307 – Kasane part 3
On this episode Seamus talks about Fukushima Devil Fish, Morgana gets a preview of Venus in the Blind Spot, and dakazu buys Paruno Gurafiti! We also discuss the serious issues involving arrest of Act-Age writer Tatsuya Matsuki for indecent acts against a minor. Finally, we return to Daruma Matsuura’s Kasane but Seamus is soured by the flashback in volume 9!!!
Continue readingRojiura Bunch
A manga about a runaway rich girl who befriends an old homeless man with a dark past.
I quite liked this series so I was pretty disappointed when it ended after 19 chapters. There’s a really charming aspect to this tale of a former special forces assassin who becomes the obsession of a young rich girl who just wants to be his friend. This leads to kidnappers targeting the rich girl and the old man saving her, which in turn leads to his former allies and enemies tracking him down. The old man just wants to live quietly in peace but when he’s not fighting he’s still surrounded by a colorful group of homeless characters.
Every part of this manga works great. The action is well drawn, the comedy is good, and the mystery behind the old man’s origins are engaging. When Spy x Family started I was immediately reminded of this series. So again, it’s such a shame that this series was canceled and Kabata Matsumoto hasn’t had a serialized manga since then. This ran on Jump+ and is still there to read.
~dakazu
Papa to Oyaji no Uchi Nomi
A spinoff series to Papa to Oyaji no Uchi Gohan that focuses on food that goes well with alcohol.
Papa to Oyaji no Uchi Gohan is an absolutely heartwarming manga that I love and I’m glad Yuu Toyota decided to make this side story focusing on adult dishes for the two single fathers to enjoy as they knock back a few cold ones. I plan on making some of these later for myself!
~dakazu
Houkago Wizard Club
A manga about three friends who enter the same fantasy world of Haikakin in their dreams.
This was a short lived fantasy action manga that ran in Weekly Shonen Champion. Looking back now you can see that it’s a mess of ideas thrown together with no payoff. Author Kyousuke Kagami introduces a lot of unexplained mechanics to the dream world of Haikakin, presumably to reveal them at a later date. The problem was that the series was canceled before he could do so, and probably partially because they didn’t explain a lot of things. The manga even starts off with 2 year flash forward with the main character trying to save someone from unleashing a huge magical explosion in the real world but we never got to learn anything about that situation because this series was cancelled. I feel bad for artist Yoshihiko Watanabe because this was yet another series like Versus Earth that ended prematurely for them.
Also there’s a scene where bandits pounce and all but rape a girl who loses in a fight against the main characters. It’s supposed to establish the cruelty of this world the protagonists are participating in but it just comes off as gross titillation. This happens after the teacher character warns the reader that she’s part of group of killers who are the worst, as if that’s supposed to justify what happens. It’s all very off putting to read and I don’t recommend this series.
~dakazu
Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha
A manga about the newly resurrected demon lord who wants a rematch against the legendary hero but finds him in a sorry state and living out of a one room apartment.
We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.
This manga is a real mixed bag for me. While the premise of a hero who becomes a deadbeat after saving the world isn’t new, I really enjoyed the odd couple pairing with the demon lord who’s quick resurrection has made them looking like a cute child. Creator Toufu presents some really interesting narratives about how the hero had a falling out with his former party members. Apparently the fighter Ganma has created his own republic declaring it separate from the kingdom? And the priest Fred is the secretary of the magic agency looking to recruit the hero to take him down? All of this stuff is super engaging and makes me interested to read more.
However this book is also filled with a ton of fan service. There’s the demon secretary working for the demon lord is dressed in a high cut swimsuit that completely exposes her behind. Also the demon lord themselves transforms into a high school girl without changing out of a child sized sailor school uniform. It’s all feels extremely excessive and I don’t care for it. I really with it wasn’t there because it’s distracting me from the parts of the story I wanted to keep reading. I think ultimately I should be like Seamus and check out another volume to see if I’ll stick around for the story despite the titillation I don’t care about.
~dakazu
Sayonara Shikyu
A manga biography by Yuki Okada about being diagnosed with cervical cancer and the surgery she underwent to remove her uterus.
We’ve discussed this on an previous episode.
Once again I have found another emotional non-fiction series. However unlike other depressing books about child abuse this one covers cancer. While the subject matter is serious I really loved Okada’s adorable art work and really funny expressions that helped add levity to everything. She effectively conveys her anxiety about her health and there’s a lot of heavy issues she addresses with the decision about leaving her ovaries or removing them.
Okada’s husband and her 2 year-old daughter are also featured along with other members of her family who helped support her. Surprising enough, the husband Yuji Terajima is the creator behind the mega-hit baseball manga Ace of the Diamond. A fair bit of the manga is dedicated to Okada’s relationship with Terajima and how Okada went out of her way to allow him to work uninterrupted but he quickly decided to take time off to take care of their daughter during her surgery. It’s very touching to see them both care for each other during this difficult period in their lives. And the moment when the daughter cries quietly after finally being reunited with Okada makes me cry every time.
This is a wonderful non-fiction manga about overcoming cancer. I know Okada is currently in the middle of drawing a followup to this series and I’ll definitely be reading it when she’s finished.
~dakazu
Mukidashi no Hakuchou
A manga about the perfect student Kakeru Shiratori who is a secret streaking exhibitionist.
This is a really ridiculous comedy. Kakeru is obsessed with the thrill of being naked at school and nearly gets caught every chapter but narrowly escapes. It’s pretty one note until Kakeru gets into naked battles against other streakers which is equally preposterous to read about. The series didn’t last on Jump+ and it ended after four volumes but luckily Tsurun Hatomune has recently found success with Mitama Security: Spirit Busters in Weekly Shonen Jump. I recommend reading Mitama Security: Spirit Busters because Hatomune has really perfected his comedy in it.
~dakazu
306 – Fantasy Magazine 2 – Science Fiction
Seamus is out this week so Morgana, Darfox, and dakazu submit their top science fiction manga picks they’d like to license for another edition of Fantasy Magazine! We also discuss Monster #8, Chainsaw Man, I Had That Same Dream Again: The Complete Manga Collection, Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha, Mieruko-chan, and more!!!
Continue readingMusume e ~Shourai Shinitaku nattara Koitsu wo Yome~
A collection of stories from Shinya Suzuki about raising his daughters.
I really glad Shinya Suzuki got the opportunity to make this series for Jump+. He explains in the beginning how after finishing he hit series Mr. Fullswing in 2006 he was muddling about without getting another series going. He started a blog during this period and eventually put up a manga titled “Dear Daughter, If you feel like dying in the future read this”(same title of this book) which gained a lot of buzz and praise online. This led to this serialization of auto-biographical comics focused on themes of raising children and family care.
These comics are thoughtful, heartfelt, and most importantly very funny.
Suzuki’s strength as a manga artist comes from his comedy chops and low-brow comedy to boot. Case in point, he introduces his wife as someone with thick eyebrows and even thicker poops and draws himself being thrown outside naked for revealing such secrets. Regardless of thick poops, Suzuki is extremely open about his frustrations and anxieties he has towards his children as a parent. It’s wonderful to see that he doesn’t shy away from mistakes he’s made so he can learn from them for the better.
This is a great auto-biographical series about raising kids. And thick poops.
~dakazu
Jyaken San Wa Sugu Bureru
A manga about a brother who’s life gets turned upside down when his sister finds a demonic sword she wants to keep. When the sword comes alive everything becomes a slapstick comedy in this world of fantasy, magic, and smartphones.
A long, long time ago I talked about a Dragon Quest V fanfiction manga adapatation Katachikubi dashita ossan no ato tsuketara tenkuu no tsurugi wo mitsuketa. It was a hilarious and beautifully drawn but was never finished. Well the reason it was unfinished was the artist Nikiichi Tobita started this series! While I’m sad I won’t get to read more Katachikubi dashita ossan no ato tsuketara tenkuu no tsurugi wo mitsuketa, I’m very happy for Tobita to have a paying job. Tobita is such a good artist it’s actually helps with the contrast to really silly slapstick antics the characters are going through. This is a really fun series and I look forward to reading more.
~dakazu