Bougyaku no Kokekko
A manga where a group from an orphanage must survive a world where all adults have turned into giant murderous chickens.
Another “X-turns into X” horror manga. Gory scenes of humans being ripped apart and throw in some antagonistic human survivors as well. Honestly, there’s nothing that separates this from Shibuya Goldfish or all the shock horror stuff out there.
Someone find me one where blow-up dolls are the monsters so I can at least have a laugh.
~dakazu
Hitokiri
A historical manga about the assassin Okada Izō who worked under Takechi Hanpeita during the Bakumatsu period of Japan.
The Bakumatsu period is my favorite historical time of Japan. Many samurai clashed to over throw the government. Izō is one of the more notable assassins during this time and this book perfectly covers his struggles of being used as a weapon under Takechi. I’m glad that this manga covers Izō’s friendship with revolutionary Sakamoto Ryoma and fellow assassin Tanaka Shinbei.
I love Hiroshi Hirata’s art. It’s very realistic style that uses thick ink lines for contrast. Reminds me of Lone Wolf and Cub’s Goseki Kojima. Hirata has done many historical manga and this one is great like the rest of them.
~dakazu
Benjie
A manga about a young man who starts his new job as a zookeeper at North Safari Sapporo zoo.
Really great series about animals and the zoo. The main character Takatoshi has a lot of baggage from giving up on his dream of playing baseball and he struggles to learn about taking care of animals. It’s a pretty simple set up but Katsumi Tatsuzawa’s art work is excellent. The star animal is an Indian eagle-owl named Benjie and I like how he antagonizes Takatoshi. It’s fun to get Benjie’s inner dialogue as he watches Takatoshi struggle to become a full fledged zookeeper.
This manga is done in collaboration with North Safari Sapporo zoo, which actually exists and is known for it’s potential for danger. It’s also rare to see a manga that’s done in full color and not black and white.
You can check it out in Japanese online here.
~dakazu
246 – Triple Dip 36 – In/Spectre, Yona of the Dawn, Hibiki: Shousetsuka ni Naru Houhou
On this episode we check out the yōkai mystery of In/Spectre, surmise the Asian influences from Yona of the Dawn, and analyze a blunt genius in Hibiki: Shousetsuka ni Naru Houhou for another round of Triple Dip!
Continue reading35-sai kara no Osake Debyu
A manga where 35 year old Sachiko Orihara starts her journey to understand the appeal of alcohol.
This was pretty fun to read. I like how Orihara chronicles all her experiences from buying to tasting from a comedy aspect. She even drags her editor around with her, as they despair at how bitter beer is and how strong whiskey tastes. I’m happy that by the end she acquired the taste of a few different drinks.
Humorous and entertaining.
~dakazu
not simple
A manga about the unlucky life of a man named Ian.
I love Natsume Ono’s work but I was surprised with the somber tone of this book. It follows the life and death of Ian, a man who’s very existence was never really wanted. The story starts with his end and then begins with his childhood. The complex circumstances that fill Ian’s life lead to tragedy but Ono is still able to insert moments of strong relationships.
A sad but good tale. It’s available in English from VIZ media.
~dakazu
Shougi no Watanabe-kun
A manga diary about the daily life of Megumi Ina’s husband Akira Watanabe, a professional shogi player.
This is such a light hearted and fun read! Ina’s simple and cute artwork really brings out the humor of her eccentric husband. I personally loved how the behind-the-scenes look at professional shogi was mixed with weird quirks Watanabe has, such as his obsession with stuffed animals.
~dakazu
Kyoushirou 2030
A manga where Japan has become a dystopian military state filled with mutants where men and women must live separately. A brutal soldier travels across the land to in hopes of meeting his wife he has only interacted with through a virtual reality machine.
I remember reading my cousin’s volumes of Masaya Tokuhiro’s Shin Jungle no Ouja Ta-chan as a child and being both fascinated and traumatized by the stylish fight scenes and brutal dismemberment. Tokuhiro takes those elements and mixes them with more adult themes to make Kyoushirou 2030 a tale of violence, sex, and adventure.
Although there is a lot of sex, rape, and torture in this book, I felt like it wasn’t necessarily used for titillation. The love Kyoushirou feels for his wife he’s never met in real life really drives through the story, as they both suffer through terrible experiences. They both struggle with the guilt of what they’ve done to survive while trying to find solace in each other through virtual reality. I appreciated how Tokuhiko often used lots of slapstick and 4th wall breaking humor to liven the tone within this dark apocalyptic world.
A mature sci-fi adventure about two lovers against the world. I liked this one a lot.
~dakazu
Misu Misou
A manga about a middle school girl who takes murderous revenge on a group of bullies who burned her house down and killed her family.
Man the violence in this manga is something else. It’s quite shocking to read this if you only know Rensuke Oshikiri from his video game romance Hi Score Girl. The book is filled with so many gritty scenes of dismemberment, gore, and blood splatter, it really feels like a terrifying horror movie. The reactions of the victims particularly bring a real unsettling sense of reality to the violence that is often forgettable in other manga.
I really like how Oshikiri tells this tragedy. A single event compounds the problems between the students that lead to circumstances where everyone meets a gruesome end. Also, it has the worst and pathetic teacher I’ve ever seen in fiction
It’s a dark story but enjoyable if you can stomach the violence.
~dakazu
Renjou Desperado
A manga about a wandering warrior woman traveling through the wild west in search of the perfect husband.
This one surprised me with how good Ahndongshik’s art work was. Everything from the action scenes to the mystical monsters were beautifully drawn here.
This series mixes the western cowboy setting with a feudal Japan aesthetic. It’s not original by any means but the quality of the designs are just so impressive. I didn’t even mind the girl having a prosthetic arm that looks and works as a revolver. And you gotta love the use of English onomatopoeia that gave this manga a nice comic book feel.
My only minor complaint is that the main character’s motivation is to become a wife and every episode revolved around some potential male suitor. I’m not sure if that gets fleshed out in future volumes but so far it came across as pretty shallow. Also there’s a lot of fan service with the female characters but luckily it didn’t distract too much from the awesome action.
I’d like to read more to see if the story improves and find out if this is more than just some flashy action.
~dakazu