321 – Guest Gaiden 8 – Pop Life & Look Into My Eyes with Matt Haasch of Star Fruit Books
This week we’re joined by the owner of Star Fruit Books, Matt Haasch! Matt talks about what prompted him to start his publishing company and what he hopes to accomplish in the future! Then we discuss two series from Star Fruit Books: Q-ta Minami’s Pop Life and Look Into My Eyes by Yoko Miyako!!!
Continue readingBOZEBEATS
A manga about a wolf raised human who is recruited to join religious monks who incorporate modern weaponry to battle demons threats.
We’ve discussed this on an older episode.
I feel bad for BOZEBEATS because Ryoji Hirano is such an incredible artist. His action scenes are flashy and exciting and the weapons the boze use are highly detailed. Unfortunately this series suffers with it’s overly complex main character. Making him a wolf child is just going too far. The one shot version of this manga focused on the adult monk who recruits the wolf boy and honestly they should have just kept him as the protagonist. I wonder if Hirano and his editor changed the main character to appeal to Weekly Shonen Jump readers but ultimately that back fired and this was yet another series that got canceled quickly.
~dakazu
Ziga
A manga about a young man who’s nightmares come to life when a giant monster destroys his city.
We’ve discussed this on an older episode.
I think there’s a fundamental problem with your story if your twist is obvious to the reader. Writer Rokurou Sano tries to setup this big reveal a few chapters down the line but it made the preamble was just a waste of time. Kentarou Hidano is a fine artist but nothing in Ziga really stood out and impressed me. I think the readers of Weekly Shonen Jump agreed as this one was canceled really fast.
~dakazu
Invade You!
A comedy manga about an alien trying to hide his secret identify from his inquisitive classmate.
We’ve discussed this on an older episode.
There isn’t too much to say about this series. It was decently drawn and decently funny and therefor it didn’t do well in Weekly Shonen Jump and was canceled. Kazusa Inaoka is currently doing a short serialization called Bunkiten limited for the digital version of Jump. I hope he finds success in that.
~dakazu
I’m From Japan
A comedy manga about high schooler Japan Hinomoto, who is a master of the Todofu-ken: the Metro-territorial Pre-fist-ure Style.
I really am baffled why this manga debuted under the VIZ Jump Start initiative. My guess is that it was pushed by Shueisha since it had an anime adaptation they were promoting at the time. But by all accounts, I’m From Japan is probably one of the least suitable choices for an English adaptation. The jokes are so tightly tied specifically to the 47 different prefectures in Japan, translating them to make any sense must have been a herculean task. My heart goes out to the translator.
Personally, a lot of the cultural jokes flew over my head so I didn’t care much for this. It lasted almost a year in Weekly Shonen Jump but again, I think that’s due to the anime tie-in they had. This is an extremely Japanese-centric comedy by Seiji Hayashi so I don’t really recommend it for foreign readers.
~dakazu
Yui Kamio Lets Loose
A manga about honor student Yui Kamino who unleashes a violent second personality whenever her hair gets loose.
This manga is by Hiroshi Shiibashi who previously ran a successful serialization of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan in Weekly Shonen Jump. His return to Jump was not nearly as successful as this was canceled after 36 chapters. I thought Yui Kamio Lets Loose didn’t play to Shiibashi’s strengths of drawing evocative action scenes. Yui would get into some battles but since this series was trying to be more of a comedy, they never played out.
This series is available from VIZ but I recommend you read Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan instead.
~dakazu
Double Taisei
A manga about a genius shogi player Tai with a split personality that changes into carefree Sei during night. When Tai suddenly disappears during during a shogi tournament, it’s up to Sei to win for both of them.
We’ve discussed this on an older podcast.
While I thought the dual protagonist bit was not great, I knew this manga was destined to fail. Shogi manga just do not do well in Weekly Shonen Jump. Whether it be Momiji no Kisetsu or Mononofu, shogi manga just do not do well in Shonen Jump. Ryu to Ichigo is serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday so I’m pretty sure it will survive. However I think anyone including Kentaro Fukuda should think twice before trying shogi manga in Jump again.
~dakazu
320 – Triple Dip 45 – Everyone’s Getting Married, The Prince in His Dark Days, Complex Age
We are back with a new Triple Dip! This time we focus on Josei series including Everyone’s Getting Married, The Prince in His Dark Days, and Complex Age. We also visit some of our favorites like WOMBS Cradle during our Whatchu Been Reading segment!!!
Continue readingBeast Children
A manga about a young rugby player who competes against the son of the late rugby player who inspired him to start playing.
We’ve discussed this on an older episode.
The rugby world cup was held in 2019 in Japan. While Japan became crazy about rugby numerous manga popped up to try and cash in on the zeitgeist. Beast Children is one of them. It’s a pretty mediocre series that should’ve been cancelled quickly but Weekly Shonen Jump let it stick around for a bit. I kinda feel like this along with Tokyo Shinobi Squad and Double Taisei all got to survive while Japan got swept up in rugby fever. You can read this series by Kento Terasaka on Manga Plus.
~dakazu
Tokyo Shinobi Squad
A manga about an elite shinobi squad that tackles jobs in the crime-ridden city of Tokyo in the year 2049.
We’ve discussed this show on an older episode.
This manga debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump and actually survived for almost twice the amount of chapters of Bone Collection. A surprise considering the strange premise of super globalization turning Tokyo into a horrible future city. Not sure what writer Yuki Tanaka was going for with the setting but their choice of focusing on shinobi is ballsy considering Naruto still holds a stronghold over ninja content. I wasn’t particularly impressed with Kento Matsuura‘s art here either. Matsuura is currently drawing Phantom Seer which is much more visual impressive, though I have my doubts about it lasting any longer than Tokyo Shinobi Squad did. You can read this over on Manga Plus while it’s still up.
~dakazu