233 – Give My Regards to Black Jack part 1
On this episode we begin our retrospective review of Shuho Sato’s Give My Regards to Black Jack!
Continue reading233 – Give My Regards to Black Jack part 1
Author Archives: dakazu
Noah’s Notes
Noah’s Notes
A manga where an gun-toting Archaeologist teams up with a clueless high school girl to unravel the mystery that humanity is reliving history on a loop.
This is a series we talked about on an episode of Darfox Dabbles.
When you write out the synopsis this series actually sounds pretty cool. In reality we have another new series that(rightfully) failed in Weekly Shonen Jump.
While the artwork was decent, the characters were pretty weak and the story was way too complex. The main heroine is supposed to be an audience surrogate but she just comes off as a generic party girl who’s main purpose was to be in danger or show off cleavage and butt. The concept of the series could’ve been interesting but the execution was sloppy as pages were filled to the brim with needless expositional text.
I wasn’t impressed when it debuted and wasn’t surprised when it ended.
~dakazu
Under Ninja
Under Ninja
A manga about a modern world where ninjas are the most elite covert operators but are not utilized or known to the public.
This is one of Kengo Hanazawa’s followups to his popular I am a Hero series. I seriously question allowing Hanazawa to draw two manga simultaneously right now given his notoriety for being late with manuscripts and the awful copy/paste job he did in the end of I am a Hero(which we covered in our retrospective).
Since this series just started, it’s hard to tell where Hanazawa is going with the story. So far we follow a ninja who hasn’t even begun his vague mission and we know that the majority of the 200,000 ninja aren’t deployed because of something called ‘under ninja’.
Hanazawa is taking his sweet time with this series so I expect things won’t be clear for a while. Fortunately he did the same for I am a Hero so I expect he’ll have the luxury of being allowed to lead us on for a while. I’ll keep reading and waiting myself.
~dakazu
Rising Sun
Rising Sun
Finished this manga about a group of people who start their training to join the Japanese Self Defense Force. Although I thought their last training exercise dragged on for a bit, I really enjoyed this series.
Looks like they’ll be following the main character as he starts working as a ranger in the sequel series Rising Sun: Ranger & Rescue. Will definitely be checking that out in the future!
~dakazu
Shiiku Shoujo
Shiiku Shoujo
A manga about a high school girl who is curious about strange organisms and her science teacher who secretly observes her.
It’s hard to put my finger on this one. On one hand it seems like a manga that just focuses on introducing these minor creatures like barnacles and sea slugs. But then you have the science teacher keeping a research diary on the behaviors of the girl. A possible teacher/student romance is further suggested by when they introduce another high school girl who has a crush on the science teacher. I like learning all about the random creatures because creator Asako Nakagawa puts in lots of visual gags but I really could do without any creepy romantic relationships between the girl and her teacher.
~dakazu
STALKER JOKERS
STALKER JOKERS
A manga about a team who specializes in stopping stalkers.
This was a pretty interesting manga. Artist Hiroto Ooishi is know for his work on Dorei-ku: Boku to 23-nin no Dorei so his style works well with portraying darker human emotions.
The story follows a three man team with each member specializing in skills that help track and subdue the stalkers. That isn’t to say they’re saints or anything. The resolution of their case goes hand in hand with them taking a very big cut from both the victim and the stalker. This is a clearly a story about criminals who just happen to prey on stalkers and I’m glad they don’t shy away from that ugly fact.
A dark crime drama that focuses on obsession. It’s keeping me entertained for now.
~dakazu
232 – Triple Dip 34 – Crocodile Baron, Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler -, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
232 – Triple Dip 34 – Crocodile Baron, Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler -, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba
This week Seamus is back to check out Crocodile Baron, Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler-, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba for a Triple Dip!
Continue readingKami-sama no Iu Toori
Kami-sama no Iu Toori
A manga where people are suddenly forced to play games of life or death with bizarre creatures in a battle to become the new god of the world.
A staple of the death game survival genre that became super popular in the 2000′s. These manga are all about pitting humans in horrible games similar to the SAW horror movies. It’s a gruesome genre where 90% of all characters die.
This title ran in Bessatsu Shonen magazine and was so popular that after it’s 5 volume run, they started a sequel series in Weekly Shonen Magazine that became a powerhouse. This original series is still pretty good and many of the characters here appear again in the sequel series.
Unfortunately this prequel is not officially licensed but you can read all of As the Gods Will: The Second Series available from Kodansha comics.
~dakazu
Sachi no Otera Gohan
Sachi no Otera Gohan
A manga about a 27 year old office lady named Sachi who regains her love of food after befriending a group of men who work at a Buddhist temple.
This is a cute series! I liked how it introduced Buddhist cuisine as something you can make at home and enjoy. The story is pretty simple with Sachi being the audience surrogate for someone learning about all the different recipes.
Another solid food manga!
~dakazu
Shin Tennis no Ouji-sama
Shin Tennis no Ouji-sama
The sequel to The Prince of Tennis where an all-star group of the Japanese middle school tennis players are brought to an Under-17 training camp to prepare for the U-17 World Tennis Cup.
As a long-time The Prince of Tennis fan I have to say this very clearly.
This is not worth reading.
I think Takeshi Konomi has either gone off the deep-end or spent too much time listening to his own song; this sequel series takes everything over-the-top about The Prince of Tennis and multiplies them 10-fold.
Endless 2-page spreads of various characters posing instead of playing tennis? CHECK
A slew of new characters who never look like their actually under 17? CHECK & CHECK
Every character using special moves that defy physics while literally going super-saiyan? CHECK & MATE
Shit is ridiculous and not in a good way. It’s kinda sad to see the series downfall.
Go read the original and pretend this doesn’t exist.
~dakazu