Manga Tak

After years of playing trash games, Rakuro Hizutome finds himself switching gears to play Shangri-la Frontier: a massively popular, full dive VR game that is anything but trash! Naming his character Sunraku and starting out with a duel wielding swordsman with a bird mask, Rakuro soon learns to love the game... It isn't until a chance encounter leads him to cross paths with a unique monster, Lycagon, that he sees the game's true potential and vows to become one of SLF's greatest players!

On this week's episode, Mat is joined once again by tattoo artist Bar to discuss Shangri-la Frontier by Katarine and Ryosuke Fuji. Join us as we get into what we think this mmo-based-manga gets right on the gaming side of things, before broaching more weighty topics like what it's fair to expect of a shonen manga and how sometimes you find meaning in completely unexpected places!

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Show Notes

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Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akatami

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

Mashle by Hajime Kōmoto

The King's Avatar by Hu Dielan

Overlord by Kugane Maruyama and So-bin

Log Horizon by Mamare Touno and Kazuhiro Hara

Sword Art Online by Reki Kawahara

Solo Leveling by Chugong and DuBu

Haikyu!! by Haruichi Furudate

Kuroko's Basketball by Tadatoshi Fujimaki

Dr. Stone by Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi

Blue Lock by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura

My Hero Academia by Kōhei Horikoshi

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama

Bleach by Tite Kubo

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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When a bumbling ex-Yakuza heads straight for the Yose after gettting out of prison, he doesn't know the man he's determined to apprentice for, Yakumo Yuurakutei, is a Rakugoka who not only refuses to take on apprentices but has vowed to commit Rakugo Shinju: a double suicide with his artform in which he aims to take his art to the grave with him! But somehow this unlikely ex-con finds himself in Yakumo's car and being called Yotaro? Maybe there is such a thing as a second chance after all?!

On this week's episode, Mat is joined by illustrator Jessica Lai to discuss Haruko Kumota's excellent Descending Stories! Join us as sit down to talk about the book's incredible storytelling and memorable characters, our mutual love of Rakugo, and take the time to compare the manga to the anime and live action adaptations! 

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Show Notes

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A link to the post on Jess' Workshop in Decemeber! 

Through The Painting's Translation of Tokyo Media Lab's 2013 interview with Haruko Kumota.

Wave Motion Cannon's translation of the Haruko Kumota interview in the April 2017 issue of Febri magazine.

Link to the English Rakugo Association's website!

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Akane-Banashi by Yuki Suenaga & Takamasa Moue

Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto 

River's Edge by Kyoko Okazaki

Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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A school trip to the Tokyo Tower sees three high school girls transported to a strange world called Cephiro! Hikaru, Umi and Fuu soon learn that they've been summoned to help save Princess Emeraude and that they are the legendary Magic Knights fated to rise in this very moment... 

On this week's episode, Mat is joined by Tsutsudae from Undisputed Anime to discuss Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP! We get into our feelings about the all female manga collective, how nostalgic we felt reading this JRPG inspired story and our hopes for the upcoming Rayearth anime!

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Show Notes

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Here's a link to the excellent CLAMP Cast In Wonderland Podcast!

And here's that Tsubasa / xxxHolic list from redditor u/BlackCell69

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X by CLAMP

RG Veda by CLAMP

Tokyo Babylon by CLAMP

Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles by CLAMP

xxxHolic by CLAMP

Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP

Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi

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Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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It is an age of Desperados.... but the greatest outlaw of them all, M.Godspeed is dead. Killed by his own son, Jimmu, the boy shows up with his father's corpse in a steal, cross-shaped coffin not to claim the bounty, but to hand him in as proof of his convictions. Jimmu Godspeed is not his father. In fact, Jimmu Godspeed wants to be the Marshall that will put an end to the age of Desperados once and for alll! But upon enrolling in the prestigious US Marshall Training Institute, his classmates can't help but wonder: is there more to Jimmu than meets the eye?

On this week's episode, Mat is joined once again by his podcasting partner in crime, Tom to discuss The Marshal King by Boichi: a book that almost feels like a smoothie made of every book we've ever discussed on the podcast together!

Join us as we discuss Boichi rising to the challenge of aiming to create a manga conceived for the global stage, get into the book's love for the capital C 'COOL' moments of every major manga of the last 40 years, before facing the toughest question of all: how do you pick an MVP in a book that's literally full of them!

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Show Notes

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Dr. Stone by Riichiro Inagaki & Boichi

Sun-Ken Rock by Boichi

Origin by Boichi

One Piece: Ace's Story by Ryo Ishiyama & Boichi

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow

Blood Blockade Battlefront by Yasuhiro Nightow

Fist of The North Star by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara

City Hunter by Tsukasa Hojo

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency by Hirohiko Araki

Full Metal Allchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

The Vision of Escaflowne

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Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Is there anything more terrifying than a curse spread by a simple touch? Those who bare such a tragic fate turn into monsters and are simply known as Outsides, while those who remain human get to live inside the castle walls. But when such an Outsider finds a little girl, named Shiva, who despite supposedly being touched by a curse being exhibits none of the usual signs, Teacher as she begins to call him, decides to look after her... but fate has other ideas!

On this week's episode, Mat is joined once again by designer and artist, Allie Oldfield, to discuss The Girl From The Other Side: Siúil, a Rún by Nagabe! Join as Mat wrestles with the fact he somehow never picked up the 2nd volume, Allie's insightful observations on the book's artistic tone, and get your Type nerd hats on as we talk about Lys Blakeslee's lettering choices!

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Show Notes

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Love on the Other Side by Nagabe

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama

The Moomins by Tove Jansson

Jon Klassen

Tasha Tudor

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Humanity's last days draw near... 47 legendary heroes stand against the Demon Lord's army in a last ditch effort to save their race! However, when this last stand seemingly falls short, one fallen hero named Hallow learns from his brother Zaybi that there's another plan: summon heroes from another world! 

When they do though, they don't just summon one group of humans, but twelve! Problem solved right? Well, it turns out they're not the only version of humanity facing extinction... and for each new variety of human, there's also a new, powerful enemy to deal with!

On this week's episode, Mat summons Zane from the Undisputed Anime podcast to help him talk about Versus by One, Kyōtarō Azuma and bose! Join us as we get into how we feel about this book's take on 'who would win?' discuss if it's really an Isekai, and more importantly, discuss whether we're willing to pick up the 2nd volume!

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Show Notes

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One-Punch Man by One and Yusuke Murata

Mob Psycho 100 by ONE

Bug Ego by ONE and Kiyoto Shitara

Record of Ragnarock by Takumi Fukui and Azychika

Claymore by Norihiro Yagi

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Comic Natalie Interview with the book's creative team (in Japanese)

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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After a portal opens above New York, erasing the city from the map, a new, more twisted city appears from the mist. It's name is Hellsalem's lot, and it's where a young boy named Leonardo Watch needs to go in order to find answers after a demon gave him the mysterious eyes of the Gods... Instead of answers, he finds Libra: a secret organisation dedicated to keeping the peace in the lawless city... but maybe this rag-tag bunch of misfits is more than Leo bargained for! 

On this week's episode, Mat is joined once again by Tom to discuss another Yasuhiro Nightow book! No, not Trigun Maximum but his current project: Blood Blockade Battlefront! As it's third season of anime draws to a close, we thought now was the right time to get into it! We discuss it's interesting publishing history, how it differs from Nightow's work on Trigun, and what our hopes are for the future of the series as we (spoilers) agree to read on!

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Show Notes

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Find the Interview between Nightow and Kawasaki Hiroshi here (machine translated)

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Manga

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Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa

Gantz by Hiroya Oku 

Hellsing by Kouta Hirano

Drifters by Kouta Hirano

Claymore by Norihiro Yagi

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Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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In a world ravaged by war, two mercenaries named Deunan and Briareos accept an offer to live in a mysterious metropolis known as Olympus. Once inside the city, the two end up joining the city police force, but can't seem to shake the feeling something isn't right about the supposed utopia... And just maybe, this life isn't better than the one they left behind scavenging beyond the city walls!

On this week's episode, Mat is joined once again by writer and artist, Ian Sta. Maria to discuss Masamune Shirow's debut work, Appleseed! With the new omnibus editions from Dark Horse about to hit shelves, we thought now was the perfect time to crack out our old (flipped!) copies and talk about what makes the book so special. We get into Shirow's incredible creative vision, where his love of drawing ladies took his career, and how we feel about a story thats as hard sci-fi as you're likely to see on the pages of a manga!

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Show Notes

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First up! A correction - Mat says on the podcast that nobody knows Shirow's real name, but it is in fact Masanori Ota! 

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Shirow Interviews:

KABOOM! Explosive Animation from America & Japan" exhibition (listification)

Masamune Shirow, Interviewed by Trish Ledoux (1993)

Dark Horse interview with Masamune Shirow (1995)

Toren Smith's Interview with Masamune Shirow (geocities)

Link to Mat's reel of the Masamune Shirow Exhibit in Tokyo (2025)

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Manga

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Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo

Five Star Stories by Mamoru Nagano

My Name Is Shingo by Kazuo Umezu

Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow

Orion by Masamune Shirow

Intron Depot 1 by Masamune Shirow

Blackmagic by Masamune Shirow

Dominion (aka Tank Police) by Masamune Shirow

Gunsmith Cats by Kenichi Sonoda (I can't believe I forgot his name! - Mat)

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Reverse London is a city filled to the brim with Dragons! While some co-existt alongside humanity, an astounding 72% of all deaths in London proper were supposedly caused by them! Enter Witches from the Western Branch of Soul Society, who are the only people legally aloud to interact with these fearsome beasts! But when Noel and Ninny, two young Pipers find themselves looking after Balgo Parks, it's not going to be as easy to keep the status quo as it seems!

This week, Mat is joined once again by Mitch Proctor (aka Bon.Idle) of Cømpact / Koguchi Comics to discuss Tite Kubo's 2019 spin-off to Bleach, Burn The Witch! We drop into Reverse London and share our feelings on the setting, the character design and how we feel as Brits about Kubo's interpretation of the city. Then we get into the juicier topics of how we feel about Manga 'seasons' vs. weekly syndication, and if it's better to be optimistic about a series' potential when you're not sure you'll get more than one volume!

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Show Notes

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Manga

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One Piece by Eiiichiro Oda

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue

Berserk! by Kentaro Miiura

The Hunter's Guild: Red Hood by Yuki Kawaguchi

Alien Headbutt by Akira Inui

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Bleach Terms / Kubo Stuff

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Reiatsu

Kidō

Klub Outside

Tite Kubo BTW Anime Interview

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Kosaku Hatanaka could have been a contender... if only he could watch what he eats! Much to his coach's dismay, Hatanaka just can't seem to resist the temptation of a delicious meal and keeps blowing his weight checks as a result. Out of desperation, a hungry Hatanaka stumbles into a church and meets a naive, trainee nun named Sister Angela. Seeing a man falling into temptation, she vows to watch over this lost lamb... but maybe he's not the only one who should be worried about temptation!

This week, Mat is joined once again by AC Yoshiimura (aka @prodtally) to discuss one of Rumiko Takahashi's lesser known works, One-Pound Gospel! With the book finally back in print, we sat down to discuss where it sits in the rankings of Takahashi's work, it's incredibly sporadic publication history and, of course, how the Christian elements of Sister Angela's character play into what is essentially a sport's gag manga! 

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Show Notes

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The only two interviews with Rumiko Takahashi (from the fine folks over at Rumic World) mentioned in the pod can be found here:

Rumiko Takahashi x Kiyoshi Hatanaka

Rumiko Takahashi x Atsushi Kamijo

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Manga

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Urusei Yatsura by Rumiko Takahashi

Ranma ½ by Rumiko Takahashi

Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi

Mao by Rumiko Takahashi

Mermaid Saga by Rumiko Takahashi

Maison Ikkoku by Rumiko Takahashi

Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno

D.Gray-Man by Katsura Hoshino

Sex by Atsushi Kamijo

Hajime no Ippo by George Morikawa (which just got announced to be coming out in English from Kodansha!)

Kids on the Slope by Yuki Kodama

Ashita no Joe by Asao Takamori & Tetsuya Chiba

Tokyo Alien Bros by Keigo Shinzo 

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic by Shinobu Ohtaka

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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