Category Archives: Written Word

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Bimyou ni Yasashii Ijimekko

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Bimyou ni Yasashii Ijimekko

A comedy manga about a bully who is subtly kind.

I like this manga! On the surface bully Kizaki looks like he’s punishing his victim Tamura but it’s never truly punishing. Kizaki will make Tamura go buy him something but he gives Tamura extra money so he’ll have enough and sets the time limit at a reasonable pace. When Kizaki is grumpy and calls out Tamura after school it’s just to go to karaoke and hangout. It’s all very wholesome and nice. Eventually their relationship grows to the point where Kizaki acknowledges their friendship. I really appreciate creator Mosuko for taking the overdone topic of bullying and making a nice story about a tsundere delinquent instead.

~dakazu

Curtain’s up, I’m off

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Curtain’s up, I’m off

A manga about a socially awkward high school boy who often gets lost in his own imagination. His popular classmate coerces him into joining the theater club performance where his imagination helps him become a great actor.

We’ve discussed this on an episode of Darfox Dabbles.

This series is alright but I generally dislike manga about performing arts. Most of these end up making the performing art as a competition between schools because that’s always the easiest setup for a shonen slice of life series. I vehemently disagree with looking at performing arts as just competition because that is only part of what performing arts is about. This manga sets the theater club up in a plot where they’re competing against other schools and I really disliked that. I liked Akitaka Imakoshi‘s art style but this generic storytelling wasn’t doing much for me. And unfortunately for Imakoshi this manga ended pretty quickly after 26 chapters. I personally would prefer a manga like Butter!!! that focused on characters enjoying the performance but I really think you won’t get those kind of stories in a shonen manga.

You can read it on MANGA Plus.

~dakazu

Tsuma ga Otto de Otto ga Tsuma de

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Tsuma ga Otto de Otto ga Tsuma de

A manga where a married couple end up with swap bodies and must now live as each other.

What a thoughtful series about married relationships!

While the premise for this manga is extremely common, I was really impressed with how creator Echo Aonami focused on having the couple work through their relationship issues. The husband and wife are both able to “walk a mile” in each others shoes and this leads to open discussions about how they each acted poorly to each other in the past. There’s a lot of literal roleplaying and it’s really comforting to see them come together to support each other and their non-verbal child. There’s also some great comedy with the husband in the wife’s body having to go to the gynecologist. I liked this manga a lot!

~dakazu

Ryuma no Gagou

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Ryuma no Gagou

A manga about different warriors who carry on the mantle of ‘Ryoma’ as they battle against monsters in a post-apocalyptic fantasy that spans multiple generations.

I finally went back and finished this series that I started years ago. I remember really being enamored with the premise of having each chapter of this manga focusing on a different protagonist the goes by the name of Ryoma and how each one explained the legend and history behind the name and their never ending struggle against the Hakuhi monsters and calamities known as ‘Jin’.

Eventually the narrative follows certain characters on a longer arc and those arcs would conclude and lead to a generational change to a new protagonist. While I enjoyed this, by the end of the series they started rushing the plot and time skips. Even the artist Hiroki Miyashita makes a joke in the afterword about how readers thought the plot was too convoluted. Also, I thought both the origins of Jin and Ryoma and the final battle use troupe of the hero becoming the villain for the greater good, and I think that’s so overdone. I’m glad I finished it but I wish this manga ended with a bang and not a whimper.

~dakazu

Shogi Sasu Kedamono

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Shogi Sasu Kedamono

A manga about Hikari Danzuka, a woman who’s vicious shogi play might makes waves in amateur tournaments. Her strength and ruthlessness catch wind of a reporter who digs up rumors of her sordid past.

Another enjoyable shogi manga. I’ve more than a few manga about female shogi players like Eisei Otome no Tatakai-Kata and Ryu to Ichigo but they always like to focus on the fact that female players are considered inferior to male players. I think a lot of these shogi manga focus on female players to emphasize their talent and skill in a competitive world dominated by men.

The protagonist Hikari also defeats her opponents with overwhelming strength but also completely crushes them without remorse. There’s a big mystery about why she’s so strong and bad rumors about things she did in high school. All of this makes for a really engaging read. Iroha Ichimaru‘s art looked familiar and it was because they also did Million Joe. Ichimaru’s distinct art style works well with these shogi player who are compared to beasts.

~dakazu

Aejuma-sama no Gakkou

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Aejuma-sama no Gakkou

A manga about a group of people who have been kidnapped to a remote village where they’re forced to join a school and become classmates with the horrible monster, Lord Aejuma.

This was a decent horror series. I liked the dual antagonists of the very horrific looking Lord Aejuma and the villagers who worship it. While the monster is dangerous and might devour you in an instant, the villagers who lead the classroom pitted the prisoners against each other. I liked how the main character had to try and appease the monster while obeying his human captors. Unfortunately the series ended on Jump+ after only 3 volumes. A shame because I enjoyed this work by Reiji Suzumaru while it lasted.

~dakazu

Mugen no Juunin – Bakumatsu no Shou

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Mugen no Juunin – Bakumatsu no Shou

A sequel series to Blade of the Immortal that places Manji into the Bakumatsu period of Japan.

I questioned this series when it was announced because I already condemned the original Blade of the Immortal manga for its grimdark themes. After reading it, I can say it’s strictly alright. I give huge props to Kenji Takigawa for mostly recreating Hiroaki Samura distinct art style but you can still tell this isn’t drawn by Samura himself. And while it’s moderately amusing to see Manji interact with famous revolutionaries like Ryoma Sakamoto and fight against the Shinsengumi, the story reads more like fan fiction by writer Ryu Suenobu then something that’s supposed to be cannon. I would only recommend this to die-hard Blade of the Immortal fans who also love Japanese history.

~dakazu

Battle Ground Workers

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Battle Ground Workers

A sci-fi manga about a man who joins the Humanity Union Japan Chapter where employees use remotely controlled humanoid weapons called “RIZE” to battle against invading alien forces called “Agaitai”.

When I started reading this manga I was impressed how Minoru Takeyoshi setup soldiers as just another job to pay the bills. The RIZE machines work by having human connect their consciousness to their unit and any damage it receives is felt by the pilot. If the communication device of the RIZE is destroyed, the pilot dies. However they can forcibly disconnect up to five times before the pilot’s brain will suffer critical damage. The concepts are nothing original but everything is executed well enough through both the artwork and story. I like how the protagonist and his squad are subject to performance reviews akin to those in any office job.

My main complaint about this series is that they made a big reveal in the story and it was completely obvious to anyone who’s seen a story similar to this one. And yes, it’s probably what you’re thinking as well. I’m still reading for now because I’m interested to see if Takeyoshi will do something different with this common twist.

~dakazu

Tono-sama to Stitch

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Tono-sama to Stitch

A manga where Stitch from Lilo & Stitch time travels to feudal Japan where a powerful warlord becomes obsessed with his cuteness.

We’ve discussed this on a older episode.

Seriously, how did this happen?

I’m far more interested in how this series came to be than the actual manga itself. Is this like how Kingdom Hearts was born because Square Enix was in the same building as Disney? Did an editor at Kodansha have an elevator ride with a Japanese Disney executive? It baffles the mind how this story of Stitch in Warring States Japan meets “not Nobunaga Oda”. Speaking of which, why is the warlord not factual? He’s clearly drawn as Nobunaga Oda but for whatever reason isn’t named as such. Did Disney have a problem with Stitch interacting with an actual Japanese warlord? This series raises so many questions! Also, why are some panels animated? Is it because it’s Disney? I’m so confused!

You can see this strange title on Comic-Days.

~dakazu

Moon Land

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Moon Land

A manga about a young gymnast who is more interested in reaching perfect control over his body than competing against others.

We’ve discussed this on Darfox Dabbles.

This is a decent sports series. I’ve read several manga about gymnastics and this one is alright but I think the gimmick of a non-competitive protagonist doesn’t work well for a sports manga. Creator Sai Yamagishi has set up main character Mitsuki as an gymnast who slowly starts to engage with opponents and grows into an athlete who can both be competitive and focus on their personal performance. However Mitsuki’s distant nature doesn’t work as well for a sport manga. Sports manga protagonists work best as characters who are filled with passion. They don’t have to be aggressive or assertive but they work best if they show off their effort. You can look at Yowamushi Pedal, Hajime no Ippo, or Haikyu!! as good examples. Unfortunately Mitsuki’s character is what Moon Land is all about so you immediately lose a bit of that passion. I will say that his teammates help make up for that a little.

It’s currently available to read on Manga PLUS.

~dakazu