Manga Tak

After years of playing trash games, Rakuro Hizutome finds himself switching gears to play Shangri-la Frontier: a massively popular, full dive VR game that is anything but trash! Naming his character Sunraku and starting out with a duel wielding swordsman with a bird mask, Rakuro soon learns to love the game... It isn't until a chance encounter leads him to cross paths with a unique monster, L...

When a bumbling ex-Yakuza heads straight for the Yose after gettting out of prison, he doesn't know the man he's determined to apprentice for, Yakumo Yuurakutei, is a Rakugoka who not only refuses to take on apprentices but has vowed to commit Rakugo Shinju: a double suicide with his artform in which he aims to take his art to the grave with him! But somehow this unlikely ex-con finds hi...

A school trip to the Tokyo Tower sees three high school girls transported to a strange world called Cephiro! Hikaru, Umi and Fuu soon learn that they've been summoned to help save Princess Emeraude and that they are the legendary Magic Knights fated to rise in this very moment...  On this week's episode, Mat is joined by Tsutsudae from Undisputed Anime to discuss Magic Knight Rayearth by...

It is an age of Desperados.... but the greatest outlaw of them all, M.Godspeed is dead. Killed by his own son, Jimmu, the boy shows up with his father's corpse in a steal, cross-shaped coffin not to claim the bounty, but to hand him in as proof of his convictions. Jimmu Godspeed is not his father. In fact, Jimmu Godspeed wants to be the Marshall that will put an end to the age of Desperados o...

Is there anything more terrifying than a curse spread by a simple touch? Those who bare such a tragic fate turn into monsters and are simply known as Outsides, while those who remain human get to live inside the castle walls. But when such an Outsider finds a little girl, named Shiva, who despite supposedly being touched by a curse being exhibits none of the usual signs, Teacher as she begins to c...

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 twel...

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...

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 c...

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...

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...

In a world filled with deadly dungeons, filled to the brim with untold riches, Ali Baba wants to leave behind the life of a wagon driver and fulfil his potential... but it isn't until he ends up giving a ride to a young boy named Aladdin, who just happens to be packing a Djinn in a magic flute that he thinks he really has a shot of succeeding where others have failed... But just who is this b...

Moritaka Mashiro is an average 14 year old middle schooler who's jaded with the system. His plans to coast through life hit a snag one day when one of his classmates, Akito Takagi, snags his notebook and proposes the two of them create Manga together. Moritaka initially refuses because he's seen first hand what being a mangaka means, but after learniing his crush, Miho Azuki plans to bec...

Mahoro Haruta the a top selling manga artist, who's series Revive Line has sold over 50 million copies, but the truth is it wasn't her idea: the original creator of the characters and the story were her High School Senpai, Shu Yukishima, who passed away while they were studying. After a fall though, she's somehow transported back before Yukishima's death! Can Mahoro right her w...

As Billy Bat flys off American comic book shelves, it's creator, Kevin Yamagata is in emotional turmoil. After learning he may have copied the character from something he saw while stationed in Japan during the war, Kevin sets out to find it's original creator and make amends... what he finds instead is a web of conspiracy that threatens to insnare him, and the knowledge that the bat he...

Fuyunosuke is a quirky, fun-loving Tokyoite who's loved by his friends at the University in-spite of his idiosyncrasies (and kinks!).. But there's a reason for his odd behaviour... Fuyunosuke is an alien! His mission? Gauge Earth's potential for Alien colonisation! Except he's not doing his job! Despite being on Earth a whole year, he's failed to report back to high comman...

On this Manga Tak-ked On (aka a Bonus Episode), Mat is joined one again by Marg (aka margreadsmanga ) to talk about Strange Pictures by Kikou Aiba, adapted from Uketsu's NYT Best Selling Novel of the same name! Join us as we discuss how manga is the perfect medium for this visual mystery, how we'd love more books in the genre and what are hopes are for the next instalment!   Thanks once...

After borrowing a disk from their teacher that promised to open a rift between dimensions, the small three (aka Pyontaro Tezuka, Hiroshi Ochanomizu and Tsubame Azuma) find themselves in crisis when Pyon's little sister, Futaba crawls through the screen into this parallel world! But when they discover this world is filled with alien invaders who've abducted her, how will the boys overcome...

Ichi is a orphaned hunter who lives his life by one motto: Death for Death: he only hunts creatures that seek to harm humans and come at him with the intent to kill. Which is why when he stumbles upon a battle between the world's most powerful witch, Desscaras, and the King of Majik, Uroro, he throws himself into the fray!  But in this world, magic can only be controlled by women, and is not...

As mankind tilts on the edge of the apocalypse, a young boy named Shinji Ikari travels to Tokyo-3 after receiving a cryptic message from his estranged father. But the summons isn't the reunion Shinji was hoping for: instead of reconnection, he is asked to pilot a giant robot known as an Eva... And just like that the fate of the entire human race rests on one boy's shoulders... This week,...

After the disappearance of his classmate, mysterious telephone card leads Ageha Yoshina into an alternative reality called Psyren where his life is always at stake and things aren't quite as they seem... Can Ageha figure out the mystery of this death game? Can he save his friend Sakurako? And just who is the mysterious figure, Nemesis Q who's seemingly pulling the strings...? On this wee...

Arboral Year 1294. It was an age when wars were fought over the spires. In the shadows of the battlefield lies one young boy, shunned by the mercenary troupe he accompanies because of a single horn growing from his head and bleeding out from a wound in battle, he desperately tries to sound the retreat... only for his song to unlock something within him he didn't know was possible.  His name i...

When the quirky green haired Yotsuba and her father, Yousuke Koiwai, move in next door, the Ayase family don't know what to think. What soon become apparent to them (and us as readers) though is that this little girl is a ray of sunshine who's childlike curiosity and ability to find wonder in the most mundane of subjects is an infectious sight to look up!  This week, Mat is joined once a...

In a secret ninja village, a young orphan is ostracised by the people around him for an unknown reason. Determined to prove them all wrong, this young boy fights against all odds to surpass them all and become the greatest leader the villlage has ever known. His name is Naruto Usumaki and this is his story... This week on Manga Tak, Mat is joined by professional chef Andrea Piras to serve up the l...

Yan's Trilogy concludes with it's exciting (orange) third volume , so Mat and Georgie (aka Mainly. Manga ) jump on the mic to talk about Chang Sheng's latest work.  Now the story's over, was it everything we hoped it would be? Was this super hero thrill ride all killer, no filler? Or did it stumble trying to keep so many plot points afloat? Listen along and find out! Thanks aga...

Music has the power to take it's listener on a journey, and whether it's a recording of a song in an unknown language, or a scratchy bootleg from a rooftop jam session, you can find it all at Miyama Records! Sit back, relax and join us as we take a record journey of our very own! This week, Mat is joined once again by Georgie (aka Mainly. Manga) to discuss Record Journey by Ryoichiro Kez...