Category Archives: Written Word

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Shin Jidoyogo Shisetsu no Kodomotachi

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Shin Jidoyogo Shisetsu no Kodomotachi

A manga about a young girl who’s abandoned by her mother and suffers countless horrors as she’s moved through various horrible nursing homes.

I’ve talked about this on a previous episode.

This manga made me so mad because it’s just sadness porn.

I think the manga artist Yumi Endo is maybe trying to convey the horrors of child abuse through this series but the plot is so heavy handed it honestly feels exploitative for the sake controversy. The main girl travels to between child care facilities were the staff are either incompetent, fully abusive, or pedophiles. When you put the main character through the ringer it fails narratively to make me care anymore because it’s just becomes unbelievable.

This would have worked if the stories were episodic. Each chapter could examines a child abuse problem with different tales of different children. Putting one character through child neglect, child abuse, traumatizing care takers, sexual abuse, bullying, and everything under the sun just makes things laughably unrealistic and ultimately a detriment to the severity of actual child abuse.

~dakazu

Otto no Chinpo ga Hairanai

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Otto no Chinpo ga Hairanai

A biographical manga about a wife who is unable to have sex with her husband and her battle against normalcy.

When the manga adaptation by Yukiko Gotou of this popular memoir by Kodama began in Young Magazine I barely paid attention to it. I rolled my eyes, saying “Oh boy! Here comes another crazy tale about adult sex problems.”

Little did I know it was based on a real-life events.

Reading up on what happens to this woman is nothing short of tragic. I’m very interested to see the tone the series will take based on everything that will happen by the end of the story.

I’m paying very close attention to it now.

~dakazu

Gunjou Senki

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Gunjou Senki

A manga where a high school specializing in athletics is transported through time to warring states period of Japan and the students must defend themselves against famous historical warlords to survive.

The concept of time traveling to the warring states period of Japan is fairly common but the twist is that along with the protagonist, the majority of the students are superior athletes who apply their sports skills to combat. The wild ping pong ace duel wields knives while the American football player tackles bandits to the ground. They all have to fight to survive and prevent history from changing as well.

It’s a pretty entertaining version of the misplaced modern citizens surviving in the past. Unfortunately it wrapped up what they called “part 1″ after 17 volumes and is now on hiatus. The creator, Masaki Kasahara, is currently writing a new series called Libidors so I doubt we’ll see “part 2″ for a while.

~dakazu

Boku no Namae wa “Shounen A”

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Boku no Namae wa “Shounen A”

A manga about a young man who was convicted of murdering his teacher and the ramification of his notoriety on everyone around him.

I have a big problem with this series. The setup is that the main character murdered his teacher who was trying to rape his friend but the friend can’t testify because the trauma causes her to lose her memory. The twist is that she was the one who actually murdered the teacher and he took the fall to protect her. I just find it hard to believe that they would be able to fool forensics or police investigators to reach this situation.

The rest of the story is really just a tale of suffering. The most messed up thing about all the harassment his family goes through because of his choice to take the blame. I’ve read a few volumes and they’ve introduced a true antagonist. Given the tone of the series, I predict that the story might end with the main character actually murdering someone to truly become that “Shounen A” from the title.

~dakazu

Alicia’s Diet Quest

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Alicia’s Diet Quest

A comedy manga about a priestess in a fantasy RPG world who is more obsessed about losing weight than fighting the Demon King.

Look, I get that this is supposed to be a comedy but I really thought it was just pretty stupid and borderline offensive with it’s fat jokes. The priestess Alicia isn’t even drawn in an obese fashion but when she falls on an enemy she does a critical blow because, what? She’s supposed to be fat? You’re only failing at representation of body types at this point.

I give Aoi Fujiwara a little credit for making a lot of jokes that relate directly to classic RPG troupes but the endless amount of fan service Alicia goes through just grossed me out.

It’s available in English from Kodansha but this definitely isn’t for me and I also don’t really recommended it. Maybe for an RPG fan who likes T&A.

~dakazu

Makaze ga Fuku

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Makaze ga Fuku

A manga where a man who was forced to dispose of a body has a phone surgically implanted into his stomach by the victim’s father who seeks revenge.

This thriller series really kicks things off fast. You really just follow the main character as he’s forced to do everything against his own will. It’s interesting to see how he isn’t exactly innocent but he’s still in this horrible situation that slowly starts to unravel and drag down people around him.

It’s currently running in Weekly Young Jump and I’m interested to see how everything will end.

~dakazu

SPRITE

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SPRITE

A manga about a group of people who end up time traveling after being in a building that’s impervious to the changes of time.

Finally got to finish this crazy manga after I read it years ago. It had a solid ending and I’m glad to check it off my manga bucket list.

~dakazu

JUDOS

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JUDOS

A manga about a young man who enters the judo battle royale of country town of Yahara, known as JUDOS.

Manga artist Shinsuke Kondo’s 2nd serialization attempt in Weekly Shonen Jump. Much like his debut work Retsu!!! Date-Senpai, it was canceled fairly quickly.

I hate to say it but I just think Kondo just didn’t have the ability to have a successful manga. His artwork isn’t good and his writing doesn’t stand out either. My best guess is that his editor really believed in him and pushed to get him serialized. It’s just unfortunate that he wasn’t able to create something that found success.

~dakazu

Yoru ni Naru to Boku wa

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Yoru ni Naru to Boku wa

A manga where a college student plans revenge on 3 men who killed his sister by using his power of infiltrating people’s dreams to control their actions after they wake up.

A pretty decent thriller manga. The main concept is right out of Christopher Nolan’s Inception movie. It reminds me a lot of Death Note in the way it mixes cat-and-mouse psychological battles with supernatural elements. The main character Wataru must plan his crime without letting the police catch him.

It just ended it’s run in Weekly Shonen Magazine and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kodansha eventually releases in English.

~dakazu

Satsujin Ryoudan – MADMEN –

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Satsujin Ryoudan – MADMEN –

A manga where a young man trapped on an island full of sadistic killers must survive and save his loved one.

The problem we have here is that nothing in this manga is really original or impressive. Everything from the design of the killers and scientific human Frankenstein’s monsters to the scenarios the survivors are put in looks like they’ve been ripped off of a horror movie or scary video game. Ryuhaku Nagata’s artwork isn’t strong enough to create anything that I thought was gross or scary. This whole concept is better executed in Kichikujima.

It’s currently available to read on Magazine Pocket and I kinda feel like it’s there because it wouldn’t make the cut for a print serialization.

~dakazu