Mudai Manga and Book Club

We're back, again, with another set of small topics; Louie starts us off with a new guessing game, and Tom definitely . . . answers? Sometimes? Can you name the series from the side characters? Then, Tom leads a discussion of the shonen action battle genre, and the way we think that genre works and the different kinds of series that have pulled that together.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Ma...

In our never ending quest to bring you unique and original and unknown stories, we decide to go the complete opposite and talk about one of the biggest series of recent years and ever: Demon Slayer, specifically the first two arcs or the first 13 chapters (including all of volume 1 and part of volume 2). While Tom originally wasn't sold on the series, both our hosts now think of the series as an a...

Our small topic episode returns with two of our old segments; Tom returns to the hotseat with the Name That Isekai game, and it goes every which way you could expect. We also have the return of our list series, "7 Amazing Things" this time covering some of our favorite rivalries throughout the world of Japanese pop culture. In addition, between what we've read, Louie continues to complete the late...

And so, born on opposite sides of the equinox, in a specific village in the mountains of Japan, Yuru and his sister Asa get to have one of the most powerful abilities: Isekai time travel . . . oh, wait, no, that's not what happens. This week, we cover the secretive world of Daemons of the Shadow Realm by Hiromu Arakawa in it's first two volumes. There will be battles. There will be danger. There w...

No, really, lock in, bro. (Unfortunately the part of the recording where we made this joke for five straight minutes got lost). Renata joins us again for another episode, and we take a wide angled view at the beginning of Kagurabachi, the story of a son wanting revenge on his father's murderers in Japan, but using a katana. How original. But also fun! Renata also talks through a couple of her othe...

Let's be fair, if you were reincarnated as an infant with perfect memory of your previous life, your first few years would be equally awkward as they are for Rudeus; I believe there's a reason we don't have consistent memories until we are two or three years old as humans. But that's besides the point as today we talk about the first volume of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation (the light novel...

Life is not a straight line, and today we look at a lighter take on that with My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S Rank Adventurer by MOJIKAKIYA, volumes 1 of the light novels or volumes 1 and 2 of the manga. Having read both between us, though, we do get pretty far into the weeds on the differences between the two versions, and cover the range of normal seeming weirdos that inhabit the adv...

What does exceptional magic, exceptional art, and the technical definition of "the brim of a hat" all have in common? This week's episode, where we take a look at the opening arcs of Witch Hat Atelier (chapters 1-7, or volumes 1 and the first chapters of volume 2) by Kamome Shirahama. To go with it, we have an exceptionally large collection of things we've read this week too, including Tom working...

Time to close the case as we return to the aquatic police comedy drama for the second half of Hard Boiled Cop and Dolphin by Ryuhei Tamura (specifically, the second half of volume 3, along with volumes 4 and 5). And this time, we get to the bottom of the mysterious sea cult, the history of Orpheus, the mysterious captain behind Japanese Police Force's Section 7, Chako's mysterious powers, the dolp...

Congratulations! You were sold at a black market auction for 5 million British Pounds to a being who has a poor understanding of humanity and has a dog skull for a head with large horns coming out of each side. . . . Look, I realize part of this is to make a funny joke and break the ice for the series we're about to talk about but that actually is a massive positive for main character Chise Hatori...

The strategy guide lands in the world of itself; it really truly fell of a truck, huh? This week we look at the first volume of I Picked Up This World's Strategy Guide by atchi ai, a full color manga that Tom really, really thought wouldn't take long to talk about. But, despite it's goofy premise, the narrative does have some fun twists to share. Beyond that, Louie works through So I'm a Spider, S...

Marry me if you want to live. . . . because today we review the start of the excellent shonen series Mission: Yozakura Family by Hitsuji Gondaira, specifically the introduction and Flower Bin arcs (chapters 1-9). Meanwhile, in our reading section, Louie is exposed to the first two books of Darling in the Franxx and more of the excellent Dinosaur Sanctuary, while Tom tries to explain the continued...

Today, a bonus episode; during our recent small topics episode one particular piece ended up being a much bigger and more involved conversation. "Pick five series, comics, manga, books, whatever, that show who you are." And so, Tom and Louie both cover their set: Tom, the five series that had the biggest impact over his life, and Louie, five series that are never leaving his collection.    Follow...

It's time to fight with all your might, in a realistic way, with the first two books of All Rounder Meguru, by Hiroki Endo. Tom walks us through this high school amateur MMA series beginning with the first two books, both to share joy of watching the amazing fights and training montages. but also to help ease the somewhat odd opening turns in the narrative. Louie takes a short, spoiler free moment...

This week, we go meandering on all sorts of ideas as we have a collection episode of various ideas, topics, and conversations we thought would be interesting, but aren't worth a full episode. When, and how often, do you, or should you, reread manga? A return of the quiz show, now with 50% more remembering to give points, as Louie tries to understand Japanese superstitions. Tom reveals a plan to ca...

Covering another of our favorites from last year, Louie takes us through the first arc of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, as we watch the life and times of one of the most powerful mages to ever live, a member of the hero's party that destroyed the demon lord, a student of one of humanity's first and most important sages, bumble around, oversleep, and spend far too long trying to find a flower. Tru...

Ok, so, maybe Tom gushes a bit about how much he loves this series; it was his pick for his favorite series from 2024. Maybe it's excessive. But maybe not, as we discuss the school rom-com turned political drama (in a later book) Alya Sometimes Hides her Feelings in Russian. And, if you like quick reviews, boy howdy did we read a lot recently, so you can get quick thoughts on Kowloon Generic Roman...

While a good 2-in-1 shampoo can be a frugal choice, the longer time you can leave a full conditioner in -- oh, wait, wrong podcast. Today, we look at the second arc of DanDaDan, meet our new romantafrenemysidekick of Aira Shiratori, and finally discuss the most important part of the DanDaDan series: balls. In addition, Tom gushes about rap music, Louie about Star Trek animations, and both of them...

Today, we study the power difference between the lame Fireball caster and the absolute unit of the cream puff enjoyer as we discuss the first arc of Mashle: of Magic and Muscles. We bask in it's humor, awe at it's feats of ridiculousness, be amazed at it's powerful battles (even though there aren't that many in the first arc, sadly), and enjoy a cream puff or two. Beyond that, we also take a few m...

And today, we begin our supplication to the power that is Ainz Ooal Gown as Louie takes us through the first light novel of Overlord. It's spooky scary skeletons that can crush you like the ant you are. Hooray! And before that, we cover a whole range of series in our weekly What we've read, from more about magical bug doctors to the love of girl gamers, on this week of the Mudai Manga  and Book Cl...

We will start the bidding at one light novel of silly romantic comedy mixed with horrifying implications of it's world and extraordinary killing power, as today we cover the first volume of An Archdemon's Dilemma. Tom walks us through the narrative, some explication of it's magic systems and future steps, and even tries to logic out why everyone is such a weirdo. Beyond that, in our what we're rea...

The adventurers need food, badly! So, with this episode, we take a look through the first volume of Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui. In addition, this week we do some programming change, and we are only covering the main review and our recently read, so enjoy a more focused episode. But we do have time for a few minutes for Louie to talk about the second volume of the Elden Ring manga, and Tom g...

A series of unconnected stories, Mushishi follows a titular mushishi (translatable as a mushi doctor) Ginko as he wanders around heling people deal with mushi, tiny proto-lifeforms that are yet powerful enough to cause effects both deadly and magical for the people of rural Japan. Beyond that, and now that I can think of stupid jokes to add to this summary, we talk about our thoughts on when to dr...

This week, we log in for a look at the first two arcs of one of our favorite series, Shangri-La Frontier. Sunraku's adventures begin with some rather tame bosses for this series, like a wolf the size of a schoolbus or a man who fused himself with a tree and mastered more magic than half of the cast of Hogwarts. But before that, we take a look through the list of the highest selling manga series of...

Is it the last episode, when we just made double digits? Nah, we're just covering the single volume comic Goodbye Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto, the story of movies, goobyes, and, well, massive spoilers. And in addition to that, Louie takes us through an introduction to manga, covering the basic terms and what they mean; if you're just getting into this, here's our primer on a number of terms you'll see...