Les Misérables
A manga adaptation of Victor Yugo‘s famous novel.
…Yup. That’s pretty much what it is.
…and all it was.
…I only checked it out so I could say that I read of manga version of Les Misérables.
…sorry.
~dakazu
Les Misérables
252 – Tokyo Tarareba Girls part 3
252 – Tokyo Tarareba Girls part 3
On this episode we celebrate with Morgana “Manga Maven” Santilli about Tokyo Tarareba Girls winning the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material-Asia before we continue with our Retrospective review into volumes 6 & 7!!!
Make sure to follow Morgana on Twitter and check out her website!
Teenage Renaissance! David
Teenage Renaissance! David
A comedy manga about a high school boy who resembles Michelangelo’s David.
This one was kind of a one-trick pony in my eyes. All the jokes would come from the impressive re-creations of famous sculptures and artworks by Yuushin Kuroki and putting them in context of a wacky high school setting. I’m actually surprised it lasted as long as it did in Weekly Shonen Jump before getting axed.
~dakazu
Food Fighter Taberu
Food Fighter Taberu
A manga about the strongest competitive eater named Taberu.
This is a series by the great comedy manga artist Kyosuke Usuta. I’ve always enjoyed his absurdist and irreverent humor combined with an art style that looks professional in one panel and like a child’s chicken scratch drawing in the next.
Food Fighter Taberu is a decent comedy but it isn’t quite up to par to Usuta’s other series like Sexy Commando Gaiden: Sugoi yo!! Masaru-san or Pyu to Fuku! Jaguar, which are both god-tier in terms of comedy.
~dakazu
Tokyo Alien Brothers
Tokyo Alien Brothers
A manga about 2 brothers who are actually aliens in charge of assessing Earth for colonization.
I loved Keigo Shinzo‘s Midori no Hoshi so I was excited to get into this. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the 2 brothers as the younger Fuyunosuke has assimilated well into society and while the older Natsutaro is a bumbling fool who’s always in danger of outing himself as alien. Their day to day interaction with humans are equally hilarious and endearing.
Looking forward to reading more!
~dakazu
B – Brahms 20-sai no Tabiji
B – Brahms 20-sai no Tabiji
A manga about a young Johannes Brahms traveling with violinist Ede Reményi.
This series is strange. The main story happens concurrently with a modern high school student discovering the music of Brahms and trying to get with a girl who loves classical music. Even the main story suffers from spending a large chunk of the backstory on some side characters. If you’re doing a biographical manga about Brahms then just focus on him! Especially because this is only 3 volumes long.
Waste of what could’ve been an interesting bio-manga.
~dakazu
BEASTARS
251 – Tokyo Tarareba Girls part 2
251 – Tokyo Tarareba Girls part 2
This week we continue our Retrospective on Akiko Higashimura’s Tokyo Tarareba Girls with Morgana “Manga Maven” Santilli! We also talk about bugs and critters for a long time!!!
Make sure to follow Morgana on Twitter and check out her website!
Billy Bat
Billy Bat
A manga about a comic creator who’s character called Billy Bat turns out to be an entity that has been influencing history since the dawn of man.
Here it is. The manga that became the progenitor of our Manga Machinations podcast.
This title is so full of insane plot twists and mystery that it became the focus of our first discussions recorded in audio format. We spent hours theorizing the truth behind the white & black bat, breaking down the connection between Hitler and Lee Harvey Oswald, and trying to predict where/when the story was headed next.
Unfortunately in typical Naoki Urasawa fashion, the series ended with a whimper which also didn’t wrap up most of the confusing plot threads. But overall, the mountain of conspiracy theories we built on the way ended up being the best thing that could of ever started our journey as a manga podcast.
Here’s to you, Billy Bat. I pray for the day you’ll be officially available in English.
~dakazu
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
A manga taking place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where giant mutated insects live in a poisonous forest that threatens to engulf the remnants of humanity. The princess Nausicaä must fight to defend her home and bring peace between the warring kingdoms.
Hayao Miyazaki’s manga opus. It’s crazy to think that when he started this series he was told it would not be adapted into a film, only for it to become the critically acclaimed movie that helped cement his career as an animator.
The manga is far more richer in content than it’s film counterpart. Nausicaä ends up seeing the destruction of war first-hand as she makes her way through the vastly different kingdoms. In the end she learns the truth behind the world and helps shape the future of humanity. It’s an epic story with strong environmental themes that Miyazaki is known for.
This series is a must for any Studio Ghibli fan.
We did a Retrospective on this.
~dakazu