Category Archives: dakazu’s reading

Various manga dakazu’s read with some commentary

Fire Force

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Fire Force

A manga about a world destroyed by a great disaster and the survivors live in fear of spontaneous human combustion that transform them into flaming demons known as Infernals. The story follows Shinra Kusakabe, a new recruit of the Fire Force: fire fighters who specialized in pyrokinesis to battle and extinguish Infernals.

I’ve never read Atsushi Ohkubo‘s previous hit series Soul Eater so I didn’t have any expectation for this series when it started in Weekly Shonen Magazine. I was really surprised how great Ohkubo’s art was, especially his stylish action scenes. The world of Fire Force is also super engaging with lots of mysteries about the great disaster that decimated the lands. It’s got great characters with lots of personality.

However the character Tamaki is extremely problematic. Her character quirk is that her clothes keep falling off, making her a walking epitome of “lucky fanservice”. While she has her own agency and strong pyrokinesis powers, every appearance is accompanied with nudity. I find it extremely off putting that female characters in shonen are usually reduced to these kinds of representations. We’ve talked about this on the podcast as well but whether it’s for popularity sake or it’s mandated by the editors, many shonen action series seem to be stuck in an endless cycle of including fan service characters and I honestly wish it would stop.

I enjoy Fire Force a lot but it also really reinforced my issues with shonen manga in general. It’s available from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

Aozakura Bouei Daigakkou Monogatari

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Aozakura Bouei Daigakkou Monogatari

A manga about a young man from a poor family that decides to attend the National Defense Academy of Japan to save money. There he learns discipline and duty as he begins his journey to becoming a commanding officer.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

This is one of the few manga I read regularly in Weekly Shonen Sunday. I like the comradely the protagonist gains with his fellow students as they train under the watchful eye of their seniors. It’s also an interesting look into the daily life at the National Defense Academy, which actually exists in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. It seems very similar to the United States Military Academy West Point. While might seem like this propagandized entertainment but I think Hikaru Nikaidou does a good job of balancing the brutal schedule the students face with the merits of strict training.

~dakazu

Mieruko-chan

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Mieruko-chan

A manga about a high school girl Miko who tries her best at ignoring the horrific spirits she can see around her.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

I’m surprised with this book because it’s rare to find a good horror manga that works. The ghastly ghosts Tomoki Izumi draws are legitimately frightening and poor Miku can only try to pretend she can’t see them while freaking out inside her head. It leads to some tense horror as you wait for them to move on and she can cry safely at their passing. The series mixes these scares with comedy as Miku’s best friend Hana constantly keeps inviting ghosts around her and Miku has to improvise around them for her safety. There’s even a touching moment that involves Miku’s family members. All in all this is a really good horror series.

~dakazu

Romantic Killer

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Romantic Killer

A romantic comedy about a video game and sweets loving high school girl with zero interest in romance who is suddenly forced by a magical being into a shoujo manga-like program full of handsome suitors pursuing her. The only catch is she’s banned from her favorite video games, sweets and beloved cat until she completes the program.

I wasn’t really into this series when it started in Jump+. It has a vertical scroll layout which it doesn’t really take advantage of it and it ended up leading to a lot of unused white backgrounds. It’s also in color which is nice but that accentuated the sparse backgrounds further. I did really like how the main character absolutely refuses to go along with her magical creature’s romantic angles for two handsome guys who suddenly enter her life. I think Wataru Momose has a real good handling on the comedy bits of this series but not anything that takes advantage of the vertical layouts. And to be fair, The Vertical World is the only web manga I’ve read that uses the vertical layouts effectively.

As I kept reading Romantic Killer I eventually really started liking the story, mainly because I liked how the protagonist would go out of her way to protect people she cared about. It’s usually a characteristic you see with male protagonists in shonen manga but it really works for our female lead. I was bummed when this ended suddenly but I assume volumes sales were poor so they axed it. It feels like a lot of these web manga are destined to end early if they’re survival is based on sales. A real shame for titles like this enjoyable romantic comedy.

~dakazu

Rojiura Bunch

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Rojiura Bunch

A manga about a runaway rich girl who befriends an old homeless man with a dark past.

I quite liked this series so I was pretty disappointed when it ended after 19 chapters. There’s a really charming aspect to this tale of a former special forces assassin who becomes the obsession of a young rich girl who just wants to be his friend. This leads to kidnappers targeting the rich girl and the old man saving her, which in turn leads to his former allies and enemies tracking him down. The old man just wants to live quietly in peace but when he’s not fighting he’s still surrounded by a colorful group of homeless characters.

Every part of this manga works great. The action is well drawn, the comedy is good, and the mystery behind the old man’s origins are engaging. When Spy x Family started I was immediately reminded of this series. So again, it’s such a shame that this series was canceled and Kabata Matsumoto hasn’t had a serialized manga since then. This ran on Jump+ and is still there to read.

~dakazu

Papa to Oyaji no Uchi Nomi

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Papa to Oyaji no Uchi Nomi

A spinoff series to Papa to Oyaji no Uchi Gohan that focuses on food that goes well with alcohol.

Papa to Oyaji no Uchi Gohan is an absolutely heartwarming manga that I love and I’m glad Yuu Toyota decided to make this side story focusing on adult dishes for the two single fathers to enjoy as they knock back a few cold ones. I plan on making some of these later for myself!

~dakazu

Houkago Wizard Club

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Houkago Wizard Club

A manga about three friends who enter the same fantasy world of Haikakin in their dreams.

This was a short lived fantasy action manga that ran in Weekly Shonen Champion. Looking back now you can see that it’s a mess of ideas thrown together with no payoff. Author Kyousuke Kagami introduces a lot of unexplained mechanics to the dream world of Haikakin, presumably to reveal them at a later date. The problem was that the series was canceled before he could do so, and probably partially because they didn’t explain a lot of things. The manga even starts off with 2 year flash forward with the main character trying to save someone from unleashing a huge magical explosion in the real world but we never got to learn anything about that situation because this series was cancelled. I feel bad for artist Yoshihiko Watanabe because this was yet another series like Versus Earth that ended prematurely for them.

Also there’s a scene where bandits pounce and all but rape a girl who loses in a fight against the main characters. It’s supposed to establish the cruelty of this world the protagonists are participating in but it just comes off as gross titillation. This happens after the teacher character warns the reader that she’s part of group of killers who are the worst, as if that’s supposed to justify what happens. It’s all very off putting to read and I don’t recommend this series.

~dakazu

Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha

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Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha

A manga about the newly resurrected demon lord who wants a rematch against the legendary hero but finds him in a sorry state and living out of a one room apartment.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

This manga is a real mixed bag for me. While the premise of a hero who becomes a deadbeat after saving the world isn’t new, I really enjoyed the odd couple pairing with the demon lord who’s quick resurrection has made them looking like a cute child. Creator Toufu presents some really interesting narratives about how the hero had a falling out with his former party members. Apparently the fighter Ganma has created his own republic declaring it separate from the kingdom? And the priest Fred is the secretary of the magic agency looking to recruit the hero to take him down? All of this stuff is super engaging and makes me interested to read more.

However this book is also filled with a ton of fan service. There’s the demon secretary working for the demon lord is dressed in a high cut swimsuit that completely exposes her behind. Also the demon lord themselves transforms into a high school girl without changing out of a child sized sailor school uniform. It’s all feels extremely excessive and I don’t care for it. I really with it wasn’t there because it’s distracting me from the parts of the story I wanted to keep reading. I think ultimately I should be like Seamus and check out another volume to see if I’ll stick around for the story despite the titillation I don’t care about.

~dakazu

Sayonara Shikyu

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Sayonara Shikyu

A manga biography by Yuki Okada about being diagnosed with cervical cancer and the surgery she underwent to remove her uterus.

We’ve discussed this on an previous episode.

Once again I have found another emotional non-fiction series. However unlike other depressing books about child abuse this one covers cancer. While the subject matter is serious I really loved Okada’s adorable art work and really funny expressions that helped add levity to everything. She effectively conveys her anxiety about her health and there’s a lot of heavy issues she addresses with the decision about leaving her ovaries or removing them.

Okada’s husband and her 2 year-old daughter are also featured along with other members of her family who helped support her. Surprising enough, the husband Yuji Terajima is the creator behind the mega-hit baseball manga Ace of the Diamond. A fair bit of the manga is dedicated to Okada’s relationship with Terajima and how Okada went out of her way to allow him to work uninterrupted but he quickly decided to take time off to take care of their daughter during her surgery. It’s very touching to see them both care for each other during this difficult period in their lives. And the moment when the daughter cries quietly after finally being reunited with Okada makes me cry every time.

This is a wonderful non-fiction manga about overcoming cancer. I know Okada is currently in the middle of drawing a followup to this series and I’ll definitely be reading it when she’s finished.

~dakazu

Mukidashi no Hakuchou

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Mukidashi no Hakuchou

A manga about the perfect student Kakeru Shiratori who is a secret streaking exhibitionist.

This is a really ridiculous comedy. Kakeru is obsessed with the thrill of being naked at school and nearly gets caught every chapter but narrowly escapes. It’s pretty one note until Kakeru gets into naked battles against other streakers which is equally preposterous to read about. The series didn’t last on Jump+ and it ended after four volumes but luckily Tsurun Hatomune has recently found success with Mitama Security: Spirit Busters in Weekly Shonen Jump. I recommend reading Mitama Security: Spirit Busters because Hatomune has really perfected his comedy in it.

~dakazu