I am pleased to say I have not spent any money on Manga UP this year 😝 Although SQEX have gotten quite a lot of my hard earned cash via tankobon sales. I appreciate that the app has had some good changes made (or is it just one allowing you to read chapters you have previously unlocked), even though ultimately it doesn’t really make a difference to me since if I’m going to reread a series, it will be in it’s compiled format.

Series I Don’t Read on Manga Up Anymore and Just Buy Tankobons For:

• The Apothecary Diaries – I bought volumes past what I read in Manga UP but have held off on reading them since the anime is airing
• Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun – Glad I bought the volumes to read because the pace at which I would have been able to read this on Manga UP without spending money would have been glacial. It’s been really good reading it at a fast clip and seeing how the situation is evolving so quickly
• Tokyo Aliens – Just put in an order for this, the chapters were getting uploaded so slowly I felt like I was losing the flow of the plot.
• The Holy Grail of Eris – I think this is probably my second favourite series after Oshi no Ko 😊 Shame I’m caught up with the English releases already…

Series continuing from last year:

• Living with My Brother’s Wife – I would buy this in tankobon and cry all over again
• YanOta: The Delinquent and the Otaku – I would buy this in tankobon and read it for a 3rd time
• Daemons of the Shadow Realm – on my list to buy, I’m really liking the daemon system and the political intrigue
• How I Attended an All Guys Mixer – I would buy this in tankobon, it’s just too cute
• The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague – on my list to buy, another one with a glacial release schedule (no pun intended)
• The Gender of Mona Lisa – on my list to buy, just gotta remember it’s now called Just Like Mona Lisa.

Series that ended/I finished reading 😢

• My Ex-Boyfriend Loves Boys Love – I would buy this in tankobon
• I Got Pregnant With His Majesty’s Child – I hope they do another series following the next book
• Chiyo Kuno the Psychic – I honestly forgot about this one
• Eighteen – Also forgot about this one
• My Unexpected Marriage – Forgot about this one, but in this case I blame the fact that I felt like it ended so suddenly and was so short
• The Demon Song – Forgot about this one, I’m gonna blame that on the short length as well

Series I Will/Would Buy

• Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You – Sweet without being creepy
• Fake It To Break It! I Faked Amnesia to Break off My Engagement and Now He’s All Lovey-Dovey?! – They are both so dense it’s cute (technically this shouldn’t be listed since it hasn’t passed the 10 Chapter Test because it doesn’t even have 10 chapters yet, but I already know it’s gonna pass)
• The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses – Did not expect to like this so much, they are adorable

Series Where I Look Forward to New Chapters

• My Happy Marriage – it’s not super gripping yet, but I feel like it’s building up to it.
• Beauty and the Feast – I understand, Yakumo, it is kinda satisfying seeing Yamato eat so damn much
• Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You A Wizard? – it feels like something (and not necessarily drama-something) happens every chapter which makes it really easy to read
• My Clueless First Friend – it’s starting to get a bit predictable, but I like how the friend group has grown so large 😊
• The Emperor’s Caretaker: I’m Too Happy Living as a Lady-in-Waiting to Leave the Palace – it’s a romance but I feel like there is an equal amount of time and effort spent on supporting the young emperor 👍
• Always A Catch – Mimi is a whirlwind of energy and entertainment 🤣
• Even Monsters Like Fairytales – Sylph is really likeable and the story keeps turning in ways that I am not expecting 😮
• Reincarnated as a 15-Year-Old Queen: I’m an Ex-office Worker, but the Young King Is Interested in Me?! – in this for the friendship between Emi and Emilia 🥰

UP Token User-Uppers (no pun intended)

• Wandering Witch – this series gets released so slowly but it doesn’t really bother me since I don’t really like Elaina. But I do think each of the stories is pretty neat.
• Blast of Tempest – I don’t get this one, but in a I-would-like-to-understand kinda way, so I keep reading it
• Can’t Stop Cursing You – This one is finished and it’s not that long so I’ll follow it to completion. It kinda gives me Is It My Fault I Was Bullied vibes.
• Suicide Notes Laid On The Table – Gets regular enough updates and I *am* interested in Himeyama’s motives, even if the entire premise isn’t that pleasant
• My Housemate Sano-kun Is Just My Editor! – it’s cute ☺
• From Superfan to Stepsister – I’m in this for Akato x Haru even though I know it’s hopeless

When I am Starved for Content
(only because I wait for all parts of each chapter to be released before reading and Manga UP can be pretty stingy in terms of releasing content)

• The Royal Tutor – the Princes all seem one note so it doesn’t make me feel like I need to read it.
• Do It Yourself – maybe a bit too slow paced for me? Or maybe doesn’t show enough of the doing to make it interesting?
• Inu x Boku SS – I just got up to the bit where there is some actual real conflict/plot, but I’m pretty eh on the MC’s relationship so….eh….
• Even the Elf Captain Wants to be a Maiden – I find it a bit awkward but I do want to learn more about her Lord
• A Man and His Cat – I don’t really like the cat, but the man is very likeable
• Talentless Nana – every now and then I remember about this one

Also, Crunchyroll Manga is dead now, so I’ve transferred the series I was reading to this app (with the exception of Holmes of Kyoto 😢). But I honestly can’t remember where I got up to with One Room of Happiness (even though that’s the one I want to read the most) and I probably might even just drop Knights and Magic.

Conclusion

I’ve honestly been amused by the amount of olden-day western/Imperial China Josei series on this service. Until Manga UP came out I had no idea this was a genre of it’s own. I like it 😁 The short and sweet/cute series are also in abundance. It ends up providing quite a different experience (content wise) to Manga Plus which is great. And the UP system actually works for me, otherwise I’d probably feel compelled to read more and with all the series I read on Manga Plus/WSJ, that just wouldn’t be realistic.

Categories: Manga UP

Tagged as: 2023 in Review

hikaru