433 – Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey part 2
On this episode dakazu talks about Vanilla Spider, Kimi to Picopico, and Futari Switch! Then we finish our Retrospective on Akiko Higashimura’s memoir about her beloved art teacher in Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey!!!
Continue reading318 – One Shot 31 – Venus in the Blind Spot
We’re wrapping up October Extravaganza with the master of manga horror himself, Junji Ito! We’re reviewing his latest collection of spooky stories in Venus in the Blind Spot! Join us as we discuss our favorite stories from the book and share our admiration for Ito himself!!!
Continue readingMe and the Devil Blues
A fictionalized tale about the legendary blues musician Robert Johnson who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for the gift of music.
It’s pretty interesting to see Akira Hiramoto use his realistic art style not for comedy, like in Prison School. It really makes you realize how good his ink work and shadowing really are.
I enjoyed what a read and hope to read more! Published by Del Rey.
~dakazu
211 – Manga in Motion 33 – Animal World
Apologies in advance as Seamus had to skip this week’s podcast so we changed from our planned retrospective to another Manga in Motion instead. So at darfox’s request we look at the Chinese Animal World based on Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji!
Continue readingPrison School
A manga about 5 boys who attend the recently co-ed elite private boarding school Hachimitsu Academy and are imprisoned on campus after peeking the girl’s bathing area.
This is a manga that fits the concept of a serious comedy, that was described in the manga Bakuman, to a T. All characters are 100% serious about their actions and motivations but they are so extreme and over-reacting that it looks absurd from the reader’s perspective. The extreme part helps me look past the insane amount of fan service and T&A in this series because at the manga is so self-aware of what it’s doing. Though I do think Akira Hiramoto is having his cake and eating it too when it comes to the vice president character.
This manga is hilarious. The anime and live-action were also hilarious. Available from Yen Press.
~dakazu