Is this the final episode of ‘We Appreciate Manga’? I guess we will have to see… Either way James has an announcement to make but first we give a quick review of Godzilla minus one and talk about side chapters of Petshop of Horrors. Skip chapter summaries @ 15:01   Intro music courtesy of Liam Bradbury Outro music courtesy of Rifti Beats - Youtube     Email: [email protected]   136: Petshop of Horrors: Flowers and Detective By Akino Matsuri Translation by...

Author Matsuri closes out the final chapters and leaves no stone unturned, Chris speaks, Q-Chan shows off their human form and a climatic meeting with D’s father finally happens.  In a clever way, Matsuri switches from an episodic structure to a serial form, bringing the narrative home!     Email: [email protected]   135: Petshop of Horrors vol. 10 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones Lettering by Nunu Ngien   The story advances...

Listen with discretion and care since on today’s episode we speak about intergenerational trauma, modern slavery, and human trafficking. Pretty intense stuff for a fantasy manga but Akino Matsuri is an expert anthologist when it comes to episodic storytelling. Skip plot summaries @ 7:17   Email: [email protected]   134: Petshop of Horrors vol. 9 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones Lettering by Nunu Ngien   Dreams: A young woman...

Come join our book club and listen as we read Akino Matsuri’s horror stories, one that is about a mermaid. Another about a family that move into a house that has a dark history. And a woman who seems to have looks, fame and fortune, as well as mysterious past. Skip plot synopsis @3:34   Email: [email protected]   133: Petshop of Horrors vol. 8 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones Lettering by Nunu Ngien     D goes to a beach...

Today we talk about the importance of character-based story telling superseding social and political commentary, be it human trafficking, weight loss and police brutality. Albeit a fantasy story, there is an argument that a character’s catharsis through such heavy and controversial topics can bring catharsis to the reader. Skip plot synopsis @ 3:37   Email: [email protected]   132: Petshop of Horrors vol. 7 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas...

Continuing with their book club podcast, Will and James talk about volume 6 of the surreal fantasy horror josei manga, Petshop of Horrors! Today’s stories are very much a reflection on the chaos of childhood and the pressures that family can sometimes put upon us. Skip chapter summaries @ 4:22   Email: [email protected]   130: Petshop of Horrors vol. 6 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones Lettering by Nunu Ngien   When Leon and...

A poignant volume that introduces a new character to the lore and explores feelings around death and childhood. And it may come as no surprise that even a horror Shoujo manga somehow has to reference ballet, we all seen Black Swan right? Skip plot summaries @ 6:11   Email: [email protected]   130: Petshop of Horrors vol. 5 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones Lettering by Nunu Ngien   In the first chapter, ‘Dual’ a congressman...

Does anyone remember Tamagotchi? Or maybe you had a Giga-Pet growing up? Whatever the case a virtual pet goes by many brand names and today we read one story that is both inspired by the virtual pet craze of the 90’s and the lore behind hermaphrodites (that’s intersex people for those in the know).  We also have one story inspired by Dracula and another involving race horses. This is gonna be a fun one! Skip synopsis @ 9:44   Email: [email protected]   129: Petshop of...

Dog lovers will love this one yet we are now seeing author Akino experiment with the characters. She also explores some social commentary and posing morally difficult questions. It goes without saying, today is a heavy episode about the horrors of fascism and war. Skip synopsis @ 7:23   Email: [email protected]   128: Petshop of Horrors vol. 3 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones Lettering by Nunu Ngien     The first story...

Cat lovers will enjoy the continuation of our spooky season read along, as James and Will experience multiple stories from the Petshop of Horror. There’s one about a dangerous mermaid that resembles someone’s dead wife, another about jumping into someone else’s dream and a white cat that grants its owner good luck! Skip synopsis @ 7:40   Email: [email protected]   127: Petshop of Horrors vol. 2 By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu Iwo and James Lucas Jones ...

It is horror season on our book club podcast, so it is horror manga time! Today’s manga is about a pet shop in Chinatown, where the mysterious manager sells mythical creatures and cryptids for pets, but the people who get their pets here cannot help but see these creatures as more human than animal; a mistake that will lead them to their downfall! Skip plot summary @ 7:05   Email: [email protected]   126: Petshop of Horrors By Akino Matsuri Translation by Tomoharu...

Steven, James and Will group up to talk about the latest one-shot manga from Tatsuki Fujimoto. Most famous for Chainsaw Man, Fujimoto flexes his storytelling muscles by occasional doing shorter stories. Perhaps this is the key to him being a good storyteller overall.  In 'Goodbye, Eri' we get a meditation on how stories are powerful and reality defining. Fujimoto also experiments with a meta-narrative as we see the main character Yuta make his own story up through the course of the pages....

James and Steven discuss the concluding adult arc of the manga, breaking it down using Joseph Campbell’s monomyth template. And even speak of the bonus skull kid chapters, which separate from the full story also acts as a good rendition of the hero’s journey formula. Skip synopsis @ 5:14   Email: [email protected]   124: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time vol. 2 Story and Art by Akira Himekawa Based upon the work of Yoshiaki Koizuma, Tôru Ôsawa, Kensuke Tanabe, ...

The seminal videogame was given the manga treatment in 1999, a lot has changed since then, yet it tells an ancient form of myth that permeates all cultures and spurs on our talk today.   Skip synopsis @ 6:52   Email: [email protected]   123: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Story and Art by Akira Himekawa Based upon the work of Yoshiaki Koizuma, Tôru Ôsawa, Kensuke Tanabe, Yusuke Nakano and Shigeru Miyamoto Translation by John Werry, Honkyaku Center inc. ...

 Now that the first-generation arcs of Pokémon Adventures are over, James and Will talk about the all action finale. The brilliance of getting us to root for girls in what many consider to be a shonen manga. And we even talk about the Mewtwo versus Lance fight and Pikachu and friends versus Lance! Perhaps there is a bit too many people fighting Lance in this volume but overall, we get a satisfying conclusion. Skip plot summary @ 9:55   Email: [email protected]   122: ...

Coming close to the end of the yellow arc, we finally get answers to long standing questions and see an old character return in time for the final battle. Skip plot summary @ 4:25   Email: [email protected]   121: Pokémon Adventures vol. 6 Chapters 66 'Punching Poliwrath' and 78 'Victim of Venusaur' Art by Mato English Translation by Kaori Inoue Lettering and touch up by Wayne Truman              Red has disappeared and it is up to his Pikachu (nicknamed...

Does Pikachu have a stand? The manga has a unique take on how and why Pikachu can surf. Did you know you could teach Pikachu to surf? Sip plot summary @ 6:40 We also talk about the inconsistent looks of Blaine the fire Pokémon gym leader.   Email: [email protected]   120: Pokémon Adventures vol. 5 Chapters 53 to 65, ‘Can't Catch Caterpie’ and ‘Karate Machomp’ Story by Hidenori Kusaka Art by Mato English Translation by Kaori Inoue Lettering and touch up by...

 James and Will talk about volume 4 of the Pokémon Adventures manga. Including the new and original “Yellow” who is perhaps the first gender neutral looking character we have seen in an otherwise shonen manga. Skip summary of the plot @ 5:15   Email: [email protected]   119: Pokémon Adventures vol. 4 Chapters 41 to 52, ‘Ponyta Tale’ and ‘Growing out of Gengar’ Story by Hidenori Kusaka Art by Mato English Translation by Kaori Inoue Lettering and touch up by...

In volume 3 of the Pokémon manga we see many plot points start to resolve towards a satisfying climax, friends from unlikely places come together to fight the Rocket Gang and Red faces off against Mewtwo!   Email: [email protected]   118: Pokémon Adventures vol. 3 Chapters 28 to 40, ‘Peace of Mime’ and ‘A Charizard… and a Champion’ Story by Hidenori Kusaka Art by Mato English Translation by Kaori Inoue Lettering and touch up by Wayne Truman              ...

Will and James talk about volume 2 of today’s manga and address how the satanic panic spread to Pokémon.   Email: [email protected]   117: Pokémon Adventures vol. 2 Chapters 15 to 27, ‘Wartotle Wars’ and ‘Kalling Kadabra’ Story by Hidenori Kusaka Art by Mato English Translation by Kaori Inoue Lettering and touch up by Wayne Truman              The Pokémon trainer Red is witness to his Bulbasaur evolving into an Ivysaur after fighting a Mankey (basically...

Having played the original Gameboy videogame 23 years ago, Will and James take a trip down memory lane and decide to read up on its popular manga adaptation. Does it make us want to play the game or does it make us want to read more manga? Now that is the question!   Skip plot summary @ 10:11   Email: [email protected]   116: Pokémon Adventures vol. 1 Chapters 1 to 14, ‘A Glimpse of the Glow’ and ‘That Awful Arbok!’ Story by Hidenori Kusaka Art by Mato ...

The conclusion to the manga like most Japanese slice of life and coming of age drama adds an expected air of ambiguity. But for one, we could not escape an Evangelion reference and talk musings on (or in Will’s case rant on) our nostalgia baiting consumer culture having a harmful effect on us maturing into adults. Skip plot summary @ 3:03   Email: [email protected]   115: Welcome to the NHK vol. 8 Chapters 31 to 35, Welcome to the Party! and Welcome to the NHK! ...

Steven and Will talk about the characters near the completion of their developed arcs. Specifically speaking about BPD (borderline personality disorder) and musings on what type of person has romantic affairs. Skip plot summary @ 3:25 You can also follow us on social media @Weapemanga Email: [email protected]   114: Welcome to the NHK vol. 7 Chapters 31 to 35, Welcome to the Training! and Welcome to the Desperate Liquor! Story by Tatsuhiko Takimoto Art by Kendi...

Will and Steven are perplexed by the plot as it shuffles along but find time to discuss the characters and their relationships to one and another, be it toxic or not. Skip plot summary @ 3:12 Email: [email protected]   113: Welcome to the NHK vol. 6 Chapters 26 to 30, ‘Welcome to the Migrant’ and ‘Welcome to the Shuffle’ Story by Tatsuhiko Takimoto Art by Kendi Oiwa English Translation by Katherine Schilling and Zachary Rau Lettering by Star Print Brokers   ...