Noise

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Noise

A prequel to BLAME! that explains the origins of the city. The story follows a young detective as she investigates a cult who are trying to summon safeguards into base reality to cause chaos.

This one is going a bit divisive for fans of BLAME!. I personally like having an official explanation about the origins of the silicon life and the birth of the city but I can also see how this removes that mystery from BLAME!.

There’s also a bonus chapter of Tsutomu Nihei‘s one-shot prototype of BLAME! which is really interesting to see because it shows just how much Nihei expanded on both his art and story before his official debut.

Currently available from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

Ookami no Ko Sora wa Senjou ni iru

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Ookami no Ko Sora wa Senjou ni iru

A manga about a human child Sora who is being raised by a wolf beast soldier Dill in the war zone of Iris island.

I really liked this manga. It reminded a lot of Peleliu – Rakuen no Guernica in the way the cute characters juxtapose the horrors of war. In this case we have a conflict between humans and a beast race of anthropomorphized animals. This series is different from BEASTARS as it includes the existence of humans.

The wolf soldier Dill is a great lead character. There’s lots of time exploring his conflicting feelings as a cold ruthless killer and a guardian of a human. You also get the naive perspective of war through the eyes of a child with Sora. I’m looking forward to seeing how Sora’s presence will effect the conflict between man and beast.

Currently serialized online on Kurage Bunch.

~dakazu

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

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Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

A manga about three high school girls who team up to start their own anime production club called Eizouken.

This is a really interesting series for me. You can tell Sumito Oowara has experience in creating animation based on how technically he breaks down the process in this manga. I love how manga sub genres can teach you about different topics. In this case, you get the process of making animation. Oowara’s art even looks like animation cels. The way he draws movement is very reminiscent of animation frames. It gives this book a distinct look and feel as you read it.

I find it hilarious that the recent anime by Masaaki Yuasa happened in part because Yuasa did an ego search.

An English edition is set for release later this year from Dark Horse Comics.

~dakazu

Donburi Iinchou

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Donburi Iinchou

A manga about a prissy class representative who falls in love with various rice bowl dishes.

Decent food manga. The episodic story follows a one-note gimmick involving the class rep demanding a rice bowl dish from her male classmate. He wracks his brain but always delivers on her request. There’s a light romance storyline between them but the main focus is on the various dishes. Hiroshi Ichikawa‘s artwork is simple so the visuals appeal of the different dishes aren’t anything to write home about but they’re still creative and look tasty. I might try making some of them myself.

~dakazu

Wave, Listen to Me!

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Wave, Listen to Me!

A manga about a young disgruntled woman who ends up becoming a late-night radio talk show host.

We’ve discussed this manga on a recent episode.

If you’re familiar with Hiroaki Samura‘s works like Blade of the Immortal this this manga will shock you with how different it is. We follow foul-mouthed Minare as she’s basically blackmailed into working at a local radio station. The witty dialogue reminds me a little of Gintama. Samura’s dramatic art works great in contrast for hilarious moments between all the characters. I’m cautiously optimistic for this one and I really hope I won’t run any of Samura’s commonly used themes of sexual assault you find in his other stuff.

Great anime adaptation is airing right now and the manga is available from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

Rokuhōdō Yotsuiro Biyori

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Rokuhōdō Yotsuiro Biyori

A manga about four men who run the Rokuhōdō tea house and the customers they serve.

A story about four pretty-boys running a cafe isn’t typically what I look for in my food manga but I love this series. It has a really pleasant tone because all the characters are very caring and supportive of each other. Whether the customers find some comfort food or the four men work together to overcome a problem, everything here is super heartfelt and just gives me warm fuzzy feelings.

There was an nice anime adaptation as well!

~dakazu

294 – Manga in Motion 43 – Paranoia Agent

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294 – Manga in Motion 43 – Paranoia Agent

On this episode dakazu finds the perfect manga for Manga Machinations with Olympia Kyklos and learns that Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 isn’t completely terrible. Then we cancel Carl Jung and the collective unconsciousness as we breakdown Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent!!!

Continue reading →

Sensei Hakusho

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Sensei Hakusho

A manga about manga artist Yoshihiro Togashi told from the eyes of his former assistant Kunio Ajino.

I’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

This book was a fun read as a fan of Yoshihiro Togashi. While Ajino doesn’t really share any interesting backstories behinds the creation of Yu Yu Hakusho, he does draw Togami as a caring manga artist who looked after his assistants. There were a few fun stories in there, like how Togashi lost his pet snake or how we casually beat Resident Evil in record time.

Though I wish there was more content, it still was really enjoyable to get a little glimpse into Togashi as a person.

~dakazu

Yamada Meshi

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Yamada Meshi

A manga about a teenager girl who visits and chronicles her meals at different eateries that are named “Yamada”.

Pretty good food manga. This book is very similar to Shizuka Itou‘s other food manga Misoji Meshi as it features real life eateries you can visit in Tokyo. I still really love Itou’s sketch-like ink work but I though the story of a girl trying to connect with her separated father was a little underwhelming. I think it’s a good thing that this is a single volume short series.

~dakazu

Nodame Cantabile

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Nodame Cantabile

A manga about music university student Chiyaki, who wants to become a conductor. However he has a fear of flying and also becomes the object of affection of eccentric weirdo pianist, Nodame.

This manga was a huge hit in Japan and my mother started reading it. As someone who has gone to a music conservatory myself, I could highly relate to all the jokes revolving around performers and musicians. I think Tomoko Ninomiya did an excellent job taking the setting of a music university and mix it with some hilarious comedy. My only complaint is I wasn’t really into the ending because it abandoned the fun side characters and I didn’t like how Chiyaki and Nodame were being manipulated by others.

Still an excellent manga about classical music and that onto itself deserves high praise!

~dakazu