Author Archives: dakazu

Kumauchi no Onna

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Kumauchi no Onna

A manga about a female hunter who is obsessed with shooting brown bears.

This is a pretty interesting manga. Compared to other manga about hunting like Sanzoku Diary, this one has a strong fictional story revolving around the main character Chiaki Kosaka. She’s a hunter who agrees to be accompanied by a young writer looking for an interesting story. As the writer follows Chiaki around, it becomes clearer and clearer that her obsession with hunting down bears is dangerous. Yabuta Ajima does a great job telling this story. I think their art work is a little rough but that’s a minor note considering how engaging the story is. I will say there are some very graphic scenes of violence as this manga doesn’t shy away from the dangers of a bear attack.

It’s currently serialized on Kurage Bunch but not available in English yet.

~dakazu

300 – Guest Gaiden 6 – Manga Lettering & Sweat and Soap with Sara Linsley

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300 – Guest Gaiden 6 – Manga Lettering & Sweat and Soap with Sara Linsley

We’ve reached another milestone on Manga Machinations with 300 episodes! To celebrate, we’re joined by the wonderful manga letterer Sara Linsley! She’s here to answers our questions about her job, tell us how she utilizes her background in software development for lettering, explain the differences between lettering manga and lettering Western comics, and give context for her lettering choices in Kintetsu Yamada’s Sweat and Soap!!!

Go follow Sara Linsley and check out her website!

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Yuusha ga Shinda!

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Yuusha ga Shinda!

A manga about a villager who is accidentally kills the legendary hero that falls into his spike trap. He’s then forced by a necromancer to possess the hero’s rotting corpse and save the world from a demon invasion.

This was a decent comedy. I felt like a lot of the story here was filled with standard troupes. The villager is a pervert who’s obsessed with thick thighs in knee high socks. There’s a childhood friend who was in love with the hero and accompanies the villager on his journey. The necromancer is actually a demon but she’s a cute lolita character. A handsome teammate of the hero is actually a jealous villain in disguise. The list goes on and on. Creator Subaruichi is a decent artist but I don’t know if I’ll keep reading this because nothing in this manga is really holding my interest.

~dakazu

INVESTOR-Z

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INVESTOR-Z

A manga about Dojuku Academy where the top student of each grade level are inducted into a secret investor club that is in charge of funding the school. The newest member, Takashi Zaizen, dives into the world of investing to learn about the importance of money.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

Oh, boy. Where to start.

I’ve read a few of Norifusa Mita‘s different manga like Archimedes no Taisen and enjoyed them. Mita is not a great artist but he’s decent at storytelling so his creativity has garnered fandom. Unfortunately INVESTOR-Z is really hampered with an really awful premise of investing, and therefore money. This series puts a strong emphasis on the importance of money, for usually the worst reasons. While it does a good job explaining things like venture capitals and real estate, Mita doesn’t put any emphasis on how these capitalist systems are exploiting others or why this is bad. The ultimate message of the series is “Love Money” and I could write a whole essay on why that message is problematic.

The fact that early on they say “Money was invented and people began to trust each other!” should say everything about this. I recommend you try reading something else by Mita.

Available from in English from Cork.

~dakazu

After School Dice Club

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After School Dice Club

A manga about three girls who bond over board games and establish a board game club at their high school.

A very cute slice of life series. I checked out the recent anime before diving into the manga. I ended up enjoying it more for introducing various board games than the story of the girls and their friendship. Especially since later on the story follows a romance between a high school freshman and a much older man.

If you’re a fan of board games I highly recommend watching the anime as the manga hasn’t been licensed officially yet.

~dakazu

Haruwaka

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Haruwaka

A manga about twin sisters, Haru and Waka, who both end up dating the same guy, Ono, who uses them as inspiration for his hentai manga stories.

This is Mengo Yokoyari‘s debut series. It’s filled to the brim with cliche dirty jokes and fan service. Definitely not as good as Scum’s Wish but I can respect her for saying she drew what she wanted to with this one. I didn’t really like this but it was interesting to see how Yokoyari started her manga career.

~dakazu

The Full-Time Wife Escapist

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The Full-Time Wife Escapist

A manga about a woman who enters into a common-law marriage with a man to make a job out of being a house wife.

Finally finished this wonderful josei series! I really enjoyed it but was bummed that Tsunami Umino broke up my favorite couple by the end. I hope Kodansha Comics will bring over the final 2 volumes for English release soon!

~dakazu

The Fable

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The Fable

A manga about a legendary hitman known as ‘The Fable’ who is ordered by his boss to live quietly as a normal person for one year.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

Love this series. Katsuhisa Minami has a very particular art style that mixes realistic body proportions with expressive faces. It works perfectly as we follow this elite killer awkwardly assumes the role of an average joe. It’s hilarious to see him interact with his boss and coworkers at his part-time job while finding joy watching the third-rate comedian Jackal. Minami does a great job transitioning seamlessly into action scenes and some serious drama. It allows our assassin to use his ridiculously overpowered skills to protect people around him without them even noticing.

This series ended part 1 in 2019 and part 2 is set to start later this year. I’ll definitely be checking that out.

~dakazu

299 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 6

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299 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 6

On this episode Seamus finishes rereading Vinland Saga, Morgana enjoys BL Metamorphosis, and dakazu loves creepy girls with mind powers in Meiko no Asobiba! And we’ve finally arrived at the end of our Yu Yu Hakusho Retrospective! We discuss why Yoshihiro Togashi’s ended the series, compare the manga ending to the anime ending, and share our final thoughts about the eternal bromance of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei!!!

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Yukionna to Kani wo Kuu

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Yukionna to Kani wo Kuu

A manga about a man who decides not to commit suicide until he eats crab in Hokkaido is joined and aided by the woman he sexually assaulted.

Premise of this manga is absolute garbage. Perhaps Gino0808 wanted to create intrigue with a mysterious woman but when she agrees to sexual assault and then serves her rapist coffee afterwords you’re only going to get eye rolls from me. I’ll spare you the details but as the two travel to Hokkaido the man becomes afraid of dying when it becomes clear that the woman is determined to die herself. They try to add a sympathetic back story to the man on why he wants to die and how it’s connected with his past job but it just came off as justifying why he raped a woman to me. Hard pass.

~dakazu