Fruits Basket vol. 21

I know all of us aren't Fruits Basket readers, or may not have gotten through the volume yet, but I finally got it and read it last night, and I'm gonna treat this the same as the FMA post, and we can comment as we read. Also, just as a warning, and as an apology especially to the guys, there will probably be a lot of fangirling when anything to do with this series comes up. I'm one of the biggest Kyo fangirls on the planet. So sorry in advance, but hey, you were warned. On with the discussion!

FMA vol. 17 discussion start

Erm... well, I guess I won't post anything in the body here so as to avoid spoilers. But let's go ahead and do the discussion thing via the comments as you guys suggested. ...actually, I can't think of anything off the top of my head, so anyone is welcome to throw something out there. :p

FMA vol. 17

Has anyone else picked this up yet? I got it last night. It'd been so long since I read Vol. 16 that I had to go back and read it again first. Vol. 17 gets two thumbs up, of course.

Vol. 18 comes out in May 2009. Vol. 17 ends w/ chapter 69, and the "native" releases are up to chapter 88 or so. So if Viz keeps with this current idiotic release schedule, that's like, what, two years before the U.S. releases get to where they are in Japan now? Does anyone know what Viz's planned release schedule is from here on out? I think Arakawa releases one chapter a month, but I'm not sure.

I'm starting to think that I'm going to become impatient one of these days and just go get current like I am with Bleach and Naruto. With those I read one chapter a week and the story stays current in my mind, so one a month would be more convenient to keep up with than having to go back and refresh my memory every six months on FMA.

What I'm Watching and Reading Right Now

By and large the stuff I'm into right now is a lot of catch-up. I'm catching up (albeit slowly) with One Piece and Bleach, though only on DVDs, since you guys probably already know my thoughts on downloading when I can avoid it. I had been watching the new series on [as], but when the schedule went downhill I said screw it. I still don't know how Code Geass ended, or what I'd really think of Morbito. One more argument for mom to get us DVR. Anyway, I'm also curious to continue Baccano, which I started after being influenced by Pie-chan. Enjoying it, but haven't really gotten too far yet. After initial reluctance due to the crudeness, I got really into Shin-Chan, and would like to pick up part 2 of season 1 at some point in the near future.

As for manga, I'm dying to find out how Fruits Basket ends with only three volumes left, I'm finally catching up on the American release of Bleach, and I've got the new volume of FMA on my desk. I want to start Monster, and have the first two volumes of it, just haven't gotten to it yet. Read Death Note, though I can't say it's my favorite. Also want to start One Piece, though I really wish my library carried manga so I wouldn't have to buy it, since reading online gives me a massive headache.

Things I would like to see and discuss in here, if you guys are game for something like this, like watching a series somehow together and discussing, include Samurai 7, a rewatching of Bebop just for enjoyment, since I never did get much discussion in it even though I've seen it, and perhaps Mushishi, which I've heard a lot about but never seen. Let me know what you think of my proposal and how we might go about such a thing. Of course, it will all depend on who's seen what and what kind of access we all have.