Anonatsu 1959

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Anonatsu 1959

A manga about a high school pitcher who time travels back to 1959 to teamup with his grandfather to become national champions.

As far as sport manga go I’m enjoying this one. Mixing baseball with historical context of how the sport was back in 60′s Japan is an interesting twist. It almost feels like an isekai storyline as main character Natsu possesses modern baseball techniques that overwhelm his opponents. It just started it’s run in Weekly Shonen Sunday and I’m happy to have a new manga that I can look forward to.

~dakazu

Black Clover Review

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Black Clover Review

This review was written with knowledge of the current chapters(as of this writing). But the content of the review mainly cover the first few Volumes. This is not a spoiler free review but we deliberately avoid talking in detail of later story arcs.

If you’ve heard about Black Clover by Yuki Tabata, you’ve likely heard about how derivative it is of Naruto, or maybe you’ve heard of how Shonen Jump is trying to push it and manufacture some sort of popularity. While I can’t speak to the marketing push or resulting fandom, I can speak to the qualities of Black Clover and why it’s my favorite battle manga. It’s a book with a lot of familiar elements, but one that focuses so acutely on the strengths of its characters and genre that any comparisons to juggernauts like Naruto end up being favorable.

Continue reading →

Nano Hazard

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Nano Hazard

A manga where corrupt nanomachines grant humans special powers or kill them.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

Decent sci-fi horror series. The art work by KAZAANA is decent but I think the story from Showshow Kurihara is a little rough. Kurihara is known for his seinen works like the Uramiya Honpo series and I think they struggled a bit with making an engaging shonen storyline. This series was only 3 volumes and I can’t help but feel it was canceled due to lack of popularity.

Available to read on MANGA Plus.

~dakazu

Yona of the Dawn

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Yona of the Dawn

A manga about a princess who must escape her kingdom of Kohka with her bodyguard Hak after her beloved cousin Su-won overthrows the throne.

Really nice series. I’ve heard about this one before but never read it until we covered it for the podcast. I was really impressed with Mizuho Kusanagi’s designs as they give the world a general Asian backdrop. The story is a bit rote so far and Yona herself starts off pretty boring but it’s hooked me enough that I want to keep reading. The epic fantasy featuring many handsome men reminds me a lot of Basara by Yumi Tamura.

Available from Viz Media.

~dakazu

Alice & Zoroku

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Alice & Zoroku

A manga about an old man who ends up looking after a young girl with powers that bring imagination to life.

I really like this one! The odd couple pairing of powerful and arrogant Sana with crotchety old Zoroku works perfectly. Zokuro scolds Sana often but with purpose and she slowly begins to learn right from wrong. I’m really interested in reading more as they escape the organization that kept Sana locked up like a lab rat and other girls with powers start to appear.

This is a side note but they sure love using Alice in Wonderland as a motif in manga.

Available from Seven Seas and there’s an anime adaptation as well.

~dakazu

Moe-tai

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Moe-tai

A manga about an overweight teen who falls in love with boxing after being forced to lose weight by his sister.

Not too bad. The story is pretty simple so the short length works within it’s single volume. Iqura Sugimoto’s character art that made the main character really likable. I really liked how he never lost weight to change his look and his revelation was more about finding something he could set as a goal.

~dakazu

247 – Manga in Motion 38 – Mind Game

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247 – Manga in Motion 38 – Mind Game

It was a surprise that Seamus was available this week so we changed our schedule around to bring you another Manga in Motion instead! We take a look at the trippy avant-garde animation sequences in Masaaki Yuasa’s directorial debut, Mind Game!!!

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Sankarea: Undying Love

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Sankarea: Undying Love

A manga about a zombie fanatic who helps a girl commit suicide but instead turns her into a zombie.

I had heard a lot about this series because people really like the anime. When I finally got around to reading it I found the art was nice and story was alright but everything felt bland. I think the worst thing is that it was really predictable and the story played out like I thought it would. There’s lots of female characters so you can consider this bit of a harem manga and also plenty of fan service that I don’t care for.

It’s a fine series but I think ultimately a lackluster one for me.

Available from Kodasha Comics.

~dakazu

Ajin: Demi-Human

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Ajin: Demi-Human

A manga about a boy who discovers he’s an immortal ‘Ajin’ and must escape from the government that hunts him down.

This series is pretty good. I like how Ajin are setup as monsters in the eyes of society. You sympathize with Kei and his plight of trying to figure out what he is and the way others now view him. It reminded me a lot of Parasyte.

The story ramps up nicely as Kei discovers people who help him and other Ajin who seek to use their powers to strike back at the government. The use of Ajin immortality as a respawn allows creator Gamon Sakurai to setup some unique action sequences. Sakurai also introduces these creepy physical entities that the Ajin can summon called Black Ghosts. They work almost like a stand from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and there of plenty of nice fighting between them.

Solid story and art. I recommend it. Available from Kodansha Comics.

~dakazu

Kyoto Kosodate Sanpo

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Kyoto Kosodate Sanpo

A manga about Junko Kubota raising her children while experiencing the local delicacies of Kyoto.

Another fun read for me. Kubota’s cute art style works great with the many comedic moments that happen with her family. I liked the dynamic that she shared with her husband and children as they revisited classic Kyoto eats from her own childhood. The children worked perfectly for food reactions and Kubota picked some choice moments that genuinely put a smile on my face.

~dakazu