Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Mangaroos

Being a teen in love is hard -
and it's even harder when your mom is a werewolf and your vampire dad forbids you from dating humans! But with a lone wolf hunk as hunky as Makabe, falling in love might be the only way out for our hero, Ranze Eto. Wacky hijinx abound in the Looney Tunes of shojo manga, Tokimeki Tonight!

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Kagurabachi is the manga for anyone who's read Jujutsu Kaisen and wished it was good. It's a cinematic pastiche. A rush of styles and influences exploding onto the page by super-talented newcomer Takeru Hokazono that all just barely manages to hang together, like a dirt bike humming along at full throttle, as long as you never stop to think about it. Goldfish sword power!

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This may not be news to you, but one of Alex's secret missions throughout the history of Mangaroos has been to get Mark and Jayson to read a BL manga. Well, it's finally happened! And all three of us have nothing but good things to say about the experience. 

The Summer Hikaru Died isn't only a BL story, though. It's also an extremely effective tale of eldritch horror and creeping dread. What would you do if your best friend came back, and you knew they were dead, but you still loved them enough to keep hanging out with them anyway? 

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Jujutsu Kaisen: modern Shonen Jump classic, or merely the inspiration for an amazing anime adaptation? We'll get to the bottom of this mystery, while also discussing gnarly old finger-shaped convenience store snacks, and finding out exactly what "Jujutsu Kaisen" really means!

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The Roos review another winner of the Manga Taisho Award, Spacewalking with You (Kimi to Uchū o Aruku Tame ni).

Self reflect on your personal difficulties in life and overcome them together with us, just like best buds Uno and Kobayashi do in this story :) It’s boys supporting one another through friendship and understanding what makes each one of them not "normal". This episode is guaranteed to make you feel so nice and fluffy inside that you’ll want to write a diary entry about it in your notebook.

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Mangaroos double dips for the first time ever for the much-beloved Arakawa-sensei!

FMA expert Alistair takes time from his pilgrimage across Shikoku to take over as guest host on a grainy green payphone to ask the Roos tough questions like what type of alchemist they would be and what exactly makes up a human body. A must listen for any FMA fan!

See Alistair’s adventures:  https://www.instagram.com/alistairwalks/

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Everywhere else: @mangaroos

Every day's a little more colorful when Mitsumi's around! Misaki Takamatsu's Skip and Loafer is a love story, in that it is a story that you will fall in love with, unless you have a heart of stone. Come and listen to us gush about our sparkly darling.

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Coming to you live from the Saizeriya in the heart of beautiful downtown Gunma! We're talking about one of the behemoths of Japanese pop culture, Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken), and yes we make all the requisite "you wa shock" jokes and "a-ta-ta-ta-ta" sound effects - don't worry. Also discussed: post-apocalypse bondage gear, Mad Max and its availability in 1980s Japan, and more surprising Alex origin story lore. You don't want to miss this one.

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Magi is an endearing shonen adventure story with a charming little protagonist. It's got magical creatures, dungeon exploration straight out of a classic JRPG, and best-in-class reaction shots. It is also, somewhat inexplicably, the second flute-centric manga we've covered for the show. How did that happen? 

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With all the classic sports manga series that have come and gone over the years, it's a wonder that it's taken this long for a really great hockey series to hit the ice. And since Mangaroos is one-third Canadian, we're legally obligated to talk about it! We're giving Dogsred, by Satoru Noda, a five minute major penalty... for stealing our hearts! 

There's no crazier sport than hockey, so who better to tell the tale of a rogue former figure skater turned curious hockey-liker than Satoru Noda, creator of the uniquely crazy Golden Kamuy?

Join us as we try and understand whether hockey is in fact a real sport, and if it is, whether it can work in manga form. Also, stay tuned to the end to hear us flaunt our expansive K-pop knowledge.

Go Leafs!!

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FIRST: We had to pay tribute to the late Akira Toriyama. The world lost a true legend earlier this month.

SECOND: Yasuhisa Hara's epic historical action series has been appearing in Weekly Young Jump since 2006, and it's a global sensation. Everyone you know either reads ONE PIECE, or Kingdom, or both.  Even Japan's Princess, Akiko of Mikasa, is a self-confessed die-hard Kingdom fan. But the question is, is the first volume any good? Opinions vary! 

Discussed in this episode: Do you have to be good at drawing to make a successful manga? Do manga authors do interviews on TV? And, are these ladies blowing raspberries in an ancient jacuzzi? 

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For fans of manga, Hiromu Arakawa needs no introduction. She's responsible for the mega-ultra-successful and popular Full Metal Alchemist, as well as the acclaimed Silver Spoon, among other works. Now, here comes Arakawa Sensei's latest series, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, to delight and bewilder us in equal measure. The first volume is a bit of a jumble. We've got gunfights, fish-out-of-water hijinks, and possibly a Japanese folklore-based take on Pokemon? It doesn't quite all hang together, but it's clearly the work of a master chef combining tastefully luxurious elements together in a creative way, so we'll just have to trust her that it'll come together someday. Remember, even FMA fans will tell you that it took a few volumes to really find its footing...

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The Promised Neverland, by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu, begins with a simple question: What if an orphanage was also a factory farm that produced food for demonic otherworldly entities? As high concepts for shonen manga series go, that's about as compelling as they come. No wonder this series became a multimedia phenomenon in the waning days of the pre-Covid era. It also features some truly badass metal album cover-style artwork, which couldn't have hurt. 

(Stay tuned to the end of this episode for a musical surprise!)

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 Atsushi Kaneko is an underground manga hero for a reason, revered around the world, and especially in Europe.  EVOL is his wild, punk rock take on anti-super heroes and the decaying of our social fabric. In it, we find teens in mental institutions who are fed up with the hopeless world around them, heroes who uphold corrupt political agendas instead of justice, and a weird, melting moon. It's explosive and cynical. Black and white with no shades of gray. It also may or may not be Sonic Youth fan fiction. You decide!

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It's no secret that Takehiko Inoue is one of the undisputed masters of the manga art form, so it's about time we gave one of his works the Mangaroos treatment. 

Vagabond is an epic historical action manga, with some of the most gorgeous art to ever grace a page. It is violent and passionate and breathtaking. 

We discuss whether sexy cougar Okou is, in fact, TOO sexy. We ponder how it might feel if your kid’s good for nothing friend took him to Sekigahara and whether you might sic a posse on him in response, and plot his demise. Also, is basketball the modern day equivalency of samurai battles? Listen in and find out!

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The English title of this book is To Your Eternity, but in Japanese it's called 不滅のあなたへ (Fumetsu no Anata e). Whatever you like to call it, Yoshitoki Oima's second hit series isn't quite like anything else, in any medium. 

The elevator pitch is impossible. Child meets immortal thing in the forest. Alien thing becomes all different stuff, including a wolf, and meets a boy. Is this a story about people trying to go ice fishing, who then get lost? In some ways, it is that. In many ways, it isn't.

Even just the first chapter of volume one is a heart-breaking, self-contained story. From there, typical shonen storytelling tropes are subverted because the extraterrestrial shapeshifting protagonist is constantly in the process of learning, in real time, how to become a convincing facsimile of a person. Meanwhile, a human sacrifice must be made to a gigantic bear god, in the forest. Look, there's a lot going on here. It's a heck of a way to start a series, is what we're saying.

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Jaguar is an eccentric man with a shock of red hair, a heart full of passion, and a recorder (flute). He took Japan by storm in the early 2000s, and we are all richer for it, even if we don't realize why or how. In this life, you are either a guitar person or a recorder (flute) person. 

A hip hop ninja, the inherent hilarity to be found in earnestly reciting poetry, trying to find comfort when using a punching bag you found in the trash as a pillow. This manga is truly something special.

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Do you wear a hat with a brim or not? We explore this question and whether art is magic in this episode about Witch Hat Atelier! Discover which witch Mark and Jayson feel affinity for as we discuss plot elements maybe beyond volume one (but no spoilers). Give this a listen and find out what makes this manga so worthy of its many awards.

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The time has finally come for Jayson to rave about his favorite current ongoing manga series! We all know how he feels about it, but what about everyone else? Is Witch Watch a subtle and hilarious love letter to manga as an art form? Or is it just I Dream of Genie in manga form? Ha! That question is impossible to answer unless you are a senior citizen, because no one under the age of 30 knows what I Dream of Genie even is! But regardless of your age, snuggle up and listen in, as we discuss this sweet, magical rom-com. 

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The fourth Mangaroo is back! We're always happy to have Minami Sakai drop by Mangaroos Mansion, because she provides us with hard-earned manga industry insider knowledge. And what better manga to apply that wisdom to than Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun? This is a comedy series known for its inside-baseball takes on Shojo manga tropes and the manga production process.

In this episode, we learn about the art of Kishōtenketsu storytelling, sloppily dissect Japanese comedy styles, and witness a Shojo manga bromance blossoming before our very eyes.

IMPORTANT NOTES: Minami mentions that the PV and MangaPark serialization of her series, 爆死して乙女ゲーに転生したので推しルートを攻略します！or "I Bombed a Pull So Bad it Yeeted Me into an Otome Game, so I'm Gonna Clear My Best Boy's Route!"would be up on November 15th, but they got pushed back! They will likely be available in December or later (exact date TBD).

Buy chapters of Minami's manga here.

Also! Minami totally likes and approves of a lot of Shogakukan Shojo manga. She is not hating on Shogakukan Shojo in any way.

Enjoy the episode!

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
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If you've never read A Bride's Story before, then throw all your preconceptions about it out the window. Unless one of those preconceptions is about it being an absolute masterpiece—keep that one. We're talking perfectly paced action scenes. Impeccable, intricate line work that recreates the craftsmanship of a bygone age. Historical fiction on a recognizably human scale. The inherent badassery of goat horns. Kaoru Mori is a genius.

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We're back! This week we're discussing one of the so-called "Big Three" from the Shonen Jump boom of the early-2000s. Bleach is a rock and roll song in manga form. It's a battle manga with supernatural flair. It's a wildly incoherent blend of ideas and styles that somehow just works... For the most part!

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WE'RE BACK. Did you have a fun summer vacation? We did! And now we're back to discuss Kininatteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta (The Guy She Liked Wasn't a Guy At All!) by Sumiko Arai, a Twitter sensation published in book form! (Twitter still existed when we recorded this episode.) This manga brings you the awkwardness of high school crushes, the importance of music to the teen psyche, and all of the lime green you can handle. Can its charm survive the transition from social media to the printed page?! 

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The war against AI is over, and humanity is attempting to rebuild, having suffered devastating defeat. And what's crazy is, that's also the plot of this manga! Erio is a naive young woman with unusual electric powers, in a world where electricity is outlawed! She's in love with a heartless murder robot who depends on Erio for said electricity! It's a 1950s screwball comedy that looks like steampunk Hayao Miyazaki. 

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A kindergarten for the children of the world's super-elite, where the staff are all ex-prisoner lethal assassins? What could possibly go wrong! Kindergarten Wars combines the unconventional work/life dynamics of Spy x Family with the over-the-top violence of Chainsaw Man, and throws in some shojo manga tropes for comedic effect. It's quite a combination, but how well does it work? Listen in to find out!

BONUS: Stick around to the end, when the Roos reveal their favorite manga read for the show so far. 

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What would YOU do if you were the only person left in society? Would you go looking for survivors with a weird little mouse creature as your companion? Eat super-spicy instant curry while driving around blasted-out cityscapes? Or just watch old movies on an endless loop? Come reflect on the fragility of existence and "a story of loneliness and beautiful ruins," and let's do some beautiful Rooin' of our own.

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
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Science fiction, romantic comedy, and slapstick cartoonery all co-exist in the same beautifully-drawn timeline, in Parallel Leap Syndrome by Nobuyuki Takahashi! What moment in your life would you return to, as many times as it took, just to get it right? Which tired old rom-com tropes need to be left in the past for good? Are you a Haruko or a Satoimo? Find out, alongside your favorite Mangaroo-yaros.

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Step into the spirit world with us as we take a look at a brand-new series, Tonari no Hyakkai Kenbunroku, by Yoshiko Watanuki. Points discussed: creepy peach girl, wallets stolen by ghosts, neighbors and whether or not you're entirely sure they exist, falling in love with an older man, and the difference between true romance and fujoshi bait (it exists!). 

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Drawing motorcycle action this well is such a flex. 

In what may or may not be the last episode in our "thrillers" arc (we're not sure), we discuss Ajin: Demi-Human. Presenting a vision of immortality that can best be described as "badass," Ajin is a story about a select group of humans who cannot be killed, but can project "black ghosts" who, uh, look like cool creepy mummies and fight with balletic grace. And some of them can scream real loud? Channel your inner 14-year-old disaffected boy, and get lost in the turbulence with us.

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
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Experience the kind of suspense that could only happen when a white collar, mystery-loving dad takes on the yakuza, in volume one of My Home Hero! What would you do if you found out your child was dating a violent criminal? How well would each Mangaroo deal with covering up a murder? And what's the deal with thought bubbles?

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This week, it's all about deeply creepy mom stuff, as the Roos discuss the first volume of Shuzo Oshimi's psychological horror story, Blood on the Tracks. Also discussed: Gunma prefecture, Kyoko Fukada, passive dads, mystery insects, and sticky ickies.

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
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Mark's bringing the nostalgia to our lives this week with Marathon Man, a manga from the early 90s by the iconic Masaharu Inoue. Can a deadbeat dad earn the respect (and custody) of his son by reclaiming his former marathon-running glory? Discussed: unequipping your party members in Final Fantasy IV, how to make dads cry, and accepting gifts from unknown relatives! This podcast has nothing to do with the 1976 American thriller film directed by John Schlesinger.

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
Everywhere else: @mangaroos

Haikyu!! is one of the most beloved Shonen Jump properties in recent years, a consensus pick for the Best Sports Manga Hall of Fame, and easily the premier high school volleyball manga in history. But, is volume one any good? Listen in to find out, and stick around for hot takes on Little Giants, Wingless Crows, and what it takes to be a real tosser.  

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Get enamored with the glamour! This week, we discuss a manga that captures the fluid grace and athleticism of ballet. But George Asakura's Dance Dance Danseur isn't only a visual spectacle! It addresses issues, too. What does it really mean to be "masculine"? How do the choices we make at a young age come to define who we are? Does Swan Lake even have a plot, and if so, what is it? Find out, along with the Roos!

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
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This week we're joined by the illustrious Minami Sakai, creator of 爆死して乙女ゲーに転生したので推しルートを攻略します！("I Bombed a Pull So Bad it Yeeted Me into an Otome Game, so I'm Gonna Clear My Best Boy's Route!")

Fumi Yoshinaga's Ooku: The Inner Chambers offers an elegant and thought provoking first volume. What if the Tokugawa Shogunate had been run entirely by powerful women? How would society respond if three quarters of the male population was wiped out by a virulent disease? And why is working in corporate Japan surprisingly similar to being part of a harem? 

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
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You're familiar with the works of Vincent van Gogh, but are you aware of his younger brother, Theodorus? Well what better way to learn about both of them than a slice of life josei manga! This week the Mangaroos get educated. How much sensuality is appropriate when playing chess in public? Who or what was Tolouse-Lautrec? And what even is art anyway, man?

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What happens when the celebrated Three Kingdoms statesman and military strategist Kongming is transported to the nightlife scene in modern-day Shibuya? A whole lot of nonsense, mostly, and some lovingly illustrated butts! 

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It's a special episode this week, in celebration of a lost legend, Leiji Matsumoto. Leaving behind an immeasurable impact on the history of manga, Matsumoto is best known for his work in the 1970s, including Space Battleship Yamato and Galaxy Express 999. But we chose to spend time with perhaps his most enduring character, Captain Harlock (or Herlock, depending on who you ask). It's a surprising first volume in many ways, and as we found out, the 70s really were a different time. Join us as we discuss political progressiveness, lumpy drunken space hobos, and a Muppet-like bird with a mysterious and tragic past. 

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Freaky space monsters, a crash-landing on a frozen planet, and advice from a robot on how to make friends. What more do you need, really? This effervescent and  Evangelion-inspired debut from Yuhiro Tsujitsugu is a chaotic blend of elements that just barely hangs together, and yet somehow, it works!

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We all have a crush on Fuyutsuki-san. That's all you really need to know! Also discussed: snow, office romance, and a surprising amount of folklore. 

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What's worse? Working a dead-end convenience store job, or being kidnapped by a creepy, faceless Santa demon and being forced to help ruin Christmas for children around the world? That's just one of the questions posed in this week's episode, in which we discuss Black Night Parade, by Hikaru Nakamura, of Saint Young Men fame! This manga was recently adapted into a live-action movie in Japan, and hey, there's no better time to discuss Christmas manga than late February, right!?

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This week the Mangaroos discuss growing up on a tiny island, making manga about manga, and whether they are or are not three high school girls following their dreams! Kono podcast ga sugoi! 

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In this second, much better sounding episode of Mangaroos, we discuss the hilarious and sometimes surreal Onna no Sono no Hoshi. Shirt collar trends? Drawing eyebrows on dogs?? Eternal Kaoru!?? This episode's got it all!

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In this, the very first episode of Mangaroos, we're starting with a big one. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Sure, it's a global multimedia phenomenon now, but we're going back to where it all started: the first volume of the manga. Join us as we discuss Tanjiro's super sense of smell, Taisho era fashion trends, and Nezuko kicking a demon's head off!

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Email: mangaroospodcast@gmail.com
Everywhere else: @mangaroos