Category Archives: Written Word

All written posts

Trigun Maximum

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Trigun Maximum

A manga about an infamous gunslinger Vash the Stampede who travels across the desert planet Gunsmoke while avoiding bounty hunters.

I love Trigun. But when I say that I’m talking about the anime.

While the manga has a crazier story with the most elaborate fights, you just can’t parse what the hell is happening. Yasuhiro Nightow mixes extreme closeups and perspective angles along with inhuman monster designs. The end result is a garbled mess splashed on the page and nothing but confusion.

Since the manga isn’t even available from Dark Horse right now, don’t bother trying to track it down. Go watch the anime instead.

~dakazu

PLANETES

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PLANETES

A manga where space travel has given way to space pollution and follows a group of astronauts who collect debris.

Makato Yukimura is now well known for his current series Vinland Saga but before that he was known for this minor hit series. I really enjoy this book for the hard science approach to space exploration. Yukimura put a lot of thought into the nuances that would go into the daily lives of these astronauts who are basically blue collar garbage men. The story may be based on space but the focus is on human characters and their connections to each other.

There is also a fantastic anime adaptation that really fleshes out the journey of main character Hachimaki from jaded debris collector to enlightened Jupiter explorer. However the story arc that follows Fee Carmichael and explores the politics of space travel hurting 3rd world countries isn’t in the anime. Both are great and I recommend you check them out! English edition available from Dark Horse.

~dakazu

Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI

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Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI

A manga about a deadbeat man who falls deeper and deeper into a spiral of debt and gambling where the stakes keep growing.

We’ve discussed this book on an older episode.

I have a hard time recommending KAIJI to new readers because if you’ve never seen Nobuyuki Fukumoto‘s art work, you’d be shocked at how bad it looks. But while Fukumoto can’t even consistent draw body proportions correctly, I and millions of other are drawn to his manga because of his amazing storytelling.

Fukumoto cut his teeth on various mahjong manga where he effectively used bluffing and cheating tactics that lead to dramatic comebacks. KAIJI takes it a step further with various original gambling games that force our protagonist to struggle through betrayal, loss, and redemption. It’s entertainment at its finest.

If the art is keeping you from checking out the English edition from Denpa, you can always check out the excellent anime adaptation.

~dakazu

Holyland

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Holyland

A manga about bullied teenager who teaches himself martial arts and becomes street fighter known as the delinquent hunter.

We’ve talked about this on an older episode.

Holyland is the first Kouji Mori manga I ever read. I was immediately taken with the comprehensive breakdown of martial arts and fighting techniques displayed in this series. You can tell Mori did a lot of research into different fighting styles like boxing, wrestling, karate, kendo, kick boxing, and even knife fighting. Whenever characters would match up for fights Mori would break the 4th wall and address the audience with quick informative panels that broke down the mechanics of the moves. While our co-host Seamus hates this kind of stuff, I personally love it. It gave an extra layer of realism to the fights without sounding like shonen battle exposition. Mori would later use these info dumps for survival techniques in Jisatsutou as well.

A solid fighting manga for sure.

~dakazu

My Brother’s Husband

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My Brother’s Husband

A manga about a single Japanese father who’s visited by his late brother’s Canadian husband.

We’ve discuss this series on an older episode.

Love this series. Kana’s immediate acceptance of Mike is contrasted so well with Yaichi ignorance. As Yaichi begins to understand his brother-in-law it allows him to reconnect with his deceased twin brother as well. It’s all so heartwarming.

This manga might seem really basic with it’s LGBTQ+ themes but that’s because this it’s meant to be an introduction into the world of LGBTQ+. I’m so happy Gengaroh Tagame won the Eisner award for this book as recognition for the issues it addressed.

Highly recommended and it’s available from Pantheon Graphic Library.

~dakazu

Berserk

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Berserk

A dark fantasy about a former mercenary who wields a giant sword and travels the lands to take revenge against the monsters that took everything away from him.

I like Berserk. I like the story despite themes of sexual violence. And this is mostly because Kentaro Miura is a phenomenal artist. There is more detail and care put into a single panel by Miura than an entire volume of some artists. That’s why I’m completely over all the complaints people have about the long delays between new chapters for this book. It takes Miura a long time to draw out the thousands of ink lines that detail everything on the page. The internet loves to shit on Berserk but maybe they should take a moment to recognize how good the art is instead.

Now available in deluxe editions from Dark Horse Comics.

~dakazu

I am a Hero

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I am a Hero

A manga about a failing manga artist who must survive a zombie apocalypse with his hunting rifle.

I really have lots of mixed feelings about this manga. We covered the whole series for a Retrospective but looking back this had such an amazingly strong beginning that just fizzled out towards the end. The slow burn reveal of the ZQN is some of the best storytelling I’ve seen in the manga medium. Even as the story starts ramping up, Kengo Hanazawa does a stellar job with creative monster designs and weaving the narrative around an unreliable hero. Unfortunately things start to fall apart towards the last quarter of the story. I think the reused character artwork is really shameless and it’s sad to see.

I would still recommend this series but with the caveat that the ending is nowhere as strong as the beginning is. Available from Dark Horse Comics.

~dakazu

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai

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Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai

A manga based on the video game franchise Dragon Quest. The story follows a human boy raised by monsters named Dai who dreams of becoming a hero and defeating the Demon King.

This series is the pinnacle of my childhood nostalgia for shonen battle manga. I grew up reading this series and loving every cheesy, sappy, cliche, shonen moment. I still stand by the fact that Pop is the greatest side character ever created. Rereading this many years later as an adult did not change my excitement for the challenges and perils the characters fought against until the exciting final battle. My only complaint is that the creepy prevy master character comes off really poorly in modern times.

A masterpiece of shonen battle manga. I’m super excited for the upcoming anime reboot this year.

~dakazu

Hoshin Engi

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Hoshin Engi

A manga adaptation of the famous Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods.

A decent shonen battle manga. When I first started reading it I was really taken with Ryu Fujisaki‘s unique character designs and the blackhearted protagonist Taikobo. He really feels like a prototype of Senku from Dr. STONE the way he constantly bluffs and plays mind games to outwit his stronger opponents.

I think this series really benefited from the fact that Investiture of the Gods is the least known of the 3 great Chinese novels. Journey to the West inspired Dragon Ball and Suikoden became a popular role playing game series. Fujisaki was able to really shape the story and characters as he sought fit to make an engaging tale about powerful Sennin battling over the fate of 2 kingdoms.

It’s available to read from VIZ.

Side note- I still think it’s crazy that they decided to reboot the anime with Hakyu Hoshin Engi just so they could cover the story arc they never got to in the original.

~dakazu

Patlabor

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Patlabor

A manga about a future Japan where construction robots called Labors are being used for crime. To battle against Labor crime the Tokyo police form the Patrol Labor squad known as Patlabor.

My brother was really into Patlabor and I read it while I grew up. Going back to it now, I’m surprised I was able to enjoy it because Masami Yuki really focuses on political storylines. I especially noticed this when I read Birdy the Mighty.

Regardless, Patlabor is fantastic. And that’s mostly due to the thought and care Yuki put into the world and characters. The eccentric cast of special division 2 bumble their way through the complex politics of terrorists and Labor manufactures. It’s all very entertaining and fun to read. Also major props for the female protagonist Noa and barely focusing on any sex appeal, fan service, or even romantic relationships. I only wish VIZ would get back to putting the English editions out but I doubt it will ever happen.

~dakazu