2008 was all about Morning
Posted on 08. Jan, 2009 by Khursten in Features
Hrmm… a little late, but it’s better late than never! \o/
This year, rather than talking about the animes I’ve seen and loved this year, I’d share to you one of the best things I’ve had for a year.
I’ve always been hesitant to buy manga magazines. I think for the longest time, I’ve been pondering over subscribing to Shounen Sunday or Shounen Jump. For a while, I even pondered about subscribing to Kiss. Somehow, I never really had the chance to subscribe even if I was actually interested in it. Until last year, when a little trip to the grocery store got me wondering if I could actually get a subscription locally.
When 2008 started, I realized that a local Japanese Grocery store1 carried the magazine, Morning. Now, I’ve been eternally curious about Morning since Ed from Mangacast spoke highly of it. More so, a couple of titles I’ve been interested in were running there, such as Kami no Shizuku and Kinou Nani Tabeta. It wasn’t my usual cup of tea (really, I was more interested in Shounen Jump), but I thought I’d give it a shot. So I bought a copy. The next thing I know, I was already asking the manager if I can get a subscription.
Sure, Morning doesn’t have the most popular titles among kids but it does have a great array of reads that I did not expect. It ranges from the unexpectedly cute with Chi’s Sweet Home to the intense Zipang. As I flip through the pages, I fell in love more and more with the magazine, unexpectedly drawn to read stories that I’d probably wouldn’t give a second look if I was browsing a shelf. And for this I’m grateful for the magazine. Morning has nice stories to tell and if I hadn’t read the magazine, I wouldn’t know how wonderful these stories are.
In a year, I found myself enjoying a couple of titles. Here’s a rundown of my favorites currently running in the magazine.
- Kami no Shiziku (The wine manga we’ve all been dying to get translated!)
- Kinou Nani Tabeta (The Yoshinaga Fumi foodie manga we long to read about.)
- Piano no Mori (A story of a young boy who found love for music in the middle of a forest)
- Uchuu Kyoudai (A story of brothers gunning to take over space)
- Shima Shima (Can’t sleep? Then let the boys of Strip Sheep cuddle you to bed)
- Chi’s Sweet Home (Ah~ Cute little Chi~! Who can’t resist this kitty!?)
- Himawari (The dreams of a small town OL to become a mangaka2)
- Billy Bat (Urasawa’s Morning contribution. It’s becoming more trippy by the chapter! I love it!)
See, I didn’t expect to actually end up reading more than the 2 titles I actually bought Morning for. Last year, they even published a New Year’s St. Oniisan chapter in Morning and I owe it to that chapter for introducing me to St. Oniisan.
If there’s one thing I love about Morning, it’s how their catch phrase is not a lie. On every cover of Morning, there’s a catch phrase that says “読むと元気になる” (When you read this, you’ll feel great). And certainly my mornings feel great, thanks to Morning.
- For Metro Manila residents, this is Yamazaki, the Japanese Grocery store near Makati Cinema Square [↩]
- Don’t know much about this, but I caught Himawari during this said arc [↩]
Fred_theninja
Jan 16th, 2009
I always find your bloggings quite interesting. And at times i want to know more about you – otaku champloo. i’d like to know where you’re from, what was the catalyst anime/ manga that got you addicted and how good is your Japanese?
Trevor N.
Jan 16th, 2009
How do you feel about Hyougemone?
Khursten
Jan 17th, 2009
@Trevor N.
I wish I knew more of Hyougemono. I wasn’t able to start it so I don’t know where the story picks up? Sometimes it’s amusing, most of the time, I feel rather lost. @_@ Maybe it’s the kanji or the dialogue… but it takes time to really take it in.
@Fred_theninja, thanks for visiting. And well… I think my blogs have hints here and there about where i’m from and who I am. ^^;;
Almost Japanese
Aug 5th, 2009
When I was in Japan I used to buy the manga magazine’s all the time, is there anyway in North America to get the actual copies rather than web copies ?
Khursten
Aug 11th, 2009
I’m not so sure about it in North America. I would assume that Kinokuniya might have it, if there’s one near your town. On my end, I got it from a Japanese grocer who sold magazines so… you can try that as well.
goodyfun
Aug 20th, 2009
Those titles are intriguing. I’d like to check some of them out. I’ve heard of Chi’s Sweet Home and Billy Bat, but not the others.