Manga Mavericks

[Spark Of Spirit]

Both Love Rush and Red Sprite had one-shots in Jump NEXT! a while back. I read them both despite being untranslated.

Love Rush was part-romantic comedy, and part-ecchi. It was considerably better than E-Robot, though that isn't saying much. With Yuna in the magazine now, I would imagine a change in focus is necessary for this series. Yuna is quickly becoming the TLR of modern Jump, and I don't see two ecchi series standing out. He should try making it more romcom and less ecchi and going for a different feel.

Red Sprite was about a boy soldier in a war against robots. I liked this one, but didn't consider it a stand-out. The action was pretty good, and the art was better than Iron Knight. The world had a sort of Bionic Commando, and '80s action movie and older shonen vibe. However, the actual story was extremely by the numbers. If he can fix that glaring weakness, then we should be in for a treat.

Both series have potential, though I wonder how long they can last in the current climate of the magazine. Other than Takuan & Batsu, and Toriko and Gintama nearing the end, there are no weak links right now.

As for Genshiken, the second season isn't even close to the first. None of the new characters are as in depth as the ones from the first season, and nothing happens at all. It's hard to believe that this was written by the same person as the first. I dropped it a long time ago.

Also, my suggestion for a great manga to get into that is rather inexpensive would by Psyren. It's a healthy 16 volumes long. I find it has more of a Shonen Sunday feel for a Jump series.

I do have a question you two might feel like answering.

There have been several bubbles of popularity in the North American manga market. Because these pockets have come at different times, there are many different manga series that have missed the boat in being licensed. For instance, Ushio & Tora missed its window to be released back in the 90s and as a result there is no North American fanbase for Kazuhiro Fujita's works. Sket Dance missed its best chance to be licensed at its popularity peak several years back and it looks unlikely to get licensed now. On the other hand, there are series like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that are getting a new opportunity thanks to recent anime series.

My question is, do you feel there are any manga series that have essentially missed the boat in being licensed? Are there series you think should have been licensed but now have virtually no chance? Whether its classics like Fist of the North Star or City Hunter, or just surprising passes like Medaka Box or Beezlebub, what great series in your mind missed their chance at being officially brought over?

*Note: I'm not talking about series that were brought over and simply didn't sell and got canceled like ReBorn! or Gintama, but series that never got the chance in the first place.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Both Love Rush and Red Sprite had one-shots in Jump NEXT! a while back. I read them both despite being untranslated.

Love Rush was part-romantic comedy, and part-ecchi. It was considerably better than E-Robot, though that isn't saying much. With Yuna in the magazine now, I would imagine a change in focus is necessary for this series. Yuna is quickly becoming the TLR of modern Jump, and I don't see two ecchi series standing out. He should try making it more romcom and less ecchi and going for a different feel.

Both series have potential, though I wonder how long they can last in the current climate of the magazine. Other than Takuan & Batsu, and Toriko and Gintama nearing the end, there are no weak links right now.

I skimmed through the Love Rush one-shot. I'm hoping there's a bit more to the premise than being Monster Musume-light. It'll need something else if it wants to compete with Yuna as the resident rom-com/harem series in Jump.

Even when Toriko and Gintama end, there's still going to be a lot of turnover when it comes to new series. There's a lot of decently successful series in Jump right now. I'm just hoping that Straighten Up! and Kimetsu no Yaiba can hold on and keep a stable place in the ranks until they get anime, and Promised Neverland finds it's audience immediately to survive through the next round of cancellations.

As for Genshiken, the second season isn't even close to the first. None of the new characters are as in depth as the ones from the first season, and nothing happens at all. It's hard to believe that this was written by the same person as the first. I dropped it a long time ago.

That's a shame. The first Genshiken was such a good time, it's disappointing to hear it fell off the rails like that.

Thanks for the question! It should be a good one to discuss next time.

[LumRanmaYasha]

New episode! Featuring thoughts on Astra Lost in Space, the final chapter of Bleach and it's live-action movie announcement, as well as a discussion about when it's right to buy used manga and much, much more!

[Spark Of Spirit]

Good discussion on the used books topic. I buy new when I'm collecting new series, but for things out of print I have no choice but to buy used. And there are people that have smaller budgets for entertainment who have little choice but to buy used. The Gantz author's argument makes sense, but there's not really anything that can be done about it as a whole. If it wasn't for the used market, I wouldn't be able to collect things like Flame of Recca now.

City Hunter and Fist of the North Star both got licensed, you're right. They didn't make it to the end, but at least Fist of the North Star got a lot further than City Hunter did. I probably should have used better examples than those. 

Neuro, Sket Dance, and Adachi's works were good choices. Adachi's works are entirely Shogakukan, which means it's Viz or nothing to get his stuff over here. The only reason we got Fujita's short ghost series released here is because Kodansha originally released it. Adachi, unfortunately, is pretty much only Shogakukan. Unless there's a big boost in his popularity here, I'm not sure if it'll change.

Everyone already knows what my choice would be, so no need to bring it up again. 

Good episode!

[LumRanmaYasha]

Thanks! It was fun to debate on a discussion topic, even though it was only a small chunk of the episode. I'm planning for us to do these more regularly in the future.

And yeah, Viz is the only licensor who can publish Adachi's stuff, which is why it's a shame they haven't touched most of them. At least we got Cross Game, but I wish it did better so they'd have considered bringing over his past works as well. But I guess Adachi's art is too old-school and his stories too quiet for some. Maybe the anime adaptions of his works would have a better chance, but since Cross Game never got beyond streaming over here, I'm very skeptical that we'll ever see more of his stuff released legally in any form over here in the west.

Btw, I talked with Colton yesterday, and we're planning for our episode on Yusei Matsui to come one the same day as his panel in NYCC. We have a lot of fun stuff planned for that episode that's going to be different from how we normally do the show, which I'm really excited for. Though I really gotta finish reading Neuro first. 

[LumRanmaYasha]

On this week's Manga Mavericks, VlordGTZ subs in for Colton as we talk about a bunch of news and Goo's worst Manga-to-Anime fails and worst Shonen Jump heroines lists. We also make a bunch of South Park references.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

On this week's Manga Mavericks, VlordGTZ subs in for Colton as we talk about a bunch of news and Goo's worst Manga-to-Anime fails and worst Shonen Jump heroines lists. We also make a bunch of South Park references.

Hey! That last one was an Aliens reference (even if South Park did have Cartmen reference it).

[LumRanmaYasha]

Cartman referencing that line as a running gag in "Cat Orgy" is one of my favorite Cartman moments to the point I associate it with South Park more than Aliens itself. So I was referencing the reference. Call it reference-ception. 

[Spark Of Spirit]

When it comes to MHA, there are two types of complaints. The first being that it's a Naruto clone (usually by Bleach fans), and the second that it's generic (usually from Bleach fans), both of which are usually said by people who haven't read much manga. MHA haters are a strange bunch.

I've never been able to get into series like AgK. They never stop feeling forced. Edgelord series have always rubbed me wrong.

Dragon Ball is the biggest fail anime? Really? Over Toriko, Tokyo Ghoul, Flame of Recca, or Naruto? I find that hard to believe. GTO and FMA are hard to swallow, too. The animation in GTO isn't strong, but it still works really well. FMA is just more Brotherhood butt-hurt. They couldn't adapt the full series in the old anime because it wasn't done yet. Get over it already.

Parasyte probably would have benefited if it came out after Ushio & Tora and such where keeping the original character designs was permitted. Though there isn't much you can do about the truncated content unless it was given more episodes.

The second list I just don't get. Teruhashi is one of the funniest characters in Saiki. Sakura is alarmingly low, as is Misa. Kagura is one of the best characters in Gintama, and that says something considering how many good characters there are in the series. Erina can be annoying, but she is well-developed since the beginning. Chitoge is hilariously hated by Nisekoi fans, so there's no surprise that she's up here.

But then there's #1. What the heck.

Ochaco Uraraka? Over Sakura, Misa, or Orihime? She's been starting to get some development recently, she has a good attitude, and she always livens up scenes she's in. Horikoshi has changed every character from the beginning, and she's no different. Honestly, she shouldn't even be on the list.

But then, the top 20 includes characters from World Trigger, Psyren, Sket Dance, One Piece, and Rurouni Kenshin, and doesn't even have a single Bleach character. So a heavy dose of salt is needed.

Good podcast. If Colton can't make it in the future, I wouldn't mind Vlord returning. He had good presence.

[VLordGTZ]

Good podcast. If Colton can't make it in the future, I wouldn't mind Vlord returning. He had good presence.

Colton might be in a little.....accident in the near future. 

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I have my problems with the Dragon Ball anime, but it has many good points. I have many more problems with DBZ, but it's far from being one of the worst anime adaptations ever. How the hell is World Trigger not on this list?

And GTO is a great adaptation. Who the fuck did they even poll for this list? Other than the fact that it only covers half of the manga (which tons of 90's anime are guilty of) and makes up its own ending (which is fine for the show), it's really well done for what it covers.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Episode #17 is out, in which we run down a Top 10 Shojo Manga to recommend to men list and are embarrassed at only having read one and a half of them.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The three Jump starts are probably the strongest there has been for a while, but who knows if they'll last?

Promised Neverland has been a slower read, still shonen, but much different than you'd expect. I just hope readers' attention holds.

I think there is a very easy way to make Love Rush! great. They don't even have to change much what the series already does.

A) Make the first arc about the princess helping the main couple get together despite her own feelings. You could get a lot of mileage out of that.
B) Make the second arc about her having to go away, or get in trouble back home, and making the main couple (and some friends) go and help and/or rescue her. This would put every relationship to the test and give a bit of an adventure vibe to add to the romance.
C) This in turn would make the final confrontation have more impact if he would choose to stay with his childhood friend, or have a change of heart, by the ending.

To me, that would make it a much better series that deals with relationships while still making it different enough to stand out.

Red Sprite has airship battles. I'm kind of at a loss as what to suggest to improve it. Slowing down the pace a bit is about all I can think about, but I think that's going to happen anyway. The first three chapters pretty much introduced and summed up the world, characters, plot, and premise, concisely, so at this point the story starts properly and should have more breathing room. I hope it does well, because it's a lot of fun to read.

Volume 5 of MHA is where the series takes off. It's been nothing but great since then. Every arc gets better and better. I would hope sales only continue to improve after this volume.

The Sports Festival arc is considerably better in volume form. It's a quick read that way, and you get the character moments faster. As for its weaknesses, as I posted before, there's a note in volume 5 about the arc where Horikoshi admits it was a learning experience for him as it spun out of control from what he originally intended. He clearly learned a lot since each arc since then has been really tight and packed in.

You misspelled Akimoto's name as Akimbo in the description.  But I concur with Colton. Giving best-of volumes to Kochikame like they did for Golgo 13 would be nice. The series deserves some sort of release over here.

Shojo was stuck in a rut like shonen was a few years back with the generic hyper-formulaic stuff. But there have always been some good shojo to recommend to guys. Most of the list is some of the better stuff. I'm not that big on romantic comedies (or romantic dramas), so if I enjoy them, they have to be done really well. My Love Story and Honey & Clover are two of the best. The Honey & Clover anime was written by Yousuke Kuroda, so you know its worth watching.

I collect very few series, but Flame of Recca is going to be a pain to get all of. It's not only out of print, but some copies are just not in good condition. It's my own fault for waiting so long to collect it. Still, I can only imagine how difficult it can be for longer series than that.

Very good episode. I look forward hearing what you guys will be talking about in the Matsui episode.

[LumRanmaYasha]

The three Jump starts are probably the strongest there has been for a while, but who knows if they'll last?

Promised Neverland has been a slower read, still shonen, but much different than you'd expect. I just hope readers' attention holds.

I think there is a very easy way to make Love Rush! great. They don't even have to change much what the series already does.

A) Make the first arc about the princess helping the main couple get together despite her own feelings. You could get a lot of mileage out of that.
B) Make the second arc about her having to go away, or get in trouble back home, and making the main couple (and some friends) go and help and/or rescue her. This would put every relationship to the test and give a bit of an adventure vibe to add to the romance.
C) This in turn would make the final confrontation have more impact if he would choose to stay with his childhood friend, or have a change of heart, by the ending.

To me, that would make it a much better series that deals with relationships while still making it different enough to stand out.

Red Sprite has airship battles. I'm kind of at a loss as what to suggest to improve it. Slowing down the pace a bit is about all I can think about, but I think that's going to happen anyway. The first three chapters pretty much introduced and summed up the world, characters, plot, and premise, concisely, so at this point the story starts properly and should have more breathing room. I hope it does well, because it's a lot of fun to read.

I actually don't feel the Promised Neverland is all that slow, considering that the characters and the readers learn substantial new information about the world and their situation in every chapter. There isn't "action," maybe, but it's more of a psychological survival series than it is a battle manga, so I think the consistent teases and bits of new information and intrigue in the story work well in it's case. It stands out so much from the rest of the lineup that I'd like to hope that it'll keep it's audience engaged in the mysteries for as long as the series runs.

I'm hoping Love Rush does at least that first option you mention. It would make it a different, more interesting type of romance series than the usual. The first two chapters were subversive enough that it could find a place in Jump if it continues to play with the cliches and tropes of the romantic comedy/harem dramas, which is what I would like to see. We'll see.

I liked how Red Sprite told a pretty satisfying short story just within the first three chapters, while still leaving you excited for the story to come. So many Jump Starts in the past were either just getting going or introducing a conflict in their third chapter that didn't give you a complete sense of what the series would be capable of and would frustrate you if NA Jump didn't pick it up. I don't know if the mangaka consciously structured the first three chapters to work well as a story on their own, but as a Jump Start the series definitely impressed on how it quickly and clearly established it's characters and storyline. I like the pacing of it so far, and since Jump series tend to gain more traction when they have standout, interesting moments happen in almost every chapter (as opposed to, say, using the early chapters on episodic storylines or comedic buffers between storylines), it seems like something that should catch on.

Volume 5 of MHA is where the series takes off. It's been nothing but great since then. Every arc gets better and better. I would hope sales only continue to improve after this volume.

The Sports Festival arc is considerably better in volume form. It's a quick read that way, and you get the character moments faster. As for its weaknesses, as I posted before, there's a note in volume 5 about the arc where Horikoshi admits it was a learning experience for him as it spun out of control from what he originally intended. He clearly learned a lot since each arc since then has been really tight and packed in.

You misspelled Akimoto's name as Akimbo in the description.  But I concur with Colton. Giving best-of volumes to Kochikame like they did for Golgo 13 would be nice. The series deserves some sort of release over here.

Yeah, volume 5 of MHA is a revelation as to what the series is capable of, and it's great that it's been selling so well. I think it'll bode well for future volumes and MHAs popularity in the west..

The misspelling of Akimoto's name in the Podcast Breakdown was a stupid auto-correct thing that I missed before the episode was posted. I'll edit it when I get the chance.

Shojo was stuck in a rut like shonen was a few years back with the generic hyper-formulaic stuff. But there have always been some good shojo to recommend to guys. Most of the list is some of the better stuff. I'm not that big on romantic comedies (or romantic dramas), so if I enjoy them, they have to be done really well. My Love Story and Honey & Clover are two of the best. The Honey & Clover anime was written by Yousuke Kuroda, so you know its worth watching.

I collect very few series, but Flame of Recca is going to be a pain to get all of. It's not only out of print, but some copies are just not in good condition. It's my own fault for waiting so long to collect it. Still, I can only imagine how difficult it can be for longer series than that.

Very good episode. I look forward hearing what you guys will be talking about in the Matsui episode.

I think I'll give the Honey & Clover anime a shot then, since I'd trust just about any adaptation written by Kuroda. But really all the stuff on that list are series I've been meaning to read for forever. I've grown to like well-done romance stories, so there's a lot I'm willing to try if I hear good things about them. Shojo is more than romance stories, of course. I've been meaning to get into stuff like Yumi Tamura's works for forever, for instance. On that note, Ceres has been a nice read so far as a revisionist fairy tale that explores and deconstructs sexuality, love, and gender politics. There's a surprising amount of mature themes in the series and it's clear Watase had things she wanted to say about relationships and young women's perceptions of them, which is nice subtext to have alongside it's psychic powers/supernatural conspiracy narrative.

Flame of Recca is at least all available digitally from Viz, so it's easily readable unless you really want to have the books on your shelves. There's plenty of older stuff that isn't as fortunate, but I'm hoping Viz will expand their digital catalog and dig up some of their other catalog stuff one of these days.

Thanks for the comments! I'm really looking forward to doing the Matsui episode. It's gonna be a really fun one! 

[LumRanmaYasha]

We just spent over 7 hours recording our Yusei Matsui episode. We'll be releasing it in two parts, but rest assured, we had an amazing discussion. This is my favorite episode of the show we've done yet!