
Manga Review: Natsume Yuujinchou
Great spiritual power is required to see spirits but it takes even greater power to bind spirits to your will. Natsume’s grandmother, Reiko, had enough power to beat spirits in games and bind their souls to their names which she collected. The names she collected she put in the book she which she called her “Book of Friends”. Perhaps she referred to the spirits as her friends...
2 tags
How to Find New Manga
Free time is a waste of time. Instead of being bored I would much rather be productive, I would much rather read manga. But what happens when I have more free time than I know what to do with? Easy, I find new manga to read. Over the past decade I have run into countless situations where the usual amount of manga I read is not enough to fill up my time. Thus I have developed...
January 2012
3 posts
3 tags
How to Buy Manga Cheap
Manga is an expensive hobby in two ways. The first is in the way it consumes hours of your time but I view this as a good thing. I believe a day where all I did was read manga is a day well spent. The second way that manga is expensive is in the price tag. Yes, most manga is hosted online and you can read it for free. But what are you going to do when you want to read manga but you...
14 tags
MangaLog: Hotel
deusdefantasia:
From the same mangaka that brought us Sun-ken Rock, Boichi, comes a collection of five oneshots.
In general these oneshots have amazingly detailed drawings. Seeing how most of these oneshots have a sci-fi theme to them pictures can become quite grand, to have such images as detailed, crisp, and clear as these is quite the accomplishment. The facial expressions on the people...
11 tags
Manga Review: Kamisama Hajimemashita
I have a weakness for Japanese superstition and religion. Kamisama Hajimemashita fills my need for this and my need for romance. This fantastic romance, pun very much intended, follows Nanami Momozono as she grows into her job as a Land God and as a God of Marriage. A mortal god is rare but not unheard of, they are rarely acknowledged by immortal gods and often fall pray to yokai. Luckily,...
December 2011
5 posts
9 tags
Manga Review: Tomehane!
Returnee Yukari Oe has been in school for a week now, he has no friends but isn’t bullied either. He yearns for something more. Fate answers his call, in a way Oe would never expect, by getting him threatened to join the calligraphy club. Still needing one more member, the club tricks Yuki Mochizuki into joining by playing the responsibility card as she accidentally broke Oe’s...
13 tags
Manga Review: King of Thorns
People often ask: “If you could have one superpower what would it be?” One day I decided to sit down and plan out what would be the best superpower so that I would be prepared should someone ask. After brainstorming I came up with two superpowers that were tied for my favorite. One of them is turning what I imagine into reality. Just like any superpower this one has flaws. This...
10 tags
Manga and Kuma-chan Giveaway!
populationgo:
Hey, you! Yes you! Do you like manga? Do you do think Kuma-chan is cute? If you answered yes to either question then you should enter into my giveaway.
Sounds too good to be true right? I mean, getting manga or a cute key-chain for free? Sounds fishy? Well, you’re wrong. It sounds amazing. Just as amazing as you, our readers are.
In the spirit of Reader’s Appreciation Week, I...
12 tags
Pop GO Celebrates "Reader Appreciation Week"!
populationgo:
In honor of all of the readers who has helped Pop GO surpass the 10,000 follower mark, we will be dedicating all of next week, starting Monday, Dec. 5th until Friday, Dec. 9th, to all of the wonderful geeks and otaku who have made it possible!
Compared to the more prominent blogs on Tumblr, 10,000 may not be that big of a number. But to a humble geek site like ours, it is beyond...
8 tags
Manga Review: Hajime no Ippo
Ippo is sixteen years old and most people think he is a wimp. Which isn’t really true. He works at his family’s fishing charter business and has a sailor’s build but he is simply too nice to fight back against bullies. But one day when he was being pick on by a group of bullies, Takamura, a professional boxer, saved him. This was the turning point in Ippo’s life. He...
November 2011
3 posts
7 tags
Manga Review: Detroit Metal City
Soichi Negishi is a well-mannered and shy musician who left the countryside for Tokyo to pursue his dream to be a pop musician. However, things don’t go according to plan. He is a horrendous pop musician but as it turns out he is an amazing death metal musician. Now Negishi is the lead musician in the death metal band Detroit Metal City. Even though he hates it, Negishi dresses up and...
8 tags
Manga Review: Dragon Warrior: Dai's Great...
A rather old manga, Dragon Warrior: Dai’s Great Adventure is based in the world of the video game series Dragon Quest. This story stays true to the game to such an extent that even the manga feels like a RPG (Role Playing Game); the characters level up, learn new spells, and change classes. As you can tell from the manga’s title the manga is about Dai, a Dragon Knight, who goes on an...
7 tags
Manga Review: Kamen no Maid Guy
Being the last two heirs to the Fujiwara Conglomerate the commoners, Naeka and Kōsuke Fujiwara, are bestowed two maids by their doting grandfather and head of the Fukiwara family, Zenjurō Fujiwara. However, these maids do not just have the ordinary duty of doing chores and serving their masters, no, these maids must also protect their masters from harm until they are old enough to receive their...
October 2011
4 posts
10 tags
Manga Review: Sangatsu No Lion
It is a hard life for a professional shogi player. Winning a match means everything. Dropping down a rank is extremely challenging to rectify. But what if that proffesional shogi player is only a teenager? Kiriyama Rei is that shogi player. His father was a shogi player, and the only way Rei got his father to play with him was to challenge him with shogi. Now he is all alone and has a past that...
7 tags
Manga Review: Otoyomegatari
Set in pre-modern days, in the time of the silk road, Otoyomegatari follows the married lives of Amira and Karluk. Amira was sent by her village to marry Karluk, a boy eight years younger than her, in an arranged marriage. In this new village, the culture is different and at times strange for Amira. Among this village filled with the decedents of nomadic herders Amira’s upbringing in...
11 tags
Manhwa Review: Id
Some times we stumble across stories of fantastic lands, mystical creatures, and epic battles. Other times we come across stories like Id. Id has everything I mentioned, fantastic lands, mystical creatures, epic battles but it has a few things that make it different from the rest of the crowd. This manga has amazing art, a great story, and an even better entertainment value.
I am a hardcore...
12 tags
Manga Review: Mushishi
What is like a plant and like an animal but neither? What is a mirage but also physical? The answer is mushi. Mushi are a third type of being. They are not plants they are not animals but a little of both. Few people can see these creatures and even fewer of these become mushishi, wanderers who protect the balance between Mushi and humans. It is best to think of them as wandering healers who...
September 2011
3 posts
14 tags
Manga Review: Defense Devil
Available here
“Adapted from the oneshot Akuma Bengoshi Kukabara, Mephisto Bart Kucabara is a devil lawyer. In order to return to the demon world that he was exiled from he needs to collect enough Dark Matter. To do so he creates a plan to claim the Dark Matter from the souls of sinners sentenced to hell. Prove the soul’s innocence and the Dark Matter becomes his.
But how can...
9 tags
Manga Review: Samurai High School
Available here
“In a modern country where the government is controlled by a Martial Shogun and samurai receive much respect, there lives fraternal twins of the Sakakido family. Kou, the brother, is very feminine, excels at cooking, cleaning, arts and crafts. Tsukiko, the sister, is masculine, loves fighting and is a combat genius. The twins learn about the Samurai High School, where...
9 tags
Manga Review: Cyber Blue
Available here and here
“We are in year 2035 on the Tinos planet, colonized 300 years before by some earthlings. With only half of Earth’s oxygen concentration and with cold arctic conditions over most of Tinos, the human beings are forced to wear a life support apparatus that supplies the oxygen necessary for survival. The black market in such apparatuses is a flourishing...
August 2011
4 posts
9 tags
Manga Review: Addicted To Curry
Available here
“Makito Koenji is a curry chef with a mysterious past who helps Yui Sonezaki keep her father's curry restaurant, Ganesha, open through a lack of customers, a hostile takeover attempt by a huge company, and many other challenges. Get addicted… to Curry.” - Mangareader.net
Some of us who are older siblings might jokingly refer to our little siblings as pet....
8 tags
Manga Review: Team Medical Dragon
Available here
“Team Medical Dragon focuses around a genius surgeon, Asada Ryutaro, who’s methods have made him a bit of a renegade in the eyes of Japanese doctors. The manga exposes the illness of the Japanese hospitals and how their system is not designed to care for the patient. The manga is appropriate for mature audiences and contains blood, nudity, harsh language, and...
8 tags
Manga Review: Law of Ueki
Available here
“From Viz:
A group of powerful beings called tenkaijin are holding a special tournament. The rules of the game—each tenkaijin selects a kid in junior high to be his champion and grants him a special power. The kids take each other on in heated battle, but if they hurt innocent bystanders, then they lose one of their natural-given abilities. Every time they win a...
12 tags
Manga Review: Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai
Available here
“Based on the light novel by Hirasaka Yomi & Buriki. Hasegawa Kodaka has transferred schools, and he’s having a hard time making friends. It doesn’t help that his blond hair tends to make people think he’s a delinquent. One day, he runs into his bad-tempered solitary classmate Yozora while she’s talking animatedly to her imaginary friend Tomo....
July 2011
9 posts
11 tags
Manga Review: Edens Bowy
Available here
“In a world with floating cities know as Eden, a young boy named Jorrne attempts to return to Eden to be reunited with his mother. Born with the destiny of bearing god-killing powers, he is the object of Eden’s attention—both as something to study, and something to destroy. Aided by a young magic-wielding girl named Elisiss, her sister Enefeaa, and a swordsman...
9 tags
Manga Review: Blood Alone
Available here
“Enter Misaki, perhaps the most innocent and most sincere young lady there ever was. It’s almost inconceivable that she could be a vampire. And with her powers as a vampire, she could easily entice any human to do her bidding… but she chooses not to. Especially when it comes to Kuroe, a young author who has a deep running past with vampires. This wonderful story of...
9 tags
Manga Review: Brave Story - Shinsetsu
Available here
“From Tokyopop:
When 14-year-old middle-schooler Wataru’s father leaves home and his mother is taken ill to hospital, he decides to change his fate by traveling through the magical door shown to him by his mysterious classmate Mitsuru. In a land of magic and monsters, Wataru must summon all his courage and embark on a journey with several comrades to meet the Goddess...
2 tags
Anonymous asked: well i'm into stories w/ the genres historical, shoujo and i've read red river... are there any stories similar to that? other than ouke no monshou and hwang miri's work...
11 tags
Manhwa Review: Tower of God
Available here
“What do you desire? Fortune? Glory? Power? Revenge? Or something that surpasses all others? What ever you desire, ‘that is here’. Tower of God.
Join Twenty-Fifth Baam as he climbs each level of the Tower to find his beloved friend, Lahel. Facing from impossible missions to mind bending puzzles as he uses any means necessary to reach the top.” -...
9 tags
Manga Review: Working
Available here
“Takahashi gets a job at a family restaurant… nothing remotely funny ensues. Four-panel manga.” - Mangareader.net
I generally don’t like 4-koma (four panel) manga. I find that most of 4-koma manga try too hard to be funny and sacrifice everything in a vain pursuit. For the sake of humor character depth and plot is lost. However, Working is one of the...
Anonymous asked: best romance manga you've ever read?
13 tags
Manga Review: Iris Zero
Available here
“In a world where every boy and girl has a special power called Iris, Toru who, as a result of not having any kind of special power, was bullied from a young age, lives by his motto: “low exposure” – to live without standing out. But his peaceful school life changes when he receives a certain “Confession” from the schools most popular girl, Koyuki. His motto...
6 tags
Manga Review: Otaku no Musume-san
Available here
“Kanau Yukimura is nine years old and she’s meeting her father for the first time. However, he turns out to be an otaku! The two of them start living together in the same apartment, next to a lot of interesting neighbors. Unsurprisingly, things don’t always go smoothly for these two…” - Mangareader.net
This is one of those manga that can be...
June 2011
5 posts
7 tags
Manga Review: Shirogane no Karasu
Available here
“By the author of Samurai Deeper Kyo…
John Elegadine, a curry lover and a professional thief, encounters Lu Larue, a thief lock picker, as he was taking a stroll through a bazaar. With the two together, they are to find the legendary demon stone that is scattered into thirteen pieces around the world. Once the pieces are put back together, the demon stone is willing...
12 tags
Manga Review: Nyan Koi!
Available here and here
“The story is about a second-year high school student named Junpei Kousaka, who not only hates cats but also is allergic to them. Unfortunately, he happens to have a crush on a girl, Kaede Mizuno, who really loves cats. On the way home from school one day, Junpei kicks an empty can and happens to accidentally hit the Guardian Deity of Cats. Now he’s able to...
9 tags
Manga Review: Wild Life
Available here
“[From Boku-Tachi]:
Tesshou is your typical high school delinquent with a special skill. He has a perfect pitch. This skill enables him to hear things most people wouldn’t. After saving a small dog, Tesshou realises his calling in life is to become a Vet! Wild Life is currently running the the serial magazine Shounen Sunday.” - Mangafox.com
The medical genre...
11 tags
Manga Review: Hyde & Closer
Available here and here
“Shunpei Closer’s grandfather, Alsyd Closer, was an odd man. He traveled around the world always coming back to Japan to tell his grandson all the amazing adventures he would have. Before leaving to Africa on Shunpei’s 7th birthday, he gives him a teddy bear named Hyde. Six years have passed and one day Shunpei receives a mysterious package that...
8 tags
Manga Review: Hoozuki-san Chi no Aneki
Available here
“The female Haru is the eldest, has an incredible nasty character. The male Gorou is slightly younger than the sister, but his character is quite different from hers. This is a 4-koma crack comedy about their wacky day to day life; this work has certain levels of nudity. (Source: Mangaupdates)” - Mangareader.net
This 4-koma follows two step siblings and, to a lesser...
May 2011
8 posts
untranced asked: Are the mangas you review completed already?
8 tags
Manga Review: Bartender
Available Here
“The story of the Ryu Sasakura and a small cocktail bar in the Chiba area of Tokyo, where troubled customers come for the “glass of the gods”, which with Ryu’s assistance helps them to resolve their often highly emotional problems. (In the manga the story happends in different bars, while the Anime is only in Eden Hall)” - Mangafox.com
Ryu Sasakura...
12 tags
Manga Review: Hana no Akuma
Available Here
“From Mangaupdates:
17-years-ago Vivi, the demon, decided to leave the demon realm and come to the human world. There he found an abandoned baby and on a whim decided to keep it. Since then he lived together with Hana…but having a 14 year-old girl around you, is it really as simple as you think it might be?”
This is a love story between Vivi, a powerful high...
12 tags
Manga Review: Tenjo Tenge
Available here
“In one unusual Tokyo high school, education takes a backseat to brawling as warring clubs wreak havoc in the hallways and chaos in the classrooms, all vying to be the baddest team around! Although they often contribute their fair share, only a handful of students serve to stem the tide of violence in this untamed outpost. These are the few, the proud, the powerful: the...
10 tags
Manga Review: Ane Doki!
Available here
“From the creator that brought you Ichigo 100% and Hatsukoi Limited comes her latest series: Ane Doki.
The story centers on a 13 year old boy who is pushed around by a mysterious 17 year old girl. First she forces him to let her move in with him, then she takes his bed and that’s only the beginning. What’s in store for this innocent 13 year old boy whose life...
13 tags
Manga Review: Kongou Banchou
Available here
“Akira Kongou is looking to take down the “23 district project” which involves “banchou” from 23 districts of Tokyo fighting for the right to control Japan. Without meaning to, he becomes a participant with the alias Kongou Banchou and must take down other banchou while searching for the leaders of the project.” - Mangafox.com
Akira Kongou is...
10 tags
Manga Review: Tail of the Moon aka Tsuki no Shippo
Available here
“Sometimes it seems like Usagi is hopeless. Sure, she’s good with healing herbs, but she’s the granddaughter of the leader of a prestigious ninja village and she’s such a klutz that she’s never made it out of the kiddie class. Finally frustrated with Usagi’s lack of progress, her grandfather sends her to marry a local lord and have lots of...
10 tags
Manga Review: Kaibutsu Oujo aka Princess...
Available here and here
“From Del Rey:
Werewolves, demons, monsters, vampires. All these ferocious creatures are afraid of the same thing: the beautiful Princess Hime, an awesome warrior who fights off the forces of evil with a chainsaw and a smile. Not only does she look great in a tiara, she has power that allows her to raise the dead. She’s a girl on a mission, and with the help of...
April 2011
10 posts
10 tags
Manga Review: Koko Ni Iru Yo!
Available here
“Hikage is a reclusive 8th grader who no one seems to notice her. She finds comfort by planting a sunflower at school and in her blog, with only 2 people who comment on it, MegaPIG and Black Rabbit. They listen and give Hikage advice on everything. But, everything changes one day when two cute boys notice her. These boys are the most popular kids in the entire school, Teru...
Anonymous asked: Like Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, would I like Gate 7?! Or have you not read it?
9 tags
Manga Review: Shiawase Kissa Sanchoume
Available here
“Uru is a very short girl and is constantly mistaken for an elementary school kid, but despite that, she is ridiculously strong and decides to live by herself after her mother gets remarried. She ends up working at a small cafe with two rather unique co-workers, Shindou(demon king), who acts gruff and intimidating, but who is really a nice guy who loves to make cakes and...