options for reading manga

ilovejedd · 06-08-2011, 03:40 PM

Anyone here use a Nook Color for reading comics or manga? How is it? I currently use ComicGlass for the iPad which works pretty great as far as manga/comics reading software go. I don't need to pre-process my files. So far it's handled every zip/cbz and rar/cbr file I've thrown at it without choking. It doesn't matter if the image is JPG with incorrect PNG extension or vice versa, ComicGlass handles it just fine. Same with sequential images named: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... Even without leading zeroes, images are displayed in order. Switching to double page/landscape is handled seamlessly. I also love the option to view split pages (useful with some double-paged scans).

However, as nice as ComicGlass may be, the iPad is a bit too big and heavy to hold comfortably for long periods of time. That's why I'm considering the Nook Color as an alternative. What are my software options for reading manga on the Nook? I'm fine with rooting the device. I just want something that works nearly as well or perhaps even better than ComicGlass.

Thanks!

jyl · 06-09-2011, 03:10 AM

I use my rooted nook color (CM7) to read mangas. I use two apps, Perfect Viewer and Manga Watcher.

Perfect viewer is what I use for CBZ/CBR files and it has custom zoom and bookmark functions.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/perfect-....perfectviewer

Manga Watcher is an app where you can read your mangas straight from its supported manga websites or download them from those sites and read offline. You can also open your sideloaded mangas. It has the basic functions like pinch to zoom, bookmarking and landscape/portrait mode.
http://www.appbrain.com/app/manga-wa....mangawatchman

ilovejedd · 06-09-2011, 10:35 AM

Perfect Viewer looks awesome, thanks!

Hmm, now just saving up money to buy or waiting for a good sale (whichever comes first). My tech fund got wiped with the purchase of 2x iPad 2's (32GB & 64GB), 2x PRS-350 and 1x iPod Touch 4G.

Anyone here have experience buying a Certified Pre-Owned Nook Color from B&N? With tax, the refurb would cost me $246.94 while the brand new version is $273.28.

taosaur · 06-09-2011, 09:41 PM

I don't read much manga, but I'm using PerfectViewer on my NC for comics and loving it. Obviously something closer to 'actual' size would be ideal (though a lot of manga are in smaller format, aren't they?), but the screen is so sharp that I rarely have to zoom.

I have read a couple of manga that I liked, Gantz and Hikaru No Go. I also just remembered I have the Nausicaa manga! Any recommendations for good sci-fi or surreal manga that aren't just T&A?

jyl · 06-09-2011, 11:48 PM

Overstock is selling the pre-owned nook color at $199 today. i bought one for my silbing

ilovejedd · 06-09-2011, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taosaur

I don't read much manga, but I'm using PerfectViewer on my NC for comics and loving it. Obviously something closer to 'actual' size would be ideal (though a lot of manga are in smaller format, aren't they?), but the screen is so sharp that I rarely have to zoom.

Yeah, the collected volumes are usually smaller than your typical American comics (although the original releases are phonebook-sized). Japanese tankobon are usually 4 1/2" x 7" (8.3" diagonal). They also have the bunko which is an even smaller, condensed version for some of the older re-releases at around 4 1/8" x 5 7/8" (7.2" diagonal). That's one reason using smaller displays aren't so bad for reading manga. Granted there are some manga releases in the bigger wide-ban form, usually ones that are geared towards older audiences.

Quote:

Originally Posted by taosaur

I have read a couple of manga that I liked, Gantz and Hikaru No Go. I also just remembered I have the Nausicaa manga! Any recommendations for good sci-fi or surreal manga that aren't just T&A?

Tenjou Tenge was pretty awesome. Lots of gratuitous nudity, but it has kick-ass characters and a cool story line. You read Gantz so I assume as long as the underlying story is good, you're not averse to some T&A

.

Death Note is also worth a try (same artist as Hikaru no Go). That one's actually available complete in digital format (digital version of last volume was released just this Monday) but so far, only on the iPad. No doubt Viz will probably release an Android and PC app eventually but when that will be is anyone's guess.

MPD Psycho's another good one. Actually, MPD Psycho's my favorite seinen title. Dark Horse publishes it in the US and I'm really hoping they can acquire digital distribution rights for it.

Hellsing is another Dark Horse-licensed title. Deals with vampires and werewolves but not the wimpy, romanticized kind you see in Twilight, et al.

Bleach's pretty good. Just not sure if it's up your alley.

Seriously, there's a bunch of other great ones that I'm just not remembering right now. I'm in my shoujo/girly phase at the moment so a lot of my recent reads probably won't appeal to you.

taosaur · 06-10-2011, 09:46 AM

I've seen the Death Note and Hellsing animes clear through--really liked Hellsing, also liked Death Note but not as much as a lot of people seem to (my sister, for instance, named her daughter after Kira >_> ).

I watched a decent chunk of the Gantz anime, too, and it was garbage. Bleach doesn't much appeal to me, though I haven't seen/read any of it.

The mind-bendy post-apocalyptish stuff is really what I like in anime, and so probably in manga, too: Big O, Ergo Proxy, Nausicaa, FMA:Brotherhood.

Anyway, I have Nausicaa loaded up on the NC for this weekend's travels

ilovejedd · 06-10-2011, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by taosaur

I've seen the Death Note and Hellsing animes clear through--really liked Hellsing, also liked Death Note but not as much as a lot of people seem to (my sister, for instance, named her daughter after Kira >_> ).

I watched a decent chunk of the Gantz anime, too, and it was garbage. Bleach doesn't much appeal to me, though I haven't seen/read any of it.

The mind-bendy post-apocalyptish stuff is really what I like in anime, and so probably in manga, too: Big O, Ergo Proxy, Nausicaa, FMA:Brotherhood.

Ah yes, Fullmetal Alchemist is pretty darned good. I do believe FMA: Brotherhood is anime only and is a revised version of both the original anime and manga. Well, the original anime didn't really follow the manga too faithfully, either. I love Death Note but it just didn't feel the same after they killed L. Same was true for Hikaru no Go after Sai disappeared.

From the suggestions I gave earlier, MPD Psycho sounds like it's right up your alley. It's not exactly post-apocalyptic but it's really, really mind-bendy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by taosaur

Anyway, I have Nausicaa loaded up on the NC for this weekend's travels

Lol, Nausicaa's too short to last me a whole weekend.

At best, it'll keep me entertained for maybe an afternoon (perhaps going on to the evening). Depending on the amount of text, it usually takes me 15~30 minutes to read a volume of manga.

@jyl
Thanks for the heads up. Just bought one today. Got it for $190 since I apparently have $9 in-store credit.

taosaur · 06-10-2011, 01:04 PM

From what I understand, Brotherhood is a lot more faithful to the manga, and also completes the story, which the first anime couldn't because the manga wasn't done yet. It has great pacing, too, building up from just the two brothers' story and some semi-random adventures to a really epic storyline that ties everything together. From what little I've seen of the original, the animation in Brotherhood is better, too. When the last season was airing in Japan a year or two ago, Hulu had the whole series subbed, with the new episodes coming in two weeks behind the Japanese broadcast (obviously this was pre-Hulu-Plus).

Oh, another series I picked up on Hulu was Trigun--a little more goofy, but also pretty sweet.

Anyway, I'll check out MPD Psycho.

ilovejedd · 06-10-2011, 02:10 PM

Ah, Trigun. I think I watched that one and Cowboy Bebop when I was either in elementary or high school. I've got a necklace with Wolfwood's gun as pendant.

Since I lived in Asia previously, growing up, I think I got to watch a lot more anime on network TV than in the US.

Have you tried watching Vandread? It's a pretty cool post-apocalyptic anime. I think it was one of those anime -> manga things so I don't know about the quality of the manga.

For a more lighthearted read (compared to MPD Psycho, at least), you might also want to try Psychometrer Eiji. That one deals with serial killers and sometimes delves a bit into supernatural phenomena.

06-08-2011, 03:40 PM	#1
ilovejedd hopeless n00b Posts: 5,111 Karma: 19597086 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: in the middle of nowhere Device: PW4, PW3, Libra H2O, iPad 10.5, iPad 11, iPad 12.9	options for reading manga Anyone here use a Nook Color for reading comics or manga? How is it? I currently use ComicGlass for the iPad which works pretty great as far as manga/comics reading software go. I don't need to pre-process my files. So far it's handled every zip/cbz and rar/cbr file I've thrown at it without choking. It doesn't matter if the image is JPG with incorrect PNG extension or vice versa, ComicGlass handles it just fine. Same with sequential images named: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... Even without leading zeroes, images are displayed in order. Switching to double page/landscape is handled seamlessly. I also love the option to view split pages (useful with some double-paged scans). However, as nice as ComicGlass may be, the iPad is a bit too big and heavy to hold comfortably for long periods of time. That's why I'm considering the Nook Color as an alternative. What are my software options for reading manga on the Nook? I'm fine with rooting the device. I just want something that works nearly as well or perhaps even better than ComicGlass. Thanks!

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06-09-2011, 03:10 AM	#2
jyl Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: NOOK, JE200	I use my rooted nook color (CM7) to read mangas. I use two apps, Perfect Viewer and Manga Watcher. Perfect viewer is what I use for CBZ/CBR files and it has custom zoom and bookmark functions. http://www.appbrain.com/app/perfect-....perfectviewer Manga Watcher is an app where you can read your mangas straight from its supported manga websites or download them from those sites and read offline. You can also open your sideloaded mangas. It has the basic functions like pinch to zoom, bookmarking and landscape/portrait mode. http://www.appbrain.com/app/manga-wa....mangawatchman

06-09-2011, 10:35 AM	#3
ilovejedd hopeless n00b Posts: 5,111 Karma: 19597086 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: in the middle of nowhere Device: PW4, PW3, Libra H2O, iPad 10.5, iPad 11, iPad 12.9	Perfect Viewer looks awesome, thanks! Hmm, now just saving up money to buy or waiting for a good sale (whichever comes first). My tech fund got wiped with the purchase of 2x iPad 2's (32GB & 64GB), 2x PRS-350 and 1x iPod Touch 4G. Anyone here have experience buying a Certified Pre-Owned Nook Color from B&N? With tax, the refurb would cost me $246.94 while the brand new version is $273.28.

06-09-2011, 09:41 PM	#4
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	I don't read much manga, but I'm using PerfectViewer on my NC for comics and loving it. Obviously something closer to 'actual' size would be ideal (though a lot of manga are in smaller format, aren't they?), but the screen is so sharp that I rarely have to zoom. I have read a couple of manga that I liked, Gantz and Hikaru No Go. I also just remembered I have the Nausicaa manga! Any recommendations for good sci-fi or surreal manga that aren't just T&A?

06-09-2011, 11:48 PM	#5
jyl Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: NOOK, JE200	Overstock is selling the pre-owned nook color at $199 today. i bought one for my silbing

06-10-2011, 09:46 AM	#7
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	I've seen the Death Note and Hellsing animes clear through--really liked Hellsing, also liked Death Note but not as much as a lot of people seem to (my sister, for instance, named her daughter after Kira >_> ). I watched a decent chunk of the Gantz anime, too, and it was garbage. Bleach doesn't much appeal to me, though I haven't seen/read any of it. The mind-bendy post-apocalyptish stuff is really what I like in anime, and so probably in manga, too: Big O, Ergo Proxy, Nausicaa, FMA:Brotherhood. Anyway, I have Nausicaa loaded up on the NC for this weekend's travels

06-10-2011, 01:04 PM	#9
taosaur intelligent posterior Posts: 1,562 Karma: 21295618 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ohiopolis Device: Kindle Paperwhite 2, Samsung S8, Lenovo Tab 3 Pro	From what I understand, Brotherhood is a lot more faithful to the manga, and also completes the story, which the first anime couldn't because the manga wasn't done yet. It has great pacing, too, building up from just the two brothers' story and some semi-random adventures to a really epic storyline that ties everything together. From what little I've seen of the original, the animation in Brotherhood is better, too. When the last season was airing in Japan a year or two ago, Hulu had the whole series subbed, with the new episodes coming in two weeks behind the Japanese broadcast (obviously this was pre-Hulu-Plus). Oh, another series I picked up on Hulu was Trigun--a little more goofy, but also pretty sweet. Anyway, I'll check out MPD Psycho.

06-10-2011, 02:10 PM	#10
ilovejedd hopeless n00b Posts: 5,111 Karma: 19597086 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: in the middle of nowhere Device: PW4, PW3, Libra H2O, iPad 10.5, iPad 11, iPad 12.9	Ah, Trigun. I think I watched that one and Cowboy Bebop when I was either in elementary or high school. I've got a necklace with Wolfwood's gun as pendant. Since I lived in Asia previously, growing up, I think I got to watch a lot more anime on network TV than in the US. Have you tried watching Vandread? It's a pretty cool post-apocalyptic anime. I think it was one of those anime -> manga things so I don't know about the quality of the manga. For a more lighthearted read (compared to MPD Psycho, at least), you might also want to try Psychometrer Eiji. That one deals with serial killers and sometimes delves a bit into supernatural phenomena.

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