293 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 2
This week Darfox is finally ready to read Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI while Seamus and dakazu discuss the unpredictable changes in To Your Eternity! Then we continue our Retrospetive review of Yoshihiro Togashi’s Yu Yu Hakusho as Yusuke and the gang fully transition into shonen battle manga antics!!!
Continue readingBasara
A post-apocalyptic fantasy where a young woman assumes the identity of her brother to lead a rebellion against a ruthless Empire.
This was a series a classmate from Japanese school lent me. The fantastical setting and gripping story completely sucked me in. Little did I know I was reading one of my first shojo manga. It should’ve been obvious considering the heroine falls in love with the enemy king but neither of them know each other’s true identity. Also almost every character is a pretty boy bishonen and there is even a BL guardian figure. Not that any of this matters because Yumi Tamura‘s art work is equally lovely and dynamic. The only thing I’ll say is that it’s an older series from the 90s so you have to deal with some offensive stereotypes here and there. Otherwise an excellent series that can help bridge male readers to some quality shojo manga.
Available from VIZ.
~dakazu
Ashita no Joe
A manga that follows a young teenager, Joe Yabuki, who gets sent to juvenile prison where he begins his journey training to become a boxer.
Easily considered one of the greatest manga ever made. I remember my first time reading through the series and being genuinely surprised how good it was. Asaki Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba masterfully take Joe through his naive teenage years into bitter adulthood and even eventually into an almost self destructive anti-hero. I think it’s a damn shame there hasn’t been a Western release of this masterpiece yet.
~dakazu
Claymore
A manga about half demon female warriors who wield Claymore swords with superhuman strength to hunt down evil demons.
Both Darfox8 and I are huge fans of this series. Norihiro Yagi‘s monster designs are really elegant and his fight scenes are excellent. My only complaint about the series is that all the Claymore warriors have emotionless expressions and similar faces so it’s almost impossible to tell them apart aside from their hairstyle.
An exciting shonen battle manga. It’s available from VIZ and I recommend it.
~dakazu
Devil Ecstasy
A manga about the brothel Devil Ecstasy that’s run by succubi who consume the life essence of men and kill them.
We’ve talked about this manga on an old episode.
This book is not good. It’s probably one of the worst things Shuzo Oshimi has ever done. It makes light of the main character’s experience as a child being molested. It’s filled with pretty excessive sexual content. This was also the first manga we read for Manga Machinations that Darfox and Seamus absolutely hated.
However I still find some enjoyment in the innocent romance of a loser guy and a flat chested succubus. The ridiculous fear of giant breasts is entertaining enough and I really enjoy the impotent side character Kageo.
It’s only worth reading to see how far Shuzo Oshimi has come as a manga artist but still a guilty pleasure pick for me.
~dakazu
Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san
A manga about the high schooler Masaru Hananakajima, who starts a school club for the mysterious martial art known as Sexy Commando!
This manga is probably within my personal top-3 comedy series. Kyosuke Usuta electric debut in Weekly Shonen Jump shocked readers for it’s absolutely wacky absurdist humor. Sexy Commando was all about distracting your opponent and that would usually involve unzipping your fly and pulling something out. It’s pure comedy.
It’s similar to Pop Team Epic but before the era of memes so it was mostly just strange inside jokes for Usuta himself. Although the series was ultimately canceled Usuta became known for as a titan of comedy and his Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar was serialized for 10 years.
It’s equally ridiculous and hilarious. I loved the anime as well.
~dakazu
Space Brothers
A manga about an older brother pursing his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut by following in his younger brother’s footsteps.
We did a Saikyo Selections on this recently.
Space Brothers is a feel good family friendly series. Watching our main character, Mutta, stumble through his astronaut selection process is extremely hilarious. Chuya Koyama has spot-on comedic timing that accentuates the heartfelt dramatic moments. My only reservations for recommending this manga is that it’s long running and still not finished.
Available from Kodansha and also has a great anime adaptation.
~dakazu
292 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 1
The time is finally here! We’ve been waiting over four years to start a Retrospective on Yu Yu Hakusho! Join us as we examine the first three volumes of Yoshihiro Togashi’s beloved series about the delinquent Yusuke Urameshi, who goes from ghost to spirit detective! Morgana and Darfox have lots of love for the anime but dakazu has issues with the loose English translations! We also answer emails and Seamus rereads Vinland Saga!!!
Continue readingMagi: The Labyrinth of Magic
A manga about a boy with a genie named Aladdin who teams up with Ali Baba the thief to explore mysterious dungeons in search of treasure.
I liked Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic while it was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday but the battle scenes became kinda excessive toward the finale. Also Shinobu Ohtaka perfected her technique of drawing really creepy expressions throughout the series and she really leaned into those towards the ending a bit too much for my tastes. Still, it’s an beautifully drawn shonen battle manga set in the the world of the Arabian Nights and worth reading if that interests you.
Available in English from VIZ along with a good anime adaptation.
~dakazu
Kashikoi Ken Rilienthal
A manga about a brother and sister who’s new family member is the talking super dog Rilienthal!
This was Daisuke Ashihara‘s series before he did World Trigger. While World Trigger has far better wide appeal, I was a big fan of this wacky sci-fi/slice-of-life story.
The biggest appeal of Kashikoi Ken Rilienthal is the how wholesome everything is. When Rilienthal and his friends get lost on a ghost ship they fix the problem while befriending a lonely ghost. When a friend’s jealous feelings manifest itself as a huge monster they resolve the problem by talking it out. Even many agents of the secret organization that want to kidnap Rilienthal show lots of heart and compassion. This really is an iyashikei shonen series. Unfortunately it never found enough popularity in Weekly Shonen Jump and was ultimately canceled but I still look back fondly at this cute manga. It was nice to reread it on Jump+.
~dakazu