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REVIEW: Bungo- unreal

Bungo’s baseball career continues into high school in this anticipated sequel that forges new alliances among a pre-established cast. Bungo- Unreal was announced back in 2024 at the conclusion of the long-running baseball serial in…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Youkai Denki Roku69Bi

Great shounen artists often become great seinen artists too throughout the span of their career. After a run of serializations in Weekly Shonen Jump in the 1990s and early 2000s-  most notably Hareluya II Boy– mangaka Umezawa…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Yamiichi Meshi (Black Market Diner)

Post-war healing comes from an unexpected source of food in this simple but powerful series of stories on hope and rebirth. Yamiichi Meshi 闇市めし (Black Market Diner) is the latest series in Manga Goraku from Uonome Santa 魚乃目三太,…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Otokogi

Putting down roots and growing into a full-fledged gangster, a youthful hero unites the gangs of Japan and carries on the legacy of his estranged father, in this dynamic work that improves upon familiar themes-…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Maggy’s Inu (Maggy’s Dog)

A master-slave duo for hire takes on surprisingly few cases in this short, pulpy series that seems preoccupied with sharing fetishes over completing missions. Maggy’s Inu マギーS犬 (Maggy’s Dog) serialized in 1978 in Heibon Punch Oh!, a spin-off of the gentleman’s magazine Heibon Punch,…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Uramiya Honpo- Evil Heart

Riding on the heels of the story’s biggest developments yet, Part 5 of the Uramiya Honpo series from Kurihara Showshow 栗原正尚– Uramiya Honpo- Evil Heart (怨み屋本舗 EVIL HEART)- began in Grand Jump in 2015, issue 23, just three months after the end of Uramiya Honpo- Revenge.  Starting…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Shiawase Gohan (Happiness Meal)

An aging salaryman with a thinning combover sweats on the packed train ride home. Rather than returning home to a messy kitchen, laundry and divorce papers- as shown in a collaborative panel of his…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Shounen no Machi ZF

Aliens in flying saucers descend in tonight’s show and tell, a survivalist adventure starring 10 young people and a telepathic alien girl who push back against wizard-like deities…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Kami Appli- Criminal Hunter

It’s always exciting to get a surprise spinoff of nowhere- like Kami Appli- Criminal Hunter 神アプリ クリミナルハンター, which launched on Akita Shoten’s seinen web platform Young Champion Web (ヤンチャンWeb) mid 2025. Best known for the long-running Uramiya Honpo series, Kurihara Showshow 栗原正尚 launched…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Izumi-chan Graffiti

While best remembered for his 1977 golf serial Hole in One, Kanai Tatsuo 金井たつお returned for one more serial in Weekly Shonen Jump– a sports rom com titled Izumi-chan Graffiti いずみちゃんグラフィティー. This time, Kanai would both…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Deformation (oneshot)

Battery mining leads to booming industry for a barren, rural town in this recent oneshot from Akimoto Osamu 秋本治, best known as the prolific creator of the 200+ volume police comedy Kochikame. Deformation デフォルマシオン ran…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Shinya Shokudou (Midnight Diner)

“Business hours are from midnight to around 7:00 AM. People call it Midnight Diner. Will customers come? Quite a few do.” A middle-aged restaurant proprietor with short gray…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Yome ga Kuru!

College student Takiguchi Yukito is approached by a young woman claiming to be his future wife…and then a second lady shows up making the same claim! A whole host of…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Don- Gokudo Suikoden

A crafty young hero sparks a yakuza war in a group effort to stop an ambitious unifier from taking control of the entire country’s gangs, in this early…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Uramiya Honpo- Stream

It’s business as usual for the familiar cast of a revenge agency in their very first side-series. Uramiya Honpo- Stream (怨み屋本舗- STREAM) debuted April 2024 on Line Manga, the webtoon app run by Line Corporation, owner of the popular Line messaging app.…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Kyojinjuu- The Paranoid

Though mangaka Ishikawa Kyuuta 石川球太 is best known for his animal stories, Kyojinjuu- The Paranoid 巨人獣-ザ・パラノイド- is his beloved yet forgotten horror series that arguably served as a…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Idoroll

A timid, aspiring idol gets her act together just in time for her first performance, with the help of friends, in this little-known earlier work Tsutsui Taishi 筒井大志, who is best known…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Mr. Clice

Having penned two separate manga spanning 40 years each is no small feat. Akimoto Osamu’s 秋本治 signature work, the episodic police comedy Kochikame, ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1976 through 2016, spanning 4…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Therese no Tame ni (For Therese)

From stalker to defender, one bold retiree is willing to go the extra mile for the object of his affection, in this short series that untangles the details behind…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

REVIEW: Oobora Ichidai

Big talk and bigger action propel a young, shounen protagonist to take down classroom bullies, unite rival schools, and tap his wealthy roots to form a big alliance- and ultimately overthrow a homegrown dictator.  Oobora Ichidai 大ぼら一代 (A Generation of Big Lies) marked the third Weekly…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Nanairo Inko (Rainbow Parakeet)Background image for REVIEW: Nanairo Inko (Rainbow Parakeet)

REVIEW: Nanairo Inko (Rainbow Parakeet)

Doubling as a masterful actor and phantom thief, the hero of tonight’s show and tell wears many different faces in this fun, later Tezuka shounen manga that expertly…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Ame to UmiBackground image for REVIEW: Ame to Umi

REVIEW: Ame to Umi

School band practice brings together two social outcasts who return together to music and take small steps toward their goals, in this slower paced but humbly relatable and…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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WHAT WE’RE READING: April 2025

Welcome back to our monthly reading list, highlighting all of the new manga that we picked up during the month of April! This time we focused primarily on…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Enkan no EmotionsBackground image for REVIEW: Enkan no Emotions

REVIEW: Enkan no Emotions

Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions is the basis for this feelings-based superpower battle manga starring a quirky protagonist that is dynamically drawn and edgy yet quickly becomes all too…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Okuda no Hosomichi

Grueling failure and editorial demands suck the joy out of an aspiring writer, as his worried parents, competing editors, and an obnoxious rival all seek to influence his…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for SPECIAL TOPIC: Remembering Tsukumo Shin, writer of Edomae no ShunBackground image for SPECIAL TOPIC: Remembering Tsukumo Shin, writer of Edomae no Shun

SPECIAL TOPIC: Remembering Tsukumo Shin, writer of Edomae no Shun

With the progression of exceedingly long-running manga comes an existential question- what happens to an ongoing series when the creator passes away? Sometimes the most popular of manga…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Edge Gamers

Fixation on a new hobby turns grim- even deadly- for the reclusive protagonist of tonight’s “edgy” show and tell, an unemployed fighting game enthusiast at odds with her…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Sakon- Sengoku Fuuunroku

Sengoku period warriors collide in this dynamically drawn, supernaturally powered adaptation of a historical novel. Our next series is Sakon- Sengoku Fuuunroku (SAKON 左近 -戦国風雲録-; Record o…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for WHAT WE’RE READING: March 2025Background image for WHAT WE’RE READING: March 2025

WHAT WE’RE READING: March 2025

Welcome back to our monthly reading list, highlighting all of the manga volumes we picked up throughout the month of March, both new and used. First up is…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Jinsei IroiroBackground image for REVIEW: Jinsei Iroiro

REVIEW: Jinsei Iroiro

Submitting a resignation letter amounts to new freedom and possibilities for four young protagonists in tonight’s show and tell, a drama about quitting one’s job in style. Our next…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Oni-goroshi

Framed and brutalized by a group of masked villains, a stoic warrior reawakens 15 years later to take on a city corrupted by money and power, vowing revenge…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Misao no Keiyaku

It’s a seductive man-bites-dog story as a pupil preys on her teacher in this daringly manipulative yet ultimately shallow and distasteful seinen manga. Our next series is Misao no…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Ga-Row

With brush tips for fingernails and an electrifying transformation, a rich but orphaned precocious young protagonist sets out to discover the world outside of his mansion- but quickly…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for SPECIAL TOPIC: 8 ongoing Young Jump serials (that you may have missed)Background image for SPECIAL TOPIC: 8 ongoing Young Jump serials (that you may have missed)

SPECIAL TOPIC: 8 ongoing Young Jump serials (that you may have missed)

Debuting in 1979, Shueisha’s seinen magazine Weekly Young Jump carried over the three key components of Weekly Shonen Jump- friendship, effort, and victory- in conjunction with more …

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Otona no Susume

Like a warrantied electronic, some things just aren’t meant to break in this violent mystery thriller featuring a Beat Takeshi-lookalike with Lewy body dementia who hunts down the…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for WHAT WE’RE READING: February 2025Background image for WHAT WE’RE READING: February 2025

WHAT WE’RE READING: February 2025

Welcome back to our monthly reading list, a bit smaller of a selection this time but still packing plenty of punch. We lead with the conclusion of a…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Habou no Wadachi – Kouanchousa-chou Chousakan Hase KuuyaBackground image for REVIEW: Habou no Wadachi – Kouanchousa-chou Chousakan Hase Kuuya

REVIEW: Habou no Wadachi – Kouanchousa-chou Chousakan Hase Kuuya

A young graduate joins an intelligence agency and learns the ropes from an expert analyst, in this gloomy collection of cases using technology to target terrorists and their…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for SPECIAL TOPIC: Beware- Fake Issues of Weekly Shonen JumpBackground image for SPECIAL TOPIC: Beware- Fake Issues of Weekly Shonen Jump

SPECIAL TOPIC: Beware- Fake Issues of Weekly Shonen Jump

We’ve read our fair share of Shonen Jump. My introduction to the magazine was through Viz Media’s monthly print anthology back in 2002. As the English edition was…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Hitoku Fuufu – Cupid no ItazuraBackground image for REVIEW: Hitoku Fuufu – Cupid no Itazura

REVIEW: Hitoku Fuufu – Cupid no Itazura

An unexpected body swap between two identically named office workers sets off the events of tonight’s sexually charged show and tell, giving one passive man a fresh start…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Xinobi- Ranse no Outlaw-tachiBackground image for REVIEW: Xinobi- Ranse no Outlaw-tachi

REVIEW: Xinobi- Ranse no Outlaw-tachi

A band of misfits carries out the dirty work of war in Xinobi- Ranse no Outlaw-tachi シノビ〜乱世のアウトローたち〜, an ongoing serial in Grand Jump Mucha than began in 2023. The word Xinobi is…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Kei no Seishun

Separated by the cruelties of life, expectation and rank, two childhood friends turned lovers embark on separate missions to reunite with one another, in this emotional period drama…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for WHAT WE’RE READING: January 2025Background image for WHAT WE’RE READING: January 2025

WHAT WE’RE READING: January 2025

Welcome back to our monthly reading list, another packed collection featuring a whopping 67 books, plus three magazines! Most of these came from a giant lot of horror…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: TimeTuber YukariBackground image for REVIEW: TimeTuber Yukari

REVIEW: TimeTuber Yukari

An encyclopedia of Showa era collectibles awaits in this latest episodic time traveling adventure from a beloved veteran creator. Our next series is TimeTuber Yukari (TimeTuberゆかり), a nos…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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SPECIAL TOPIC: Kochikame’s Special Criminal Division

A handful of manga in Weekly Shonen Jump have stuck around for a long time- and then there’s Kochikame こち亀, which began serializing in 1976 from Akimoto Osamu 秋本治…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: I Tell C

Falling in love is a prerequisite to making an arrest for the hero of this cancelled Jump series, an oddly paced story full of offbeat twists and turns,…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Multi Swamp- Kanojo no SugaoBackground image for REVIEW: Multi Swamp- Kanojo no Sugao

REVIEW: Multi Swamp- Kanojo no Sugao

A lonely college student looking for connection gets just what he wishes for, and plenty more, in this short read covering everything from dating and multi level marketing…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for REVIEW: Owaranai YosugaBackground image for REVIEW: Owaranai Yosuga

REVIEW: Owaranai Yosuga

The age at which an athlete begins their career matters little to the star of tonight’s protagonist, an unassuming but determined sparkly eyed boy who aspires to take…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Ginga- The Last Wars

A legendary line of canines continues in this next entry to a decades-long franchise, as the grandchildren of the original four-legged hero step up to take on yet…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

Featured image for SPECIAL TOPIC: Top 10 Manga Reviews of 2024Background image for SPECIAL TOPIC: Top 10 Manga Reviews of 2024

SPECIAL TOPIC: Top 10 Manga Reviews of 2024

2024 has been a major year for Obscure Manga- from a January website redesign to our introduction of Special Topics and monthly reading lists, plus additional manga reviews…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga

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REVIEW: Slow Life Ieyasu

A prominent elderly shogun is reborn into modern society and pals around with girls in this fun, laid back slice of life adventure about a historical icon’s not-so-leisurely…

Manga Musings: Obscure Manga