J-Wednesdays: My Manga Collection.

It's Wednesday and I'm on my second week on J-Wednesdays. I am so happy that I'm being a responsible blogger and carrying on with this. This week I'd like to talk about my Manga (Japanese comic books) collection. I'm so excited that I don't know where to start. Okay. Brief history first: I started collecting manga just three years ago. I love reading manga ever since I was in high school but back then I could just read online because I was a poor high school student who lives in Dubai and there were little to no manga in Dubai back then. (Thank God there's Kinokuniya in Dubai now and Fully Booked in the Philippines) That's why my friends and I are fond of reading manga from online manga reading sites translated by kind-hearted fan translators. I owe to them my love for Japan and Korea, props to you guys!

My manga collection at the middle part of my bookshelf. This photo was taken like two years ago and that empty part above the small mangas are basically stacked up with more mangas now. And that is my old laptop.

Anyways, I just started collecting physical copies of manga just three years ago, when I was in college. I save up some money back then to buy me some books and manga. About 80 percent of my manga collection are those translated in English and the 15 percent are in original Japanese, and 5 percent are English translated Manhwa (Korean comic book). I bought my original Japanese manga from an online store where you have to pre-order it and they'll get it for you in Japan, but they have some people in the Philippines that you can meet to get your manga or just have it delivered. Some other original Japanese manga that I bought was from Kinokuniya in Singapore. I literally hoarded mangas there and Japanese magazines. Clickfor my family's Singapore trip last 2012.




This photo is from my instagram: In Kinokuniya SG, I got a Kimi to Boku fanbook, magazines, JLPT reviewer, some other mangas for my friend and myself, and a Kokoro Connect light novel, all of which are in Japanese.

Most of my collection are Shoujo mangas, which are mangas marketed for teenage girls. Other manga that I have are shounen, seinen, and josei. Shounen are those marketed for young teenage boys. Seinen, in contrast, is marketed for older boys from 18 to 30 years old. Josei manga is the opposite of Seinen, and is marketed for older women.



These two are new additions to my collection and I bought it last Christmas. I am a bum and broke for about half a year now so these obviously are the latest finds for my manga collection.

Another important information to point out is that my manga collection are in tankobon form. This means that all of these manga are in separate books per volume. Why is this significant to mention? Manga in Japan are first serialized in Manga Magazines first like Margaret, Betsucomi, Dessert, Hana to Yume, Weekly Shounen Magazine, etc., before it is put into volume by volume books (tankobon). These Manga Magazines have dozens of manga chapters serialized in it and is either released every week or every month. That is why these magazines are typically "phonebook" sized because of the mangas and other manga related articles within it. I do only have one second hand manga magazine (Margaret) and I just borrow some magazines from friends or when I get a chance, go to a library (like the Japan Foundation Manila library) and read some. They're in Japanese though, so I only understand a little.

Lastly, I come to provide a list of the mangas that I own. I'm currently away from my home where my manga collection is, so I don't remember those other one shots (one volume manga) or other titles that I have. Some of them are old, and some are new.



* K-On!

* Koukou Debut

* Kaichou wa Maid-sama!

* Bokura ga Ita

* Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei

* Lovely Complex

* Kimi to Boku

* Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun

* Sukitte Ii na yo

* Sono Kuchibiru, Itadakimasu

* Chihayafuru

* Strobe Edge



So, that's it! I don't remember the other titles that I have but these manga (except for the one shots) have lots of volumes and can get a bit pricey. I'll just save up again and buy all those volumes when they come out!
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