This series has been on my list for years, I'm even a fake fan and own one of the trading figurines and one of the manga volumes. I watched the anime first since it's just a 4 episode OVA, then read the manga. The original manga is only 3 volumes long, but the anime only covers about half of the story.

First of all, the art style is so charming! I also really like the OST and the girls all have really cute voices with seiyuus who really brought them to life. The design of the borgs is unique and I've never seen anything like it. Seeing how many people complained about Yuri was really disappointing to me, however. She's a 12-year-old girl who has been forced to fight, capture, and care for aliens who can mortally wound her! Why wouldn't she be constantly upset and crying? Why is everyone acting like it's completely normal for elementary school girls to take on this kind of job?

Poor Yuri... I was hoping she would improve over the course of the series, but she never quite gets used to it. During the scene where Yuri is attacked and she freaks out so much that her borg massacres all of the aliens, I couldn't help but think, "That's what you get for pushing her too hard!" to her teacher.

I think the series has some interesting concepts. It has a few similarities to Parasyte, namely the drill imagery and aliens invading and then assimilating into human society. But Parasyte doesn't focus on little girls the way Alien Nine does, and that's where I got skeeved out. With all of the suffering the girls go through, all the fluids, crying, mutilation, and being forced to fuse with these beings makes me just think this was the mangaka's fetish piece. If you manage to look past all of that, it's an allegory for puberty I suppose. I probably wouldn't have noticed the skeeviness when I was younger and enjoyed it more, but I can't say I appreciate it as an adult, especially when you take some questionably drawn panels into account.

I also read the short sequel comics and the unfinished official doujinshi. None of them are worth reading. The official doujinshi has some incredibly weird art, with the mangaka choosing to draw over 3d models with a strong dodge overlay. It's ugly and uncanny, and the story is disjointed and has no appeal whatsoever.

Brotherhood is a pretty faithful adaptation of the manga, but I still wanted to read it to marvel at Arakawa's work and cement the story into my memory better. All I can say is wow. Arakawa really created a masterpiece and really knows how create amazing characters that are not only eye-candy, but well written too. Thank you Arakawa-sensei. I really loved reading the extras, they are hilarious. I'll have to read the extra materials book next.

I used to have a policy of not reading any manga series that was unfinished. However, my lolita comm was having a meet to watch the 2005 movie together, and that was all I needed to finally begin this iconic manga. I got hooked instantly! I started the night before the meet and managed to read just enough for the story of the movie.

I really love how Ai Yazawa depicts young adults and how messy their relationships get, lol. Paradise Kiss was a favorite of mine from when I freshly graduated high school so I was already familiar with her work. My favorite characters are Shin, Misato/Mai, and Yasu! Not gonna lie, Hachi annoyed me at first... she reminded me so much of an old boy-crazy friend of mine who also continuously made terrible decisions despite asking for my help. She really grew on me though! And she did not deserve anything that happened to her, either... Some fans say Nana is way more mature than Hachi, but I think they are both immature and emotionally stunted, just in different ways.

Now here's something controversial: I didn't hate Takumi as much as I thought I was going to. Don't get me wrong, he is still a piece of shit and a sex addict. But he never pretends to be anything else. He's awful. He's jealous, cheats on Hachi and even forces himself on her at one point, has a Madonna complex over Reira, and is generally an inconsiderate jerk. But he also takes responsibility for his actions and is level-headed, keeping the band and his ambitions together. Somehow I found him to be a really interesting character, especially after seeing his past.

We will most likely never get an ending, and I accept that fact. The series is already very enjoyable on its own and had me addicted from the start. I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes. Even though it's not finished and ends on a cliffhanger, I absolutely think it's still worth reading. The world of NANA is truly unforgettable! The art is gorgeous and inspiring, and I longed for some VW in my closet even more after reading this manga! I'm hoping to read more of Ai Yazawa's works after this.

After watching the anime, I decided I wanted to continue the story and read the manga. The art is so inspiring and it's great to see the mangaka improve, you can clearly see the contrast in quality when you compare the art from the first and last volumes. The student to teacher relationship was handled very respectfully and never gets creepy. This manga has similar themes, but is the complete opposite of Usagi Drop (ugh) and I highly recommend reading it if you want a cute, relaxing read about how the power of cooking and good food brings a father and daughter together as he navigates grief, single parenthood, and new friendships.

A couple of weeks leading up to the con to meet Suda, I was determined to beat a new GHM game, but things just didn't work out and I wasn't able to play anything at all. I knew I wanted to draw something for Suda, but I didn't want to draw something NMH related. Sure, it's my favorite and a fan favorite overall, but I love all of his works! I settled on finally taking the opportunity to read Kurayami Dance, the manga the original concept for the game Shadows of the Damned was based off of. Now, I enjoyed SotD and it had some incredibly cool moments and I do like Garcia, but it's definitely not my favorite GHM game and the final portions felt like a chore to complete. After reading this manga, it made me mourn what could have been, but I'm still glad that the original concept was at least preserved in this form.

To no surprise to anyone familiar with Suda's work, it's very surreal, you could even call this one Kafkaesque since it was heavily inspired by Kafka's novel The Castle. The manga itself is beautifully drawn, the lines are clean and simple with the backgrounds and environments really stealing the show. Syuji Takeya's usage of perspective is magnificent as well. There were a lot of times I stared at a page or a panel in awe, just taking in how it was crafted. I really love Wataru as a character and his dialogue with everyone amused me greatly, especially with his companion Challia (yes, he is named after the Gundam character). If I was a smarter person, I'd love to dissect the themes of this manga in depth, but I am quite frankly too pea-brained and too lazy to do that. Maybe another time. I want to re-read it over and over, and also get my hands on the original release since it was never officially translated into English. I totally get what Wataru means when he says he's in a hurry to live, especially in his profession as an undertaker...

Another fun thing to note, there are a lot of Easter eggs to Suda's other works nestled in the pages! I loved seeing them all and especially loved seeing Travis make a cameo, kyaaa!! I also loved Baba and Nekoda and I want them to have their own manga, game, anything! More of them please!!

This randomly caught my eye at the book store. I instantly recognized the style, the mangaka who created BLAME! I had no idea he did a comic about Wolverine, and so long ago too (2003). I was instantly intrigued and picked it up.

The story wasn't anything special, it was your run-of-the-mill "save us, chosen one" plot but what really makes it shine is Nihei's distinct cyberpunk elements, complete with awesome robots, time travel nonsense, and terrifying abominations. The art is absolutely gorgeous and judging from the raw inks that are showcased in the back of the comic, coloring it did a disservice to his work and I wish we could have seen a full version in b/w only, even as a digital download would have been cool. Nihei's inks are so raw and powerful. Of course, I also really enjoy the way Wolverine is depicted here (no surprise to anyone familiar with my taste in fictional men), he looks so young and yet still distinctively him.

Overall, I'm really glad I bought it and reminds me that I bought another manga by Nihei at HPB last year, a hard cover of Abara. I should really get to reading that, and Blame! too. On a final note, I actually ended up having to exchange my copy. Right after I read it, the binding completely fell apart! I've never had that happen to me before and I'm glad I was able to exchange it without a fuss.

I'm not sure how I made it out of my teen years never hearing about this series! I did like Invader Zim growing up, but I wasn't crazy about it like some of my middle school friends were. This comic is very special to a good friend of mine, and she happened to come across a copy in person. I told her I would send her the money if she mailed it to me, and here we are!

The humor was so nostalgic, it's that 2008 SPORK OF D00M!! xD type of random humor that is also present in Zim. Jhonen's drawing style is really unique, I don't think there's truly anything like it out there. I asked my friend how old Jhonen was when he made this and made a guess around age 19-22 and was correct!! It's definitely the work of a late teenager/young adult, and not in a bad way, at least I don't think so. I'm sure this comic had a profound impact on a lot of school kids back in the day. I laughed so much, marveled at the secret messages in the illustrations, was very impressed at the eldritch horror monster and even felt a little sorry for Nny. Oh, and I really got a kick out of the graphics on his shirt constantly changing. Very interesting take on heaven and hell as well. You know, for something I probably should have read 15 years ago, it honestly still hits. Maybe that's just my inner edgelord talking though. Loved it!!

I know there's differences between the DC and the original comic run, so I will probably update this because I'm curious what was changed/taken out.

A friend of mine loves this book, so I was really excited to read it! It was downright weird and creepy at times, and I liked it but I'm not sure if I'd recommend it. Going off of vibes alone, I'd say it's kind of like Mean Girls meets The Craft. Isn't this just what typical sorority life is like? No? Are you sure?

It's a fever dream of a read and generally, I can enjoy a story with weird elements that offer no explanation, but this time I'm not sure if it works. The boy who keeps chasing after the main character is kind of annoying (I get the feeling it's supposed to be the "girl doesn't realize boy has been there for her this whole time and finally gives him a chance" trope, ugh). The Bunnies themselves are insanely boy crazy and I didn't think any of them had a personality that stood out too much, which could have been intentional. The twist at the end did shock me though, and had me second-guessing what parts were real or not. I guess I'll work through that if I decide to read it a second time, and I did enjoy the prose a lot, especially the descriptions of all the characters. If the author's intention was to just write an experimental, bizarre book, she nailed it. This quote from the book sums it up the whole thing quite well:

"JUST SAY IT. TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED. TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK THIS MEANS AND WHAT YOU DID EXACTLY."

If two manifestations of my mind, heart, and desire started boning I don't think I could ever live it down. This book would be great adapted into a movie or a show if they can figure out how to depict it.