Category Archives: dakazu’s reading

Various manga dakazu’s read with some commentary

Children of Mu-Town

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Children of Mu-Town

A manga about a small time hoodlum trying to balance his town’s renovation project with pressures from local crime boss alongside his unstable and violent best friend.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

Fantastic manga. I’ve rarely seen themes of gentrification covered in manga but Masumura Jushichi makes it works so well here. This book takes total advantage of the fact that it isn’t a commercial manga release from a major publisher. There’s just something so unique to the mood of independent manga and you get it in spades with this work. Highly recommended for manga fans looking for something different than their usual series.

Pick up a copy from Glacier Bay Books.

~dakazu

Hi Score Girl DASH

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Hi Score Girl DASH

Sequel to Hi Score Girl that follows Koharu Hidaka who is teaching at her old middle school.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

The original Hi Score Girl was an early favorite for our podcast. Rensuke Oshikiri combined eccentric information about 1980-1990 Japanese arcade culture into a wacky romantic comedy. The original series had a miraculous return after a lawsuit and even went on to have a fun anime adaptation.

This sequel that focuses on Hidaka is such a slow burn. Hidaka hides her fighting game skills to her students for such a long time. There are some comedic bits with the character Doi, who is now also a teacher alongside Hidaka, but Oshikiri focuses on the next generation of characters and I just don’t find them interesting. This isn’t a bad manga by any standards but as a sequel to a series I really enjoy, I’m not fully convinced that this needed to exist. Hopefully it will get better soon.

~dakazu

2.5 Dimensional Seduction

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2.5 Dimensional Seduction

A manga about Okumura, a die-hard “2 dimensional girls only” otaku and president and sole member of the school’s manga club. His world is turned upside down when an cosplay enthusiast underclassman Lilysa joins the club and cosplays as Okumura’s 2 dimensional crush Lilliel.

This manga is exactly what it looks like, which is a commercial entertainment that uses fan service to sell itself. For the first dozen of chapters I flipped through it on Jump+ but eventually the story shifts into storylines about friendship and love of cosplay. The fanservice doesn’t change but the added dramatic the characters get roped into made for some emotional beats that pull at your heartstrings. Now it’s a series that I enjoy as I’m invested in these girls who want to enjoy cosplay together. Good job Yu Hashimoto for making me find the feels behind all the under cleavage.

It’s been licensed by Seven Seas and will be release under their Ghost Ship label.

~dakazu

Ping Pong

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Ping Pong

A sports manga about two teenager athletes who interact with rivals and friends though competitive ping pong.

We’ve done a Retrospective on this series and covered the anime adaptation.

An absolute modern manga masterpiece. You have some of Taiyo Matsumoto‘s best work when it comes to dynamic paneling. The simple yet understandable nicknames of the characters and their relationships. The friendship, rivalry and trust between Smile and Peco is perfectly paced and a joy to read. I also highly recommend Masaaki Yuasa directed anime series as well.

Available in English from VIZ.

~dakazu

Giant

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Giant

A sports manga about Japanese slugger Mitsugu Kyoho who makes one last ditch effort at becoming a professional baseball player by entering the minor leagues.

I finally got around to reading this fun series by Yoshihiro Yamada. I’m a big fan of Yamada’s stuff and really enjoyed his other sports manga Decathalon. Yamada is the master of over-the-top facial reactions and they work perfectly as Kyoho knocks baseball so hard they fly out of their cow hide. This is an entertaining read as you see Kyoho struggle facing tough opponents despite his huge size. Highly recommend this if you prefer non-shonen sports stories that don’t go on for over thirty volumes.

~dakazu

Kenshiro ni Yoroshiku

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Kenshiro ni Yoroshiku

A manga about a young man who is inspired by Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star and trains hard to take revenge on the criminal who ruined his life. But instead of being able to kill with acupuncture, all he has become a top rate massage therapist.

It’s not surprising that Jasmine Gyuh‘s follow up to Back Street Girls is something as ridiculous as a massage therapist hell bent on revenge. I think it’s hilarious that Kodansha is publishing this manga directly referencing Fist of the North Star, which is a famous manga from another publisher!

The best thing about this book is that the target of revenge turns out to be dying from cancer so the massage therapist has no choice but to use his massage powers to save the criminal’s life so he can eventually get to killing him with pressure points. A hilarious series but I don’t know how Kodansha will get around the references to Fist of the North Star and publish this in English.

You can read it online in Japanese on Comic Days.

~dakazu

I Love You So Much, I Hate You

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I Love You So Much, I Hate You

A manga about a romantic affair between a new employee and her married superior.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

This is nice and sweet. Since most yuri titles are about high school romances, it was refreshing to see this one about adults in a forbidden romance. The artist Yuni mentions that she loves yuri stories about adults and it shows. I also appreciate that despite this being an affair narrative, it has a happy ending.

Available in English from Yen Press.

~dakazu

One Operation Joker

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One Operation Joker

A comedy manga about Batman turning into a baby so the Joker decides to take care of him and raise him.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

While the premise sound amazing and hilarious, the execution of this manga is a bit lacking. The comedic focus is on how parenting is difficult so Joker changes his murderous ways to try and raise Batman the right way. It feels like they’re changing Joker’s character too much for the sake of this manga’s gimmick. I got the sense that the writer Satoshi Miyagawa was basing his Joker on the 2019 Joker film which doesn’t really match with other characters like Harley Quinn appearing later. But I did like how artist Keisuke Gotou draws such a cute baby Batman. All in all, this is probably still the best serialized manga based on Western Comics right now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it put out in English from Kodansha or DC in the future.

You can read it online in Japanese on Comic Days.

~dakazu

Furin Shokudou

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Furin Shokudou

A manga about a salaryman who eats local delicacies whenever he goes out on business trips. He always meets a married woman while eating and it leads to them having a steamy one-night affair.

It think this manga is conceptually really gross. It’s one thing to tie food with sexual appetite like Zange Meshi but specifically about this guy who always cheats on his wife every chapter with a different woman? Not something I’m really interested in reading. Later on the creator Masakazu Yamaguchi switches things up by focusing on a newbie salaryman and a career woman but the series formula doesn’t change. A business trip leads to a local meal leads to adultery. However, this series is super popular in Japan. It’s over eighteen volumes long now and there’s even a live-action drama. I can understand the appeal but I don’t personally like it myself.

~dakazu

Zange Meshi

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Zange Meshi

A food manga where a husband cooks meals for repentance whenever he angers his wife.

This manga is alright. I would be remise not to mention it’s so very clearly a commercial piece of entertainment made to appeal to the male gaze. The wife is an ultra busty woman who cutely pouts when she’s mad but always forgives her husband when he feeds her delicious food. There lots of fan service but I just looked past it and focus on the scrumptious food instead. If anything, the series is thirty chapter in and things are getting stale pretty quick with how the husband keeps messing up something almost every chapter. Hatsumi Kodama focuses some stories on some side characters which helps but they always return to the husband appeasing his wife. I’ll keep reading for now but they could stand to do something to really shake up the formula.

It’s available to read in Japanese online on Comic Days.

~dakazu