Author Archives: dakazu

Hunter x Hunter

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Hunter x Hunter

A manga about a young boy who decides to become a professional hunter to locate his hunter father. He’s joined by his friends Leorio, Kurapika, and Killua as he begins his journey to pass the hunter exam.

Yoshihiro Togashi current series and mega-hit manga since Yu Yu Hakusho. I’ve been thinking about this series again since we just wrapped up our Retrospective on Yu Yu Hakusho. In many ways Hunter x Hunter is the amalgamation of everything Togashi wants to accomplish creatively. He continually creates new characters, story arcs, and various games with completely designed mechanics throughout this book. While I enjoy much of his creativity, at times it seems like the ideas really needed to be streamlined and edited down because the pages can end up being cluttered by the abundance of exposition and explanations.

This manga is currently on infinite hiatus as Togashi battles against health issues. While I understand the fans want to read more, I think it’s more important that Togashi is allowed to create this series at his own pace. The horror stories of his struggles during the serialization of Yu Yu Hakusho are not something I would wish on any creator. I sincerely hope fans of Hunter x Hunter will join me and wait patiently for its return.

BTW it’s ‘hunter hunter’. The x is silent.

Available in English from VIZ.

~dakazu

East, Into The Night

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East, Into The Night

A manga about a mysterious man who’s joined by a young huntress as they traverse their pitch black surroundings in search of the legendary ‘morning’.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

A decent adventure series. I was serialized on Jump+ and it was notable for being done in full color. Lots of good coloring and lighting of the backgrounds that worked hand in hand with the story about a world without daylight. Unfortunately it was canceled after only 12 chapters due to poor sales of the first volume. I think it’s really sad that the creator ANGYAMAN had to publicly say he felt awful that his editors were being badmouthed for his inability to make sales. But if volumes sales decide the cancellation of a series, this one was doomed to start because it was only being sold digitally due to the coloring.

You can read this manga on MANGA Plus for now but I’m not sure how long it will be available.

~dakazu

A Bride’s Story

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A Bride’s Story

A historical manga that follows a young woman and her new younger husband in late 19th century Central Asia.

I recently revisited this series after one of our Discord users talked about it. Kaoru Mori‘s art work is absolutely stunning. Her visual recreation of Central Asian culture through the clothes and oriental tapestries is absolutely gorgeous. Although the main romance between Amir and Karluk invokes some ‘older woman/young man’ or shota qualities, their relationship was common for the time and is historically accurate. Also while Mori is interested in developing their relationship, she doesn’t seem interested in showing saucy intimacy, which I appreciate.

This is an absolute wonderful manga and I fully recommend it. Available in English from Yen Press.

~dakazu

Kyoryū Senki

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Kyoryū Senki

A manga about a young man who swears revenge against the legendary dragon, Yamata no Orochi, that has resurrected and is wreaking havoc across Japan.

I was really surprised to see that Shingo Honda started this series in Weekly Shonen Magazine. His Hakaijuu series was a decent hit but it was more like a big fish in a small pond. This manga struggled against more popular series and ended up being canceled after 3 volumes. I just think Honda’s brand of horror and monsters isn’t suited for popular platforms.

~dakazu

301 – New Chapter Check-in 4 – Chainsaw Man

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301 – New Chapter Check-in 4 – Chainsaw Man

Morgana and Seamus take a break this week so Darfox and dakazu can talk about the newest story arcs of their favorite popular manga! In this episode they gush over the brilliance of Chainsaw Man, comment on the endings of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and The Promised Neverland, and give their impressions on newer series like Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Time Paradox Ghostwriter, and Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin!!!

Continue reading →

Heavenly Delusion

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Heavenly Delusion

A manga about a post-apocalyptic world where two youngsters travel across Tokyo in search of a safe haven called ‘Heaven’. Elsewhere inside a facility children are being raised with no knowledge of the outside world.

This is a really great sci-fi series. Masakazu Ishiguro does a great job telling this dual narrative of survival and confinement. The survival story is filled with typical post-apocalyptic troupes like dangerous adults but Ishiguro adds some unique monster designs to the mix. With the confined children, it’s a mystery to find out why their adult guardians are raising them inside this facility. It’s all drawn well and fun to read.

Available in English from Denpa.

~dakazu

Ashigei Shoujo Komura-san

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Ashigei Shoujo Komura-san

A manga about the new transfer student Komura who is a foot focused acrobat. When her classmate Tsukinaga accidentally ends up with her foot in his mouth, she proposes to him because it’s her family’s tradition to marry the person who kisses their feet.

This is a foot fetish ecchi series…

…and that’s really all there is to say about it.

~dakazu

Psyren

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Psyren

A manga where humans who use a mysterious phone card are chosen by psychic Nemisis Q and sent to a post-apocalyptic world of Psyren where they must fight with psychic powers to survive.

Revisiting this series recently. I really enjoyed this manga while it was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Toshiaki Iwashiro‘s previous work Mieru Hito never caught on and ended prematurely so I was glad Psyren was much better received. Still, it struggled to gain popularity as it was being pitted against titans like One Piece and Naruto. If it ever got an anime adaptation it might’ve been a bigger hit but that never happened. And that’s strange considering a battle manga with a solid premise wouldn’t be adapted to an anime.

Rereading this I now see how Psyren seems to be a combination of a lot of other series. Having human participants teleported and being forced to fight monsters is very similar to GANTZ. Extreme sadistic villains and allies are also very similar to Bleach. I still find this series to good but besides Iwashiro’s ability to draw creepy antagonists, nothing stands out as exceptional.

~dakazu

Meiko no Asobiba

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Meiko no Asobiba

A manga about a creepy girl with her strange left eye that trap targets in her mind. There, she murders them using children’s games.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

I’m a fan of Sakumo Okada‘s work. I enjoyed both Mazarian and Oni Shine. This book is my favorite of his titles. I really enjoyed the setting of 1970’s Japan and all the different games the children of that era played. Unfortunately like his other series, this one has already ended quickly. I really hope Okada will someday find a series that brings him continuing success because I’d love to read it and I don’t want him to disappear from the manga industry.

~dakazu

Muteki no Hito

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Muteki no Hito

A manga about an undefeated online mahjong player known as ‘M’ who reveals his identity playing in live broadcasted games to prove he isn’t cheating to win.

I’m pretty surprised this series was ever started in Weekly Shonen Magazine. Trying to do a mahjong manga in a shonen magazine is already a challenge and Shinobu Kaitani made this manga super technical and wordy. It honestly reads like a seinen series, which isn’t surprising since Kaitani’s most famous works like Liar Game are targeted at adults. I haven’t seen a mahjong manga succeed in a shonen magazine since Legendary Gambler Tetsuya. It’s no surprise that this book ended in 4 volumes.

I will say that I like this series and I think Kaitani did a good job making an engaging story once we got past the complex introduction. When you make ‘M’ a victim of a traffic accident that gives him perfect memory while removing his emotions, you can tell his character arc will be winning matches that will end with him gaining back his humanity. The story is further complicated by a poor teenager who discovers ‘M’, tries to take advantage of him for profit, and eventually becomes his friend and ally in proving he isn’t a cheater to the public and the online mahjong company.

I personally liked this series but I can see why it didn’t resonate with most of the shonen audience.

~dakazu