Review: EXCEL SAGA

Older comedy manga don't always age well, but here's a rare example of one that has. 

EXCEL SAGA (Ekuseru Saga), by Rikdo Koshi.  First published in 1996 and first published in North America in 2003.

PLOT:

Deep under the streets lies the headquarters of ACROSS.  It is a secret organization with only one goal: total world domination.  To bring this about, ACROSS's leader Il Palazzo sends forth his two henchwomen Excel and Hyatt to complete his top-secret missions.  Fortunately for the world, Excel is an idiot who is prone to talking too much and Hyatt is prone to dying a lot.  There's also the matter of interfering neighbors, Excel's pet dog/emergency food ration Mince, the many part-time jobs Excel has to take to pay the bills, and the fact that Il Palazzo's plans are never terribly well-defined.

Review: BOMBA!

Let's take a look at one of the most recent retro releases from this year - a new selection from the vast library of Osamu Tezuka.

 BOMBA! (Bonba!), by Osamu Tezuka.  First published in 1970 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

Tetsu's young life is one that's full of misery thanks to his resentful, abusive parents, bullying teachers, and his own sense of self-loathing.  The only thing that gets him through the day is thoughts of his teacher, Miss Mizushima.  The deeper his obsession with her grows, the more often he begins to hear phantom horse hooves and see visions of a spectral horse.  Soon Tetsu discovers that he can control this phantom horse, and bids it to kill anyone who gets in the way between him and the woman of his dreams.

Review: REBEL SWORD

It took me a bit to recover from the excitement of Otakon, but I'm back to deliver yet another Old School Month!  Let's start with an obscure little treasure from my own personal collection.

REBEL SWORD (Kurd no Hoshi),  by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.  First published in 1985 and first published in North America in 1994.

PLOT:

Jiro is a half-Turkish, half-Japanese boy who hasn't seen his parents in years since they disappeared somewhere in Turkey.  Out of the blue, he gets a letter from his mother urging him to come to Istanbul.  What Jiro finds is a strange man and a strung-out belly dancer claiming to be his mother, but that's the least of his worries once the military show up.

Review: MY DAD'S THE QUEEN OF ALL VTUBERS?!

Maybe I should shift my focus away from more old-school notions of otaku-dom to more modern concepts like this one.

MY DAD'S THE QUEEN OF ALL VTUBERS?! (Oyaji ga Bishojo ni Nanetta Hanashi?!), by Wataru Akashingo.  First published in 2019 and first published in North America in 2020.

PLOT:

Of all the VTubers out there, none of them are more popular than Kisuke Yae.  To an ordinary teen boy like Takashi, she's a dream come true.  That dream is shattered when he learns that the person behid Yae is his own father.  He's quite happy in his new job, but he doesn't want his wife to learn the truth.  That's probably for the best considering that she also is a secret VTuber who is struggling to find an audience.  Can Takashi juggle both of his parents' secret lives without the other finding out?  And can he avoid falling into the VTuber lifestyle himself?

Review: MANIAC ROAD

It's not like manga that are all about glorifying otaku and Akihabara are anything new, as this manga clearly demonstrates.

MANIAC ROAD (Manii Roudo), by Shinsuke Kurihashi.  First published in 2002 and first published in North America in 2005.

PLOT:

Takeru was an otaku on his last thread when he passed out in front of the Kinushima sisters' shop.  He was originally hoping to score an ultra-rare video game collectable, but instead he finds an opportunity.  The girls inherited their father's hobby shop, but since his death it's fallen on hard time.  If they can combine the shop's merchandise with Takeru's talent for model-making and a bit of promotional cosplay, then maybe they can turn around all of their fortunes for the better.