On This Earth

Usotoki Rhetoric was a surprise find and a solid read. If you’re looking for a completed series with light supernatural powers, mysteries, and historical facts, check it out.

Usotoki Rhetoric, by Miyako Ritsu, is about Urabe Kanoko, a young girl who can hear lies. People find her ability disturbing, as they don’t want their secrets to be exposed or to be called out for lying. She eventually…

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō & Fushigi no Kuni no Bird: Analysis

This article is not a review. I want to explore how space, time, and values makes series resonate with readers, using Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō and Fushigi no Kuni no Bird as touch points.

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō Yokohama Shopping Trip volume 1 cover

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō, by Hitoshi Ashinano, is a slice of life sci-fi manga about an android, Alpha, who runs a coffee house. The end of…

SPYxFAMILY starts strong and only gets better and better. With great characters and deep themes, the series' powerful beginning promises to become a new pillar of Shonen Jump.

SPYxFAMILY starts strong and only gets better and better. With great characters and deep themes, the series’ powerful beginning promises to become a new pillar of Shonen Jump.

SPYxFAMILY, by Tatsuya Endo, is an action-comedy about a spy, an assassin, and a mind-reader who form a fake family in order to reach their goals. The spy works for one government (Lloyd Folger), the assassin (Briar…

I’ve made attempts to crack Desert Punk over the years. It wasn’t my genre: military, sci-fi, shoot-outs in the desert, and tricks galore. It doesn’t help that the first few chapters are full of adventures where the main character thinks with his dick and gets bamboozled repeatedly. But once the manga finds its groove, the story takes off. 

Desert Punkis a post-apocalyptic action manga by…

Imaginary Slice of Life: Animal Crossing and the Pandemic

I went to Target to purchase a Nintendo Switch Lite, office supplies, and an onion. The onion was for a bastard curry of my own invention. The office supplies were for working from home. The Switch was for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, to escape home.

This essay isn’t quite a review for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but you’re welcome to read it that way if it suits you. I’m unable to…

Chainsaw Man, by Tatsuki Fujimoto, is an action manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.

The main character, Denji, leads a starving existence killing devils to pay for his dad’s debt to the yakuza with the help of a devil he befriended, a little dog-like creature that can turn into a chainsaw. One day the yakuza decide to dispose of Denji (and his little dog too!). Except the devil fuses with…

I’ve found my next obsession: Shadows House, by Soumatou.

Living dolls serve the Shadow Family. They clean the soot that emits from the Shadows constantly and act out their Shadow’s expressions for them, because the soot also hides the Shadow’s expressions.

Shadows Housefollows a living doll named Emilyko. Emilyko is the living doll of the Shadow, Kate. She is a curious girl, happy to…

King’s Viking: Review

King’s Viking, by Fukami Makoto and Sadayasu, is a cybercrime thriller led by an unlikely duo— the homeless boy genius hacker, Koreeda Kazuki, and his angel investor, Sakai Daisuke. The stakes are high. The scope is global. 

Yet, I am profoundly ambiguous about whether I should recommend this manga. 

King’s Viking volume 15 cover

Why am I ambiguous?

If well-done basic elements were…

I read Asuperu Kanojo with unease, shock, and occasional, genuine, pleasant surprise. But above all, unease. A difficult review.

I read Asuperu Kanojo with unease, shock, and occasional, genuine, pleasant surprise. But above all, unease. 

There’s no way to review this manga without mentioning these elements. Be prepared for spoilers.

Asuperu Kanojo, by Hagimoto Souha and Morita Renji, is the story of two people: Saitou Megumi and Yokoi Taku. Yokoi is a freelance doujinshi artist who lives alone in a small apartment.…

Review: My Home Hero. I kept this review short because if I gush, I'll spoil everything.

My Home Hero does everything right—top-shelf characters, tight twists, detailed art, chilling villains, and grim consequences. I am overjoyed to recommend this manga by Yamakawa Naoki and Asaki Masashi.

My Home Herois about Tosu Tetsuo, an aggressively bland salaryman and amateur mystery writer who loves his family. When he discovers that his daughter, Reika, is being abused by her then…

Tokyo Tarareba Girls is a hilarious, sarcastic train wreck with grace notes of sincerity. Tokyo Tarareba Girls (lit. Tokyo “What-If” Girls) is a josei drama by Akiko Higashimura of Princess Jellyfish fame. 

The manga is about three friends, Rinko, Kaori, and Koyuki. They’ve spent their twenties mocking their classmates and friends for getting married… but now they’re 33. And they want to get…

Dai Dark and Bad Beginnings

I loved Dorohedoro. So I was thrilled when the author, Q Hayashida, started a new series: Dai Dark. 

When mangaka start a new series, the new will always be compared to the old. Dai Dark is no different. Dai Dark shares Dorohedoro’s signature dirty, grotesque style and horror-comedy leanings. But unfortunately, the new series suffers the same failings as Dorohedoro and has not shown its…

She Doesn’t Know Why She Lives: A Review

She Doesn’t Know Why She Lives is a seinen manga by Anu about Izumi Sumi, a woman who’s my age and also pondering why be alive when our lives are going nowhere fast. 

Fuck. 

She Doesn’t Know Why she Lives, Vol 1

She Doesn’t Know Why She Livesis about Izumi’s daily life as she suffers from depression and anxiety. She works for an arcade company on the floor, restocking stuffed toys,…

The author-artist duo, Yamazaki Mari and Tori Miki, have drawn and written a meticulously researched manga of a fascinating character. Plinivs is a slow-burning character study of Plinius, a Roman naturalist, naval and army commander, and author.

Do you like Roman history? Do you like manga? Then you’ll love Plinivs. The author-artist duo, Yamazaki Mari and Tori Miki, have drawn and written a meticulously researched manga of a fascinating character.

(Also, the title is pronounced plin-ee-us, not plin-nivs.)

Plinivs

Plinivs, volume 1 cover

Plinivs is the manga, and Plinis, or Pliny, is the main character. An author, naturalist,…

We Shall Now Begin Ethics Class: A Review

As you might have guessed from my last article, I’ve been on a philosophical bent lately. So when I came across Koko wa Ima Kara Rinri Desu (translated, Ethics Class Will Now Begin, or, We Shall Now Begin Ethics Class), I was stoked. But as I read through the first two volumes, my excitement dwindled.

In short, I have pretensions, and this manga isn’t satisfying them. 

It’s always polite to…