Shojo & Tell: A Manga Podcast

Covers all 7 volumes of An Incurable Case of Love by Maki Enjoji. We're back with a cute josei series! It's like Grey's Anatomy , but with a more contained cast and a lot more sexual harassment from the patients. Sakura has had a crush on Dr. Tendo since she saw him save a stranger in the streets, but when they finally start working together, he's not exactly the kindly doctor she imagined him to...

Covers volumes 16–23 of Hana-Kimi by Hisaya Nakajo. Welcome back for the final Hana-Kimi episode! The Ashleys are back to discuss how wild this ride has been: The strange results of the final character poll, what the series says about gender, how it compares to other gender-bending series, and of course, finally, the ships. Also: Can you believe this manga kept up the premise of Mizuki's gender be...

Welcome back to Osaka High and the middle third of Hana-Kimi . Shojo and Tell host Ashley is joined by Manga Librarian Ashley to talk about all the hijinks that ensued here. What’s the tone? Gil’s still here?! How can Mizuki assume Sano doesn’t know she’s a girl when she sleeps with him in the same bed half the nights and she’s got her boobs pressed up against him? Mizuki grew up in Berkeley, Cali...

Covers volumes 1–8 of Hana-Kimi by Hisaya Nakajo. We're throwing back and throwing down with a big-time, gender-bending shojo classic: Hana-Kimi , aka, the precursor to Ouran High School Host Club . Mizuki Ashiya moves all the way from America to Japan, in high school, without express permission from her parents, just to be with her favorite high-jumper, Izumi Sano, a boy she's never met. Even bet...

Covers all of RG Veda by CLAMP. This hyper-violent fantasy series was CLAMP's first traditionally published work — and it shows. Shojo & Tell host Ashley and her boytoy Asher talk about the highs and lows of this high-concept series about destiny and the power of love (what else is new?). All good boys are praised, and Yasha is not on the list. REFERENCES RG Veda is available from Dark Horse Liste...

Covers all of Earthian by Yun Kouga. Anime Feminist writer Vrai Kaiser joins Shojo & Tell host Ashley to discuss this late 1980s boys' love hot mess of a manga. Earthian starts off as a sort of mashup between Pet Shop of Horrors and The Good Place and ends somewhere way, way off from that. Vrai and Ashley discuss all the religion that is (and isn't) happening with the Catholicsploitation, how swee...

Covers volumes 8–14 of Waiting for Spring by Anashin. We’re back to talk about the second half of Waiting for Spring , aka, Girly Kuroko's Basketball. Kelly and Ashley discuss how Towa and Aya are in a philosophical fight over what strength is, how well-handled Ryuji and Nana's relationship is, and just what about Waiting for Spring makes it so special. Also a lot of complaining about Aya. He's 17...

Covers volumes 1–7 of Waiting for Spring by Anashin. The wait is finally over! We're FINALLY talking about the basketball boys! Waiting for Spring is one of the most wholesome shojo series around and will have you smiling like a fool. Librarian Kelly and Shojo & Tell host Ashley discuss why Towa is the best , why Aya does not deserve to be in second place in the character poll (rude to Mitsuki and...

Covers volumes 8–13 of Ao Haru Ride by Io Sakisaka. One year after recording about the first half of Ao Haru Ride , we’re back on the bandwagon to talk about the ending. Shojo Beat Senior Editor Nancy and Shojo & Tell host Ashley talk about every single confession and rejection scene, consistently compare the series to WE WERE THERE, bring up one too many times that [SPOILERS] it’s annoying that K...

Covers all the short stories in Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution by Chiho Saito For the 20th anniversary of Revolutionary Girl Utena , we were gifted this volume of short stories (one for Touga and Saionji, another for Juri and Shiori, the final for Miki and Kozue) that function as a "sequel" of sorts to the Utena anime (not the manga). Anime scholar Rose Bridges comes back on the Sh...

Covers all 10 volumes of the original Pet Shop of Horrors series by Matsuri Akino. Welcome to Count D's pet shop, where you can find the rarest pets that will make your dreams come true — and might just murder you, too. Horror fan, Yen Press employee, and Manga Machination's co-host Morgana Santilli explains why this wish shop fantasyland appealed to her so much growing up, and what makes Akino's...

Covers all of Tokyo Mew Mew and Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode Reiko Yoshida and Mia Ikumi. In the early 2000s, this series about a team of five young girls infused with the DNA of rare animals fighting aliens bent on reclaiming the Earth became a phenomenon. Tokyo Mew Mew is supposed to get a new anime adaptation in the year 2021, so we decided to read the original magical girl series and its sequel.  ...

A discussion about the manga adaptation of Socrates in Love by Kyoichi Katayama and Kazumi Kazui Get ready to cry at this one-volume melodrama about a teenage couple torn apart by a tragedy. Socrates in Love follows Sakutaro and Aki as they go from being friends to lovers, but have their happiness cut short through illness. Chaplain-in-training Asher Sofman and Shojo & Tell host Ashley discuss how...

Covers All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga This one-volume manga about three generations of women in a family is masterfully told and extremely relatable. Shojo & Tell host Ashley and boytoy Asher discuss their favorite stories from this collection of five, dwell on the theme of love being a form of discrimination, and fret about how to avoid some of these parenting pitfalls when raising ch...

Covers volumes 6–10 of After School Nightmare by Setona Mizushiro Welcome back to discuss the second half of a manga that is full of twists and turns. This episode, cartoonist Mouna Toure and Shojo & Tell host Ashley have more questions than answers after that whirlwind of an ending. Like, was there ever a real Ai?? Were there two Mashiro Ichijos? No, seriously, _what was up with Sou and Ai_? Moun...

Covers volumes 1–5 of After School Nightmare by Setona Mizushiro Welcome to the most mysterious and frightening after school club you’ll ever join. Content warning for sexual assault and gender essentialism themes. This is a manga that isn't afraid to go to dark places, as its intersex main character, Mashiro Ichijo, grapples with his gender (he currently identifies as a "he") and fights his fello...

Covers volumes 7–12 of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden by Yuu Watase Caitlin (OG Fushigi Yugi superfan), Sara Linsley (manga letterer extraordinaire), and Zahra Ymer (manga scholar in training), and Ashley (Shojo & Tell host) are back for the second half of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden , aka The Better Fushigi Yugi (sorry, OG FY ). This episode gets heavy: The primary topic is about accepting death (it's...

Covers volumes 1–6 of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden by Yuu Watase Genbu Kaiden is Shojo & Tell host Ashley's second-favorite manga (behind only the illustrious Maid-Sama! ), and so, this episode has several special guests. Caitlin (OG Fushigi Yugi superfan), Sara Linsley (manga letterer extraordinaire), and Zahra Ymer (manga scholar in training), and Ashley discuss how the series compares to its pred...

Covers all of Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa. Welcome to the world of high fashion (or at least, high drama). Paradise Kiss is one of those rare josei titles that got released in English, and it had a huge impact on this episode's special guests, Robin and Lucy (who host the podcast CLAMPcast in Wonderland). Ai Yazawa's work is relatable in many ways, and really inspired Shojo & Tell host Ashley to wa...

This is a review of Fushigi Yugi: Byakko Senki volume 1, a new series by Yuu Watase that's going to be released by Viz. Whether you've read the original Fushigi Yugi and Genbu Kaiden or not, you should be hype for the latest (and last) installment in Yuu Watase's beloved series. Byakko Senki is set slightly after Genbu Kaiden and follows Suzuno as she struggles with the sudden loss of her parents...

Covers volumes 10–17 of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time by Tohko Mizuno. We’re back to discuss the second half of Haruka , a manga series based on one of the earliest otome game franchises. Suddenly, the story remembers it’s a romance, and all eight of the guardians realize they're vying for the priestess Akane’s heart. And she starts to see all of them as the sexy menfolk they are. (Except Yasu...

Covers volumes 1–9 of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time by Tohko Mizuno. Haruka (perhaps more widely known as Harukanaru Toki no Naka de ) was one of the first-ever otome games, and it launched a franchise that spun off into manga and anime adaptations as well. Though the series didn’t gain popularity in the United States, we thought HARUKA was important to cover for its historical context. In thi...

Covers all three volumes of Fruits Basket another by Natsuki Takaya Would you like to have another basket of fruit? Natsuki Takaya shows us what the kids of everyone from the original Fruits Basket cast are like in this sequel to the blockbuster series. Another centers around Sawa Mitoma, aka NegaTohru, as she suffers abuse from her single mother and meets the Sohma kids in high school. In this po...

Covers all five volumes of Angelic Layer by CLAMP. What if battle shonen, but for GIRLS? That's the premise of Angelic Layer , where young girls get to fight with super-cool dolls that they control with their minds (OK, Ohjiro can play too). Upon coming to Tokyo, Misaki immediately becomes smitten with this game and learns the ropes very quickly. Shojo & Tell host Ashley, her boytoy Asher, and gue...

Covers both volumes of Beast Master by Kyousuke Motomi "There is a beast inside of each of us that protects the things we hold dear." That’s the driving force behind this short story from Kyousuke Motomi ( Dengeki Daisy, QQ Sweeper ). It follows Yuiko as she tries to tame the beast of a boy named Leo. Shojo & Tell host Ashley and her boytoy Asher discuss how moar money leads to moar problems in Le...