Cromartie High School

Posted on by

Cromartie High School

A wacky comedy manga about the residents of Cromartie High School, a place infamous for it’s delinquents.

Man this manga takes me back. This hilarious comedy was such a mega-hit in the early 2000’s. Eiji Nonaka might not be the most gifted artist but his jokes were razor sharp. Bizarre characters like Mechazawa and Freddie just add to the zany charm of this series. Unfortunately the manga is currently out of print and I don’t expect Kodansha to relicense this older title. However I can still enjoy the anime adaptation on Crunchyroll and RetroCrush.

~dakazu

Slime Life

Posted on by

Slime Life

A manga about a black mage and her adorable slime underling.

This is a super cute manga by Megasawara. At first the black mage is upset that the demon dispatch agency sent her a lowly slime but she becomes completely enamored by his cuteness. She even tries to find excuses to hug him. Eventually the story follows this slime and black mage going on adventures. The slime is earnest and honest and hard working and befriends everyone, friend or foe. This manga is really a lighthearted iyashikei that’s about best-boy slime and I think that’s great for what it is. Currently serialized on Jump+.

~dakazu

Witch Hat Atelier

Posted on by

Witch Hat Atelier

A manga about a young girl who accidentally discovers the secret behind the magic that exists in her world. Now she must train to become a witch and undo her mistakes.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

This manga is beautifully drawn by Kamome Shirahama. I love the concept of magic being linked with drawings as Shirahama herself says the idea came to her after someone commented about her art being like magic. While we’ve seen this premise of a student who trains in the ways of magic in series like Harry Potter, Shirahama’s amazing art work brings her magical world to life in it’s own unique way.

Available in English from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

308 – Kasane part 4

Posted on by

308 – Kasane part 4

Our penultimate episode on Kasane has brought us on a story trajectory we’re not happy about! We desperately try to predict where Daruma Matsuura is trying to lead us with the upcoming ending to these literal dramatics! We also talk about I Don’t Know How to Give Birth!, Meshi ni Shimashou, the cancellation of Act-Age, and more!!!

Continue reading →

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru

Posted on by

Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru

A manga about upperclassman Urushi Yaotome and freshman Ayumu Tanaka, who are the only members of the high school shogi club. Urushi tries to get Ayumu to confess his love but he refuses until he can beat her in a shogi match.

This is a very cute series. The dynamic is a bit similar to Kaguya-sama: Love is War but this book is going for a more sweet high school romance than ridiculous comedy. I like the title being a play on shogi as Ayumu’s name is the same kanji for the pawn piece in shogi. The pawn(Ayumu) keeps advancing past Urushi’s schemes and it’s really cute to see her get flustered. The character designs by Souichirou Yamamoto really work well. Reading makes me cheer them both on!

~dakazu

‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess

Posted on by

‘Tis Time for “Torture,” Princess

A manga about a captured warrior princess who is tortured by the demonic enemy forces. She fails to resist against “horrific” temptations like food and video games, and she always reveals her kingdom’s secrets but luckily the hell lord is too busy taking care of his daughter to take advantage of them.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

At the beginning the shtick gets old quickly as the grand inquisitor always presents a simple pleasure like fresh toast and at first the princess resists it and her magic sword praises her spirit. Then the grand inquisitor raises the stakes by adding a new element like the remains of beef stew and the princess is powerless to resist this. After she gives up a kingdom secret the hell lord never takes advantage because he’s caring for his young daughter. Rinse and repeat.

Eventually the series focuses more on the growing friendship between the princess and all the demons. The tortures all become exceedingly sweet and the series transitions into a full iyashikei/feel-good story about a princess being friends with the demon forces. I give Robinson Haruhara a lot of credit for keeping the story upbeat. The artist Hirakei worked on another comedy manga Shinmai Nitta-ism which was also hilarious and heartwarming so they are a prefect fit for this series.

I really enjoy this manga but I can see how it’s not for everyone. You can read it in English now on Manga PLUS.

~dakazu

Fire Force

Posted on by

Fire Force

A manga about a world destroyed by a great disaster and the survivors live in fear of spontaneous human combustion that transform them into flaming demons known as Infernals. The story follows Shinra Kusakabe, a new recruit of the Fire Force: fire fighters who specialized in pyrokinesis to battle and extinguish Infernals.

I’ve never read Atsushi Ohkubo‘s previous hit series Soul Eater so I didn’t have any expectation for this series when it started in Weekly Shonen Magazine. I was really surprised how great Ohkubo’s art was, especially his stylish action scenes. The world of Fire Force is also super engaging with lots of mysteries about the great disaster that decimated the lands. It’s got great characters with lots of personality.

However the character Tamaki is extremely problematic. Her character quirk is that her clothes keep falling off, making her a walking epitome of “lucky fanservice”. While she has her own agency and strong pyrokinesis powers, every appearance is accompanied with nudity. I find it extremely off putting that female characters in shonen are usually reduced to these kinds of representations. We’ve talked about this on the podcast as well but whether it’s for popularity sake or it’s mandated by the editors, many shonen action series seem to be stuck in an endless cycle of including fan service characters and I honestly wish it would stop.

I enjoy Fire Force a lot but it also really reinforced my issues with shonen manga in general. It’s available from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

Aozakura Bouei Daigakkou Monogatari

Posted on by

Aozakura Bouei Daigakkou Monogatari

A manga about a young man from a poor family that decides to attend the National Defense Academy of Japan to save money. There he learns discipline and duty as he begins his journey to becoming a commanding officer.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

This is one of the few manga I read regularly in Weekly Shonen Sunday. I like the comradely the protagonist gains with his fellow students as they train under the watchful eye of their seniors. It’s also an interesting look into the daily life at the National Defense Academy, which actually exists in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. It seems very similar to the United States Military Academy West Point. While might seem like this propagandized entertainment but I think Hikaru Nikaidou does a good job of balancing the brutal schedule the students face with the merits of strict training.

~dakazu

Mieruko-chan

Posted on by

Mieruko-chan

A manga about a high school girl Miko who tries her best at ignoring the horrific spirits she can see around her.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

I’m surprised with this book because it’s rare to find a good horror manga that works. The ghastly ghosts Tomoki Izumi draws are legitimately frightening and poor Miku can only try to pretend she can’t see them while freaking out inside her head. It leads to some tense horror as you wait for them to move on and she can cry safely at their passing. The series mixes these scares with comedy as Miku’s best friend Hana constantly keeps inviting ghosts around her and Miku has to improvise around them for her safety. There’s even a touching moment that involves Miku’s family members. All in all this is a really good horror series.

~dakazu

Romantic Killer

Posted on by

Romantic Killer

A romantic comedy about a video game and sweets loving high school girl with zero interest in romance who is suddenly forced by a magical being into a shoujo manga-like program full of handsome suitors pursuing her. The only catch is she’s banned from her favorite video games, sweets and beloved cat until she completes the program.

I wasn’t really into this series when it started in Jump+. It has a vertical scroll layout which it doesn’t really take advantage of it and it ended up leading to a lot of unused white backgrounds. It’s also in color which is nice but that accentuated the sparse backgrounds further. I did really like how the main character absolutely refuses to go along with her magical creature’s romantic angles for two handsome guys who suddenly enter her life. I think Wataru Momose has a real good handling on the comedy bits of this series but not anything that takes advantage of the vertical layouts. And to be fair, The Vertical World is the only web manga I’ve read that uses the vertical layouts effectively.

As I kept reading Romantic Killer I eventually really started liking the story, mainly because I liked how the protagonist would go out of her way to protect people she cared about. It’s usually a characteristic you see with male protagonists in shonen manga but it really works for our female lead. I was bummed when this ended suddenly but I assume volumes sales were poor so they axed it. It feels like a lot of these web manga are destined to end early if they’re survival is based on sales. A real shame for titles like this enjoyable romantic comedy.

~dakazu