Neither here nor there

Here comes my little dissertation on book cover options, in case any of you is as nuts as I am.  My friends find it weird (or creepy?) that I have my books in double plastic.  And ok, I think it's creepy too, but the OCD acts on its own, I swear.  I started out keeping everything in poly comic bags because the dust, 'tis not good for the covers.  Then when my friend brought back those amazing manga dust jackets from her Taiwan trip, I didn't get rid of the poly bags, cuz the light, 'tis still not good for the pages.  And so that was how some of my books are now mummified in two layers of plastic -_- I've been asked by some of my ebay buyers where I got my dust jackets that I so nicely didn't take off of the mangas I resold (see?  I'm not the only freak out there who understands the importance of protecting my precious), thus I thought I'd share the info in case someone decides to do a random google search.

1. Asian manga dust jackets

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Mine were bought specifically in Taipei, but I'm sure Japanese and Korean comic shops have them too.  These come in various heights, measured in mm.  For example, a standard VIZ or Tokyopop manga would be 192, whereas a Netcomic manga would be 185.  One flap is closed, the other open with an adhesive strip to fold over according to your book's width and spine.  Thickness is about 2 mil, which is my preferred thickness for this purpose.  They're only a dime each excluding airfare/shipping.  If I had a choice, I'd wrap all my books in these.  Of course they don't accommodate the wider, thicker books, and they're not readily available here (I know animecastle has some but their bulk shipping is crazy and I haven't tried contacting them for an adjusted shipping cost).

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2. So… I found something similar in the States called adjustable slip-covers.

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I bought the Brodart brand, but any company that produces library materials should have similar variations.  These work the same way where one flap is closed while the other is open and adjustable.  But instead of an adhesive strip to seal one end, you just tuck the flap in.  They are 7 mil, which is very sturdy and also more expensive, thus generally overkill for mangas.  They also come in various heights, but measured in inches since they're an American product.  Try to buy 1/16th or 1/8th extra so the fit won't be too snug.  (And why yes, I found Prissana for a very pretty penny and had to cover its ancient self before it falls apart even worse)

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3. jacket covers.

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These are generally made to cover the dust jackets should your books come with any.  They come in a bevy of choices (again, Brodart or any library brand), but I've only tried the 1.5 mil fold-on, which is one with paper backing (I think the econo-fold might've been a better choice for my purpose tho, cuz I ended up trimming the paper off anyway).  To be honest, these take more work and the result isn't as nice as the previous two.  The fold-over of the plastic creates sharp corners which I don't like.  I'd only really recommend them for hardcovers and artbooks.

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Now, on with the dramas… the last complete drama I watched was Bride of the Century which took a turn from addictive to blahblahness.  See?  It was so blah I couldn't come up with any better adjective.  This drama was steaming on the sole chemistry of the OTP alone, and when the narratives diverged from them, I kind of couldn't care less.  And the ghost.  What shall I say about the ghost story that wouldn't sound like a bunch of expletives flying off my mouth?  Why were they romanticizing adultery, and why was she f*cking entitled to vendetta?  So it was alright to contemplate killing someone, but it was so very vile for someone else to commit the act on her?  And she held onto the grudge long enough to stick around for 100 years?  I just… the message…!  Some of these writers shouldn't be allowed to send messages to the public.

I'm on episode 2 of Hotel King for the My Girl reunion, will soon try Angel Eyes too, but have nothing to say about either for now.

Not drama, but I rewatched Juuni Kokki and it depressed me for an entire week because it reminded me of what happened to Taiki (in the novels) and how this shtuff is still unresolved.

2 thoughts on “Neither here nor there

  1. I don’t find it odd at all that you have slip covers (or double slip covers) for your books. I do the same with my manga and dvd sets, but only with bubble wrap and if the item originally came with a slip cover, I’ll keep it on indefinitely. I think I shall go your way with the adjustable slip covers as the bubble wrap takes up too much space.

    uuughs, I definitely share the same thoughts and feelings on Bride of the Century. I think it was about halfway through or so when the drama started losing its momentum and I lost my interest in turn. I stuck with it until the end and all I could think about was: “way to ruin the most interesting part of the drama aka the ghost with a shoddy plot”. Totally not what I expected, and in the worst way possible. Adultery? SMH. I pitied her for being wrongfully blamed and murdered, but lord, the guy had a wife! And some true love he turned out to be. blah.

    And OMG!!! You’ve read all the Juuni Kokki novels?? I did, too (and all the short stories that were published later)! The series lacked romance but the story was quite riveting, sort of like Fushigi Yuugi but without the focus on the romance. I’m currently reading translations of Ono Fuyumi’s prologue to Juuni Kokki aka “Poseidon of the East”.

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    • Maybe we’re soulmates haha. I get really OCD when I start to see pages turning yellow, or corners getting bent. And I don’t know why, because I’m a sloppy sloth otherwise.Yes, I read the Eugene Woodbury translations. Do you have a translator you recommend? Juuni Kokki is probably the only non-romance I like. The world is fascinating, like you said, and it has characters I really care about. It’s also not fatalistic, which I thought Fushigi Yuugi was. It was frustrating to watch them fail and die no matter how hard they tried, like they were puppets steered to doomville.Ooh, I also started Angel Eyes yesterday with my mom. They kinda layered on the tears factor but I fell for it anyway. Some really cliche classic childhood 1st love and surrogate family bonding stuff, but very watchable compared to the recent things we sat through.

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