Cafe Manga – Détails, épisodes et analyse

So as the title says I’m going to be discussing some of my current reads. And an important announcement about the podcast. First here’s a bit about what I’m reading now. This is a mix of the manhwa and some of the light novels I’ve been reading.

Lately I’ve been reading the following:

* The Top Dungeon Farmer - manhwa - Webtoon

* The Gardener in a Hunter World - manhwa - Webtoon

* My Comeback as the Youngest Member - manhwa - Webtoon

* Kitchen Goddess and the Assassin - manhwa - Tapas

* The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine - light novel/manhwa - Tapas

* Campfire Cooking in Another World with my Absurd Skill - light novel/manga - J-Novel Club

* Parallel World Pharmacy - manga - One Peace Books

So the big announcement has to do with my podcast. It was a hard decision but basically I’ve decided that despite the effort to make things work out, I have to end Cafe Manga, the podcast. I’ll probably do a longer version of this story at some point in the near future, but I’m going to do the short version here.

The short version is that I’m starting to experience some degree of burn out. Basically since September/October I was starting to experience minor burn out, but I was thinking I could have a stop-gap measure if I took a short break and then change up the content on the podcast.

However the past month made it clear to me the results weren’t completely appealing to listeners. Or it could be a coincidence because it’s holiday season and people tend to not listen to podcasts much.

On top of that I’ve been bogged down with the process of producing my ASOIAF podcast, which is a LOT of work if I’m being honest. Even though Cafe Manga takes relatively less work, it still feels like the time could be used elsewhere.

On top of that, except for writing scripts for the other podcast and the little bit of writing on Substack for Cafe Manga, I haven’t done much writing at all. I really do miss it.

It took a lot of soul searching for the past couple of weeks. It’s become clear that something has to give and it’s this podcast on Substack. It’s always possible I might revisit this in the future, but for the near future at least? It’s going to have to be the end.

I will say that I’m planning to continue this Substack publication. Also I’m going to be working on a website in the near future! I’ll get into more specifics about it once I start working on it, but there’s going to be a website related to Japanese/Korean comics I’m working on. It’s going to be something I will release by Spring 2025. Here’s a hint! https://www.cafemanga.com/

What have you guys been reading lately? Leave a comment below!

This episode was supposed to have been released last Sunday (November 24, 2024). However due to an oversight on my part, I didn’t realize the episode didn’t got out when it was supposed to. Sorry for any confusion!

Well new developments are happening in the tower in this episode! More crops are being grown. More relationships are being developed.

Check out my discussion of chapters 16-20 of the manhwa!

Anyways, feel free to leave some feedback what you think of this series. Maybe even suggestions of what kind of content you’d be interested in me doing. I honestly feel bad that I’ve neglected interacting more on this platform.

If you’re new to this publication, this post is the same as the first section of the episode. The last few minutes of the episode is a more detailed discussion that will contain spoilers. If you’re not interested in listening to the spoilers, there will be a countdown warning before it starts.

So it’s time for me to talk about a really popular title that’s gotten the attention of a lot of manhwa and k-drama fans. This time I’m here to talk about Marry My Husband.

The Basics

There’s not a lot of info I could find out about this series. It was originally a web novel and then was adapted to a webtoon. You can read it on Webtoon. It was adapted into a live-action K-drama on tvN in South Korea. It is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

The Premise

Kang Ji-won is terminally ill with stomach cancer. She’s been mostly left alone in the hospital with only her friend, Su-min, visiting her. The hospital informs her that her bills hadn’t been paid and her husband doesn’t answer phone calls. She’s forced to go home to confront him. Once she gets home she discovers that her husband, Park Min-hwan, is having an affair with Su-min!

A fight ensues and poor Ji-won is shoved and she falls into the glass coffee table. She slowly bleeds to death and she laments her life. The next thing she knows, Ji-won suddenly finds herself in the office kitchenette where Min-hwan just casually approaches her for a talk. She understandably freaks out and attacks him. Ji-won runs away in a panic and slowly realizes the shocking truth: she’s gone back in time! Ten years in the past to be more precise.

Ji-won is no longer a cancer patient and she’s just Min-hwan’s girlfriend rather than his wife. This is her second chance to make new choices! Can she prevent her terrible death? And why is her boss, Yoo Ji-hyuk, acting strange? You’ll have to read the manhwa or watch the TV series to find out!

General Thoughts

I wasn’t initially interested in this series until a co-worker of mine asked me if I had seen this new K-drama. I was confused until she explained the premise. I just put it on my list of things to watch, but didn’t think much of it. She was obsessed with reading the manhwa and watching the show during lunch break. Her fascination made me give it another look.

She explained the manhwa was on Webtoons and this was the series that finally convinced me to try reading comics on there. After I found the series I started reading. The twists and turns were pretty interesting. I found myself rooting Ji-won on her journey.

But of course you might be wondering, why in the world is this series called “Marry My Husband?” It is an actual thing Ji-won says in the comic. As she makes some subtle changes and new choices, she soon discovers that there are just some events that are inevitable. It doesn’t matter whether she gets burnt by the spilled coffee or her co-worker does. Someone is supposed to get burnt that day. She comes to the realization that one of the best ways to avoid her death is that someone else needs to end up with Min-hwan. So why can’t it be Su-min? I mean if she wanted Min-hwan so much, why not let her have him.

Su-min, I have some trash to throw away. Will you do it for me?

And we get to see the results. And they are a doozy.

If you’re interested in this series or you’ve checked it out before, leave a comment! Feel free to share this with friends who is also interested in this story and others like it!

So here is another fun food related isekai! If you enjoyed Restaurant to Another World, this is a fun restaurant isekai story to check out.

The Basics

Unlike some of the other stories I’ve reviewed thus far, I have discovered very little information about this particular story. I actually read this story because I had discovered it on Amazon. I had done some searching for any other food related isekai series out there I could actually read. I managed to stumble on this one. It appears to be a manga only available on Comixology. Kindle users would also have access to.

One clue I did get was there was info on the original publisher: alphapolis. What is Alphapolis? A Google search revealed the answer of course! It is a Japanese publisher who mostly does online publishing. They release both light novels and manga. In fact they also created an English-language app for international audiences.

I don’t currently have this app mainly because I’ve read some negative reviews from other users. I discovered them as I was doing my research of Alphapolis. Perhaps if I read newer reviews that are more positive I’d look ingo this app. In the meantime I’ll get any future content from them via Kindle/Comixology.

Another light novel/manga title they’ve released is Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy, which is a pretty popular anime series on Crunchyroll.

The Premise

Risa Kurokawa was a regular office worker in Japan. She’s got one great interest: food! She loves cooking and eating and demonstrates a real talent for it. She impresses people with her homemade lunches and tasty meals when she hosts friends. It’s this particular talent that causes the agricultural goddess in another world to teleport her to another world!

Risa is unable to go back home so she makes do with her new life. She is one of the small number of people able to see sprites. Her new companion, Basil, gets her help through a court magician, Gilford Hyde Claude. He and his wife, Anastasia, become her foster parents and provide her with much moral and financial support.

Risa could have enjoyed a life of aristocratic luxury, but she discovers a huge problem: the food in this world is terrible. Can Risa revolutionize cuisine in this world? You bet she can!

General Thoughts

So far there have been 9 volumes of this manga available on Amazon. It might not be the most action packed series out there. I will say that it’s a very delightful, relaxing series. There’s developments in terms of Risa befriending more people and helping those in need. And all of this was possible through the power of a tasty meal. I have no idea how long this series is, but I certainly hope we get more of the story.

Risa starts off with just her two foster parents helping her. Very quickly she has a staff helping her as the cafe she opens becomes the talk of the capital! Heartwarming stories like this are a big reason why I keep going back to meshi series. I hope that there will be more to this series. I can’t be sure if there are more volumes coming or what the situation is.

It’s really impressive what Risa is able to achieve during the time she’s in this new world. I can’t wait to see what other adventures she gets into. Hopefully she gets to have a happy life.

If you enjoyed this, leave a comment below! And please feel free to share this series with any friends who might also enjoy this story!

As usual, this review corresponds to the first part of the podcast episode. The episode does include a short more detailed discussion of the story. If you’re not interested in hearing the spoilers, then feel free to stop listening when I do the countdown beforehand. Please share this with anyone you know who might be into this story!

This is a story that I discovered via YouTube. I had discovered a couple of different manhwa recap channels. This was one of the stories that I discovered on one of those channels. The story sounded so intriguing I had to actually read it for myself. So what did I think of this story? Keep reading!

The basics

As is the case with a lot of manhwa I’ve been reading, I do so via phone apps. Unless they are wildly popular titles like Solo Leveling, it’s pretty difficult to find out more information about them. At least without being fluent in Korean. So they only bit of info I can share with you is that I read this story via the Tapas app.

I have done a review of the Tapas app in case you’ve never used it before. You can read about it here.

The Premise

This story is an isekai tale. A fired office worker name Hajeong Park has put up with abusive behavior at her former company. She wakes up to discover she’s no longer Hajeong, but a noblewoman named Chloe Battenberg. As badly as her former colleagues were to her, Chloe had it worse. Despite Chloe’s noble title, everyone including servants, harass and sneer at her. Her husband, Duke Alphonse Battenberg, ignores her and knows absolutely nothing about her every day life.

Chloe is pretty timid, and not extremely skilled in social customs and etiquette. Hajeong still has some remaining resentment over how she had been treated by her former co-workers. She also feels some frustration with Chloe’s situation. She decides this is her second chance to change things. She sets about improving her situation and becomes more assertive.

Among the changes the new Chloe implements is she starts drinking tea. Hajeong was a real tea lover and had ambitions of opening her own tea house. After sharing her love and expertise with others, she soon finds herself starting a tea drinking culture in the new life she lives in.

General Thoughts

Unsurprisingly, I’ve read dozens of isekai stories in my life. They follow the same basic formula with some variations. So in that respect this isekai fits the formula of: waking up as a completely different person in another life and another world. What makes this different is the tea talk.

I have read some complaints about why there is so much talk about tea in the story. My only response is what do you expect from the title? Or maybe I do have a bias. I personally enjoy tea. I drink coffee as well, but I’m the type of person who needs to add stuff to coffee to make it drinkable. I find coffee too bitter and kind of sour over all. Which is why I have to add milk and sweetener of some kind.

Tea, on the other hand, is something I enjoy. I can find blends that are easy for me to drink without adding anything in it. This is why I generally prefer tea over coffee. Of course this is newsletter about Japanese and Korean comics, not food and drink.

The point I’m really trying to make here is that I am interested and enjoy tea. Therefore a story like this is exactly the kind that I enjoy. I feel like the story does a pretty good job of blending (heh!) factual information about tea within an isekai story. The main point of the story is the heroine changes her life and rises up in society. The fact tea is the avenue which the heroine uses makes this a delightful story. If you’re also interested in this type of story and you’re also a tea lover, check out this story!

If you enjoy this newsletter, leave a comment! Also please share this with anyone else you think would enjoy my writing!

As a reminder, and to inform anyone new to this Substack, the following post is also the same thing as the first half of the podcast episode. The ending part of the episode will be some of my thoughts of the story with spoilers. If you haven’t read this story or you’d rather not get spoiled, you will get a warning before I begin the spoiler content.

The Basics

Unlike the other stories I’ve done reviews of, I can’t really find much information about this one. The only information I was able to gleam about this story is that allegedly there is a light novel in South Korea. However I don’t know this for sure. If anyone else has info, please feel free to reach out in the comments section.

I kept seeing this title popping up as a recommended title based on the other stories I was reading. Some of these other titles I’ll be reviewing in the future. It looked and sounded like a goofy story. However after a few weeks, I just through my hands up and decide why not?

This is a manhwa that is 60 chapters long on Webtoon. If you haven’t already read it already, I did a review of the Webtoon app. You can check out the review here.

The Premise

Yushin is a CEO of a conglomerate. He gets killed by a former mentor. When Yushin awakens, he discovers he has turned into a bass! Pretty quickly he realizes that he’s in a bizarre video game like situation. The aim of the game is to go from a baby fish to a full grown adult. Can he survive? Why did he even turn into a fish anyway? Can he trust the other fish who claim they’re also in the same situation as him? You’ll have to read this story to find the answers!

General Thoughts

I thought this would be a really dumb story. Yet I was really surprised at how emotional and thought out this story is. It’s a bizarre situation that the protagonist finds himself in. As you follow his story, you start learning more about the ecosystem that Yushin finds himself in. You also learn more about the other fish who appear to be in a similar circumstance as him. They were also humans who wound up turned into fish. And they’re in a bizarre scenario where they have to survive at the end.

I was genuinely not expecting to like this story. Yet after the first few chapters, the story develops quite a bit. I actually found myself really invested in Yushin’s time as a fish. It’s fascinating finding out how Yushin and some of the other fish he meets ended up in their situation.

I’d say that you should give this story a chance. If the first few chapters don’t intrigue you like they did for me, then sure go ahead and stop. However I will say you do get some answers to the mysteries if you keep reading. But that’s all I’ll say!

If you enjoy this post and my other scribblings, please share with others interested in the topics I write about!

Hi everyone! This is the spoiler-free review of this particular webcomic that is available in the first half of the podcast episode. The second half of the episode will be a spoiler laden discussion of the story. Just a fair warning in case you choose to read the comic series yourself.

I’m now here to discuss another story that I’ve been reading on and off for the past four months. It’s a manhwa series available on Webtoon. The title is called I’m The Max-Level Newbie.

General info

Unlike many of the other stories on Webtoon, this is actually a story where only 4 chapters are available are free. You do have to actually pay to access the other chapters. It’s not clear whether this could change in the future, but at this time you have to pay at this time. As I discuss this manhwa, episode 157 just got released on Webtoon. In the podcast episode, I will only be discussing

You have to pay 3 coins per chapter. As a side note, I actually did a written general review of Webtoons. If you are interested in learning more about their in-app currency, you can read that review.

The Premise

The basic premise of the story is you have the protagonist, Kang Jinhyeok. He is a gamer who livestreams his run throughs of a notoriously difficult game called Tower of Trials. It’s so difficult that most gamers have ignored it and it’s no longer popular. Jinhyeok spends 11 years playing this game over and over again to the point where he knows everything about all 50 levels of this tower. He does garner a small fanbase of viewers who also stuck with him on the grueling game play.

Just as he finishes the game, actual giant towers just like Tower of Trials appear in different places around the world. The people of Earth are given an ominous warning. They have 90 days to clear each level of the tower. If at least one person can do it, they reset the clock. If they fail, the end of the world commences. Of course we’re all aware of one person in the entire world who can make this happen: Kang Jinhyeok.

So of course this manhwa series follows the adventures and antics of Jinhyeok as he makes his way up the tower with his experience and insider knowledge of the game. Because of course conveniently enough, the real life Tower works exactly like the game does.

General Thoughts

Overall I enjoyed this series. It definitely has plenty of action considering the plot centers on an action, tower/dungeon video game. The action is well drawn and you can imagine the movement of Jinhyeok and the other characters. There’s also a solid story in this series. There’s different storylines weaved in the series. Jinhyeok has allies that he picks up along the way. He equally has a lot of opponents with motives that he certainly doesn’t agree with.

In between the action and some of the scheming, there’s plenty of humor. Jinhyeok isn’t the typical protagonist. He’s pretty cocky in his knowledge of Tower of Trials. To be fair, he did spend 11 years mastering the original video game so he should be recognized for being an expert. He’s also pretty manipulative though I will acknowledge his manipulation mostly targets people who think he’s an easy mark. Oh how little they know. He’s also a troll particularly towards Cheon Yuseong.

I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I can’t help but wonder if the series is actually going to cover all 50 levels of the tower or not. But it does I look forward to it!

Have you been reading this series? Are you interested if you haven’t yet? Leave a comment so we can talk about it!

If you’re new to this podcast and publication, welcome! When I reviews I post a written version that is the same (more or less) as the first half of the episode. The second half of the episode is a more detailed discussion of the story in question. If you haven’t seen the anime or read the manga/light novel, feel free to stop the episode when I do the countdown warning in the audio version.

This was not a title I thought existed. At all. I can’t even really remember how I discovered this title now. I only remember watching this on Crunchyroll before the pandemic. I found it really fascinating and kind of entertaining. But rather than just talk vaguely about it, let me just get to the review.

The Basics

Thermae Romae is a manga series published by Enterbrain in Japan. It was originally released as 6 volumes. In the United States, it’s been licensed by Yen Press and was released in 3 extra large volumes.

The series was adapted as an anime twice. The first one was in 2012 and is available on Crunchyroll. The more recent version was released in 2022 on Netflix. There were also two live action movies produced in Japan as well.

In February 2024, manga-ka Mari Yamazaki started releasing the sequel to Thermae Romae on the Shonen Jump+ app. I suspect it’s not yet available in English yet. However if anyone in the audience happens to be on the English version of the app, please reach out and let me know!

The Premise

During the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, Lucius Modestus is a frustrated thermae architect. What’s a thermae? It’s basically a bathhouse. In particular it’s a Roman bathhouse that will include many different rooms and bathing tubs, etc. During a visit to a bathhouse he somehow gets teleported to modern day Japan. His short visits to Japan reinvigorates him and gives him inspiration for his work. He eventually goes back to Rome and implements the lessons learned. Every episode of the show and chapters of the manga introduce new problems he solves with his trips to Japan.

General Thoughts

This is actually a really good series! It’s a fun time travel story where an ancient Roman accidentally travels centuries into the future. He winds up subtly changing things in the past. It’s also really fascinating learning a bit more about Ancient Rome. I was familiar with the importance of bathing in Roman culture. It’s pretty interesting to see what they did and didn’t have. You’d certainly enjoy it if you also have an interest in Ancient Rome.

I do have to warn people who are pretty sensitive about this, but unsurprisingly Lucius does express opinions that could be considered racist by our standards. Though this does change in later parts of the stories once he develops more of an understanding and respect for Asian people.

To be fair, it would make more sense because there’s no evidence that Romans ever encountered East Asian or Southeast Asian people. Most Roman citizens living in Italy would have seen Africans and people from the Middle East due to the trade within the empire. But I don’t recall the Romans ever actually seeing East Asian people. They might have some vague awareness via Middle Eastern traders of other lands further east of them.

I’m rather curious what happens in the sequel series as the manga offered a pretty solid ending to the story. Also it’s clear there won’t be a sequel to the anime because the final episode ends somewhat differently from the manga.

Would you be interested in reading this series? Leave a comment below. Feel free to share this with others! Also feel free to mention what stories you’ve been watching or reading! If I’m not already checking them out, they’ll go on my personal list!

Just as a note to anyone who is new to this podcast and publication. The following written review is a spoiler-free one that is the same as the first half of the episode. If you continue listening to the episode, I’ll continue with a short discussion that involves more details about what happened in the anime/manga/light novel, etc. If you want to avoid listening to spoilers, there will be a countdown warning before it starts.

Well I had previously done a review about Restaurant to Another World. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there was another series similar yet different from it. So here I am talking about Isekai Izakaya Nobu!

The Basics

This was a light novel series written on Shosetsuka ni Naro (like most light novels are). Unfortunately this series hasn’t been licensed in English or else I’d have read it by now. There is an on-going manga series with 18 volumes published thus far in Japan. Ten volumes have been translated and released by Udon Entertainment under the name “Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu.”

There was an anime series produced with 24 episodes. Naturally you can watch the series on Crunchyroll. Interestingly enough, there is also a live action series in Japan. You can watch the first two seasons on Viki in North America. A third season was also filmed and I hope that Viki will show it soon too.

Now some of you might be wondering, what is an izakaya? If you aren’t familiar, an izakaya is simply put a bar. However it’s not really like a sports bar or Cheers that Americans like me would be more familiar with. Izakayas have more commonality with taverns or tapas bars in Spain. You do get alcoholic drinks at an izakaya, but most commonly you also order food that pairs well with those drinks.

The Premise

Izakaya Nobu was experiencing a business slump in Kyoto. That is until one day the front door to the izakaya connected them to the city of Aitheria. Pretty soon the izakaya started seeing a variety of guests all fascinated by the mysterious, yet tasty food and drink. From city guards to noble lords, everyone who steps through the front door is welcome to take a seat by the counter, sample appetizers and order a meal that satisfies their taste buds. Who will come through the door next? Watch and read to find out!

General Thoughts

Over all I enjoyed this series! Just as I liked Restaurant to Another World, I really enjoyed this series as well. There is also some wonderful world building happening. The only real difference is that with Nekoya, only a limited number of people can access it on a specific day. Nobu, on the other hand, is always linked with Aitheria and all of the customers are people from that other world. This also means potential problems in Aitheria can really affect Nobu’s staff.

I’m hoping that the ebook version of the entire manga series will be available soon. I’ve been able to read the first seven volumes. It’s a shame the anime wasn’t continued, but I suppose it makes sense given how it’s an on-going series. However the live action series does continue past where the anime ended. Viki is a pretty good streaming service for all sorts of East Asian and Southeast Asian tv shows.

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a comment and share with other anime/manga/light novel fans! Your support and sharing my content with others is duly appreciated!

I initially missed watching this series until a reactor on YouTube started talking about this one. After researching this series, I soon realized it was a Korean webtoon/manhwa. So here are my thoughts about it.

The Basics

This was originally a Korean web novel published on KakaoPage in South Korea. Later the webtoon was also released in KakaoPage. The English translation of the webtoon is available on Tappytoon and Lezhin. Lezhin is actually how I read this particular series. This series was literally the reason why I even knew Lezhin existed and started reading other comics on there. If you didn’t already read my reviews of both of those app, you can read them here:

A 12-episode anime series was released earlier this year and is available on Crunchyroll. There have been no announcements about whether or not they’re going to do a season 2.

The premise

This is a unique premise in that it is an isekai and time travel story. It is an isekai because the title character was originally a spoiled, hated villainess who is executed on the authority of her husband, Emperor Linden.

She gets reborn in South Korea (webtoon/light novel) and Japan (anime). In her new life, she’s born an orphan who has to work hard and becomes a world class surgeon. On her way to a consultation, the plane she’s on has a crash and she dies from her injuries.

She then wakes up and realizes she’s Elise again, but she’s a few years younger than when she was executed. This is her second chance at life! She also retains her medical knowledge from the other world along with her knowledge of future events in her life as Elise.

What will she do with this knowledge? Can she avert tragedy and save herself from a burning at the stake? You have to watch and read to find out!

General Thoughts

I have to confess there are things I liked and didn’t like about this series. I felt like there were some inconsistencies in how Elise’s world functioned. It feels like it’s a parallel world version of the Victorian era, yet there’s other aspects of the world that feel anachronistic for a version of that time period.

Also the development of her relationships with some characters feel too easy. She had a conflict with a character in the past and their conflict seemed to have been resolved too easily. I felt like some of that development wasn’t really done as well. Unfortunately I can’t get access to the novel, so I can’t be sure if this is an issue with the source material or it’s a adaptation issue.

Ultimately what kept me going with the series was I really like the relationship between Elise and Linden. Aside from her relationship with her family, that’s the other relationship I think that was pretty well done. Linden does have a healthy skepticism of Elise because of her past behavior. The way their relationship develops seems more plausible because we have dozens of chapters in the webtoon to make it happen.

Despite it’s flaws it would be good if they continued the anime with a season 2 because there’s some natural plot threads left dangling in the anime. And that’s because those threads are resolved later in the series. Overall, it’s really up to you whether you think it’s worth checking out. If you have Crunchyroll it doesn’t hurt watching the anime first. If you are actually intrigued, then search out the webtoon to read the rest. Especially in case it doesn’t continue with season 2.

Have you seen the anime? Have you read the webtoon or the light novel? If not would you? Leave a comment below!