Launched on the weekend of New York Comic Con 2025, the One Piece x Mercer Labs immersive exhibition transported visitors into the world of the series through 11 rooms featuring a variety of digital and physical installations themed around the Wano arc. LumRanmaYasha sat down for two interviews with Nasir Dean, the Manager of Special Projects at Mercer Labs and driving force behind the immersive One Piece exhibition. We discussed Nasir’s history with One Piece and anime, his pathway to collaborating with Toei on the exhibition, curating the exhibition around the Wano arc, the themes of the different installations, what makes One Piece such a natural fit for an immersive experience, and how the installation encapsulates the series’s messages of freedom that’ve resonated and inspired people worldwide. 

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00 - Manga Mavericks Books Promo

00:44 - Intro

06:42 - Nasir Dean Interview at the Mercer Labs, 10/12 

38:07 - Nasir Dean Interview over Zoom, 10/29

1:09:21 - Wrap-Up 

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @VLordGTZ and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• Visit the Mercer Labs!

• Check out our report on the ONE PIECE x MERCER LABS experience 

• Order Manga Mavericks Books titles on our online store! 

• Order Mutsumi Natsuo’s Butch Yuri manga Boyish² and My Date is a Total Ike Woman now on our online store! 

• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠

• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack! 

• ⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠

• Wanna Leave Us a Tip? LumRanmaYasha also has a Ko-fi!

On this episode of Manga Mavericks, Colton, Lum and Sakaki continue to read through and discuss the back half of Kodansha's Young Magazine USA! Starting off with the baffling post apocalyptic, sci-fi epic, Protocol Ryugu from Daisaku Tsuru, and then bookended with another equally as baffling horror adventure with Into The Dark by Anri Morikuma! Get ready for even more scares than last time as we finish off the magazine and head to the polls to vote for which series will get to continue! Enjoy!

⁠Be sure to read and vote for your favorite series on Young Magazine USA's official website!

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - Intro

Young Magazine Discussion

13:47 -  Protocol Ryugu

41:09 - The Graveyard Shift

57:50 - Pregnant

1:14:35 - Project Metallia

1:25:30 - Godmother

1:39:05 - Fasciation

1:51:54 - Into the Dark

2:07:06 - Final Thoughts

2:30:30 - Wrap-up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• Order Manga Mavericks Books titles on our online store⁠!
• Attend our Manga Mavericks Books panel at Twin Cities Con! 
• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠
• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack!
• Support us on Patreon!⁠
• Read the entirety of Young Magazine USA on platforms like Azuki, Bookwalker Global, or KManga!

On this episode of Manga Mavericks, Colton, Lum and Sakaki all get together to take a look at the special US edition of Kodansha's Young Magazine and attempt to spotlight and discuss every first chapter featured! Though as you can clearly see, we had definitely bit off more than we can chew! So much so, that we have to split this up into TWO PARTS! Seriously! There was NO WAY we'd be able to get through all 16 series (plus two one shots) in one go! Especially not when you throw in an official sequel to Mavericks favorite, Boys Run The Riot, which we definitely had A LOT to say about! Even so, be proud that we still cover a little more than half the lineup. So stay tuned next time as we finish off the rest of the magazine! Enjoy!

Be sure to read and vote for your favorite series on Young Magazine USA's official website!

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - Intro

12:31 -  Young Magazine Discussion

20:25 - The Last Terran

39:04 - Boys Run the Riot -In Transition-

1:06:28 - To Dusk and Twilight

1:18:18 - GOUMA

1:30:26 - Is My Love Strange?

1:50:02 - Me and Bob Dylan (and My Father)

1:57:16 - The Journey of a Dark Elf with Fading Powers

2:12:01 - The Silent Forest

2:20:04 - The Knight of Blasphemy

2:33:40 - Kikikaikai

2:45:22 Still You

2:55:27 - Wrap-up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• Order Manga Mavericks Books titles on our online store⁠!
• Attend our Manga Mavericks Books panel at Twin Cities Con! 

• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠
• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack!
• Support us on Patreon!⁠
• Revisit our original podcasts on Boys Run the Riot!

• Read the entirety of Young Magazine USA on platforms like Azuki, Bookwalker Global, or KManga!

We recorded a podcast. A podcast just for us (and you, our listeners). This is that podcast. 

Once again, we’re opening up our heart-shaped boxes to give you our self-liner notes for one of our debut Manga Mavericks Books titles, Alternative[Self-Liner Note]! In this free-style jam session of a podcast that you can think of as the “B-Side” to our previous discussion on Alternative, we sat down with our Accounting & Sales Manager, Nicholas Hodges, to discuss the series from the perspective of someone who’s a musician and has worked in music journalism! 

Nick describes how he related to the book based on his background and experience with music, touching on the significance of many of the artists referenced by Yagura-sensei in their playlist of inspirations included in the book, in particular Number Girl and Nirvana. We reflect on how we relate to the series’ depiction of someone going through a quarter-life crisis in their late 20s and being uncertain whether they can continue to pursue their passion without getting anywhere, with Nick looking back at it with frustration from the standpoint of someone who’s grown past that point in their life. We explore how the series has a great message for younger readers about not conflating career success with creative fulfillment, and never losing sight of the joy in creating something that is meaningful to you and is for you and yours alone. Plus, we go on many digressions, such as about the best years of SNL, Robert Zemeckis’ filmography, Nick watching Perfect Blue for the first time when he was too young, and more! 

So listen up and listen good as we learn a lot (maybe too much) about our CFO, Nick, and discuss what makes Alternative’s story and message resonate no matter what career or passion you’re rocking! 

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - Order Alternative[Self Liner Note] and more Manga Mavericks Books titles on our online store⁠!

00:44 -  Intro

11:00 - Alternative[self-liner note] B-Side w/Nicholas Hodges

1:26:18 - Wrap-up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @VLordGTZ and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• Purchase First Time in Taiwan: A Delicious Adventure digitally on our online store! 

• Attend our Manga Mavericks Books panel at Twin Cities Con! 

• Check out our trailers for Alternative[Self Liner Note] and First Time in Taiwan! 

• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠

• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack! 

• ⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠

• Wanna Leave Us a Tip? LumRanmaYasha also has a Ko-fi!

• Listen to our first podcast on Alternative[Self Liner Note]! 

• Listen to Gupta & Hodges at the Movies! 

On this episode of Manga Mavericks, we're spotlighting the third and final of our first round of Manga Mavericks Books licenses with 9banta's Zigoku's Foreman! A workplace comedy taking place in Hell about a demon named Mizuchi, who acts as the leader of a construction crew! Join our Mavericks crew as they discuss the specific HELLISH challenges that come with releasing a work such as this one, not just with it being a combination of both manga and light novel prose, but especially with our very own Vlord having his own challenges figuring out how to learn entirely new skills in order to print this book correctly and have it come out as good as possible!

Zigoku's Foreman Vol 1 is now available for purchase on our store!

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - Intro

13:36 -  Zigoku's Foreman Discussion

1:12:18 - Wrap-up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠
• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack!
• ⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠
• Listen to the latest Kanzenshuu podcast reviewing BONDS!

Christmas has come early for Manga Mavericks, as we’re celebrating our 250th episode with a special gift from Titan Manga, the first volume of Sanda, Paru Itagaki’s crazy dystopian manga about a kid who can transform into a buff, hot Santa Claus investigating the conspiracy behind the disappearance of his classmate! You know a manga by Paru Itagaki’s gotta be wild even without featuring horny-hungry anthropormophic animals, and we talk about everything that makes Sanda the gift that keeps on giving, from its insane bordering on psychotic characters, intriguing world building, and hilariously over-the-top interpretation and application of the Santa Claus mythos for battle manga powers. Sanda is everything that we love about manga and a wonderful way to ring in and commemorate our 250th episode! 

Thanks so much to Titan Manga for inviting us to participate in the blog tour for Sanda! Check out more coverage of Sanda at the outlets listed here! 

We also have another occasion to celebrate, because we’ll be exhibiting and hosting a panel for Manga Mavericks Books at New York Comic Con! It’s our first time hosting a table for Manga Mavericks Books at a convention, and we’re excited to be able to showcase our books and interact directly with fans at the show! Our booth number is 2242, and we’ll be sharing our booth with B!Juku, one of our digital manga distribution partners, and we’re located right to the left of the Viz Media booth in the small press section of the Exhibit Hall! We’ll have copies of Alternative, Bonds, and Zigoku’s Foreman volume 1 for sale at special discounted prices and free bookmarks for Alternative and Zigoku’s Foreman and a convention exclusive print for Zigoku’s Foreman, alongside other surprises and goodies available for sale and being given away at the booth! 

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - In Memoriam: Matt Haasch 

• GoFundMe for Matt’s Family

• Lum and VLord’s Reflections on Matt 

10:30 - Introducing Sanda

13:45 - Celebrating Manga Mavericks’ 250th episode! 

14:55 - We’re going to be Exhibiting and Hosting a Panel at New York Comic Con! 

18:03 - Sanda Review 

1:00:10 - Wrap-up

1:03:56 - Shout-Outs: 

• Manga Machinations’ 11th-Year Anniversary Episode 

• Evan Minto’s In Memoriam for Matt Haasch

• Matt Haasch Memorial organized by Evan Minto

• Kanzenshuu Podcast on Bonds! 

• Lum's Guest Appearances on Manga Tak

• Senpai no Kohai

• The Guy She Was Interested Wasn’t a Guy At All

• She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat 

• Demon Slayer Podcast episode on the Infinity Castle movie 

• Lum's Guest Appearances on the Toonami Faithful Podcast:

• Anime Expo

• San Diego Comic Con 

• Colleen Manga Recs’ Video on Anime NYC 

• ANN on the The Legal and Soft Censorship of Manga panel at Anime NYC

• VLord presenting the Best New Edition of Classic Manga Award at the American Manga Awards 2025 

• Check out recent Interviews posted on the site!  

• Check out our manga trailers for:

• Alternative

• Bonds 

  
  

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube. You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @VLordGTZ and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods. Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content. If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening.

LINKS:

• ⁠Pre-Order our Manga Mavericks Books titles on our online store⁠!

• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠

• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack! 

• ⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠

• Wanna Leave Us a Tip? LumRanmaYasha also has a Ko-fi!

• Read more of Lum’s reviews on the Manga Mavericks website!
  

On this episode of Manga Mavericks, we spotlight another one of our upcoming Manga Mavericks Books releases with BONDS by Zenzo! An action adventure tale that is an alternate take on Journey to the West taking place at the start of Son Goku and Sanzo's journey! We're joined by the book's translator, Robert Harkins, to discuss what his translation process was like, while the rest of the Mavericks crew spotlight Victoria's great lettering work! But what does fellow manga letterer and American Manga Awards nominee, Robert, think of the lettering work done on BONDS? Tune in as we get his LIVE REACTION! Enjoy!!

Visit our store to buy your copy of BONDS today!!

Anime Expo was a busy event for us this year, because we hosted our first-ever Manga Mavericks Books panel there! If you couldn’t go or missed it, don’t fret, because we’re sharing the audio recording of our panel here on the podcast feed, and we have the video of it up on our Youtube! So join the team behind Manga Mavericks Books in our very first industry panel and find out how the company that started as a manga podcast has transformed itself into one of the newest indie manga publishers! We made new announcements, shared some surprises, and answered Q&As from the audience!

In addition to our panel, we also did a lot of interviews and panel coverage that you’ll see posted to the site very soon. One of the interviews I did was with Whitney Leopard, the Executive Editor of Penguin House Graphic’s new Ink Pop imprint, which is dedicated to publishing manga, manwha, and webtoons for young kids and middle-grade readers! One of their debut titles is a favorite of mine, I Wanna Be Your Girl by Umi Takase, which we previously reviewed when it was first made available on Mangamo. I talk with Whitney about Ink Pop’s goals as an imprint geared towards young readers, how and why they chose to publish I Wanna Be Your Girl, and what other kinds of titles they hope to publish in the near future! I had a great interview with Whitney, and it’s the first of a trifecta of interviews from the Manga Mavericks team, as Sakaki and MangaAlerts also conducted their own interviews that they’ll publish on their respective outlets soon! In the meantime, enjoy this first of our many interviews out of AX, and a taste of some of the coverage we did at the con!

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - Pre-Order Manga Mavericks Books! 

00:44 -  AX 2025 Intro & Overview 

16:32 - Manga Mavericks Books panel at AX 2025! 

1:07:32 - Interview with Whitney Leopard, Executive Editor of Ink Pop!

1:27:42 - Wrap-Up 

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @VLordGTZ, @Wsstalkback, and @lumranmayasha. If you like Lum’s art, follow them on Instagram at @siddartworks. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• Pre-Order our new Manga Mavericks Books titles on our online store⁠!

• Watch our Anime Expo 2025 panel on our Youtube! 

• Attend our Manga Mavericks Books panels at San Diego Comic Con and Otakon! 

• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠

• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack! 

• ⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠

• Wanna Leave Us a Tip? LumRanmaYasha also has a Ko-fi!

• Read more of our Anime Expo 2025 coverage! 

• Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuux Gundam Rising LA Event 

• Ogeretsu Tanaka panel 

• Gachiakuta manga panel 

• Ghost in the Shell x Science Saru panel 

• A Star is Brighter than the Sun premiere panel 

• Making Manga with Viz panel 

• The Summer Hikaru Died premiere panel 

• Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt panel 

• YTV panel 

• Viz Media panel 

• TV Asahi panel 

• Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class 

• Square Enix Manga panel 

• Sci-Fi in Anime panel 

• Amuse Creative panel 

• Revisit our podcast on I Wanna Be Your Girl! 

  
  Check out Whitney Leopard’s panels at San Diego Comic Con! 

Manga Mavericks finally went to the mecca of animation, Annecy! Annecy is the premier animation film festival and a film market designed to show off some of the best new animated projects coming out, present an opportunity for creatives to pitch or secure funding for their projects, and provide professional development opportunities for students and networking opportunities for professionals in the animation industry. VLordGTZ and our resident European contributor, Mugen, attended Annecy together and saw a LOT of movies, and lots of other cool events and presentations too, and even conducted many awesome interviews! Listen and learn about the differences in the Annecy experience for general attendees and professionals, navigating the ticketing and reservation system, tips and tricks to have the best experience as an attendee, and of course, all the amazing movies and events they got to see and interviews they got to do! 

Nous aimons les desins animes!

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - Pre-Order Manga Mavericks Books! 

00:44 -  Annecy 2025 Recap 

1:41:31 - Wrap-up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts on Twitter at @VLordGTZ and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• ⁠Buy our Manga Mavericks Books titles on our online store⁠!

• Attend our Manga Mavericks Books panels at San Diego Comic Con! and Otakon! 

• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠

• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack! 

• ⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠

• Wanna Leave Us a Tip? LumRanmaYasha also has a Ko-fi!

• Follow Mugen on X!  and on BlueSky!

  Read Mugen’s Interviews with German Manga Publishers!

On this episode of Manga Mavericks, we're spotlighting the first of our upcoming Manga Mavericks Books releases with Chiaki Yagura's Alternative[Self Liner Note]! A short story about a young artist trying to leave her mark on the world while struggling through a creative slump. Varun (aka VlordGTZ) discusses the process of finding and bringing over this wonderful story, while Sakaki (Weekly Shogakukan Edition) discusses what it was like translating something that resonated with him very personally. Enjoy!

Alternative[Self Liner Note] will be released on July 16th and is currently available for pre-order on our store!

Check out our Alternative themed Spotify playlist featuring songs from the book!

PODCAST BREAKDOWN:

00:00  - Intro

07:43 -  Alternative Discussion

1:09:33 - Wrap-up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on Twitter at @manga_mavericks, on Bluesky at @mangamavericks.bsky.social, on Instagram at @mangamavericks_official, and on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha. If you’d like to help support the show financially you can pledge to our Patreon or our Substack and receive some awesome rewards like our exclusive Bonus pods! Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and Apple Podcasts and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or email us at [email protected]! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

• ⁠Attend our Manga Mavericks Books panel at Anime Expo! 
• Find us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts!⁠
• Subscribe to our Manga Mavericks + Newsletter on Substack! 
• ⁠Support us on Patreon!⁠
• Listen to our latest episodes of @Movies covering The Day The Earth Blew Up and Dandadan: Evil Eye!
• Listen to Colton's guest appearance on the OverMangaCast discussing Witch Watch!