Category Archives: dakazu’s reading

Various manga dakazu’s read with some commentary

Gerekushisu

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Gerekushisu

A comedy manga about a baumkuchen chef who ends up being transformed into a strange butt-faced creature who can’t leave an empty lot or be seen by other.

What an strange tale. There’s a bit of a slow grind before the chef ends up becoming a literal butt-for-a-face but once that happens the story goes into some weird shit. It’s all played for laughs too.

I remember reading the creator Minoru Furuya‘s Ike! Inachuu Takkyuubu which was also a comedy series that went into some wacky absurdist material but this on one is on a whole different level. I can at least say that this manga was 2 volumes and knew not to overstay it’s own foray into it’s bizarre concept.

~dakazu

BLACK-BOX

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BLACK-BOX

A manga about a genius boxer who’s father and brother are murderers.

I’m a fan of Tsutomu Takahashi‘s amazing artwork and it was great to see it applied to boxing. Takahashi’s use of ink brushes work great with the fluid motions of swinging punches. The story is pretty interesting as well as the protagonist off-kilter personality plays into his notoriety as a member of a “murder family”. I’m interested to read more and follow his career and learn more about his backstory because it’s hinted that he may have been involved in the murder his brother committed.

~dakazu

Gau-chan to Issho

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Gau-chan to Issho

A manga about an office lady living with her humanoid pet called a gaucho samurai.

This manga is strange but hilarious. I was immediately taken aback with the concept of the titular Gau-chan but he really is cute. There’s a lot of great comedy that comes from Gau-chan’s serious expressions over his disapproval of food or the strange movement he does to intimidate cats. It’s genuinely funny to see him slap his owner accompanied by the look of a grumpy old man. Big props to Daishiro Kawakami for his creation. My wife said she would totally get one as a pet.

~dakazu

Kegare no Uta

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Kegare no Uta

A fantasy manga about special warriors who absorb the “taint” that corrupts the monsters they hunt.

Looks like Yusuke Osawa is continuing his MO of borrowing from video games. Much like his GREEN WORLDZ series, everything from the designs of the transforming weapons to the monsters are heavily inspired from games like Bloodborne and Monster Hunter. His artwork in action scenes are always decently impressive but I can’t laugh at his “inspired” aesthetic.

~dakazu

Pansuto

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Pansuto

A manga about a high school boy’s sexual fetish for pantystockings being awakened by the school nurse.

Kazuto Okada has made his manga career by focusing on stories revolving around eroticism that is usually focused on young male sexual desires revolving around some fetish or another. I actually enjoyed his Sundome series that was based around edging and orgasm denial because there was an interesting arc in relationship between the main characters at the end.

Unfortunately this series seems only made for titillation, and the worst kind as well. The older female nurse catches the boy trying to film her crotch on his cellphone so she films him masturbating in return. When she basically gives him a handjob under the guise of checking his foreskin they start “counseling” sessions where she encourages the growth of his sexual fetishism. She takes the tone of an educator teaching a student but she’s also clearly leading him on.

Making a story about a teacher sexually molesting a student doesn’t come off as sexy, just gross. Also Okada draws almost every female character where their perfectly round nipples can be seen through their shirts and it looks really dumb. I don’t recommend this.

~dakazu

Itadakimasu

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Itadakimasu

A manga about a large scary looking but kindhearted man who start working as a cook at a rural elementary school.

This was a really heart warming book, albeit simple in scope. There are only three stories but each one focuses on the cook saving the day through his skills as a former food show knowledge and personal kindness. Each story had some pretty melodramatic moments such as a child with food allergies being saved from the cook’s experience losing his young daughter in a similar way. I can see why the series didn’t last and there was only 1 volume released but I really liked Riku Kurita‘s cute art style that worked well with this story about children.

~dakazu

Shissou Sengen

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Shissou Sengen

A comedy manga about a woman who decides to disappear from her current unfulfilling life and then struggles through the logistics of actually doing it.

Though the subject matter may seem dark this manga actually strikes a really lighthearted tone. It’s in part due to Yori Kurokawa‘s cute super deformed character work. Also the protagonist isn’t escaping any ties to a job that fulfills her or any relationships with friends or family either, which makes her decision to disappear seem like something that could actually make a positive difference for her.

The comedy begins when she actually goes through and starts planning everything. Learning how to setup a camping tent causes her to have severe muscle cramps and buying a motorcycle ends up prolonging her stay because she has to finish her monthly payments first. I really enjoyed watching her plight as every step forward was two steps back.

~dakazu

Majo wa Mioji kara

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Majo wa Mioji kara

A sexy comedy manga about a still single 300 year-old witch who’s luck finally might be changing after a reincarnation of her former lover appears in her life.

This manga is great. There are so many funny scenes where the witch, Mikage Kurokawa, struggles with her notoriety as the “Moonlight Witch” who just can’t seem to catch a break in love. Every time her gross superior at work tries to hit on her she curses him and he gets a mild heart attack. When she summons the demon Baphomet to join her for her lonely at-home sabbath they reject her for her old age. Even when she gets together with her fellow witch friends it just turns into a drunken girl’s night out right out of Tokyo Tarareba Girls. Even her black cat familiar Noir still hisses at her every time she walks by. I love how Mikage gets so lost in her love of dramatic fantasies that every situation just stimulates her.

The main story seems to follow her wanting a relationship with a new co-worker who might be the reincarnation of famous Bakumatsu samurai and former love interest Takasugi Shinsaku. Bringing in famous historical figures would be cliche but the writing by Shigemitsu Harada is so enjoyable I couldn’t care less. Since this manga is serialized in Young Animal, artist Kyujo Matsumoto doesn’t shy away from making Mikage bodacious but so far it’s been pretty tame with any fan service.

I’m enjoying this quite a lot and I hope that it get’s an official release because Morgana would love this.

~dakazu

Ogeha

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Ogeha

A manga about an expressionless boy capturing an alien humanoid insect and keeping it.

This manga has a really disturbing tone. The boy who finds the alien creature is just a complete sociopath as he doesn’t freak out about finding a humanoid insect and just brings it home and calls it Ogeha because she looks like a disgusting version of an ageha butterfly.

What proceeds is basically a kidnapping and confinement story as the boy doesn’t even bother to take care of Ogeha until she almost dies from malnutrition. And since the boy broke the egg sac prematurely Ogeha comes off as a child who knows nothing and only receives food on the whim of the boy. When Ogeha’s guardians try to steal her back she’s developed such an attachment to her captor the story ends with her returning to him. It really comes off as a creepy story of Stockholm syndrome. A shame because the overall design and look of Ogeha by Oimo is unique.

~dakazu

SOUL CATCHERS

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SOUL CATCHERS

A manga about a high school boy who is cursed to see the true hearts of everyone and uses that ability to lead the concert band to the nationals as their student conductor.

We discussed this on a recent episode.

I remember reading this series when it ran in Weekly Shonen Jump and enjoyed it. It was sad when the manga was moved to another magazine and I couldn’t follow it anymore but I finally finished it this year.

Hideo Shinkai would represent various musicians with expressive visuals that the protagonist could see and that was definitely the most unique and interesting part of this manga. I did roll my eyes at some of the pseudo facts Shinkai threw in about concert bands to create drama between the members but otherwise it was an enjoyable series.

Glad I finally got to read the ending.

~dakazu