Manga Tak

In a world filled with deadly dungeons, filled to the brim with untold riches, Ali Baba wants to leave behind the life of a wagon driver and fulfil his potential... but it isn't until he ends up giving a ride to a young boy named Aladdin, who just happens to be packing a Djinn in a magic flute that he thinks he really has a shot of succeeding where others have failed... But just who is this boy? And why does he have such a habit of attracting trouble? Let's find out!

On this week's episode, Mat is joined once again by Tsutsudae of the Undisputed Anime podcast to discuss Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic by Ohtaka Shinobu - a classic work of shonen manga based on the One Thousand and One Nights folktales. The boys get into the book's unique setting, what Tsu believes makes it stand out amongst other shonen books of the time and more importantly, if it's worth checking out at all!

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Show Notes

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Sumomomo, Momomo by Shinobu Ohtaka

Magi: Adventure of Sinbad by Shinobu Ohtaka and Yoshifumi Ohtera

Orient bt Shinobu Ohtaka

Sinbad by Atsuji Yamamoto (Mat Note - originally published in Monthly Comic Nora, Not WSS ;) )

Red River by Chie Shinohara

Ichi The Witch by Osamu Nishi & Shiro Usazaki

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Moritaka Mashiro is an average 14 year old middle schooler who's jaded with the system. His plans to coast through life hit a snag one day when one of his classmates, Akito Takagi, snags his notebook and proposes the two of them create Manga together. Moritaka initially refuses because he's seen first hand what being a mangaka means, but after learniing his crush, Miho Azuki plans to become a voice actor he makes a pledge to her: he will team up with Akito, the two of them will create a smash hit manga, get it made into an anime for Miho to voice, then the two of them will get married!

Yes folks, Mat and Tom sit down to talk about the renowned manga about making manga, Bakuman by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, and run face first into a romantic high school drama! Will the content be enough to hook them? Will it be as good as Mat remembers? And more importantly, does the second creative work from the Death Note duo improve upon their first hit series?

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Show Notes

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Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow 

Fist of The North Star by Buronson and Tatsuo Hara

Akane Banashi by Yuki Suenaga and Takamasa Moue

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama

Orange by Ichigo Takano

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki

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Books on Manga!

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Manga in Theory and Practice by Hirohiiko Araki

Manga School by Akira Toriyama

The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga

How to Draw Manga by Osamu Tezuka

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Mahoro Haruta the a top selling manga artist, who's series Revive Line has sold over 50 million copies, but the truth is it wasn't her idea: the original creator of the characters and the story were her High School Senpai, Shu Yukishima, who passed away while they were studying. After a fall though, she's somehow transported back before Yukishima's death! Can Mahoro right her wrongs and save her senpai...? Or is there some other reason she's been sent back?

This week on Manga Tak, Mat is joined by Marg (aka @MargReadsManga) to discuss Drawing From Your Memory by Shiki Kawabata! Join us as we dive into our feelings on time loop mysteries more broadly, why certain choices didn't work for us on a second read, and, more importantly, if we plan to see this 5 volume series through to its conclusion! 

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Show Notes

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Love at First Memory by Narumi Hasegaki

Orange by Ichigo Takano

Tokyo Revengers by Ken Wakui

The Long Summer of August 31st by Ikkado Ito

Blank Canvas by Akiko Higashimura

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Shiki Kiwabata's Switched

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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As Billy Bat flys off American comic book shelves, it's creator, Kevin Yamagata is in emotional turmoil. After learning he may have copied the character from something he saw while stationed in Japan during the war, Kevin sets out to find it's original creator and make amends... what he finds instead is a web of conspiracy that threatens to insnare him, and the knowledge that the bat he thought he created, might be something bigger than he can ever comprehend! 

This week on Manga Tak, Mat sits down with Ramzee to discuss Billy Bat by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki. While they mainly try to stay on topic about the book, it's central themes of stories, creation and symbolism draw out many tangents about authorial intent, the meta levels of storytelling in comics and a whole lot besides! 

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Show Notes

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Manga

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Monster by Naoki Urasawa

20th Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka by Naoki Urasawa

Pineapple Army by Naoki Urasawa

Asadora! by Naoki Urasawa

Master Keaton by Naoki Urasawa

New Treasure Island by Osamu Tezuka

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

Hunter x Hunter by Yoshiro Togashi

Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami

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Books / TV / Essays / Ted Talks?!

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Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Singing Detective by Dennis Potter 

Manben on Naoki Urasawa (warning: contains spoilers)

George Orwell's The Decline of English Murder 

Kirby Ferguson - Everything's a Remix

Kirby Ferguson - Creativity is a remix

Do Conversation by Robert Poynton

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People

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Alan Lomax

Orson Welles

Franz Kafka

Hergé

Bob Kane

Bill Finger

Wally Wood

The Brothers Grimm

Ronald Wimberly

Tradd Moore

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Fuyunosuke is a quirky, fun-loving Tokyoite who's loved by his friends at the University in-spite of his idiosyncrasies (and kinks!).. But there's a reason for his odd behaviour... Fuyunosuke is an alien! His mission? Gauge Earth's potential for Alien colonisation! Except he's not doing his job! Despite being on Earth a whole year, he's failed to report back to high command, forcing them to send Fuyu's older brother, Natsutaro, down to the planet to see what's happening! 

This week, Mat is joined by Nick from Retrobreak to discuss Tokyo Alien Bros by Keigo Shinzo! Join us as we peel the invisible shrinkwrap on this NSFW book (and by extension podcast) to discuss it's themes, art and how it compares to Shinzo's later work, Hirayasumi! 

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Show Notes

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Hirayashumi by Keigo Shinzo

Midori no Hoshi by Keigo Shinzo

Wash It All Away by Mitsuru Hattori

The story of Keigo Shinzo's hospitalisation is in 'No Sentimental Reactions' by Keigo Shinzo, available soon from Denpa

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Keigo Shinzo Interviews!

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Mangabrog: Asano, Shinzo and Matsumoto

2018 Journal Du Japan Interview (machine translated)

Misaki Takamatsu x Keigo Shinzo (machine translated)

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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On this Manga Tak-ked On (aka a Bonus Episode), Mat is joined one again by Marg (aka margreadsmanga) to talk about Strange Pictures by Kikou Aiba, adapted from Uketsu's NYT Best Selling Novel of the same name!

Join us as we discuss how manga is the perfect medium for this visual mystery, how we'd love more books in the genre and what are hopes are for the next instalment!  

Thanks once again to Titan Manga for sending us advanced copies of this book, available now wherever good comic books are sold!

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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After borrowing a disk from their teacher that promised to open a rift between dimensions, the small three (aka Pyontaro Tezuka, Hiroshi Ochanomizu and Tsubame Azuma) find themselves in crisis when Pyon's little sister, Futaba crawls through the screen into this parallel world! But when they discover this world is filled with alien invaders who've abducted her, how will the boys overcome all odds and get her back...?

This week Mat is joined once again by Georgie (aka Mainly.Manga) to talk about Thunder 3 by "Yuki Ikeda"... The Mangaka's name is in air quotes because, well, we've got some thoughts on that! 

Join as we get spoiler heavy on this 1st volume! Discussing it's incredible premise, how we feel about "Ikead's" other work, the value of libraries, and how we could see this idea expanded to other works / media!

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Show Notes

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Manga

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Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano

Gantz by Hiroya Oku 

Inuyashiki by Hiroya Oku

Gigant by Hiroya Oku

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Movies & Video Games

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Frog Fractions by Twinbeard Studios

Paper Mario by Nintendo

Who Framed Roger Rabbit by Robert Zemeckis

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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Ichi is a orphaned hunter who lives his life by one motto: Death for Death: he only hunts creatures that seek to harm humans and come at him with the intent to kill. Which is why when he stumbles upon a battle between the world's most powerful witch, Desscaras, and the King of Majik, Uroro, he throws himself into the fray! 

But in this world, magic can only be controlled by women, and is not learned by earned by overcoming the trial of majiks: wild, animal-like forces that form the basis of a witch's power. Somehow, Ichi is the rare exception and becomes the world's first male witch! When Desscaras offers him the chance to hunt more majiks, of course he jumps at the chance! But what will the world make of it's first male witch?

This week Mat chats with Undisputed Anime's Zane Reid to discuss Ichi The Witch by Osamu Nishi and Shiro Usazaki. Join us as we get into the world's interesting magic system, discuss how it mixes shoujo magical girl tropes with shonen battle manga and speculate on it's place in this golden age of fantasy manga!

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Show Notes

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Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
MamaYuYu by Yoshihiko Hayashi
Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi
Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP
Act-Age by Tatsuya Matsuki and Shiro Usazaki
Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun by Osamu Nishi
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe
Wistoria: Wand and Sword by Fujino Ōmori and Toshi Aoi
Delicious In Dungeon by Ryoko Kui
Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirohama
Full Metal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa
Tower Dungeon by Tsutomu Nihei
Bleach by Tite Kubo
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun by Iro / Aida
Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono
Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu
Blue Lock by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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As mankind tilts on the edge of the apocalypse, a young boy named Shinji Ikari travels to Tokyo-3 after receiving a cryptic message from his estranged father. But the summons isn't the reunion Shinji was hoping for: instead of reconnection, he is asked to pilot a giant robot known as an Eva... And just like that the fate of the entire human race rests on one boy's shoulders...

This week, Mat sits down once again with Tom to discuss Neon Genesis Evangelion. While they try to stick to Volume 1 of the manga bu Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the boys cannot help but spill into broader discussion about Evangelion as a whole, so BIG SPOILER WARNINGS for the anime / End of Eva / the Rebuild Movies if you haven't seen them!

If you have watched the anime (or just don't care about spoilers) get on your plug suit and sync up as we discuss the manga's similarities to the anime, it's length serialisation and how it's totally ok dropping a huge spoiler right in the 5th chapter! For Eva fans, this isn't one to miss!

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Show Notes 

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There aren't any ;) We somehow just manage too keep things to Eva, but for those a little confused about releases:

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth

Neon Genesis Evangelion: End of Evangelion

The Rebuild Movies!

The Next Eva Project

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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After the disappearance of his classmate, mysterious telephone card leads Ageha Yoshina into an alternative reality called Psyren where his life is always at stake and things aren't quite as they seem... Can Ageha figure out the mystery of this death game? Can he save his friend Sakurako? And just who is the mysterious figure, Nemesis Q who's seemingly pulling the strings...?

On this week's episode, Mat is joined once again by Tsutsudae of the Undisputed Anime to discuss Psyren by Toshiaki Iwashiro. This is one title from the golden age of Weekly Shonen Jump that isn't often discussed, but with it finally getting an Anime adaptation in October, we thought now was the right time to get listeners in on the ground floor!

Join us as we talk about what works about the book, notice it's similarities to Gantz and finally land on why we think this book wasn't held to the same lofty heights of it's contemporaries in WSJ.

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Show Notes

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Gantz by Hiroya Oku

Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto

Bleach by Tite Kubo

Zombiepowder. by Tite Kubo

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda

D. Gray-Man by Katsura Hoshino

Reborn! by Akira Amano

Mieru Hito by Toshiaki Iwashiro

Thanks to Juliano Zucareli for our theme music!

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