302 – Triple Dip 43 – BL Metamorphosis, A Man and His Cat, Hi Score Girl

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302 – Triple Dip 43 – BL Metamorphosis, A Man and His Cat, Hi Score Girl

On this episode Morgana catches up on Witch Hat Atelier and SPY x FAMILY, dakazu experiences the 27 Club with Shiori Experience – Jimi na Watashi to Hen na Oji-san, and we run down all the new manga licensing announcements! Then it’s time to make up for our last Triple Dip with three excellent series, as we examine A Man and His Cat, BL Metamorphosis, and Hi Score Girl!!!

Also congratulations to the winners of our 300th episode manga giveaway contest, Dwayne, John, and Dawn! Thanks again to everyone who participated!

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Himeno-chan ni Koi wa mada Hayai

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Himeno-chan ni Koi wa mada Hayai

A manga about a 9 year-old girl who thinks she’s ready for romance.

This is a cute slice of life comedy. The joke revolve around the titular Himeno-chan who has a crush on her classmate Ouji-kun. Ouji is oblivious to Himeno’s romantic advances and it’s hilarious to see him misunderstand the note she give him that says “Meet me behind the gymnasium. Come alone” as a threat. Creator Yuzuchiri does a good job balancing these jokes along with some sweet moments where Himeno and Ouji get along and just have fun as kids. My favorite character is Ouji’s brother, who is a stand up guy who helps his brother’s friends and starts getting noticed by Himeno’s older sister. I also like the wordplay with Hime meaning ‘princess’ and Ouji meaning ‘prince’.

Currently seralized on Kurage Bunch.

~dakazu

Pocha Koi

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Pocha Koi

A romantic comedy manga about Maru-chan, a chubby office lady who tries to lose weight but can’t help herself from eating.

This seems like a cute and lighthearted comedy but I take issue with how Kouji Murata is making jokes about a woman’s weigh. You get situations where Maru-chan is embarrassed because she wore the same outfit as the rival skinny girl and hers is super tight. Or Maru-chan get’s a bike ride from the handsome co-worker but her weight pops the tire. Everything seems to go back to the main character being overweight. And while Murata does exemplify Maru-chan’s cuteness when she’s happily eating, it doesn’t take away the fact that her weight is constantly being made fun of. A shame because I was hoping this would just be about a woman who loves eating.

~dakazu

Hunter x Hunter

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Hunter x Hunter

A manga about a young boy who decides to become a professional hunter to locate his hunter father. He’s joined by his friends Leorio, Kurapika, and Killua as he begins his journey to pass the hunter exam.

Yoshihiro Togashi current series and mega-hit manga since Yu Yu Hakusho. I’ve been thinking about this series again since we just wrapped up our Retrospective on Yu Yu Hakusho. In many ways Hunter x Hunter is the amalgamation of everything Togashi wants to accomplish creatively. He continually creates new characters, story arcs, and various games with completely designed mechanics throughout this book. While I enjoy much of his creativity, at times it seems like the ideas really needed to be streamlined and edited down because the pages can end up being cluttered by the abundance of exposition and explanations.

This manga is currently on infinite hiatus as Togashi battles against health issues. While I understand the fans want to read more, I think it’s more important that Togashi is allowed to create this series at his own pace. The horror stories of his struggles during the serialization of Yu Yu Hakusho are not something I would wish on any creator. I sincerely hope fans of Hunter x Hunter will join me and wait patiently for its return.

BTW it’s ‘hunter hunter’. The x is silent.

Available in English from VIZ.

~dakazu

East, Into The Night

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East, Into The Night

A manga about a mysterious man who’s joined by a young huntress as they traverse their pitch black surroundings in search of the legendary ‘morning’.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

A decent adventure series. I was serialized on Jump+ and it was notable for being done in full color. Lots of good coloring and lighting of the backgrounds that worked hand in hand with the story about a world without daylight. Unfortunately it was canceled after only 12 chapters due to poor sales of the first volume. I think it’s really sad that the creator ANGYAMAN had to publicly say he felt awful that his editors were being badmouthed for his inability to make sales. But if volumes sales decide the cancellation of a series, this one was doomed to start because it was only being sold digitally due to the coloring.

You can read this manga on MANGA Plus for now but I’m not sure how long it will be available.

~dakazu

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