If you’ve followed this blog for a while, or have seen the Instagram posts I’ve shared on the blog’s Facebook page, then you know I’m trying to read a lot of manga series.

This all goes back to when I started the blog back in 2011(!), but back then, it was known as Lesley’s Musings on Manga. I was able to keep content flowing on the blog by checking out manga volumes through my local library system, which is the King County Library System. As of this writing, there are 48 branches in the system, which makes it one of the larger library systems in the United States. Patrons are able to place holds on items in the system, and they can be sent to your local branch from any of the other branches. I know that I’m very lucky in this regard, because not everyone is going to have access to a library system like this one.

While this is a great system, there is still one pitfall that can happen… and has now happened to me twice. Unfortunately, over time, items can disappear from the system due to theft or damage… and if all of the system’s copies disappear, the item is no longer available. As of yesterday, I am now stuck on two long-running series because of this pitfall: Bleach and Case Closed. At some point, I will need to try to utilize the Inter-Library Loan system in order to have a chance at being able to continue these series. For those who don’t know what Inter-Library Loan is, this is a system in the United States where a library patron can borrow items that are owned by another library. I don’t know if other countries outside of the United States have an ILL system, though. Anybody know?

I’ve only used Inter-Library Loan once or twice a few years back, and through the system, I got items that belonged to libraries in other parts of the United States. The main drawback to the system, though, is that when you check out an ILL item, the due date is earlier than if you were able to check the item out through your local library (at least, this is the case with the King County Library System).

At this point, I still have two more long-running manga series that I’m trying to get through or caught up on (One Piece and Naruto). I have a feeling that at some point, I will hit the same pitfall with them as I did with Bleach and Case Closed. To me, it’s more a question of “when” than “if.” But the more of the volumes I can read of these series before I hit this pitfall, the better.

I have a spreadsheet of manga titles, and I keep track of how many volumes I’ve read of a title. I still have quite a number on this spreadsheet that are not finished yet, even though I started them years ago. My goal is to try and get as many of these series completed as I can.

For those who are curious, these are the manga titles that I have read in their entirety:

  • Angelic Layer
  • Bakegyamon
  • Black Rose Alice (technically, I’ve finished all six volumes that have been released, since the series has been put on hold but there’s obviously still more to the story)
  • Cactus’s Secret
  • Cardcaptor Sakura
  • Chi’s Sweet Home
  • Chobits
  • Codename Sailor V
  • Deadman Wonderland
  • A Devil and Her Love Song
  • FLCL
  • Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll
  • Fruits Basket
  • Fullmetal Alchemist
  • the gods lie.
  • I Am Here!
  • Jaco the Galactic Patrolman
  • Kamisama Kiss
  • Magic Knight Rayearth
  • Meteor Prince
  • Millennium Snow
  • My Love Story!!
  • Ranma 1/2
  • Romeo x Juliet
  • Sailor Moon
  • Seraphim: 266613336 Wings
  • Songs to Make You Smile
  • Strobe Edge
  • Tears of a Lamb
  • Time Killers
  • Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
  • Twin Spica
  • Unico
  • Yukarism

Sadly, even with that list of finished manga titles, I still have a LOT more that I’ve started but haven’t finished yet. Now whether or not I can actually get all of the titles included in my spreadsheet completed… that’s going to be a challenge.

I wish I had some good advice for manga readers that want to follow a lot of manga series without having to buy a ton of volumes, but don’t have access to a library system like the King County Library System. Unfortunately, I don’t. 😦

Additional posts about manga:

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