Manga Tak

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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