Areyo Hoshikuzu
Finished this great manga by Sansuke Yamada last month. Yamada’s simple character designs are done in contrast to the somber drama of ex-soldiers living in post-world war 2 Japan. I loved his use of dramatic closeups and angles within the paneling of the final volume. I wish we could get an official English translation for this excellent series!
~dakazu
Blame!: Denki Ryoushi Kiken Kaisou Dasshutsu Sakusen
Manga adaptation of the Netflix CGI anime film adaptation of BLAME!….
…a manga adaptation…
…of a film adaptation…
…of a manga…
…WHY?
~dakazu
Elf wo Karu Mono-tachi 2
Sequel to the popular series Those Who Hunt Elves from the 90′s. It’s apologetically a rehash of the original but I liked it none the less. Yu Yagami’s artwork has changed a lot but his humor remains the same. If you were a fan of the anime and you wanted more of the same, this is for you.
~dakazu
Monkey Peak
Survival horror manga about a group of mountain climbers who are hunted and murdered by monkey-like creature. It follows a lot of typical horror tropes, such as survivors doubting/betraying each other but the art is good and for now I’m interested to see how it ends.
~dakazu
Shogi Meshi
A decent food manga about a female professional shogi player who puts emphasis on what to eat during her matches. Art is decent but I liked how they tied the meal choices as a key factor for victory in shogi matches. It was also adapted into a live-action drama last year.
~dakazu
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Haunter of the Dark
It’s always interesting to see a manga artist’s take on a western intellectual property. Gou Tanabe’s realistic art style works well with H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic horror and I really enjoyed his creature designs.
You can buy English editions of Tanabe’s adaptation of The Hound and At the Mountains of Madness right now. Hopefully sales will be good enough that they’ll put out more of these.
~dakazu
Kumika no Mikaku
Another food manga! In a world where aliens live among humans, Kumika’s race can sustain herself just by breathing. The manga revolves around her eating different earth foods that open up her uptight personality and unlock her emotions. It’s a fun gourmet manga and I like the design of the alien side characters.
~dakazu
Boku no Lunch wo Jamasuruna!
Time for one of my favorite genres, food manga! This one is all about boy who loves cooking and how he just wants to eat his exotic bento lunches in peace. The presentation of each chapter is pretty unique as it starts with some 4 panel pages and then introduces into the recipe in normal format. Pretty good food manga and makes me hungry for bento!
~dakazu
Yowamushi Pedal
Super popular cycling manga with multiple seasons of anime. I remember seeing covers with Midousuji and thinking “This looks messed up!” The day I finally took the plunge and checked it out I couldn’t stop reading it. Still love it to this day.
~dakazu
Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt
I love Yasuo Ohtagaki’s Moonlight Mile and we’ve talked about his Front Mission: Dog Life & Dog Style manga before on the podcast. Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt is fantastic as well. I’m not that into the current chapters but the beginning of the story is amazing. Ohtagaki’s mech design skills are perfect for Gundam!
~dakazu