Makanai-kun
A food manga about a college freshman who stays in a house with his 3 older female cousins and cooks their meals.
The presented recipes aren’t bad but for a food manga the food looks very plain and unappetizing. Also I wasn’t a fan of the weird sexual tension between these cousins. I say pass on this one.
~dakazu
Pro Golfer Saru
Fujiko Fujio A.’s sports manga about a monkey-like genius golf boy.
I remember reading a few Saru manga in my childhood and recently got to revisit them. Looking at them now it’s pretty crazy how a series about an alcohol loving monkey boy was marketed as a children’s manga.
Regardless, I was actually really impressed with Fujiko A’s artwork. He uses a lot of shadows and inking in both characters and background speed lines to give this simple children’s manga a more gekiga style. But the designs of the Saru’s golf rivals look so cartoony that I laughed.
I read more of Fujiko F. Fujio’s manga growing up so it was nice to revisit Fujio Fujiko A.’s work instead.
~dakazu
Golden Kamuy
A manga about a Russo-Japanese war veteran who teams up with a young Ainu huntress to track down escaped convicts for their tattoos that will combine into map that leads to a hidden cache of gold in Hokkaido.
Yeah, this is basically a Japanese Western set in a the snowy lands of Hokkaido but it who cares because it’s an amazing manga. I love all the eating scenes and every time Sugimoto shouts “I AM SUGIMOTO THE IMMORTAL!”.
This series even won 2018 Grand Prize for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Awards. The anime had fantastic casting and the only con was the CG animated animals.
Super entertaining and 100% available in English legally from Viz. Go read it!
~dakazu
203 – One Shot 14 – Manga Poverty with Deb Aoki
We’re joined by lovely manga journalist Deb Aoki this week to talk about the changes in the Western manga industry, compare them to the problems in Japanese publishing that are addressed in Shuho Sato’s memoir Manga Poverty, and rejoice over the plethora of recent manga licensing news!
Check out Deb’s twitter, professional site and Manga Answerman articles!
Spicy Cafe Girl
A manga about stories revolving around the Thai restaurant Duan in Tokyo. New hire Tetsuya ends up getting wrapped up in some crazy adventures because of the potential shady past of the master.
I’ve talked about Akira Fukaya’s Mitsurin Shounen before. Fukaya likes to create a lot of manga based around South Asian countries and cuisines. The master of the Duan is a reoccurring character in a few other Fukaya titles. I like his art style and loved the fun cast of characters from the little Afghanistan girl to the badass Ellie. I’m sad this is only a single volume release and would have loved to read more stories about them all.
~dakazu
Angolmois – Genkou Kassenki
A manga about disgraced samurai Jinzaburo Kuchii defending Tsushima island from Mongol invasions of the Kamakura period of Japan.
With the recent release of the anime adaptation, a lot of people noticed how this series covers the same subject as the upcoming AAA video game Ghost of Tsushima for Playstation 4. Comparisons aside, I’m unfamiliar with the Kamakura period so this was a fun read. The battles are intense and the story has a good sense of dread as the Mongol hoards keep surrounding the defending samurai forces. My only complaint is the designs for the faces look kinda plain. Especially for Jinzaburou. Otherwise a fun read and I’m currently enjoying the look of the anime as well.
~dakazu
Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare
A manga about a gay teenager who finds a gathering of fellow LGBTQ+ people in his town that’s run by a mysterious and mystical woman.
I read some of this and my first thought was that it was the most progressive LGBTQ+ manga that I’ve ever read. I find that most manga covering LGBTQ+ topics tend to be behind modern times or are very basic, such as My Brother’s Husband. It was nice to read something more realistic and current.
Everyone is super excited that Seven Seas Entertainment is bringing an official English release and so am I!
~dakazu
Peleliu – Rakuen no Guernica
A manga about the battle of Peleliu island in the Pacific Theater during World War II. It follows the Japanese soldiers who fought against an onslaught of US Marines for over 2 months.
Juxtaposed to the cute character designs, this is a serious war manga. The simple designs of the characters actually add a lot to the horrors of war that happen to the soldiers we follow. It’s still an ongoing series in Young Animal magazine and I think it’s one of their best current manga.
~dakazu
Shinkyu Chie no Neko Bitashi
Wakako Zake manga artist, Chie Shinkyu, chronicles her days with her newly adopted kitten Sen-chan.
I love Wakako Zake and I love pets so this was right up my alley. It’s super cute!
~dakazu
UQ Holder!
A tale of a young boy who becomes a vampire and joins a special peace keeping task force made up of immortals. Eventually it’s revealed as a sequel to Negima! Magister Negi Magi.
I’m honestly not the biggest fan of Ken Akamatsu from his early days with Love Hina and his general focus on harem manga. I didn’t read Negima! but I followed UQ Holder! a little when it was serialized in Shonen Magazine. I recently tried catching up on the series but when I got to the part about alternate history/timelines I just threw my hands up and gave up. I don’t know what it is about time travel/alternate timelines but just like when it happened in Magical Girl Apocalypse I completely checked out. It just comes off as such a cheap plot device and makes everything overly complicated.
~dakazu