What I'm reading this week:


Puella Magi Madoka Magica
I usually have a policy against reading manga that were based off the TV show and not the other way around, mostly because you're not usually going to see anything different and it even takes away from the experience. I've already made this mistake with Wolfs Rain when that was popular - manga sucked and left out so much that the story hardly made sense.
I like Madoka Magica for the ute costumes and the concept it's built around, but if there's one thing I HATE, it's timeline fuckery. Time travel and paradoxes never make any sense in any way whatsoever. When a show reverts to timeline fuckery I just start groaning. But I've decided to try reading the manga, and it's a pretty good representation of the anime. There's a whole host of spinoffs in manga form, including Mami Magica, Oriko Magica, and Tart Magica, so I may read those as well.

Black Butler
Yes, I'm reading it. Maybe now all the fangirls will leave me alone.
I'm well aware that Black Butler is past the prime of its popularity, but for some reason, it's still everywhere. Shirts, socks, wristbands, backpacks. I don't get it. I tried watching the anime at the height of its popularity and what I got from it was bishie-boy fanservice and nothing substantial to the story, and Queen Victoria rolling furiously in her grave from her depiction as a 12-year-old oversexed shota.
But I'm giving the manga another shot. I can't help it. Despite how much I hate Black Butler, I can't ignore the fact that it's one of the only manga out there that indulges my master-servant fetish.

Sailor Moon (short stories)
I've always been a big fan of Sailor Moon, but those older readers know that originally, the Sailor Moon manga was published in some pretty irregular volumes by Tokyopop. Now there's a new translation by the American branch of Japanese publishing powerhouse Kodansha (who also publishes several works by Clamp). These volumes are wonderful and leave nothing out, but I found something missing from them that I enjoyed in the Tokyopop publications... And then I realized all the short stories were gone!
Now Kodansha has out two volumes comprising of all the short stories, parallel universes, and (my favorite) Chibiusa's Picture Diaries left out of the 12-volume run, including the long arc "Princess Kaguya's Lover". Fans of Sailor Moon should definitely read.

Stories for Young People by Oscar Wilde
Several weeks ago, I tried to take out a couple books by Oscar Wilde, who wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray, one of my favorites. Wilde was an incredible writer who spent time in prison simply for loving another man, and was widely known to be bisexual at the very least if not outright gay. But in looking through adult fiction (and then asking about it) I found out that my library didn't have a single book by him.
Or so I thought. While checking the children's section for E.B. White (I'll be doing another book club on Trumpet of the Swan later), I noticed Oscar Wilde's name on the shelf. In the children's section? No way. So I grabbed it.
Stories for Young People is a collection of, believe it or not, fairytales by Oscar Wilde. Compiled by Merlin Holland, Wilde's only grandson, it's a wonderful exploration of human interaction, love, and loss. I've only read one so far, "The Happy Prince", but I found myself staring blankly out into space for several minutes after finishing it, before realizing I was crying. For those who love fairytales, this is an absolute must.

Yu-Gi-Oh!
What? Yes, I'm reading Yu-Gi-Oh. Why shouldn't I? No, it's not all just people taking children's card games way too seriously. At least, not for the first four volumes.
Yu-Gi-Oh actually starts off as a pretty dark manga where Yugi's alter ego forces those who "trespass in his soul" (mostly bullies and cheaters) to play deadly Shadow Games with horrific penalties. Seriously, first episode he plays knife chicken with a dude and it ends with the guy hallucinating wildly for the rest of his life. They play everything from explosive ice hockey to cannibalistic Tamagotchis before settling on... you guessed it... Duel Monsters, the popular card game for kids. Still, it's worth reading for a million reasons. The Duel Monsters saga that fans of the anime are familiar with doesn't start until Volume 8, and it's STILL more hardcore than the anime.