Mr. TONEGAWA: Middle Management Blues

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Mr. TONEGAWA: Middle Management Blues

A comedy spin-off of Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI that follows the hardships of Yukio Tonegawa as the 2nd in command of an evil corporation run by the crazy old coot Kazutaka Hyoudo.

My initial reaction to this was “another spin-off?” but I was shocked at how great this is. Taking the aspects of KAIJI and turning them on their head for laughs works amazingly. The creators Tensei Hagiwara & Tomohiro Hashimoto do a perfect copy of Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s art style and storytelling. I laughed so hard at the parody of the inspirational ‘Brave Man Road’ monologue that I was crying.

The anime adaptation is even better with the narrator being my favorite character. If you’re a fan of KAIJI than you should definitely check it out!

~dakazu

206 – Triple Dip 30 – Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Asahinagu, Tobaku Haoden Zero

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206 – Triple Dip 30 – Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Asahinagu, Tobaku Haoden Zero

On this episode we each selected a manga for another Triple Dip! Seamus picks Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Darfox picks Tobaku Haoden Zero, and dakazu picks Asahinagu!

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Busa-men Gachi-Fighter

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Busa-men Gachi-Fighter

A manga about a man who is sent to a fantasy RPG world to relive his ruined life. He joking uses the exploit of lowing your physical appearance to get bonus status points and ends up becoming a super overpowered god.

This seems like another typical novel based male empowerment fantasy as the gimmick of being ugly makes you godlike is equal parts gross and stupid. However I was surprised that after the protagonist realizes he’s immortal, he slyly uses his powers to help his fellow teammates. Constantly trying to hide his god-like stats from them and help protect them. The more I read of this I liked.

I’m willing to stick with it for now. Hopefully it won’t devolve into the typical harem style story of most lite novels.

~dakazu

Tokyo Ghoul:re

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Tokyo Ghoul:re

I’m happy to say that in the end I really enjoyed Tokyo Ghoul:re. Sui Ishida’s confusing dramatic panel layouts ended up growing on me in the end. I was surprised that the ending was a happy one because they were setting up the finale to be tragic. Still liked it though.

I will definitely watch the 2nd half of the anime coming this fall. Maybe Ishida can get back to writing more of THE PENISMAN (no, it’s not a joke and it was actually really good)

Available through VIZ.

~dakazu

Blaster Knuckle

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Blaster Knuckle

A manga about an ex-Heavyweight Boxer fights against the KKK who are secretly demons that devour African Americans in the Wild West.

This book is trying so hard to be Berserk it’s hilarious. The hero’s secret weapon is a modified gauntlet that shoots shotgun shells on impact. Sound familiar?

After this series ended in 3 volumes, Shizuya Wazarai went on to make an awesome gladiator manga called Kentou Ankokuden Cestvs which is so much better. Kinda sorry to see he started off with a blatant copy of Berserk.

~dakazu

Sono Musume, Musashi

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Sono Musume, Musashi

A sports manga about a former middle school ace female volleyball player, Musashi Kaneko, who gets roped back into the sport by the high school volleyball team captain Ritsu Koga.

Although the story initially focuses on Musashi rediscovering her interest in volleyball, the later half of the series dives deep into her seniors who suffered abuse the hands of their previous violent coach. The trauma that each character carries afterwords is laid out well and handled with lots of nuance. I really enjoyed Ai Tanaka’s storytelling that dived into the psyche of these athletes as they brought their rivalries to a climactic final match.

I still think Shojo Fight is my favorite volleyball manga but this one is great as well. Also at 3 volumes it’s short and sweet!

~dakazu

Smokin’ Parade

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Smokin’ Parade

A manga about a boy who joins a squad of hunters who use prosthetic limbs that transform into weapons to hunt down body-part transplant patients gone berserk called Spiders.

This manga is done by the same creative team that did Deadman Wonderland and it shows.Just replace weapons made from blood with prosthetic limbs. It’s overly stylized and full of violence and gore just like Deadman Wonderland.

If you’re a fan of Deadman Wonderland you’ll probably love this. I personally don’t care for Kazuma Kondou’s excessive gore so I got bored of this real quick.

~dakazu

Complex Age

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Complex Age

A manga about a 26 year old office lady who hides her hobby of cosplaying from her co-workers. 

I liked this manga quite a lot! The story addressing the stigma against adults doing cosplay was unique. The ending is very bittersweet and I don’t fully agree with the message but I really loved how interesting Yui Sakuma made Nagisa’s character.

It’s available in English from Kodansha Comics and I recommend you check it out!

~dakazu

205 – Saikyo Selections 11 – Doraemon

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205 – Saikyo Selections 11 – Doraemon

This week we take a look at the beloved children’s manga icon, Doraemon! Will Seamus and darfox find anything to enjoy in this manga for kids?

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