With more people reading manga and Webtoons (aka vertical scroll comics) than ever before, Beat’s Bizarre Adventure gives three writers an opportunity each week to recommend some of their favorite books and series from Japan, Korea and elsewhere. This week we have volleyball, a former fan artist going pro, and, of course, streamers.
Haikyuu!!
Writer/Artist: Haruichi Furudate
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Touch-Up Art and Lettering: Erika Terriquez
Design: Fawn Lau
Editor: Marlene First
Publisher: VIZ
I was astounded when I realized I had never written about Haikyuu!! in Beat’s Bizarre Adventure. It’s one of my favorite anime and manga to watch/read and I never get tired of it. For the uninitiated, Haikyu!! is a volleyball manga that focuses on Hinata Shoyo, who is inspired to try the sport after watching a high schooler dubbed “The Little Giant” play. While he suffers a horrible defeat at his middle school game, Hinata remains determined to continue playing.
He enrolls in the same high school the Little Giant attended, intending to become the greatest volleyball player there ever was with the help of his new team. But Hinata is shocked to find his rival Kageyama Tobio there—this time playing on the same side of the net as him.
Even if you’re not into sports manga, Haikyuu!! will make you passionate about volleyball. The manga’s themes of perseverance, resilience, chasing after your dreams and self-care are also all ideas that non-athletic people can take and learn from.
I was shocked by how much Haruichi Furudate made me care about all of the teams, and not just the protagonists. Every single character in Haikyuu!! is fully fleshed out. That is hard to do when you have so many different characters with varying personalities. Plus, it’s easy to villainize opponents in sports. But I couldn’t help cheering sometimes for the other team to win, and feeling just as heartbroken and devastated as them when they didn’t.
When a long running manga series has an unsatisfactory ending, fans always joke that Haikyuu!! had the best ending–and it’s true. We all got to see where all of our favorite characters ended up; though not all of them ended up playing professional volleyball, it made sense for their personalities. — Hilary Leung
Dragon Ball Super
Writer: Akira Toriyama
Artist: Toyotarou
Translation: Toshikazu Aizawa, Christine Dashiell, Caleb Cook, Adrienne Beck
Lettering: Paolo Gattone, Chiara Antonelli, Brandon Bovia, Mark McMurray
Publisher: VIZ
Not that Dragon Ball needs any introduction, but I ended up deciding to write about Super specifically this week. As we all are unfortunately aware, not too long ago we lost the legend himself Akira Toriyama, effectively making Dragon Ball Super his last manga work. While the series has gone on hiatus since his passing, there’s still a lot to love about this series and it’s worth reading if you haven’t yet.
The front end of the series retells stories that were told within the anime and the animated films. The later half, though, is mostly brand new adventures that to this day haven’t been animated. Characters like Granola and Moro add great wrinkles to the lore of Dragon Ball like only Toriyama can. The Moro arc in particular has some battles that I would love to see animated.
Before Dragon Ball Super, Toyotarou drew DB fan comics based on the infamous Dragon Ball AF fan art (by David Montiel Franco) which led to a full blown speculative hoax that many of us fell for when we were younger. Toyotarou’s art captures the spirit and style of Toriyama impressively well. Though we can no longer receive any new stories from Toriyama, I hope we see brand new art from Toyotarou one day, and that he gets to close out this series properly.
I really, really enjoy Dragon Ball Super. Though I don’t think it’s as strong as what Toriyama accomplished in the past with his earlier works, it’s still something to be proud of. Many creators get stuck in the loop of never being able to escape their greatest achievements. While Toriyama was no different in this regard, unlike many others he was able to keep Dragon Ball going strong all the way to the end. If you haven’t read this series yet do yourself a favor and get on it soon. It’s worth it. — Derrick Crow
We’re Not Cut Out to Be Lovers
Writer/Artist: Kou Hirokawa
Translation: Dylan Jekels
Retouching and Lettering: Vibrant Publishing Studio
Editor: T. Emelia Baum
Cover Designer: Aracelli Ejarque Villegas
Publisher: Tokyopop
All an average Joe wants after coming home from a long day of manual labor at the mechanic is a cup of warm meal, a hot bath and some peace of mind. Not the next-door neighbor’s “WHAT’S UP GUYS,” or “LIKE AND SUBSCRIBEs”. Kumazawa has been a patient man, enduring his streamer neighbor’s long, loud shoots and louder retakes for six months but enough is enough.
Kumazawa expects some loser to open the door, given the types of stuff he says while filming. But Koichi is one handsome man. He does apologize for the inconvenience, but the streamer won’t tolerate his “tips on how to get a girlfriend” being insulted. One argument leads to another and they… kiss? Join this stoic, gay man on his journey to deal with his unhinged, straight, streamer neighbor.
If I haven’t revealed this shocking truth about me before in this column, let it be known now: I love adorably dense and foolish characters. Koichi is an excellent example. His arguments have an almost 100% success rate of leaving Kumazawa speechless, but he’s so straightforward and cute that the mechanic can’t kick this little puppy out. Even when Koichi barely makes sense, and Kumazawa reasons he keeps returning only for “fresh content” to use on his streams.
Kumazawa doesn’t want a lot of things, but when his heart is set, he’s intense. Paired with his ex-boyfriend’s cheating, he’s hesitant to get involved with Koichi. You’ll have to read the hijinks that ensue between our seemingly opposite duo for yourself to see what happens next.
Since Koichi and Kumazawa don’t share a workplace, they spend most of their time indoors—at Kumazawa’s place, to be exact, much to his chagrin. Hence the background or the panels aren’t intricately detailed. But the pacing and facial expressions alone carry the weight, tugging at your heartstrings. I also need to mention how lovely the cover is and how flawlessly it matches the volume’s energy. Props to Aracelli Ejarque Villegas! In my humble opinion, the English edition looks much cleaner and prettier than the original.
The first volume of We’re Not Cut Out to Be Lovers is a dynamic and hilarious read that simply leaves you wanting more. This is Kou Hirakawa‘s debut manga and I’m heartily looking forward to both the second volume and the creator’s future works! — Merve Giray
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HQ!!
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