Category Archives: Written Word

All written posts

Seikatsu

Posted on by

Seikatsu

A manga about  people who form a group to enact vigilante justice against wrongdoers in their city.

I’m a huge fan of Shigeyuki Fukumitsu and while he’s most known for his autobiographical work about his wife, I always enjoy most of his fictional work like this one.

I really liked how the story focuses on these individuals who feel the need to punish petty injustices like rude people talking loudly on the train. Their group eventually grows into a large organization that maintains the peace of the community but corruption ends up getting the original members ostracized. It’s a pretty common story line but Fukumitsu has a really unique way of drawing action scenes so that carried me through til the end of the book.

Also Fukumitsu must really like hammers as a weapon because this isn’t the first manga I’ve seen him use them in.

~dakazu

The Full-Time Wife Escapist

Posted on by

The Full-Time Wife Escapist

A manga about a woman who enters into a common-law marriage with a man to make a job out of being a house wife.

We covered this series recently but afterwords I ended up diving into it and read the whole thing. Although it is ultimately a straight-up romance manga with numerous cliche, I really loved how they approached these overused storylines. Breaking down the relationships of love and physical contact logistically was hilarious and refreshing. I also appreciated that this was a story about adults dealing with love instead of younger teenagers.

I loved it so much that I even watched the live-action drama, which was also excellent!

~dakazu

Mustard Chocolate

Posted on by

Mustard Chocolate

A manga about a high school senior who wants to get into a fine arts college to find a place where she belongs.

I discussed this manga for the podcast a long time ago but recently reread it and it still holds up wonderfully. Tomoko Fuyukawa’s simple artwork shines and she makes great use of the 4 panel layout for some really effective storytelling. The growth of the main character Rinko throughout the book is particularly satisfying but just about every other character is also great.

A lovely single volume release.

~dakazu

My Love Story!!

Posted on by

My Love Story!!

A manga about a giant high school boy, who has no luck with women, suddenly finding himself is a romance with a beautiful girl.

A wonderful heartwarming romance manga. I love Aruko’s art work and the way draws Takeo as the most manliest of men. The story is filled with great characters and their earnest feelings for each other.

While to focus is on Takeo and his girlfriend Rinko, I think the best relationship in this series is the friendship between Takeo and his good looking friend Suna. Suna cares about Takeo more than even himself and there’s a really touching moment where Takeo supports Suna during a family crisis.

Suna/Takeo forever!

~dakazu

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

Posted on by

What Did You Eat Yesterday?

A food manga about a middle-aged gay couple and the meals they eat together.

This is the manga that introduced me to Fumi Yoshinaga and it’s still one of her best series. I absolutely love the relationship between the more serious and closeted lawyer and his effeminate hair dresser partner. As you read the series the lawyer starts to open up about his sexuality slowly to his family and friends and it’s just a wonderful character progression. Also Yoshinaga does not skim over any details of the food and the recipes are covered thoroughly.

A fantastic LGBTQ+ couple and food manga combo. Highly recommended and available in English from Vertical Publishing! I’m looking forward to the live-action drama this year!

~dakazu

Rojica to Rakkasei

Posted on by

Rojica to Rakkasei

A manga where a human boy lives in a post-apocalyptic Earth that is now filled with fantastic creatures and relics of the past.

I really love the aesthetic of this manga. It’s VERY similar to Adventure Time with it’s basic premise but it focuses more on the human Rakkasei and his guardian creature Rojica just interacting with the various other residents around them.

It’s a web-manga series on Kurage-Bunch to read in Japanese for free!

~dakazu

Boss Renoma: Shuujin Riku Gaiden

Posted on by

Boss Renoma: Shuujin Riku Gaiden

A prequel to Shuujin Riku that follows the character Renoma as he first arrives at the Gokuraku island super-max prison facility.

I like Shuujin Riku a lot. This prequel is done well but seems like more of the same, and ultimately pretty unnecessary. I always prefer manga artist to try their hand at creating new manga so I’m glad this ended quickly and now Shinobu Seguchi can move on and try something else.

~dakazu

Otokomeshi

Posted on by

Otokomeshi

Finally caught up on the ending of this series.

I watched the live-action drama earlier and was a little disappointed to see that it followed the same ending. Still think it was a great food manga that had some great simple recipies to make for yourself at home.

ごちそうさまでした。

~dakazu

Chaser

Posted on by

Chaser

A manga about a fictional manga artist’s one-sided rivalry against the god of manga himself, Osamu Tezuka.

I’m fascinated with the golden age of manga era(1950-1960) when Tezuka was leading the charge to elevate manga as a business and an art form. Love reading series like A Drifting Life and Ai… Shirisomeshi Koro ni… that cover the period.

The fictional artist Kaitoku who bashes Tezuka but is secretly obsessed with him is a wonderful take on following Tezuka’s career. Kaitoku is hilarious as he constantly tries to one rumors about Tezuka’s genius only to fail or succeed after the fact.

I’m looking forward to reading more of this great mix of fact and fiction.

~dakazu

Ekiben Hitoritabi

Posted on by

Ekiben Hitoritabi

A food manga about a man who travels all across Japan via train and eats every famous railway box bento along the way.

Although I have zero interest in trains I do love food so I still enjoyed this series a lot. They meticulously review every part of each bento as well. It almost feels like free advertising for these various lunches.

If I ever get back to Japan I’ll make sure to look up some of these famous bentos while traveling.

~dakazu