Monster, Death Note, Kagijin, Azumanga Daioh...

Monster is FINISHED. This portion of the post will contain SPOILERS, until I state otherwise down this post in caps. So, the ending. I know what people mean when they say it's anticlimatic now. I don't mind though. I think the ending works well for the manga. Tenma couldn't have been the one to shoot Johan, I'm happy he wasn't the one to do it. I'm even happier that he wound up operating on him and actually saving his life again, even after all that effort he put towards hunting him down and killing him... yeah, that really is anticlimatic, isn't it? Great read at any rate, definitely one of the top thriller stories I've ever read, kept me constantly engaged and it's been one of the most engrossing experiences I've had with regards to manga. THAT'S IT FOR MONSTER SPOILERS.

NOW WE GET DEATH NOTE SPOILERS. I read the one shot earlier today, the one that takes place three years after the end of the Death Note story. At first I thought it was pretty horrible, there were some comic moments (Near with his fucking empire of tarot cards that he tells Rester not to knock over, or he will be pissed, when dealing with the new Kira's killings.) Overall though it was weak, the new Kira ended just like that, there was really nothing much to it. However, someone else put it in a different light, and said that the story strengthend (did I spell that right? :x) Light's and L's character by showing how a "normal" person would react to the death note. And in that light, indeed it does work and that's given me a different appreciation of the one shot. So now I don't think it's that bad at all. END DEATH NOTE SPOILERS.

I read the one shot for Kagijin a bit ago and I really liked it, I thought it was great to have someone who seemed like somewhat of an anti-hero, near the end of the one shot when the kills the general or whoever he was the way he did, it rung as very effective, I thought it was great. The first chapter of the serialization, I think is quite a bit worse. Protagonist dude has changed a bit, personality-wise and looks-wise, and he hasn't had a moment yet where we can see how he values the lives of his enemies, as his one enemy thus far has been a mythical sand monster. However, it was still an entertaining read and it's enough to make me want to continue it, so if these next four chapters are just as good as this first one then I'll be following this manga along with Bakuman as far as weekly manga is concerned.

Last on the list is Azumanga Daioh. I'm putting Android Kikaider on hold because frankly I'm not very interested in it, Azumanga is the next anime I'm pursuing. I saw about six of its episodes a while ago and I watched another three today, and I'm right back into it. Funny as hell, of course I knew this before from the first six eps and of course it's to be expected from the mangaka of Yotsuba. 24 or so episodes so I'm a fair ways off from completion, but I'll almost definitely be buying the physical copy of this once I finish the series. This should be a fun watch.

I initially was going to post about Strawberry 100% as well but I've yet to finish volumes eight and nine. When I finish those I'll be all caught up with the current releases and then I'll post my thoughts thus far. I haven't decided yet whether or not I'll continue the series past volume nine via scanlations. It'd mean I'd get to finish the story soon rather than a couple years from now or whenever they finish releasing the manga. On the flip-side, I like nothing better than to get a new volume of manga in the mail not knowing what the contents will be. I'll see, there's certainly plenty of other manga that can take its place should I put it on hiatus.

*EDIT* I forgot, I found this cool site called My Anime List and I've got myself completely set up on it now. Links:

http://myanimelist.net/mangalist/Hexrapper
http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Hexrapper

I know I've read more manga and seen more anime than that, but I can't remember any more specifics than I have listed. I'll add them as I remember them. I'll keep track of series progress there and keep a database of all manga and anime I have an interest in reading/watching on there as well.