#MangaMonday 112 “Axed Mangaka and Doujin Creator” by Hibito Sumi

Manga about mangaka (manga creators) are not unusual; I’ve recommended a couple before (MM60 & 61.) Mainstream #manga about doujin (fanfic, often about same-sex pairings) creators are much rarer.

Yukuru (pen name Robou) is a mangaka who’s just had his series cancelled. It was never very popular but he had one vocal fan, Chirita, who creates #doujin about the two male leads. Out of a sense of gratitude, he goes to a convention where she’s selling it and buys a copy. She assumes he’s a fellow fan and he begins to use her as a touchstone to gauge his next work.

Chirita is a fun character; she’s personable and fashionable—her day job is in retail. There’s no romantic tension so far (unless you notice the similarities between Yukuru’s editors and his male leads) and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Chirita figures out Yukuru is Robou.

Ongoing with nine English chapters on Shueisha’s “Manga Plus” website/app.

#MangaMonday 111 “The Swamp” by Yoshiharu Tsuge

Tsuge is one of those artists who was influential when manga was becoming #manga.

He got started in the postwar rental book market (think DVD rentals, but for books (ask your parents about DVD rentals.)) When that market started to dry up he was recruited by the seminal “Garo” magazine—literally. Nobody on staff knew how to contact him so they put a notice in the magazine asking him to get in touch.

This volume (Drawn & Quarterly, 2020) collects eleven of his stories from that period. (Technically they’re all from “Garo,” but four of them were redraws of his earlier works.) Series editor Mitsuhiro Asakawa contributes a fifteen page afterwards that alone is worth the price of admission.

It’s an interesting collection that shows inklings of Tsuge’s later, more influential, work. “Chirpy” is probably closest to that, but it falls in the middle of this (temporally arranged) volume.

#TheSwamp

#MangaMonday 110 “Confession” by Nobuyuki Fukumoto (Story) & Kaiji Kawaguchi (Art)

Ishikura confesses to Asai that he murdered Sayuri.

The two of them are lost in a snowstorm while attempting to scale Mt. Owari. It’s something both of them have done several times as part of a larger group—the murder occurred on one such expedition—but this time the elements combined with Ishikura’s broken leg mean that his is a deathbed confession. Then Asai discovers that the way station cabin they had been searching for is nearby. Ishikura’s life is saved, but the confession hangs heavily between the both of them.

This is a psychological thriller #manga, reminiscent of pre-code EC #comics. It’s a nicely compact story, at only 300 pages. It was first serialized in 1998, but due to the setting the only tell is the style of the cell phones. This English edition (Kodansha) came out in 2024, coincidentally the same year it was adapted as a live-action Japanese #film.

#Confession

#MangaMonday 109 “When Arika Went Missing” by Moyashi Fujisawa (story) and Kumakuzu (art)

Lyrical Trick is a popular idol group that is set back when their center girl, Arika Mamiya, mysteriously goes missing. When the police come up empty after a year, some of her biggest fans and her childhood friend team up to find out what happened to her. They soon find that some of the

This is a decent mystery (the final twist took me by surprise) and it has some interesting group dynamics. There’s a drug use subplot that’s a bit eyerolly, but probably the best they could do in “Young Magazine” (where this was serialized.)

I don’t know what was in the air in the early twenties, but we started to see #manga take a look at the dark underbelly of the idol industry while still upholding the idea of idols. If you’re missing “Oshi No Ko” this may scratch that itch.

Complete with six Japanese volumes. Kodansha has released digital English chapters on their K MANGA app/site.

#WhenArikaWentMissing

#MangaMonday 108 “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman (story,) Tevagah (script,) & Kuzomari (lead art)

I think this is the first western work I’ve recommended here. It’s a #webtoon, though, and those have shown up before.

For those who don’t know, #DungeonCrawlerCarl is a series of novels about the earth being exploited by aliens, with the chief resource being the entertainment value of watching some of the survivors try to survive a video game-esque dungeon.

This is the latest adaptation—there’s been a couple audio versions—and it does its job well, condensing some moments and letting visuals handle things when appropriate. It started after the series has been well under way, so we get panels showing characters entering the dungeon who won’t appear properly for a long while. The art is quite good, although some fans have complained that Carl looks too young. (He’s only 27!)

Available at webtoons.com with a graphic novel (Vault Comics) coming this month.

#MangaMonday 107 “Inuta—My Canine Classmate” by Mattakumo-suke

Inuta-san is the cutest girl in class. She’s also dog. Literally.

This is a #manga in very short (usually four pages or fewer) chapters, all playing with the idea of a dog in school. Inu can talk and she walks on her hind legs, but she has the instincts of a typical Inu Shiba. The rest of her classmates are human (except for one who’s a cat.) It’s a very cute series that relies on the art to really sell the premise.

Available in English on the “Manga UP!” app/site, where the originals are grouped together to make still-short-but-not-ridiculously-so chapters.

#Inuta

#MangaMonday 106 “You and I are Polar Opposites” by Kocha Agasawa

What if the manic pixie dream girl was the main character?

Miyu Suzuki is a friendly bundle of energy. She’s smitten by the quiet, direct (and possibly on the autism spectrum) Yusuke Tani. What’s a girl to do? Confess by the end of chapter one, of course.

Agasawa’s previous work (in #manga time) was “The Ramparts of Ice” (MM105) and at a glance this covers very similar ground; introverts and extroverts navigating relationships in a high school setting. However, the overall tone here is lighter; there’s a lot of humor peppered with some heavy moments. It’s more of an ensemble piece as well, with two other couples in the friend group getting significant story time. Character work is where Agasawa shines and here there’s more opportunity for it.

Complete with all eight volumes in English (Viz.) An excellent #anime adaptation ran last season with the (concluding?) second due next season.

#YouAndIArePolarOpposites