Mudai Manga and Book Club

Ok, you know that trope where the rivals from a series have their final battle to the death, and then they both cry and say, "Imagine if we had been on the same side, we could have been . . . friends?" That is the entire premise for The Hero and The Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged, a series with characters so overpowered punching a dragon in the face with their bare hands and knocking it over is them struggling. In addition, Louie has finished Tokyo Ghoul and started into Tokyo Ghoul: Re and gives his initial thoughts, Tom gets back into Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life in the Countryside and definitely remembered that title in full, and both gush, once again, about Otr and the Flame and The Creepy and Freaky.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Ovani Sound - Business Dark Fantasy Studio - Together

And now, as Halloween comes in, we're back with a special Halloween recommendation with our returning special guest Renata! Each of us (Yes, even spooky-disliker Tom) have a series to recommend to you for your horror-enjoyment. Tom starts us off with the manga version of The Ring, Louie brings the well known classic Uzumaki, and Renata brings the newest one with Korean manhua Sweet Home.    Check out Renata's other projects and writing as thanks for coming on again here: Tumblr: Suzu-kun22 Ao3: luna_moon22 Mercari: suzu-kun22   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Resistance Phat Phrog Studio - Machines of the Night Ovani Sound - Lo-Fi Water  

And so, the meandering trio of Frieren the Mage, Fern the apprentice mage, and Stark the cowardly warrior (or, cowarrior, if you will), enter into the next city to engage in a spot of brutal combat to the death with a trio of demons acting as a peace envoy and their leader, this arc's titular Aura the Guillotine. Covering chapters 14 to 23 (or middle-ish book 2 to middle-ish book 3), the story takes a different tack as we see what makes Frieren the mage of the Hero's party that slew the Demon Lord. Meanwhile, Louie has started down the path of Tokyo Ghoul, Tom revises some of his thoughts from the previous episode's review of Realist Hero's first book, and they both somehow manage to spoiler free "review" the end of Eden's Zero and it's final volume.    Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Experiment Ovani Sound - Umbrella Walk  

Get ready for your state sponsored census, as we dive into the first volume of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom light novels (or, alternatively, the first two volumes of the manga). Literally, as Tom walks through the extremely large cast of the first book and the differences and omissions of the manga. In addition, Louie has finally finished Mushoku Tensei and gives his first thoughts on the final novels of that series, while they both take a few moments to talk about the (now slightly out of date) new chapters of Otr and the Flame and The Creepy and Freaky.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio -  Cyber Chill Ovani Sound - Lo-fi Water  

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 Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Dark Fantasy Studio - Together Ovani Sound - Business

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 amazing shonen action series worth your time, full of adventure, gorgeous art, and an endearing but darker than normal tone. Meanwhile, Louie has his thoughts on the tenth volume of Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects (the manga) and the second volume of Dungeon Builder: The Demon King's Labyrinth is a Modern City!, while Tom has thoughts about completely separate series Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects volume 10 (the light novel) and the second to eleventh volume of Dungeon Builder: The Demon King's Labyrinth is a Modern City!   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Cyber Chill Dark Fantasy Studio - Together

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 later novels in Mushoku Tensei while Tom revisits one of his old favorites, reads a little known series called Demon Slayer, and more, in this episode of the Mudai Manga Book Club podcast.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Ovani Sound - Water Phat Phrog Studio - Machines of the Night Ovani Sound - Business

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 will be a multi page mini story of Yuru showing he understands how to use a modern bathroom.  In addition, Louie introduces us to two new series he's picked up in Dungeon Builder: The Demon King's Labyrinth is a Modern City! and A Cave King's Road to Paradise: Climbing to the Top With My Almighty Mining Skills, who's titles alone take up this entire sentence but are also actually interesting. Tom, meanwhile, made a small mistake and read the entire series of Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill (novels 4-15) in a week, which, while good, may have ruined his ability to have coherent thoughts. All this, and more, on this episode of the Mudai Manga & Book Club Podcast.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Resistance Ovani Sound - Umbrella Walk  

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 other favorite reads from recent memory, including Marriage Toxin and The Summer Hikaru Died.   Also, apologies, there was a serious audio issue with a large portion of the episode, so that part of the recording was lost and the conversation ends somewhat in the middle of things.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Ovani Sound - Lofi Water Phat Phrog Studio - Machines of the Night

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), one of the early examples of the isekai genre. Beyond that, Louie also goes over his thoughts on the first volume of the Clockwork Planet manga, and Tom gets to figure out how to talk about the newest Mission: Yozakura Family without spoiling the action spy in the midst of one of it's biggest reveals so far. All that and more on this episode of the Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast!   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Resistance Ovani Sound - Rythmic Vol 3: Business

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 adventurers guild and the small village of Orphen. (Don't take this description too seriously, we make dumb jokes too). In our what we read, we also cover a whole, massive range of stories, such as more silly-seriousness with the Elden Ring manga and another few quick summaries of the Mushoku Tensei novels from Louie and a whole smattering of things from Tom such as Soara and the House of Monsters, Survival in Another World with my Mistress manga because reading the whole story once wasn't enough apparently, the insane hilarity that is Life With An Ordinary Guy Reincarnated as a Total Fantasy Knockout volume 7, and even (gasp) something not Japanese with James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time which Tom is eminently unqualified to speak on but muddles though the best he can because it is so good. All that and more in this episode of the Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast!   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studios - Echo Nexus Dark Fantasy Studio - Together Ovani Sound - Lo-Fi - Water

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 through the entire light novel series of Survival in Another World With My Mistress and DanDaDan volume 14, while Louie finally gets into Don't Toy With Me Miss Nagatoro and completes another six novels of Mushoku Tensei, along with many others.    Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Resistance Dark Fantasy Studio - Together

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 dolphin trainer with the new, mysterious leg, and about 37 other things in this jam packed second half. Besides that, we spend, well, a lot, because we read a lot and there's a lot to talk about: Tom finished all of Coppellion (all 26 volumes) and the middle third of Issak (6-13), while Louie bounced through a whole bunch of series, from the newest volume of Dai Dark (#8) to Soara and the House of Monsters (volume 1) to The Invincible Shovel (volume 1 as well). It's a massive episode this week, so grab your scuba gear and dive in.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio -  Resistance Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Machines of the Night       Note: a small section of The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" is used during this episode as a joke, and is being used here under the guidelines of fair use, as it pertains to the song's original use in the US crime drama CSI Miami.  

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 in the Ancient Magus' Bride, chapters 1-7 (or volume one and about half of volume two). Tom also takes some time to run down the entire second half of All Rounder Meguru, both talk about the fun of the recent Otr and the Flame chapters, and Louie gets into Battle Angel Alita and it's big-eyed Hollywood movie. Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio -  Machines of the Night Phat Phrog Studio - Cyber Chill Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus  

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, So What's? manga, Tom finally gets caught up with the Housekeeping Mage novels, and both continue to gush on Otr and the Flame and The Creepy and the Freaky.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I   Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio -  Cyber Chill Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Dark Fantasy Studio - Together  

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 strangeness of Housekeeping Mage and also the entirety of Teppu's amateur MMA series. . . . We read a lot, ok?   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio -  Machine's of the Night Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Phat Phrog Studio - Resistance  

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 us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio -  Cyber Chill Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus

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 to talk about Rain Code+ now that he has completed it, and continues to say he will for sure finish Deadrock. All that and more in this new episode of the Mudai Manga & Book Club Podcast.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio -  Cyber Chill Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Dark Fantasy Studio - Together

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 catch up on reading all those books he bought, but really for real, probably. . . . maybe.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I   Phat Prong Studios - Echo Nexus Phat Prong Studios - Cyber CHill Dark Fantasy Studio - Together Phat Prong Studios - Resistance Phat Prong Studios - Machines of the Night

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. Truly one of the greats of our time. We also take some time to cover the recently released new Shangri-La Frontier volume (#21), Tom discovers fan translations, and Louie definitely has found a book he is going to read soon. Really. For sure. All that and more in this episode of the Mudai Manga Book Club Podcast.   Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast   Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club   Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com   Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex Music provided by Argofox: Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunrise youtu.be/-GurRvqxg3I Additional Music: Phat Phrog Studio -  Neon Vibes Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus Dark Fantasy Studio - Together