Manga Machinations

Seamus starts us off this week with pop culture references to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift in Time Prisoners(Space-Time Prisoner). Then dakazu can’t believe a mangaka’s real account of living in the woods in Disappearance Diary while discovering Rensuke Oshikiri range in his works Misu Misou, Dero Dero, and Dohii! Obake ga Boku wo Penpen Naguru!(Gosh! The Ghost Keeps Slapping Me!). We close out with our Monster retrospective as we delve deeper into the characters of Eva Heinemann and Inspector Lunge!!!(covers chapters 33-50)

On this episode Seamus takes a break from manga to talk about the Vertigo comics, we discuss Robert Rodriquez directing Alita: Battle Angel, darfox revisits the Prison School chapter from last week that has been re-edited, and dakazu finds a manga from his youth that was released from Dark Horse as single issue comics called Grey. Then it’s time for more Monster! Now that the prelude is over, we get into the dramatic thriller storyline of Dr Tenma pursing Johan!!!(covers chapters 17-32)

On this episode Seamus catches up on March comes in like a lion(3-angatsu no Lion), darfox gets into translating slander in Prison School, and dakazu reads a horror version of Mushishi in Tsubaki and salary negotiations of professional baseball in Gurazeni: Money Pitch! Then we begin our newest retrospective of Monster, the work that made Naoki Urasawa what he is today! Listen as we discuss the story, characters and have dramatic read-throughs of the select scenes in what we’re calling Monster-piece Theater!!!(covers chapters 1-16)

On this week’s mega sized episode Seamus tries reading Happiness, dakazu forces himself to read the gore porn Elfen Lied and lite novel fluff Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? but rejoices in the return of Hunter x Hunter and Beet the Vandel Buster! Special guest and resident anime expert Kenzo talks about Gintama, Bleach, Boku Girl, and Tomo-chan is a Girl!(Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!). Then we run through the new shows of the Spring 2016 season, discuss some news about upcoming anime adaptations, and rant about shows that just wrapped up like Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Mr. Osomatsu(Osomatsu-san)! Finally we discuss the anime movie Miss Hokusai!!!

On this episode Seamus is still reading Golden Kamuy, darfox is over classical monsters, dakazu found another manga about Jobs and Wozniak in Steves, and laughs about the real model photo-shopped manga Gun Dragon Sigma. Then we compare two sports manga in our Side by Side segment! This time we look at the polar opposites The Prince of Tennis and Baby Steps!!!

Wrestlemania weekend won’t stop us from bringing you a new episode! Seamus talks about the newest arc of Vinland Saga, darfox is enjoying One Punch Man, dakazu loves the hilarious behind-the-scenes stories in Anime Prison School wo Tsukutta Otoko-tachi(The Men who made the Prison School Anime) and looks at Shuzo Oshimi’s earlier work Avant-Garde Yumeko. Then we jump into Tokyo Ghoul, Trigun, and Shuumatsu no Laughter for our latest Triple Dip!!!

This week darfox talks about the weekly wait for new chapters, dakazu talks about the popularity of battle royale style mangas in Weekly Shonen Magazine, and we explain what Mahjong is. Then it’s time for our new segment Side by Side!!! We’ll be looking at 2 different manga that cover the same sport and compare them! In our 1st episode we’ll be examining basketball manga Kuroko's Basketball(Kuroko no Basket) and Ahiru no Sora!!!

This week Seamus gives A Bride's Story(Otoyomegatari) another chance, we examine character archetypes from Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion, dakazu is surprised by the success of Mr. Osomatsu(Osomatsu-san) and applauds the end of Assassination Classroom, and we discuss how Italy loves Lupin III: Part IV. We then compare The Life of Gusko Budori against our last Manga in Motion, Night on the Galactic Railroad and see if the same creative team made another hit!!!

On this episode we have a lengthy discussion about Zack Davisson’s article Confessions of a Manga Translator involving what the role of a translator should be and the difference between translating manga compared to other mediums. Then we look at the super popular One Piece for Saikyo Selections! We examine the Arlong Park arc(covers chapters 69-95) to examine the major themes in Eiichiro Oda’s blockbuster mega-hit manga!!!

Welcome to our new segment Saikyo Selections where we’ll be looking at a single story-arc from a long running popular manga and analyze it’s major themes! The first series we’ll be covering is Naruto and the search for the 5th Hokage arc!(covers chapters 150-171) We also talk about March comes in like a lion(3-gatsu no Lion), Hyakushou Kizoku, and Billy Bat!!!

On this episode Seamus is reading about androgynous Richard III in Requiem of the Rose King(Baraou no Souretsu), dakazu likes the simple shoujo manga Mustard Chocolate, and we find out who’s involved in the Black Bat religion in Billy Bat! Then it’s the return of our Triple Dip section! We check out the beginning of Assassination Classroom author’s prior series Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, the magical fantasy world of The Ancient Magnus’ Bride, and examine Warring States Japan through glazed pottery in Hyouge Mono!!!

Itadakimasu! This week Seamus sees the connections of Ainu to Princess Mononoke from new Golden Kamuy chapters while dakazu loves more childhood tales of Hi Score Girl author Rensuke Oshikiri in Pico-Pico Shounen. Darfox is concerned about LGBT representation in Jisatsutou(Suicide Island) but dakazu appreciates how My Brother’s Husband handles the issues and we look at the newest chapters of Billy Bat. Finally, we discuss the 1985 adaptation of Kenji Miyazawa’s classic fantasy novel Night on the Galactic Railroad!!!

Welcome to our last Goodnight Punpun retrospective! We’ll be covering the final chapters and discussing what happens, talk about our favorite moments from the series, and ponder if the ending leaves Punpun happy or in hell!! GOOD VIBRATIONS!!!(covers chapters 122-147)

After taking a sidetrack talking about wrestling, dakazu loves the Dragon Quest 5 fanfic web comic Katachikubi dashita ossan no ato tsuketara tenkuu no tsurugi wo mitsuketa(How I stalked some dude with an exposed nipple and stumbled upon the Zenithian Sword) and the touching recollection of a mangaka’s recovery from the ICU, Shinde Ikikaerimashita Repo(I died and came back to Life: The Report). Then we dive into Goodnight Punpun and the dark choices that awakens Punpun to whom he always was!!!(covers chapters 100-121)

We kick off this episode with more Billy Bat! Then dakazu learns the true powers of licensed Disney songs in Sexy Joyuu-chan - Girigiri Mosaic while Seamus learns about the final twist in Orange. After that we explore more Goodnight Punpun and discuss Sachi and Punpun’s somewhat healthy relationship.(covers chapters 79-99)

Welcome to part 3 of our continued retrospective of Goodnight Punpun! We’ll be discussing the truth behind God and the eccentric Pegasus ensemble!!(covers chapters 57-78) Also, Seamus gets to the twist of Orange, we look into the science of ‘shipping’ characters, and we breakdown the next chapter of Billy Bat!!!

On this episode dakazu is in love with a Edo period Japanese astronomer in Tenchi Meisatsu, Billy Bat starts its final arc, we lament the 3D animated BLAME! movie coming out this year, and spend lots of time getting into dark topics for our continuing retrospective of Goodnight Punpun!!!(covers chapters 35-56)

This week we discuss the holiday break for manga magazines, darfox8 explains why he didn’t start Fairy Tail at the beginning, and dakazu talks about popular manga getting bloated. Then darfox8 revisits A Silent Voice, Hajime no Ippo, and Berserk from Triple Dip 9. Finally, we begin our retrospective read-through of Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun and discuss everything from the dark plot to the crazy side characters.(covers chapters 1-34)

Happy New Year! Darfox8 is back and it’s time to get caught up on manga! This episode Seamus reads a new shoujo manga Horimiya, dakazu learns about the Japanese prison system in Keimusho no Naka(Doing Time), we have a quick update on new Billy Bat chapters, and we triple dip into Vagabond, Dragon Head, and Saint Young Men(Saint Oniisan)!!!

Happy Holidays! This week Seamus explains what St. Stephen’s Day is, while dakazu talks about the journal manga My Darling is a Foreigner and Blue Giant; a new manga about Jazz from the author of Gaku! Then Seamus gets his shoujo manga fix with Orange and we talk about the technical achievements/shortcomings of our Manga in Motion title Steamboy; from AKIRA creator Katsuhiro Otomo!!!