H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness

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H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness

A manga adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft‘s At the Mountains of Madness.

Gou Tanabe continues to adapt Lovecraft stories. This one is the best of the adaptations because unlike The Haunter of the Dark, The Hound and Other Stories, or The Colour Out of Space it’s a full series told over two omnibuses. This really allows Tanabe to fully realize the sights and horrors of the ancient city in Antarctica. His artistic interpretation of Shoggoth is truly impressive.

It’s available from Dark Horse Comics. If you’re a Lovecraft fan you will love this.

~dakazu

GIGANT

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GIGANT

A manga about a high school student who meets his favorite porn star who has gained an alien power to grow in size.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

This book is VERY Hiroya Oku. And by that I mean everything from the story to characters is very similar to Oku’s other works like GANTZ and Inuyashiki. You have strange humanoid aliens who dress strangely, a horny teenage protagonist, an excessively sexy female character, fantastical alien creatures, violent action scenes, and weird self-promotional scenes praising Oku’s other manga.

Basically if you’ve read Oku’s other stuff and like it, you’ll like this. Not really my taste but I’ll keep skimming it as I read through my issues of Big Comic Superior.

It’s available from Seven Seas Entertainment.

~dakazu

296 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 4

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296 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 4

On this episode Seamus prepares to study Buddhist philosophy for Land of the Lustrous, Darfox checks out alternative manga Tsukiko and the Satellite and other stories, and dakazu continues to enjoy killer monkeys with Monkey Peak the Rock! Then Seamus sticks around for our Yu Yu Hakusho Retrospective as we finish up the dark tournament and get into the beginning of chapter black!!!

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Dokyoboshi

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Dokyoboshi

A manga about a Mars space exploration mission gone horribly wrong which leads a young Japanese trucker named Dokyo to become an astronaut.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

Wow, this manga is great. The astronaut training parts feel extremely close to Space Brothers and they’re good but the science fiction segments on Mars are the highlights here. A lone surviving astronaut tries to make sense of the incident that killed the rest of his crew and the mysterious Tesseract that stalks him. The Tessaract is able to manipulate objects that ignore perspectives which make for really interesting art work within the panels.

I’ve read a few of Yoshihiro Yamada‘s manga but I personally loved this one. I feel like science fiction is actually Yamada’s strong suite even though he’s more known for his historical series Hyouge Mono. I think it’s a damn shame that Dokyoboshi was canceled and the story is incomplete. Now I know why there are fans still clamoring for this series to get rebooted and finished. And I’m one of them now too.

~dakazu

Olympia Kyklos

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Olympia Kyklos

A manga about an athletic ancient Greek vase artist, Demetrios, who time warps to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and becomes inspired from learning about field days, Olympic marathons, manga, and professional wrestling.

We’ve discussed this manga on a recent episode.

I think this manga is great but considering I’m a big fan of Mari Yamazaki it’s not surprising. This series is more lighthearted and comedy oriented so it’s closer to Thermae Romae than PLINIVS. I said it on the podcast as well but considering this manga covers Osamu Tezuka‘s Phoenix and professional wrestling, Olympia Kykylos might as well be the official representative of Manga Machinations.

~dakazu

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

A manga about a young man named Tanjiro who returns to his home to find his family slaughtered and the only living sister transformed into a human eating demon. To protect his sister and cure her, Tanjiro begins training to become a member of the secret Demon Slayer Corps.

So Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba just ended this week.

I’m really shocked that Koyoharu Gotouge was able to end the series considering how popular it became in 2019 after the excellent anime adaptation. It even outsold One Piece.
Gotouge had been drawing this final battle arc since 2018 and went straight into a wonderful conclusion. I give major props to them for ending this series with a solid finish and not trying to stretch it out.

Thank you Koyoharu Gotouge for your work with a great shonen battle series!

Available in English from VIZ.

~dakazu

Mission: Yozakura Family

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Mission: Yozakura Family

A manga about a high school boy who marries his childhood friend and into her elite spy family. Now he must train to become a spy himself and protect his wife from enemies and himself from her over protective elite spy brother.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

Mission: Yozakura Family isn’t a bad manga. I like the unique spy family members who all have unique specifications. The overprotective and obsessed sibling plays into the sibling love troupe that I’m not a fan of. Still, this manga by Hitsuji Gondaira is very competent and entertaining.

Unfortunately it just doesn’t compete against other popular series in Weekly Shonen Jump. I’m pretty surprised it’s lasted as long as it has. Timing is probably a huge factor since Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, The Promised Neverland, and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs are ending. It might last a little longer but unless something changes soon this series will join the graveyard of canceled Weekly Shonen Jump manga.

~dakazu

Isekai Ojisan

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Isekai Ojisan

A manga about Takafumi’s uncle who has been in a coma for 17 years where the uncle has actually been sent to a different world filled with magic and monsters. The uncle is now awake and Takafumi supports him so they can make money with the uncle’s magical powers on YouTube.

We’ve discussed this manga on a recent episode.

I really like this manga which might surprise some people because I typically hate the isekai genre. However Isekai Ojisan takes isekai troupes and pokes fun at them so I love that. Bits like how the uncle was considered an ogre because he wasn’t a beautiful looking human like everyone else or how his overpowered strength only made him feared are hilarious. Also the uncle was a die-hard SEGA fan so there is a good amount of video game humor thrown in this book as well.

A great comedy. I look forward to reading more!

~dakazu

Shūkan Shonen Hachi

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Shūkan Shonen Hachi

A manga about an aspiring manga artist with barely any talent who enrolls in the cutthroat Onigahama manga school.

This manga is decent but just that and nothing special. Eiji Masuda‘s followup to his hit romantic comedy My Monster Secret: Actually, I Am… didn’t play on his strengths of comedy and cute female characters. Instead it focused on dramatic heartfelt moments where the titular character Hachi would work hard to rise up against challenges thrown his way. Unfortunately they never worked in my opinion. The popularity of this series never grew and it was canceled after five volumes. I hope Masuda finds success with a different series in the future.

~dakazu

295 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 3

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295 – Yu Yu Hakusho part 3

This week Morgana teases more BEASTARS, Seamus can’t process what’s happening in Land of the Lustrous, and dakazu read a manga adaptation of Nobel Prize winning The Unwomanly Face of War! We also discuss Shueisha’s JUMP Manga School before getting back to our Yu Yu Hakusho Retrospective where we examine the Dark Tournament and find it exactly like wrestling booking!!!

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