Manga Reader Apps(iOS & Android)

Mangas are a pleasure to read on the touch screen devices but it's real problem trying to find good manga reader apps. Here are some free apps that allow you to download and read manga on iOS and Android devices without having to empty your wallet.

Apps for Apple devices

1. Mangarock

Mangarock is by far my favourite manga app. Purchasing the full version costs $3.99 and removes ads and allows unlimited downloads but even without purchasing the full version, the app is good enough. It allows you to read manga in 7 languages:- English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese.

- English: MangaHere, Manga Rock, Mangareader, MangaEden (English)
- Spanish: Submanga
- French: Scanmanga
- German: Meinmanga
- Vietnamese: Manga24h, VNsharing, Thienduongmanga.
- Italian:Manga Eden (Italian)
- Chinese: 99mh

They have filters for websites, alphabetical, popularity, category and status(ongoing/complete). 

You can read manga in landscape mode or portrait mode. You can lock zoom, control brightness,  lock orientation, quick browse.

They allow you download as many chapters you want of any ONE manga. 

You can keep track of as many manga updates by adding it into your favourites. You can also set it to auto download new chapters of your favourite mangas. List can be personalized in settings.

You can check and delete your manga reading history.

Reading direction can be changed according to your preferences(left to right/ right to left) or set it to auto detect reading direction(according to website).

My rating-->4.5 stars/5 stars

2. Manga Storm

Manga Storm was my very first manga reader app and it's great except for the fact that using the free version only allows you to download 10 chapters, see three mangas worth of history and favourite three mangas. There are five websites that mangastorm uses mangafox, mangahere, mangareader, mangaeden and batato. You can even view and search for manga from all five of the websites without having to click on each website one by one. It's nice to use but I prefer mangarock's UI.

My rating-->2.5 stars/5 stars

Apps for Android devices

1. Mango

Mango cannot be downloaded directly from the Google Play so you have to download it from their website at http://mango.leetsoft.net/. Mango's UI is simple and easy to use. It's completely free and allows unlimited downloads and favorites. Who could ask for more?

Rating-->5 stars/5stars

2. Manga Watcher

Manga Watcher has been removed from Google Play but can be downloaded from their website, http://www.manga-watcher.com/. Manga Watcher is as good as Mango in every aspect plus you get a cool looking bookshelf like with the manga covers on display. It's FREE and doesn't require any upgrading or whatever nonsense Apple apps seem to come up with. 

3. Mangarock

Read the first app of this post. Coming to Android devices in July 2013.

Best Japanese Learning Apps(iOS)

Most Japanese learning apps cost you a ton and aren't really fun to learn with but the apps below are FREE.

1. Hiragana Pixel Party

Hiragana Pixel Party is definitely number 1 on my list of best Japanese learning apps cause it's fun, the voice in the game is by a native Japanese speaker and you can download it for free and it comes with a few free levels to try it out. It only costs $0.99 to upgrade to the full version and get 384 levels to learn Hiragana and Katakana. It is THE ONLY app in my entire Ipad that I paid for. Overall 4.5 stars.

2. Hiragana and Katakana- Complete Basics of Japanese

It's not the best app for learning Japanese if you are just starting but if have been learning Hiragana and Katakana and you just wanna test yourself without the hassle of asking someone else then this app is good enough. All things considered, 3 stars.

3. Japanese- Hiragana/ Japanese-Katakana/ Japanese-Kanji

These are THREE SEPERATE apps by the same person and with the same user interface(UI) and features.

So far this is the best free app that I have found for learning the stroke order for Japanese. They have 6 apps, one for Hiragana, one for Katakana and 4 for Kanji. The Hiragana, Katakana and 2 of the 4 Kanji apps are completely free while the other two Kanji apps are $1.99 each. This app is extremely fun to use for me since I'm completely useless at memorizing things. The 1st from left in the picture above is the one that teaches stroke order. The second one is where you have to arrange the letters in order to form a word according to the picture given. The third one is by far my FAVOURITE part of the app. Why? CAUSE IT'S AWESOME!! It's a mini game and there are two modes, the picture mode and the letter mode. In the picture mode, you have to touch the picture that corresponds with the word read by the speaker while in letter mode you have to touch the first letter of the word that the speaker says. Okay I'm gonna cut this short cause I'm starting to ramble XD. Overall this app gets 5 stars from me.

4. Kana Card Free

Kana Card is a free app that allows you to flip through or to test yourself in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. Kana Card is basically like memory cards that people use to remember things. It user interface is really simple and nice to use. All in all, it gets 3.5 stars from me.

Please comment and tell me what you liked and disliked about my post. Thanks for reading my mad ramblings :D.

Fun anime-style games(Part 2)

1. Princess Pajama

Princess Pajama is a cute and funny RPG. There's nothing really special about it other than the cute graphics but it's good for killing time in the car or in a plane. Rating--> 3 stars

2. Dragon Flight

Dragon Flight is an one of the best arcade games I have on my iPad and I highly recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a fun endless runner game with cool graphics. All you have to do is drag your finger left and right to shoot cute looking dragons and avoid meteors. You can even hatch adorable baby dragons to bring along with you. 4 stars.

3. Kingdoms and Dragons

Add a Len Kagamine look alike and an MMORPG, put them in a pot and you get Kingdoms and Dragons. This is like your typical MMORPG except that the multiplayer part of the game is KINGDOM CONQUERING!! I think I enjoy this game more because of the fact that you can play the RPG and the MMO elements seperately but it can get boring after a month or two. Overall 3 stars over 5.

4. Zombie Panic in Wonderland

Momotarou, the zombie fighter? Hell yes! Zombie Panic in Wonderland is an awesome game in every way from the art to the gameplay EXCEPT for one BIG problem. Yes, you guessed it, it only gives you one free stage in story mode, one arcade mode and one character. 

Rating-4/5

5. Magical Shot

Magical shot was actually surprisingly good. I actually saw it many times in the Apple App Store but never got around to downloading it even though it's free, that is until today. The gist of it is you have to kill monsters to keep your power bar up so that you can keep flying.On a scale of 1 to 5, I'd give it a 4.

Part 3--> http://eatprayanime.blogspot.com/2014/12/fun-anime-style-gamespart.html

Fun anime-style games(Ipad/iPhone/iPod/Android)

The first problem I had after buying my Ipad was finding good, FREE anime style games. So it's been about a year and I've compiled a list of my favorites for all the otakus out there ;D. A few of these games aren't available for Android.

1. Juniper's Knot

It's a beautiful (and short) visual novel made Dischan that takes less than a day to finish. It's basically about a demon that is confined and can't get out and one day she gets visited by a boy and they talk about her life. The artwork is top notch and although the story is nothing to shout about, it's engaging enough to keep you interested enough to finish it. The best part is that it's TOTALLY AND UTTERLY FREE. Overall I'd give it a 3 stars upon 5.

2. Imaginary Range

Imaginary range is something like a hybrid between a comic, visual novel and a bunch of random mini games and I have to admit that I'm enjoying it very much. Like most Square Enix games, the art is pleasing to the eyes and the story grabs your attention immediately. Except unlike their other games, this one is completely free which is most probably why it grabbed my attention in the first place. The games inside the comic are stuff like guiding rockets to hit the monster, item searches, shooting lasers at floating eyeball, etc etc, you get what mean. I would probably recommend this game more for casual gamers than hardcore gamers. This game deserves at the very least a 4.5 stars.

3. THEATHRHYTHM FINAL FANTASY

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is free but it comes with only one Battle Music Stage(BMS) and one Field music(FMS), each with three difficulty levels, Basic, Expert and Ultimate. The other BMS and FMS have to be purchased and they are FREAKING EXPENSIVE!! A basic bundle for any one of the Final fantasy installations cost $2.99 and if you want to buy song by song, it cost $0.99 each! It's a fun game to play and the animation is cute so I think I'll play the those two songs till I get bored and delete it. My verdict for this game is 3.5 stars.

4. Tokusya

Tokusya is a simple arcade game where your aim is well... aim and shoot cans into a dustbin. HURRAY FOR RECYCLING! Okay lame jokes aside, this game is pretty fun and addictive despite it's appearance. The speed at which the cans fly at you increase as the game goes along and all you have to do is press the number shown above the can. Easy, simple and fun. Conclusion? 3 stars.

5. WallDong Master

WallDong is basically an arcade game where you get Kanon, a game addict to DONG the walls and shut her noisy neighbors. There's two modes, game mode and drum mode but drum mode is practically useless. Drum mode is where you play music or BGM from your iPad or iPhone and hit the walls however you like and wherever you like to match your music.  It a really fun game once you start playing it. All in all, I'd give it 4.5 stars.

Well thanks for reading my reviews and look forward to my next post. :D

Part 2--> http://eatprayanime.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-anime-style-games.html