Souin Gyokusai Seyo! (Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths)
Finally got a chance to read the original Japanese version. It’s crazy to imagine this tale of Japanese soldiers being ordered to execute a suicide attack during the end of World War II was based on Shigeru Mizuki’s real life experiences.
~dakazu
Magical Girl Apocalypse
As discussed on this episode, I finally got a chance to finish this. It’s a shame that once they introduced time travel the series jumped the shark and I really lost interest. Ending was kinda rote as well.
Can’t recommend this.
~dakazu
156 – Manga in Motion 21 – Brave Story
This week Seamus reads another volume of Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl, dakazu finishes Steve Jobs and Magical Girl Apocalypse, he questions the motivation of making an Amish girl the protagonist in Dare ga Kenja wo Koroshita ka?(Who Killed the Sage?), and we discuss if sharing stories of real people is exploitative in Uhyo! Tokyo-to Kita-ku Akabane! Then we talk about our main topic, Brave Story! We examine the novel it’s based on and compare it to the manga adaptation Brave Story: Shinsetsu!!!
Continue readingNaraku no Hitsuji
A manga about an asshole vlogger who exploits a homeless prostitute for viewership. Their relationship is twisted and dark and it leads to them being hunted down by criminals.
It’s not a good manga by any standards but it lead to a pretty interesting conversation on our podcast about the appeal of horrible stories.
~dakazu
Dorohedoro
I’ve been a fan of Q Hayashida since her manga adaptation of Maken X. She’s been writing Dorohedoro since 1999 and it’s finally going to be ending soon. We’ve discussed it on a podcast but her art style and creative design stand out.
~dakazu
My Hero Academia
I’m really happy that Kohei Horikoshi has found success in Weekly Shonen Jump. His previous two series, Ōmagadoki Dōbutsuen and Barrage, both ended early and his career at Jump was on the cutting block. Now, this hit is fighting the likes of One Piece for most popular manga in Jump. The anime by BONES has also been amazing.
~dakazu
155 – Saikyo Selections 7 – Cobra
This week Seamus checks out a new yuri manga After Hours, dakazu checks out both the manga and live-action drama of Otoko Meshi, darfox gives a questionable synopsis of the Rurouni Kenshin anime as we discuss it’s re-serialization in Jump SQ, and we do a quick update on new Chi no Wadachi and BEASTARS chapters. Then we take a look at Cobra for Saikyo Selections! We examine the originality of Buichi Terasawa ’s design, see the influence of James Bond and Total Recall in the story and characters, and discuss the pop culture significance the series had on future anime, manga, and media all around the world!
Continue readingSteve Jobs
Just finished the 6th and final volume of Mari Yamazaki’s manga adaptation of Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs. When I started reading it I was baffled on why this existed but I actually really enjoyed it. Yamazaki’s art style is so perfect.
~dakazu
Efu no Shichinin
New manga by Takayuki Yamaguchi , who’s famous for violent works like Apocalypse Zero and Shigurui. This one feels right at home with his other works and focuses on heavy violence and nudity. Takayuki Yamaguchi is kinda like the R-rated version of Baki the Grappler’s Keisuke Itagaki.
Also they both love muscles.
~dakazu
Joshi Kouhei
Jiro Matsumoto’s crazy-ass sci-fi story about giant high school girl humanoids that pilots ride inside to fight wars on an alien planet. As pilots increase their hours inside the Assault Girls they being losing their minds to corruption and start believing that they really are a high school girl.
It ended up leading to a very divisive argument on our podcast but behind all the gore and perverted stuff there really is a unique and interesting story. Personally, I’d love to finish it.
~dakazu