Oishinbo

Oishinbo

A manga about culinary journalists Shiro Yamaoka and Yuko Kurita as they explore different foods and recipes to create the Ultimate Menu for the Tozai newspaper. Their search puts them at odds with Yamaoka’s father, the grand gourmand and artist Yuzan Kaibara, who is creating the Supreme Menu for a rival newspaper.

We’ve discussed this manga on a previous episode.

This is THE food manga. An absolute juggernaut of a franchise that has been synonymous with manga about food, this series ran from 1983 all the way to 2014. This is an all ages manga that even my parents liked and bought. My brother and I would often eat meals while reading a volume in one hand and chopsticks in another.

I’ve been revisiting the series ever since the Mangasplaining podcast covered it. I wasn’t aware of the controversy regarding the Fukushima nuclear disaster that led to the series going on hiatus. Rereading it I notice a lot more conservative political takes throughout the series. Some of them are just products of the times but the series stance on defending whaling for Japanese culture is pretty hard to stomach.

Oishinbo is available in English from VIZ but they are nonlinear. Assorted chapters from different volumes are collected and wrapped around a general theme, such as sushi or ramen. I do wish we could just read all of the series but I understand why this was a much more financially viable choice for publication.

~dakazu

358 – Saikyo Selections 14 – Yu-Gi-Oh!

358 – Saikyo Selections 14 – Yu-Gi-Oh!

On this episode dakazu tries to explain his issues with Shuzo Oshimi’s Welcome Back, Alice and he gushes over Natsume Ono’s Badon! Then we dive into the world of children’s card games with a Saikyo Selections on Kazuki Takahashi’s Yu-Gi-Oh!! Morgana leads to charge on our discussion about everything from the 4Kids anime dub to the treatment of her favorite character Bakura!!!

Save 20% off Manscaped products by using our discount code: MANGAMAC

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Dick Fight Island

Dick Fight Island

Warrior representatives from Pulau Yong’unda’s eight islands battle in a sexual endurance tournament to decide the next king of the islands.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

Wow. I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed reading this. It is such a ridiculous concept to make a hardcore Boys Love manga about such a silly concept of a battle between gorgeous men trying to make their opponent come first. Reibun Ike is clearly having fun with this and it shows, from the fantastic facial hair to the most elaborate cod pieces. When a prostate massage is presented as an unknown technique that puts one warrior at a huge advantage, all I can do is howl with laughter at how absurd everything is. This is easily one of the most entertaining books I’ve read in a long time.

It’s available in English from SuBLime.

~dakazu

Yu Yu Hakusho

Yu Yu Hakusho

A manga about delinquent Yusuke Urameshi who dies saving a child. Since it was not his time to pass on, he is offered a chance at reviving and goes on the become a spirit detective for the Underworld.

We’ve done a Retrospective on this series.

This is an absolute classic. While is starts as a ghost procedural, once Yu Yu Hakusho shifts into battle manga it really takes off. The dark tournament is one of the best arcs out of all shonen manga. It’s really such a shame that Yoshihiro Togashi struggled so much with health issues and pushback from editors while he was drawing this series. At least now with Hunter x Hunter he’s given free reign over his chapter release schedule.

English editions are available from VIZ.

~dakazu

Thermae Romae

Thermae Romae

A manga about an ancient Roman bathhouse architect Lucius, who time travels to modern Japan and gets inspired by their bathing customs and advancements.

We’ve discussed this on an old episode.

Here it is! Mari Yamazaki‘s hit comedy that led her to do other historical Roman and Greek manga like PLINIVS and Olympia Kyklos. The premise is so zany but fun, it’s an intersection between historical edutainment and a reverse isekai. I revisited this after Yamazaki teased Lucius’ return in Olympia Kyklos and it’s still as hilarious as ever.

You can buy digital English language omnibuses from Yen Press.

~dakazu

Isekai Izakaya “Gen”

Isekai Izakaya “Gen”

Story about a modern day Japanese pub that’s serves citizens in the fantasy medieval kingdom of Oilia.

This series is directly linked to Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu as they’re both written by Natsuya Semikawa. They take place in the same universe and even have some characters cross over between the series. “Gen” is a bit different in some ways because the master of the pub focuses on more Western style foods than the Japanese foods found in Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu. It also has a family dynamic with the titular master “Gen”, his daughter Hinata, and Hinata’s boyfriend Shotaro. Besides those main differences, you have similar stories about different citizens of Oilia loving modern foods they’ve never tried before. Tsukasa Usui does a nice job drawing everything but I personally prefer Nitouhei Virginia‘s art in Nobu. Regardless, this was great additional reading for me.

You can buy English editions of Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu from Udon Entertainment.

~dakazu

Tsuma to Boku no Shoukibo na Ikuji

Tsuma to Boku no Shoukibo na Ikuji

A biographical series by Shigeyuki Fukumitsu about raising his children.

I’m a big fan of Shigeyuki Fukumitsu‘s manga. He’s drawn multiple series centered around his wife but this new series is all about his kids. Fukumitsu’s negative and defeatist attitude leads to a lot of humorous disagreements with his wife about how to raise his sons. What I wasn’t expecting was Fukumitsu to be so open about the complications about possible deafness his eldest son went through after being born. I’m glad that his son is able to hear now thanks to hearing aids, as the series continues to cover the growth of the kids.

Available to read in Japanese on Comic Days.

~dakazu

Boys Run the Riot

Boys Run the Riot

A manga about a teenager transman Ryo who struggles with finding acceptance from the world around him. He teams up with the new transfer student Jin to start their own fashion brand.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode or two.

I’m pretty conflicted about this series. This is a transgender narrative drawn by a transman manga artist Keito Gaku. That’s already an impressive feat unto itself. But some aspects of the story seem forced like a generic narrative you see in commercial media. It’s hard to say if these choices were mandated from editors at the publisher or from Gaku himself. I’m interested in revisiting the series for the podcast and having a discussion about it when the final 4th volumes comes out.

You can pick up English editions from Kodansha.

~dakazu

357 – Shojo Showdown 1 – Magic Knight Rayearth, From Far Away, Red River

357 – Shojo Showdown 1 – Magic Knight Rayearth, From Far Away, Red River

This week dakazu reads about an adorable/horrifying cat creature with Neko wo Hirotta Hanashi. and about a romance between divorcee and spoiled teen with Promise Cinderella! Then we launch another Triple Dip offshoot called Shojo Showdown by looking at isekai shojo titles Magic Knight RayearthFrom Far Away, and Red River!!!

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Bota Bota

Bota Bota

A manga about an extremely germophobic woman, who can’t touch men without spraying blood from her nose, trying to lose her virginity and find love.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

As a mega fan of BEASTARS and its creator Paru Itagaki, I was predisposed to check out this series. When I read the first chapter and saw the main character Mako running naked through the streets, covered in blood, chasing a man, and shouting “I need to disinfect your penis with this boiling water!”, I knew why Itagaki decided to draw this manga. What follows is a whacky dark comedy about Mako overcoming her upbringing and finding love.

This is short, weird, and wonderfully entertaining. There are plans to release this book in five other languages so hopefully we’ll get to read it for the podcast in the future.

~dakazu