La Quinta Camera
A manga about 4 residents who share a living space in Italy and the different roommates that rent the 5th room.
This is a wonderful story about people and their relationships. Natsume Ono is a master of making interesting characters and portraying their interactions to make for an entertaining and heartfelt read.
Short and sweet. Recommended.
~dakazu
Kiichi!!
A manga about the strange fate and eccentric life of a boy named Kiichi.
We’ve discussed this series on a recent episode.
I’m a big fan of Hideki Arai’s manga as he has a penchant for creating and drawing characters who are very human-like in their flaws and dysfunction. He also doesn’t shy away from very adult topic that make his seinen series stand out to me in the same way Jiro Matsumoto’s manga do as well.
Initially I thought Kiichi! was Arai’s take on a child with special needs so I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t the case when the story follows the boy though his childhood. It goes into some really strange places and ultimately ends up with Kiichi fighting against government corruption to protect a friend. The series has a follow up called Kiichi VS that concludes the life of the character.
~dakazu
Gunjou no Magmel
A manga where a mysterious new continent filled with monsters and hidden secrets called Magmel appears suddenly where rescue specialists called Anglers work for a living.
Honestly speaking this manga really doesn’t seem that interesting. It’s obviously heavily inspired by Hunter x Hunter and other works by Yoshihiro Togashi. I’ve seen it on Jump+ but just started reading it after the anime began this season. The only unique thing I found was that it’s done by a Chinese artist Dainenbyou.
A pretty typical shonen adventure manga but I didn’t see anything that would keep me reading.
~dakazu
241 – One Shot 19 – Maiden Railways
This week we read about relationships that meet and travel at trains and train stations in Asumiko Nakamura’s Maiden Railways!
Continue readingChildren of the Whales
A sci-fi fantasy manga where survivors on a floating island above a sea of sand have telekinetic powers.
This is a fantastic series! I love that the creator Abi Umeda is approaching this as a transcription of a strange journal she came across in a mysterious bookstore. Umeda’s artwork is gorgeous and the world she’s crafted is intricate and very unique. It reminds me of WOMBS or Imuri. I’ll definitely be keeping up with this one.
An anime adaptation is available on Netflix as well.
~dakazu
Fukujuu Toshi
A manga where clothes become monstrous creatures who being devouring humans.
Yeah….
Another apocalyptic gore series. The only difference is the really dumb premise of clothes being a plot by alien invaders who were secretly biding their time to wait until their numbers had spread so they can take over the earth. The protagonist has somehow kept his clothes from fully taking over his body and he must now try and survive both clothes monster and other human survivors who question him.
Just writing this about this is enough to roll my eyes. Hard pass on this one for me.
~dakazu
We Never Learn
A romantic comedy about a male high school student who must tutor two girl geniuses in subject they are incompetent in.
I tried.
I really did, I swear.
The anime started and I tried to actually get into this manga but I just can’t.
Too much typical harem-style plots and excessive fan service for me.
~dakazu
Noise
A manga about a small and quiet country town that must deal with a stranger that is a criminal on the run.
Really interesting series. The story setup is almost more suited for a drama than a manga. After young men of the town deal with the stranger they must continue to hide what they’ve done as more people arrive to investigate their small town.
Also the title as very apt as the ‘noise’ of what happens begins to grow out of control.
I’m really interested to see how everything will end up playing out.
~dakazu
Tonari no Akujo
A manga about a woman who plots to steal her childhood sweetheart’s love by moving in next door and ruining his girlfriend’s life.
I enjoyed Tamaki Vanessa Chihiro’s Yokohama Doppelganger so I checked out this new book she did. This series is hella creepy because the evil woman Kanon takes her time to slowly manipulate her love and the girlfriend.
It’s a good slow burn.
~dakazu
H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories
Checked out another round of H.P. Lovecraft stories adapted into manga by Gou Tanabe. Tanabe’s artwork continues to be amazing as it really brings out the majesty and horror of Lovecraft. ‘The Temple’ might be my favorite one I’ve read so far.
Highly recommend these books for fans of both Lovecraft and horror in general.
~dakazu