Category Archives: dakazu’s reading

Various manga dakazu’s read with some commentary

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

A manga taking place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where giant mutated insects live in a poisonous forest that threatens to engulf the remnants of humanity. The princess Nausicaä must fight to defend her home and bring peace between the warring kingdoms.

Hayao Miyazaki’s manga opus. It’s crazy to think that when he started this series he was told it would not be adapted into a film, only for it to become the critically acclaimed movie that helped cement his career as an animator.

The manga is far more richer in content than it’s film counterpart. Nausicaä ends up seeing the destruction of war first-hand as she makes her way through the vastly different kingdoms. In the end she learns the truth behind the world and helps shape the future of humanity. It’s an epic story with strong environmental themes that Miyazaki is known for.

This series is a must for any Studio Ghibli fan.

We did a Retrospective on this.

Available from VIZ.

~dakazu

BLAME!

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BLAME! 

A manga about a man named Kyrii who wanders through an ever growing cybernetic mega structure in search of Net Terminal Genes.

One of the greatest sci-fi manga you will ever find. Tsutomu Nihei’s experience as an architect shines through in the sprawling landscapes of towering buildings that gives his work a sense of scale you just don’t find in other artists. This is one of the ultimate “show, don’t tell” stories I’ve ever seen.

I feel a little bad for Nihei because it’s really hard not to compare his other titles like Knights of Sidonia and APOSIMZ to the excellence of this debut work.

We’ve done a Retrospective on this.

Available from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

SLAM DUNK

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SLAM DUNK

A manga about a red haired delinquent who starts playing basketball to impress a girl.

Every time I reread SLAM DUNK I’m reminded of how it’s a fucking masterpiece.

THE basketball manga that made basketball popular in Japan. One of the greatest sports manga of all time. Takehiko Inoue filled this series to the brim with exciting sports action, hilarious comedy, and heartfelt drama.

Again, it’s a masterpiece.

We did a full Retrospective on it.

Available from VIZ.

~dakazu

Parasyte

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Parasyte 

A manga about a young man who’s right hand is taken over by an alien parasite that feed on humans.

Wonderful seinen horror series. One of the best things about this manga is Hitoshi Iwaaki’s horrific art work. Infected human head split open and transform into gaping maws filled with fangs and tentacles. I also love how the story never devolved into making the main character some kind of superhero who hunts down the parasytes and instead has a very sensible government who reacts realistically to the alien threat.

It’s had numerous spin-offs like Kiseijuu Reversi & Neo-Parasyte m and had a great anime adaptation a few years back.

We’ve done a full Retrospective on it.

Available from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

Goodnight Punpun

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Goodnight Punpun

A manga about the odd life of Punpun Onodera, who is drawn as a cute bird.

Fantastic series. I absolutely think it’s Inio Asano’s definitive title. There is so much craft put into the art work, story, and characters. The characters are so damn good in this manga. Everyone from God to Funky Afro-Bro stand out and make thing so weird but good. I almost compare it to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks level of strange charm.

We’ve done a full retrospective on the series.

Available from VIZ.

~dakazu

Chupaca-Love 

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Chupaca-Love

A manga about a chupacabra who comes to Japan with the goal of getting married to a Japanese girl.

This is pretty dumb but it’s the kind of dumb I can get behind. Lucy Tokuyama plays with some horror aspects of the chupacabra to get some good laughs. The story gets better as they introduce more creatures like the Flatwoods monster and the Hibagon. It’s a crazy mix up of mythical monsters and romantic comedy.

I laughed.

~dakazu

Juuman

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Juuman

A manga about 5 people who grow giant and must devour an alien blob called Manjuu to keep it enveloping the world.

This is one of the best and unique sci-fi stories I’ve read in a long while. Jun Hanyunyu is basically doing a take on the popular Ultraman series. The 5 humans are all different with their own unique problems that prevent them from working together effectively. As the story progresses they continuously fail at containing the manjuu until everything falls apart. I really enjoyed the dark ending because none of these terrible people should ever be able to enjoy a happy ending.

Short and sweet. I continue to enjoy Hanyunyu’s stuff.

~dakazu

Tokusatsu Gagaga

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Tokusatsu Gagaga

A manga about an office lady who is a secret tokusatsu otaku.

Pretty good series. I found the best parts were when the OL Kano would get lost in her own world and heroes from her favorite sentai show would show up to cheer her on or problems would appear as villains. Niwa Tanba does a great job keeping Kano’s plight enjoyable to read and it’s filled to the brim with sentai show knowledge.

~dakazu

Chuugoku Yome Nikki

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Chuugoku Yome Nikki

A manga diary by an old otaku husband and his younger Chinese wife.

Love this so much. Junichi Inoue has such a cute art style and fun anecdotes about his international marriage. I’m not usually a fan of 4 panel comics but this was a great read. I especially loved the longer volume end stories about how they started their relationship, proposal stories, and their struggles with conception.

You can check out their blog here.

~dakazu

Shiga Hime

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Shiga Hime

A manga about an immortal vampire Miwako who forces a young boy to become her familiar. He is now cursed to hunt humans for their fresh hearts and battle against other familiars.

The setup for this manga is pretty standard in terms of the horror genre. What sets this apart is Hirohisa Sato’s amazing art. Sato’s ability to draw gruesome body horror kept me reading more.

~dakazu