We apologize in advance that due to scheduling issues with darfox we have canceled our original plans of reviewing A Silent Voice movie this week. Instead, Seamus will be giving his impressions on current running manga in Shonen Jump!!
This week our regular host dakazu is gone so Darfox8 and Seamus are left to fend on their own. This doesn’t stop them from talking about manga, specifically 20th Century Boys for our Main Segment Saikyo Selections!
This week we reintroduce ourselves and answer emails, Seamus is excited for the upcoming official release of Shojo Fight, we look at the newest chapter of BEASTARS, and dakazu appreciates Fruits Takuhaibin for it’s mature themes without resorting to titillation. Then, for Manga in Motion, we review Robot Carnival! We praise the wonderful animation and music while examining the future careers of it’s many directors!!!
On this episode we can’t stop praising new Chi no Wadachi and BEASTARS chapters, we discuss pre-orders helping official manga releases, Seamus finds Queen’s Quality too melodramatic, dakazu dislikes Jaden Smith’s Netflix anime Neo Yokio, and he finally gets to read Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths. Then we start our new segment, Creator Cross Section, where we examine several works by one manga artist and look for common themes! Our first creator is Rumiko Takahashi and we look at Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Mermaid Forest, Ranma ½, and Inuyasha!!!
This week Seamus reads another volume of Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl, dakazu finishes Steve Jobs and Magical Girl Apocalypse, he questions the motivation of making an Amish girl the protagonist in Dare ga Kenja wo Koroshita ka?(Who Killed the Sage?), and we discuss if sharing stories of real people is exploitative in Uhyo! Tokyo-to Kita-ku Akabane! Then we talk about our main topic, Brave Story! We examine the novel it’s based on and compare it to the manga adaptation Brave Story: Shinsetsu!!!
This week Seamus checks out a new yuri manga After Hours, dakazu checks out both the manga and live-action drama of Otoko Meshi, darfox gives a questionable synopsis of the Rurouni Kenshin anime as we discuss it’s re-serialization in Jump SQ, and we do a quick update on new Chi no Wadachi and BEASTARS chapters. Then we take a look at Cobra for Saikyo Selections! We examine the originality of Buichi Terasawa ’s design, see the influence of James Bond and Total Recall in the story and characters, and discuss the pop culture significance the series had on future anime, manga, and media all around the world!
On this episode our buddy Miki’s Stopwatch stops by to join us in discussing this season’s hot(mostly not) anime and older stuff as well: Welcome to the Ballroom, Magical Circle(Mahoujin Guru Guru), Made in Abyss, Restaurant to Another World(Isekai Shokudou), Haibane Renmei, Ashita no Joe, Snow White with the Red Hair(Akagami no Shirayuki-hime), Love and Lies(Koi to Uso), Gamers!, Kakeguri: Compulsive Gambler, My First Girlfriend is a Gal(Hajimete no Gal), Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun(Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun), and RIN-NE(Kyokai no Rinne)! Also, Miki praises BEASTARS & The Ancient Magus’ Bride, we talk about the money behind anime streaming services, we talk about finding a theater that will show obscure anime movies, we talk about the New York Review of Books reviewing Ichi-F, darfox notices a change in Shuzo Oshimi’s art style, dakazu loves a tale of imaginary girl training victims in Chuni no Danshi to Dairokkan, and we debate the appeal of dark, weird, interesting manga like Naraku no Hitsuji!!!
This week dakazu’s been reading a lot! He’s amazed that Mizuki Shigeru was writing Watashi no Hibi when he was 91, checks out a decent rugby manga called Full Drum, sick of edgelord gore manga like Pygmalion, and finds a similar loser protagonist in Boys on the Run. Also, Seamus checks out volume 2 of Girl’s Last Tour, we check in with our weekly BEASTARS update, and dakazu has been deceived by the false advertising of GAMERS. Then we examine Netflix’s version of Death Note! We recap the original source material and weigh in on whether this movie is a good adaptation or not!