A Bride’s Story

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A Bride’s Story

A historical manga that follows a young woman and her new younger husband in late 19th century Central Asia.

I recently revisited this series after one of our Discord users talked about it. Kaoru Mori‘s art work is absolutely stunning. Her visual recreation of Central Asian culture through the clothes and oriental tapestries is absolutely gorgeous. Although the main romance between Amir and Karluk invokes some ‘older woman/young man’ or shota qualities, their relationship was common for the time and is historically accurate. Also while Mori is interested in developing their relationship, she doesn’t seem interested in showing saucy intimacy, which I appreciate.

This is an absolute wonderful manga and I fully recommend it. Available in English from Yen Press.

~dakazu

Kyoryū Senki

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Kyoryū Senki

A manga about a young man who swears revenge against the legendary dragon, Yamata no Orochi, that has resurrected and is wreaking havoc across Japan.

I was really surprised to see that Shingo Honda started this series in Weekly Shonen Magazine. His Hakaijuu series was a decent hit but it was more like a big fish in a small pond. This manga struggled against more popular series and ended up being canceled after 3 volumes. I just think Honda’s brand of horror and monsters isn’t suited for popular platforms.

~dakazu

301 – New Chapter Check-in 4 – Chainsaw Man

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301 – New Chapter Check-in 4 – Chainsaw Man

Morgana and Seamus take a break this week so Darfox and dakazu can talk about the newest story arcs of their favorite popular manga! In this episode they gush over the brilliance of Chainsaw Man, comment on the endings of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and The Promised Neverland, and give their impressions on newer series like Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Time Paradox Ghostwriter, and Hard-Boiled Cop and Dolphin!!!

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Heavenly Delusion

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Heavenly Delusion

A manga about a post-apocalyptic world where two youngsters travel across Tokyo in search of a safe haven called ‘Heaven’. Elsewhere inside a facility children are being raised with no knowledge of the outside world.

This is a really great sci-fi series. Masakazu Ishiguro does a great job telling this dual narrative of survival and confinement. The survival story is filled with typical post-apocalyptic troupes like dangerous adults but Ishiguro adds some unique monster designs to the mix. With the confined children, it’s a mystery to find out why their adult guardians are raising them inside this facility. It’s all drawn well and fun to read.

Available in English from Denpa.

~dakazu

Ashigei Shoujo Komura-san

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Ashigei Shoujo Komura-san

A manga about the new transfer student Komura who is a foot focused acrobat. When her classmate Tsukinaga accidentally ends up with her foot in his mouth, she proposes to him because it’s her family’s tradition to marry the person who kisses their feet.

This is a foot fetish ecchi series…

…and that’s really all there is to say about it.

~dakazu

Psyren

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Psyren

A manga where humans who use a mysterious phone card are chosen by psychic Nemisis Q and sent to a post-apocalyptic world of Psyren where they must fight with psychic powers to survive.

Revisiting this series recently. I really enjoyed this manga while it was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Toshiaki Iwashiro‘s previous work Mieru Hito never caught on and ended prematurely so I was glad Psyren was much better received. Still, it struggled to gain popularity as it was being pitted against titans like One Piece and Naruto. If it ever got an anime adaptation it might’ve been a bigger hit but that never happened. And that’s strange considering a battle manga with a solid premise wouldn’t be adapted to an anime.

Rereading this I now see how Psyren seems to be a combination of a lot of other series. Having human participants teleported and being forced to fight monsters is very similar to GANTZ. Extreme sadistic villains and allies are also very similar to Bleach. I still find this series to good but besides Iwashiro’s ability to draw creepy antagonists, nothing stands out as exceptional.

~dakazu

Meiko no Asobiba

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Meiko no Asobiba

A manga about a creepy girl with her strange left eye that trap targets in her mind. There, she murders them using children’s games.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

I’m a fan of Sakumo Okada‘s work. I enjoyed both Mazarian and Oni Shine. This book is my favorite of his titles. I really enjoyed the setting of 1970’s Japan and all the different games the children of that era played. Unfortunately like his other series, this one has already ended quickly. I really hope Okada will someday find a series that brings him continuing success because I’d love to read it and I don’t want him to disappear from the manga industry.

~dakazu

Muteki no Hito

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Muteki no Hito

A manga about an undefeated online mahjong player known as ‘M’ who reveals his identity playing in live broadcasted games to prove he isn’t cheating to win.

I’m pretty surprised this series was ever started in Weekly Shonen Magazine. Trying to do a mahjong manga in a shonen magazine is already a challenge and Shinobu Kaitani made this manga super technical and wordy. It honestly reads like a seinen series, which isn’t surprising since Kaitani’s most famous works like Liar Game are targeted at adults. I haven’t seen a mahjong manga succeed in a shonen magazine since Legendary Gambler Tetsuya. It’s no surprise that this book ended in 4 volumes.

I will say that I like this series and I think Kaitani did a good job making an engaging story once we got past the complex introduction. When you make ‘M’ a victim of a traffic accident that gives him perfect memory while removing his emotions, you can tell his character arc will be winning matches that will end with him gaining back his humanity. The story is further complicated by a poor teenager who discovers ‘M’, tries to take advantage of him for profit, and eventually becomes his friend and ally in proving he isn’t a cheater to the public and the online mahjong company.

I personally liked this series but I can see why it didn’t resonate with most of the shonen audience.

~dakazu

Kumauchi no Onna

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Kumauchi no Onna

A manga about a female hunter who is obsessed with shooting brown bears.

This is a pretty interesting manga. Compared to other manga about hunting like Sanzoku Diary, this one has a strong fictional story revolving around the main character Chiaki Kosaka. She’s a hunter who agrees to be accompanied by a young writer looking for an interesting story. As the writer follows Chiaki around, it becomes clearer and clearer that her obsession with hunting down bears is dangerous. Yabuta Ajima does a great job telling this story. I think their art work is a little rough but that’s a minor note considering how engaging the story is. I will say there are some very graphic scenes of violence as this manga doesn’t shy away from the dangers of a bear attack.

It’s currently serialized on Kurage Bunch but not available in English yet.

~dakazu

300 – Guest Gaiden 6 – Manga Lettering & Sweat and Soap with Sara Linsley

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300 – Guest Gaiden 6 – Manga Lettering & Sweat and Soap with Sara Linsley

We’ve reached another milestone on Manga Machinations with 300 episodes! To celebrate, we’re joined by the wonderful manga letterer Sara Linsley! She’s here to answers our questions about her job, tell us how she utilizes her background in software development for lettering, explain the differences between lettering manga and lettering Western comics, and give context for her lettering choices in Kintetsu Yamada’s Sweat and Soap!!!

Go follow Sara Linsley and check out her website!

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