The Abashiri Family (manga/anime/movie)

Abashiri Ikka (あばしり一家, known in the United States as The Abashiri Family) is a Japanese manga series created by Go Nagai that originally ran in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion. Some of its characters returned with different names as part of other series, such as Cutie Honey, UFO Robot Grendizer and Mazinger Angels Z among others. Some of the first stories were adapted into an original video animation by Studio Pierrot in 1991,…

009-1 (manga/anime)

009-1 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shotaro Ishinomori. The manga was serialized in the Futabasha publication Weekly Manga Action from 1967 to 1970, then returned briefly in 1974. The story concerns Miléne Hoffman (“Mylene” in the English translation), a female cyborg who works as a secret agent. The Japanese title of the manga was 009ノ1, or “Zero Zero Ku-no-ichi”, a…

Made in Abyss (manga/anime/game)

Made in Abyss (Japanese: メイドインアビス, Hepburn: Meido in Abisu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akihito Tsukushi. It has been serialized online in Takeshobo‘s digital publication Web Comic Gamma since October 2012, and has been collected into 11 tankōbon volumes. The story follows an orphaned girl named Riko, who finds and befriends a part-robot boy named Reg, and descends with him into the titular “Abyss”…

Kagaku na Yatsura (manga/anime)

Kagaku na Yatsura (カガクなヤツら, “Scientific Guys”) is a manga series written and illustrated by Hideaki Yoshikawa. There was an OVA adaptation released along with the fourth volume, animated by Hoods Entertainment and directed by Hiraku Kaneko. Characters Haruki Komaba (駒場 遥希, Haruki Komaba) Voiced by: Junji Majima Haruki is high school boy with two eccentric girl friends. He gets involved in ecchi troubles caused by the…

Hajime no Ippo (manga/anime)

Hajime no Ippo (はじめの一歩, lit. “The First Step”) is a Japanese boxing-themed manga series written and illustrated by George Morikawa. It has been serialized by Kodansha in the shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine since October 1989 and collected into 137 tankōbon volumes as of March 2023. It follows the story of high school student Ippo Makunouchi, as he begins his career in boxing and over time obtains many titles and defeats…

Gag Manga Biyori (manga/anime)

Masuda Kōsuke Gekijō: Gag Manga Biyori (Japanese: 増田こうすけ劇場 ギャグマンガ日和, Hepburn: Masuda Kōsuke Gekijō Gyagu Manga Biyori, “Kosuke Masuda Theater: Good Day for Gag Manga”), or simply known as Gag Manga Biyori, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kosuke Masuda. It started in Shueisha‘s shōnen manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Jump in the January 2000 issue. The magazine ceased publication in June 2007, and the series was…

Fairy Gone (manga/anime)

Fairy Gone (stylized as Fairy gone) is a Japanese anime television series produced by P.A. Works that aired from April to December 2019. Plot In the aftermath of the War of Unification, all the nations of the continent of Eastald are forcefully united under a single ruler. During the war, special soldiers were implanted with Fairy organs, allowing them to summon…

Daemons of the Shadow Realm (manga)

Daemons of the Shadow Realm (Japanese: 黄泉のツガイ, Hepburn: Yomi no Tsugai, lit. “Pair of the Underworld”) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. It has been serialized in Square Enix‘s Monthly Shōnen Gangan shōnen manga anthology magazine since December 2021. Publication Daemons of the Shadow Realm, written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa, was officially announced in the August 2021 issue of Square Enix‘s shōnen manga anthology magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan in celebration of…

Call of the Night (manga/anime)

Call of the Night (Japanese: よふかしのうた, Hepburn: Yofukashi no Uta) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kotoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan‘s Weekly Shōnen Sunday since August 2019. In North America, the manga is licensed for English release by Viz Media. An anime television series adaptation produced by Liden Films aired from July to September 2022 on Fuji TV‘s Noitamina programming block. In 2023, the manga won the 68th Shogakukan…

Babel II (manga/anime)

Babel II (Japanese: バビル2世, Hepburn: Babiru Ni-sei) is a Japanese 1971 manga series by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It was translated into an animated format in 1973 as a television series, in 1992 as an original video animation series and in 2001 as a thirteen-episode television series. Yokoyama’s sequel to the series, set in a parallel universe, is entitled His Name Is 101 (その名は101, Sono Na wa Wan-Zero-Wan). Plot The series…

Abara (manga)

Abara (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsutomu Nihei. It was serialized in Shueisha‘s seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump from May 19, 2005, to March 18, 2006, with its chapters collected in two tankōbon volumes. The series takes place in a dystopian universe characterized by towering edifices. It centers around a particular class of beings, termed Gaunas, who possess the unique ability…

8 Man (manga/anime)

8 Man (8マン) or Eightman (エイトマン, Eitoman) or 8th Man (8人目, 8 Hitome, in the US) is a manga and superhero anime created in 1963 by science fiction writer Kazumasa Hirai and manga artist Jiro Kuwata. 8 Man is considered Japan‘s earliest cyborg superhero, pre-dating Kamen Rider.  The manga was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine and ran from 1963 to 1966. The anime series was produced by Eiken in association with TCJ Animation Center. It was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System and ran from…