Every time I go to the bookstore, I am tormented by what I can't have.
Manga.
For someone like me, entire sections of manga are like walls and walls of happy. Back home, I read this stuff like crack and would spend quite a bit of time going thru them in book stores. Here in Asia, Manga is pretty much standard reading. . people read them on the subway, kids read them, adults have grown up with them in some form or another. By far, the stores here in Korea have the biggest sections I've ever seen (I shudder to think what I will see when I finally wander the streets of Akiabara in Japan). Sadly, all this wonderful comic goodness is lost to me.
Why?
BECAUSE IT'S IN KOREAN!!!!! AAAAAGGGGGHHHH
This particular series is called "Bleach," a favorite of mine back home. I've read most of them, but here in Korea, they have volumes we don't have in the states. . . and I can't read them because I don't know Korean!!!
Oh there are walls and walls of the stuff in the two main bookstores downtown. Stuff I've never seen in my life. . . never even heard of! Stuff my friends back home would sell their souls for. And I'm sadly stuck only looking at it.
Another strange thing: Getting a book in English over here can be a pain in the ass.
Case in point; Twilight.
Before I got a hold of a copy, I was trying to track down one so I could see what the fuss was about. I had noticed a lot of people had passed it around here to read so I was curious about it (more about my first impressions after I finish reading it). I went to a couple of different book stores and i could not find an english copy of it. I had not known about the movie coming out at the time and I didn't realize there would be a rush on it. Oh i can find the other books in the series, but not the first one. Had not been for some random luck that guy leaving the country was giving away all his books, I would still be waiting for a copy to pop up. However, now that the movie is out here in Korea (much to the delight of several of my female friends here), the hype srrounding it and it's pretty cast is not lost on the culture here.
I will say however, that the Korean version of the orginal cover looks way cooler than ours. As you can see the artwork is done in manga style . . . . I might have to snatch one just for collections sake. But based on what I've read so far, I dunno if i'm going to enjoy the book that much. . . .
On another note. It's Sarah Breton's (I must state which one because I know like five Sarah's over here.) birthday and she had a nice get together at Ice Bar. I want to wish her a happy birthday (even if it's technically over in Korea, it's still her birthday in the states. oh the fun of time zones!).
I know I missed my weekend report from last week, but I'll either do a make up or just show the pictures somewhere (they are already on facebook).
1 comment:
AWWWW that has got to suck. iam a big manga reader also and i have a pretty good collection building up in my But to have it everywhere around you and cant read it has to be torture.
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