Manga Mania!

I admit it. I'm obsessed. I took off Friday so I could have a four day weekend and, aside from hanging with the hubby and the two small children, I spent it all immersed in new manga. That's right, I had a terrific time with it and fell in love with two more series.

Sorry for those of you who wanted to see me around, but I don't really regret it. I love getting immersed or falling in love with new characters.

I love it. I haven't entirely figured out why I love it, but I do. I'm going to add a column to the blog on the side with a list of my favorite manga series and, given that I'm between novels at the moment until I get inspired (and because manga is behind my drawing interest at the moment, too), I thought I'd introduce some of my favorites and why in this blog.

Because, hey, the better I understand why I like them, the better I might be able to harness what appeals to improve my own work, assuming it's not all the art.

So, next time, that's what I'll do.

Before I go, some important caveats:

(1) I read mostly shoujo manga, intended for teenage girls, so it's not all encompassing.
(2) Plot, the mangas I've read have such laughably stupid stupid plots and motivations that make no sense - of course, I always felt that way about hero comic books, too, so that might just be me.
(3) social mores and priorities are not the same world-wide.

So, as I go into the mangas, I'll start with my favorites I've found so far. For those of you who'd rather stab yourself in a the eye with a sharp stick than read manga, well, feel free to skip 'em.