Category: Manga Pulse

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The show that almost didn’t happen because of cars. Damn you machines and your need for repairs! Why can’t you just be like Transformers and fix yourself without our intervention! Get on that Google peoples and make it snappy.

As with all requests, it sometimes takes a bit of search-fu to confirm that, no, we haven’t done that particular series. So Tim was left with no other choice than to review Sword Art Online. Which happens to be yet another series where people get sucked into an MMO. Which made Tim wonder if he hadn’t been visited by the head injury fairy recently. Because that’s the plot of at least two other manga he’s reviewed. Prepare for an angry Burn It discussion. Continue reading “Manga Pulse 322: Witch Art Online”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

It’s that time again where the numbers in the episode line up in sequential order. Sure it’s descending but it’s still very satisfying. Like finding out that you’ve got no spare parts left over after assembling some flat packed furniture.

Within this mighty episode, Tim reviews Gokukoku no Brynhildr. We’re treated to a hard working student, wracked with guilt over the death of his childhood friend. When a girl shows up as a transfer student, groan, looking exactly like his dead friend, he’s understandably freaked out. Watch a promising manga being the slow slide into mediocrity as it slips into Crackers.

Weltall then reviews OKuSan. Wherein some mangaka decided to ask the bold question, “what if the large breasted character from any shonen manga was, get this, a bride who stayed at home and did fuck-all?” Thrill as she receives a washing machine and eventually learns to use it! No one will be seated for the chapter where she goes to the gym and signs up for crossfit! No one will be surprised when Weltall announces it’s placement on Borders.

Weltall: OKuSan – Read it at Borders
Not in the USA
Tim the Enchanter: Brynhildr in the Darkness – Wouldn’t kick it out of bed for crackers.
Not in the USA

Music

Intro

Outro

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

There’s probably a point where some poor bastard mangaka was sitting at their desk and trying desperately to think up a story for a deadline. “Gee, if only something would fall from the sky and knock my ass out so I have an excuse my editor will accept.” At that point, a coconut was conveniently dropped by a passing pair of pigeons some nut had tied together with string and bean them.

After the coma wore off they penned the story Suashi no Meteorite, which Tim reviews. In it, the main character comes home to find their house demolished by a wild meteor. Not only has his house been destroyed but his neighbors apparently have all taken bucket loads of tranquilizers because no one bothered to call the authorities in the interim. It turns out that the meteor contained a god which he summoned by wishing on a passing star. Hilarity then ensues.

Weltall then delves into a manwha titled Familyman. It’s a very dull slice of life comic where the titular family man works in a factory, sends money back to his wife and kids and suffers massive facial trauma due to lack of sleep. Scarred for life and unable to find work, he finds refuge in dressing up as an in-universe superhero and engaging in shenanigans.

Weltall: Familyman – Read it Now
Not in the USA
Tim the Enchanter: Suashi no Meteorite – Read it Now
Not in the USA

Music

Intro

Outro

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Sometimes life is just full of surprises. Like a train that manifests and runs you off the road when you start singing Ironic by Alanis Morisette. Other times it can be fairly predictable. Like when Tim digs into his list of requests to find a manga to review. Continue reading “Manga Pulse 319: Girl Crime”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

There is a special breed of nerd that doesn’t pop up in the usual places. Their crack is not teasers of the latest Marvel movie or screenshots of the potential bomb being built by DC. Theirs are spec sheets and exploded views in maintenance manuals and fiddly arguments on lone message boards with other engineer minded folks.

Apparently one of them was hybridized with an anime fan and grew up to be a mangaka. That’s the only explanation for how we got Upotte!!. In the tradition of anthropomorphication mangas, a la Hetalia, it features girls who are firearms going to school. It demonstrates a large amount of firearm knowledge on the part of the author by having the girls play shooting games among each other. Continue reading “Manga Pulse 318: Enchanter Up”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Doujinshi is something of a dirty word in manga. In the, for lack of a better term, Western market, doujinshi is often thought of as adult or hentai. While a fair amount of them do seem to be focused on pairing off characters for a little bit of naked fun times, the word is actually a bit more broad than that. It encompasses smaller, self published works that are not considered canon.

In that vein, Tim followed through a request to review a Doujinshi, Evangelion RE-Take. For Eva fans it may very well be an excruciating attempt to rewrite the story. However, if you found the ending frustrating and wanted to punch every copy from then in out in the hopes that the creator could feel it in their balls, it’s a welcome read. A fair warning, there are a couple of scenes of Shinji and Asuka doing what horny teens do when their parents are gone for the weekend, just in case you plan on reading this where people can shoulder surf. Continue reading “Manga Pulse 317: Hitting a Wall”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

As always, we’ve come around to manga reviews. By some serendipitous happenstance, Tim managed to review a request that was received to Weltall’s inbox a few days earlier. Sure, it might have been mentioned once or twice before but we can pretend that it was meant to be.

Tim tackles Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure by reading the first two volumes. It chronicles the appearance of Dio who attempts to usurp the Joestar family fortune from Jojo. This is, in fact, the plot of the story and not something we made up to mock it. We won’t spoil the plot but the foreigner turns out to be the bad guy and fights Jojo to what might not be his death. Continue reading “Manga Pulse 316: OMG”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

.hack was incredibly dull and pretentious. This naturally means there are about thirty five sequels that have come out through the years. It never fails to ask the question, can we make dull people playing a dull game interesting? To be fair, we could never get past the early espisodes/volumes. A lot of mangas centered on MMOs also seem to explore in the same vein. Continue reading “Manga Pulse 315: Log Master”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If there’s one thing that Weltall and Tim are, it’s timely. Their discussion of the latest polio vaccine was the forerunner of talk before the large newspapers dared touch it. The first people to discuss the steam engines and its ramification upon the empire? Tim and Weltall; weeks before the telegraph carried the story across the Atlantic. Continue reading “Manga Pulse 314: Hot Flags”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The ground of manga does not run red with the life blood of eviscerated works this week. Tim reviews Tokage no Ou where a boy with the ability to change his eye color finds out just how useless a power that is when confronted with people who can double jump and cut guns in half with their mind. This is a manga that goes on about pacing and Tim loves himself some pacing so you won’t be surprised at the rating.

Weltall tackles Red Storm which shares part of the name with a Tom Clancy novel(and game from 1988). Unfortunately, it does not show how ‘Murica can defeat the USSR through good ol’ fashioned ‘Murican gumption, grit and folksy sayings. Fortunately it does offer amusing training montages, desert landscapes and an ego big enough to make Wetall take notice.

With those spent the emails generate a lot of pointless conversation this week. So a big thanks to the folks that sent in chatter generation. Without that, how else would we have started trying to decide which actors would belong on our dream Quidditch team and what position they would play? Continue reading “Manga Pulse 313: Toking Storm”