Hands Down the Best Manga Podcast Around
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“There are many great manga based podcasts on the web, but as good as many are, few are close to being as gut-bustingly hilarious and engrossingly entertaining as Weekly Manga Recap. Hosted by Chris "RolloT" Larios and Nik "Y Ruler of Time" Freeman, former host of the late-great Transmission Awesome podcast and creator of the manga review series Read Right to Left respectively, these guys are as passionate about manga as they are going off on weird tangents and making obscure wrestling references. Each week WMR looks at the latest manga chapters of some of the most popular and noteworthy manga currently running, primarily series from Weekly Shonen Jump alongside the irreplaceably inane Fairy Tail. In addition, they will regularly review a manga outside their regular roster via suggestions from their listener base. Chris and Nik's great chemistry and banter define the show, but they both also make smart observations about what they're reading and pick apart everything they can about what makes something work and what doesn't. WMR approaches the series it covers with a keen eye to criticize and desire to thoroughly discuss, but also carries a knack for cracking witty jokes and observations about some of the more ridiculous and silly aspects of the manga experience.
But for as much as they make fun, these two are true-blue manga fans, always keen to support the medium and the series they love. They have always supported legal manga distribution and been among the vanguard in embracing digital manga services like Viz media's Weekly Shonen Jump and the Crunchyroll manga service, both having long since given up reading fan-made scans in favor of them. Their dedication to supporting the manga industry has earned them recognition from the official Weekly Shonen Jump podcast as their "rivals," as well as recently led them to befriend the official letterer of the podcast's current flagship favorite, World Trigger, Annaliese Christman.
Probably one of the most endearing, appealing attributes of WMR is that it's so fan-inclusive. Beyond the hosts being dedicated manga fans, they take the time to read suggestions from their listeners, take Q&A from them as regularly as they can, and interact and speak with them before the show starts and in the chat. It's this direct rapport with their fan base that makes WMR such a special experience for all of us who tune in the LIVE streams every wednesday night on Twitch.
With it's special blend of manga commentary, off-tangent pop culture asides, wrestling references, bizarre World Trigger fan-fiction, recurring guests, parody voice-overs, in-jokes, runners as persistent as Unohana is dead and never coming back, and the great community of people involved, Weekly Manga Recap is a special podcast experience like none else. It's my favorite podcast. I've listened through the entire backlog more than once, and hearing these guys crack wise about series I enjoy (and don't) is always the highlight of my Wednesday nights. I sincerely thank them for keeping up the great, quality work they have these last 4+ years and 200+ episodes, and I hope to keep listening to them for a long while more.
To close off, here are 10 episodes I think best encapsulate WMR:
1. Eyeshield 21 (7/12/11) - A discussion of one of their favorite sports manga, giving one of the best examples of their enthusiasm for great manga as well as their fairness in discussing the strengths and weaknesses of any particular series.
2. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure w/JewWario (8/15/11) - Chris was a fan of JoJo's long before the anime adaption made the series a popular and well-known name among western audiences, and this episode is a wonderful discussion and tribute to the long-running shonen/seinin action epic, going through all 8 parts one by one, and co-staring the late JewWario, himself a longtime and loyal JoJo's fan through and through.
3. Usagi Drop (4/4/13) - Nik rants about how awful the second half of this seemingly innocuous manga is, in what was then his least favorite manga suggestion they ever did.
4. Future Diary (10/31/13) - A sleep-deprieved, drunk-sounding Nik lists off the top 20 things he found to be totally asinine about this cult favorite in a glorious 40-minute rant.
5. Hunter X Hunter w/Nick Kanoza (2/19/14) - This discussion with HXH fans Nick Kanoza is exceptionally well-rounded and fair with it's criticism of HXH's strengths and weakness, in one of the most balanced and thorough discussions of the series you could ever listen to.
6. Fairy Tail (6/26/14) - Nik catches up with FT and they throughly discuss how dumb it is, but also give fair talk about some of it's merits.
7. Spider-Man (8/13/14) - Linkara's loathing on One More Day has nothing on Nik's hatred for this re-interpretaion of the iconic character.
8. Naruto Retrospective (11/19/14) - Though they were more negative about Naruto during it's run than they weren't, they give a well-thought out retrospective of what the series did right and what it's legacy will be.
9. Annaliese Christman (3/20/15) - Their first guest who's worked in the manga industry! An interesting discussion about having a job in the manga publishing industry and the work it requires.
10. 200 (6/4/15) - Over 200 episodes, and they don't miss a single beat. Featuring Annaliese as a guest and a hilarious live reading of the third installment of Chris' erotic World Trigger fanfic.
Also of note are the Visual Editions of WMR made by TheInfamousPlanet and Felix Dark, which you can find on their youtube channels. Both of these fellows do great work in complementing Chris and Nik's discussions with appropriate and fitting images, often spending hours to dig up obscure wresting references and reading series they don't even like, and deserve enormous praise for their efforts. The Visual Editions have become a essential part of the WMR experience, and are very much worth your time in checking out.”Read full review »
LumRanmaYasha via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
07/28/15
More reviews of Weekly Manga Recap
☆
☆
☆
☆
☆
“I don't know why people wouldn't be listening to this. It's hilarious, insightful, allows for great jokes. It will teach you how to cook, how to make things out of wood, draw and tell a great story. Only one of those may not be real.....
Seriously though, it's hilarious. ...”Read full review »
ShockWave. via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
08/21/15
“The Manga brothers, Nik and Rollo T. are at it again every week. Their natural back and forths keep me having fun as I learn how to build my own furniture! From one outdoorsman to another, the Weekly Manga Recap gets two bear claws up from me!”
Calumny47 via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
03/06/15
“A weekly podcast that covers weekly manga releases and fan recommendations, hosted by Chris "RolloT" and Nik "YRuleroftime". These two work very well off each other and provide for some very hilerious and enjoyable conversations to listen to. Whether for a long drive, while...”Read full review »
Zephiel Navares via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
11/12/15
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Get Chartable Analytics »
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Listen now
Links
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Patreon
Genres
Artwork or description wrong?
Request an update »
Updates may take a few minutes.
Do you host a podcast?
Track your ranks and reviews from Spotify, Apple Podcasts and more.
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
Get Chartable Analytics »
See hourly chart positions and more than 30 days of history.
