From: chriskern99@gmail.com   
      
   After the recent discussions on the state of Afternoon magazine, I was   
   inspired to look at all the series (now that I'm finally caught up   
   with the magazine) and see actually how many of the series I like --   
   especially since two of my top series (Love Roma and YKK) recently   
   ended.   
      
   I've assigned grades to each series with roughly this meaning   
   (completely subjective; I have made no effort to consider any   
   objective qualities of the manga):   
      
   A+   The rare series where I buy the collected volumes even though   
        I've already read all the chapters in the magazine.  These are,   
        for me, the cream of the crop.   
      
   A    I won't buy the collected volumes in addition to reading them in   
        Afternoon, but if I ever stopped buying the monthly then I would   
        buy these series' tankobon.   
      
   B    I enjoy reading the series, but if I ever stopped buying   
        Afternoon, I wouldn't get the tankobon unless I could buy them   
        used or borrow them from someone.   
      
   C    I basically only read this series because I find it tolerable,   
        and to get value out of my purchase.  I probably wouldn't read   
        the tanks even if I could get them for free.   
      
   Anything D or F I don't read, and there are a few other series I don't   
   read just because I never caught up with the backstory. not because I   
   have anything against the series (i.e. Eden).   
      
   Anyway, on to the reviews.   
      
   1) Mysterious Girlfriend X - B so far; it's Ueshiba Riichi so it   
   automatically gets a read but it's obviously too early to tell how   
   good it will be.  As Ping pointed out, it's a reversal of   
   Discommunication.  Instead of odd boy/normal girl this is normal   
   boy/odd girl.   
      
   2) Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan - C; I don't really like any of the 4-koma but   
   this manages some humor from time to time.  Seems like it's in the   
   wrong magazine, though.   
      
   3) Vinland Saga - I plan on reading this once I get a chance to read   
   the first two volumes.   
      
   4) Genshiken - A, although it can't have much longer to go.  I think   
   it has gotten especially good recently.   
      
   5) Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho - C; not too interesting, but not   
   unreadable either.   
      
   6) Mushishi - A+, my favorite manga of all time.  The anime is superb   
   as well.   
      
   7) Aa! Megame-sama - C; I just don't find this all that interesting,   
   although it's short and quick enough to be readable.   
      
   8) Ookiku - don't read   
      
   9) Love Yan - A, a nice series that I always find myself laughing at,   
   even though the humor is pretty juvenile.   
      
   10) Peshi - A+.  This series took some time to grow on me, but I   
   really like it.  Furomae Ari has a sense of humor that manages to be   
   quirky without being incomprehensibly bizarre like some of the gag   
   comics in the magazine.  It manages to find humor in everyday   
   situations (or at least everyday for a Japanese elementary school   
   student).   
      
   11) Bakuon Rettou - don't read   
      
   12) Puu neko - don't read   
      
   13) Eden - don't read   
      
   14) Hoshi no manimani - B+; I like the series so far.  Not quite   
   enough to buy the tanks.  Afternoon needs at least a few romance   
   comedies, though.   
      
   15) Hato no Yome-san - don't read; incomprehensible   
      
   16) Shion no Oh - don't read   
      
   17) Ore to Akuma Blues - A; it's gotten rather wierd since he's been   
   in prison (lots of slow prison arcs in Afternoon...) but it's still a   
   top-quality manga.   
      
   18) Jinja no Susume - A; I'm not sure quite what it is about this   
   manga, but I like the characters and the situations.  One I look   
   forward to reading every month.   
      
   19) Sonna Yatsu wa inee - 4-koma, don't read   
      
   20) Mugen no Junin - A; it's gotten much more interesting in the past   
   6 months or so.   
      
   21) Gankutsuou - B+; it's improving a lot with each new chapter.  I   
   like Count of Monte Cristo, so maybe that's why I like the manga.   
      
   22) Mokke - B; not as good as Mushishi but still an entertaining read.   
      
   23) Little Jumper - don't read, bring back Genzo   
      
   24) Suzume Suzunari - don't read   
      
   25) Seraphic Feather - don't read   
      
   26) Gagagaga - pointless waste of paper, don't read   
      
   27) Gunsmith Cats Burst - don't read   
      
   28) Sekai no Mago - C-; this is a really odd series.  I think it   
   sucks, but somehow one or two panels manage to make me laugh every   
   month so I read the next chapter hoping that the author will do   
   better, but she(?) never does.  I'm very close to not reading this   
   anymore.   
      
   29) Akibasho - B-; a decent series but doesn't quite have the spark of   
   genius.   
      
   30) Lucu Lucu - don't read   
      
   31) Gkumi - don't read   
      
   32) Senshuu no Lorelai - B; once again, decent with no real spark.  It   
   has movie pacing, which doesn't always work in a monthly series.   
      
   33) Historie - A; despite the slow pace, it's still quite good.   
      
   34) Hatsuka Nezumi no Jikan - A; this is a very interesting series and   
   I like the art.   
      
   That breaks down to, out of 34 series:   
   9 A's   (26%)   
   6 B's   (18%)   
   4 C's   (12%)   
   15 X's  (44%)   
      
   So I read over half the magazine, and a quarter of the stories I   
   consider to be good enough that I would buy the tanks if I didn't get   
   the magazine.  That's pretty good value for my money, as far as I'm   
   concerned.  The magazine may not have what everyone is looking for but   
   it's fine for me.  I personally don't care if a series is offbeat or   
   competely run-of-the-mill -- it's just whether or not I enjoy reading   
   it.   
      
   -Chris   
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