Sake no Hosomichi

Posted on by

Sake no Hosomichi

A manga about an everyday salary man who loves drinking and eating.

I was initially drawn to Roswell Hosoki‘s simplistic art style when I picked up this series. I didn’t know Hosoki has been drawing Sake no Hosomichi since 1996 and that it’s still on going. Each chapter is super short story and focuses on either food or alcohol or some aspect of both. You can tell Hosoki loves to partake in both himself and that enthusiasm spills over into these stories. Hosoki has made a career out of drawing many different seinen series about food and drink. They’re all enjoyable to read and also full of great recipe tips as well. Love this book!

~dakazu

Air Gear

Posted on by

Air Gear

A manga about a teenager who begins his journey to become the best Air Trek rider and become a Storm Rider and reach the pinnacle at Trophaeum Tower.

I went back and started reading this series and boy does it not hold up. Oh!great‘s art work is so detailed it borders on excessive sometimes. Dramatic poses are filled to the brim with background effects that are so impressive to read. But this shonen battle manga by Oh!great is equally filled with excessive fan service. Oh!great started as a hentai artist and it shows. I’m not opposed to T&A but when the first chapter of this manga has implied sexual assault I just disengage from the story content.

Air Gear just has an aggressive tone within the characters and the story and that combined with the beautiful but blinding art work does not make for an enjoyable experience. I’m pretty sure I ended feeling this way when I read through this manga the first time. This type of manga worked well for the early 2000’s but I’ve moved past any interest I had with Oh!great‘s titles.

~dakazu

311 – One Shot 29 – Buffalo 5 Girls

Posted on by

311 – One Shot 29 – Buffalo 5 Girls

This week Seamus revisits Yuichi Yokoyama with World Map Room and Iceland, Morgana picked up Magician A on a whim, and dakazu talks about the bittersweet Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy! Then we dive into the world of sex workers and outlaws with Buffalo 5 Girls! This unfinished series by Moyoco Anno raises many questions like “Who did the coloring?” and “How was the story going to end?” for the hosts!!!

Continue reading →

Devil’s Line

Posted on by

Devil’s Line

A manga where vampires known as devils blend in among the human population. A young woman begins a dangerous relationship with a half-devil secret agent who is attracted to her.

We’ve discussed this manga on an older episode.

I would hear about this manga a lot while it was serialized but I never got around to reading it until we did for the podcast. Turns out, I really enjoyed this mostly generic vampire drama. Ryo Hanada isn’t the most talented artist so sometimes the action happening wasn’t that clear on the page. Also the story was heavy with government conspiracies so I had to read it the English editions from Kodansha to fully parse the story. While Darfox and Seamus didn’t enjoy this title, anyone like Morgana who likes reading about emo vampires will surely enjoy this manga.

~dakazu

Versus Earth

Posted on by

Versus Earth

A manga where humanity is battling against deadly pillars who threaten to exterminate them appear from the ground. Teenager Haruto Teragane is dragged into this battle after becoming partially infected by a pillar shard.

A very decent sci-fi shonen action series. I enjoyed reading it in Weekly Shonen Champion. I thought Yoshihiko Watanabe‘s action scenes were engaging and while the story setup by Kazutomo Ichitomo was a bit generic I still enjoyed reading about Haruto learning to harness his pillar powers for good.

Unfortunately this series was canceled mid-story after 9 volumes. I was pretty bummed about it but I just learned that Ichitomo went on draw a sequel series called Versus Earth – War Hammer. I’m excited to track it down so I can finally finish this story!

~dakazu

A Silent Voice

Posted on by

A Silent Voice

A manga about a bully who harassed a deaf girl who grows up and tries to find a way to atone for his sins.

We’ve covered this series as a Retrospective.

This is one of the best manga we’ve read for this podcast. Yoshitoki Oima does a fantastic job crafting a story that truly examines all aspects of bullying. I think her visual representation of placing “x” marks on characters faces is genius. The anime movie is good but suffers from having to cram 7 volumes worth of material into 2 hours. I highly recommend this series that’s available from Kodansha.

~dakazu

Kekkon Afro Tanaka

Posted on by

Kekkon Afro Tanaka

The latest in the Afro Tanaka comedy series about the life of afro haired Hiroshi Tanaka that focuses on his life as a newly married man who is starting a family.

Masaharu Noritsuke‘s Afro Tanaka series has been running since 2002 in Big Comic Spirits. It started with Hiroshi in high school and followed his life as he drops out of school, moves to the city, travels throughout Japan, starts a relationship, and now focuses on his married life. And throughout this long running series Noritsuke’s jokes are so good I’m still enjoying this latest iteration. Afro Tanaka works because it combines dumb happenings, sharp wit, and extreme overreactions into a perfect blend of comedy. I’m sure it will never be published in English which is a damn shame because it’s one of my favorite comedies.

~dakazu

Tokachi Hitoribocchi Nouen

Posted on by

Tokachi Hitoribocchi Nouen

A diary manga by Yuji Yokoyama about moving to Tokachi, Hokkaido and starting a farm to grow vegetables from scratch to make curry to serve other manga artists like Gosho Aoyama and Mitsuru Adachi.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

This is one of the only manga I look forward to reading in Weekly Shonen Sunday. I just love the ridiculous set up for this series. Yokoyama’s previous title was an interview manga so the editorial department came up with this crazy project to have him grow vegetables from scratch and make curry as a thanks to the manga artists he got to interview.

It’s a wild idea but also totally hilarious as Yokoyama draws about how he had to buy land, buy a car, and find a place to live before he even begins to try growing vegetables. I love the cute super deformed character art Yokoyama uses because it works so well as he continues to make mistakes over and over. This is a hilarious non-fiction series and I’m surprised it runs in Sunday.

~dakazu

Watashi to Watashi

Posted on by

Watashi to Watashi

A manga made up of two works by Mizu Sahara. One is about a petty thief who is approached by a high school girl who says they’re in love with them. The other is about two very different high school girls who share the exact same name.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

I was interested in reading something by Sahara after we read Same Cell Organism for the podcast. I found this single volume release she did that features two of her works. While I enjoyed both stories for her beautiful artwork, they were really dramatic. I’d have to read more of her work to see if drama is just her wheelhouse but if that’s the case I’m not sure if I’d keep reading her stuff. It’s just not for me.

~dakazu

310 – Saikyo Selections 13 – Fushigi Yûgi

Posted on by

310 – Saikyo Selections 13 – Fushigi Yûgi

The wonderful manga letterer Sara Linsley is back to help lead this Saikyo Selection on Fushigi Yûgi! We dive into Yuu Watase’s beloved shoujo series along with the newest Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki which Sara lettered! We praise Watase’s amazing art, appreciate the 90′s pretty boys aesthetics, discuss the often dark drama, and explore the criticisms of certain cross-dressing characters!!!

Continue reading →