This week I read ten volumes of manga, and I had to actually double-check that number when I went to type it in because I felt like I must have counted wrong, but this definitely breaks my record and I have a feeling I might be at a tipping point. Feels pretty good.

In no particular order this time: read 呪術廻戦 vol. 9 (wrapping up the flashback arc), 古見さん vol. 24 (featuring nothing of major importance but was still highly enjoyable; now the longest series I’ve read), and その着せ替え人形は恋をする vol. 1 (certified Pure Gyaru™, surprisingly nice, will probably read some more).

I also read 虚の記憶 vol. 1 and hated it. It’s getting the first one-star rating in my library and I’m pretty disappointed. This is a manga by EVE (the guy who makes all those crazy music videos) and I was expecting something really off-the-wall and visually interesting. What I got instead was a totally boring story, very bland characters who are clearly supposed to be cool but simply aren’t, and like…only one monster design that was actually interesting at all? If there was one positive experience here, it’s that I’ve often wondered if I would be capable of identifying poor/amateurish writing in Japanese, where I can obviously do it easily in English — and now I know. Huge letdown and I’m actually pretty mad that I already bought vol. 2.

Fortunately, this week also had Summertime Rendering vol. 8-13. This series went from barely on my radar to being potentially my favorite series of all time in the first week and this past week has only solidified that position. I went ahead and bought the full set on Mandarake just so I could have it on my shelf despite the fact that I was down to the last volume before the package even arrived. Seriously can’t overstate how much I love it and I think I’m going to be chasing this feeling for a good long while.