Mudai Manga and Book Club

The Joy of Playing Seriously - Episode 46 - Shangri-La Frontier Ch. 16-30

There are times to be critical, times to be curious, and times to be objective, but today, we gush about how cool Shangri-La Frontier is, as we return to the series (last covered in episode 11) to go over everything leading up to the massive Weathermon fight, covering books 3 and the first half of 4 (or chapters 16-30 specifically). For a series crammed to the gills with jokes, battles, and entertaining details, we throw a smattering of our favorite things from this section at you in what has been one of our favorite series on the show since we started. In addition, in what we've read, Tom wanders back and forth between comedy and tragedy with series like Solanin and the newest Dungeon Friends Forever, among others.
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus
Ovani Sound - Water
Phat Phrog Studio - Experiment
 

Everyone Needs Hobbies - Episode 45 - My Dress-Up Darling

Sometimes you have friends to share things with, but sometimes, it's just you and the things you love. And then someone comes along and says, hey, that's cool. That's this week's manga, My Dress-Up Darling by Shinichi Fukuda, plus some extremely long game names and lots of underwear. In a good way . . . well, i guess it usually is, but this comedy of cosplay and dollmaking of two oddballs with lots of respect but poor impulse control is absolutely worth checking out. Meanwhile, in our What We've Read, Tom stumbles through a single Drops of God and rediscovers an old favorite in Blame!, while Louie splits evenly between several manga and anime series, including the new Baki and Frieren animes.
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus
Phat Phrog Studio -  Resistance
Ovani Sound  - Umbrella Walk
 

The City of Nostalgia - Episode 44 - Kowloon Generic Romance

Somtimes, all you need is someone to be close to, and sometimes, they are closer than you think, but don't worry, that giant floating diamond structure in the sky has nothing to do with anything and isn't a portent of any sort of anything. That's why, this week, we're covering the first volume of Jun Mayuzuki's Kowloon Generic Romance, the budding love story of Reiko Kujirai and Hajime Kudou, and that's definitely it. Although, before that, in What We've Read, Tom finally, finally, finally finds some real enjoyment in Drops of God, while Louie skates over into the first few books of Medalist. 
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus
Ovani Sound - Benji
Dark Fantasy Studio - Together

Dinopark Tycoon, but in Manga Form - Episode 43 - Dinosaur Sanctuary vol 1

They do move in weekly episodes . . . I mean, this week we get to look at the zookeeper's paleontology lecture that is Dinosaur Sanctuary, volume 1, by Itaru Kinoshita, with special research consultation provided by Shin-ichi Fujiwara. A world where dinosaurs are as normal as a flamingo exhibit at the local zoo, with incredibly good designs and understanding of their (possible) physiology. In addition, in our What We've Read, Louie doubles down on the biology research with Interviews with Monster Girls, while Tom sees a faint glimmer of hope in his continuing alcoholic adventures of Drops of God, now that he reaches the halfway point. All that and more this week on the podcast! . . . Rawr.
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus
Ovani Sound - Business
Ovani Sound - Marshmallow

Two Important Life Skills: Proper Communication and The Ability to Erase the Existence of Foes - Episode 42 - An Archdemon's Dilemma vol 2

Long title enjoyer or not, this week we review the sewcond light novel in the series An ARchdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, and celebrate two of the best characters in the series making their debut. In addition, during what we've read, Tom further drags himself through the wine series Drops of God, Louie falls into Made in Abyss, and we discuss the unfortunate end and cancellation of Otr and the Flame.
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus
Ovani Sound - Lo-Fi Water
Phat Phrog Studio - Cyber Chill
 

Killer Shark Doo Doo Do Do Do Doo - Episode 41 - Killer Shark in Another World Vol 1

Da-dum! . . . . Can't make a shark week joke though because that's not until later in the year, but we're back this week with an episode covering the true apex predator of the fantasy world, sharks! Louie walks us through the reasonable and sane manga Killer Shark in Another World, volume 1, and Tom does say things and doesn't just giggle the whole time, I promise. As well, in our What We've Read, Louie brings up the first volume of the fascinating series Strange House, while Tom actually explains the series Drops of God as he continues down that long running series. 
 
Note: due to some technical errors, the source file was damaged after editing, and so there aren't chapter markers this week, nor are there any outtakes at the end. We apologize for the inconvenience; please let us know if there are any other issues with the audio. (Update: Chapter markers and other notes have been added, though I'm leaving the note here in case anyone in the future is curious.)
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
 
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus
Phat Phrog Studio -  Cyber Chill
Phat Phrog Studio - Machines of the Night

A Little Bit of Everything to Start the New Year - Episode 40

Back on double digits, back for a celebration and the start of the new year and so we have  . . . a whole pile of stuff we've watched and read over the last few weeks between holidays and other things so today, instead of some small topics, we're making this whole episode into a long running "What We've Read" sections. Settle in, we've got anime, manga, light novels, regular novels, and even a few TV series to take a few minutes to talk through. Hop around and you're sure to find us talking about something cool worth checking out.
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus

Predictions for 2026 - Mudai Manga Book Club

And with our second special episode to start the year, we come back with a short show on what we plan for the coming year. Due to some things going on it got delayed a bit, but we hope you enjoy our plans for the future of the podcast (more, hopefully some more videos, and more episodes in general). THen, we follow up with some of our own goals for the year, and finally, because we need to make things a game, we each make a few predictions for the year 2026, on games, pop culture, and even, shocking, about manga and light novels. Come hang out for a light hearted talk about this new year.
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Ovani Sound - Marshmallow
Ovani Sound - Water
Phat Phrog Studios - Echo Nexus

Our Favorites of 2025!

Well, with 2025 now behind us and a whole year of the podcast done, come and join us as we walk through the entirety of our favorites we've discovered this last year. First, we take some time to look over our top 5 of 2024 (from episode 1, no less) and then we dive deep into our large pile of honorable mentions.  Louie definitely doesn't get upset at Tom failing to include a series anywhere in his list here that was edited from a later section then re-edited out for other reasons, nope.
 
And then, we hit our favorites, the series we discovered this year that we still can't stop talking about, what makes them special, what makes them sit on our new favorites. Bonus, we guess what each other's #1 series will be with predictably bad attempts, and at the end, we go back to our well of final recommendations to follow up with our favorite special recommendation from the year we want to double super recommend. All that and more in this extra sized episode of the Mudai Manga Book Club Podcast!
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music: (in order)
Phat Phrog Studio - Cyber Chill
Phat Phrog Studio - Machines of the Night
Ovani Sound - Marshmallow
Ovani Sound - Umbrella Walk
Dark Fantasy Studio - Together
Ovani Sound - Business
Ovani Sound - Water
Phat Phrog Studio -  Echo Nexus

Battle Heroes and the Homework They Do ... Also Plus ULTRA! - Episode 39 - My Hero Academia Vol 1

It's not enough to be ready for anything, it's not enough to drive yourself to do good for the world, you also need . . . to understand linear algebra! This week we look at the first two arcs of My Hero Academia by Kohei Horikoshi, which covers the entire first volume of the manga. A mix of Japanese high school shennanigans, superhero ridiculous action, and shonen optomism, we spend the entire episode gushing about how much we love this, and the opening is full of wonderful things. Beyond that, in What We've Read, Louie goes further into camping and gaming with more of Laid Back Camp and I Want a Gal Gamer to Praise Me (and some Frontier Lord while we're at it), while Tom returns to a series he's read before but never talked about, This is Screwed Up But I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! . . . is very serious, thought provoking, yes.
 
Follow us on Bluesky at The Mudai Manga and Book Club Podcast
 
Video Episodes Available on Youtube at Mudai Manga and Book Club
 
Email us at: MudaiMangaBookClub at Gmail.com
 
Main Theme: Sunrise by Meizong & Yeeflex
Music provided by Argofox:Meizong & Yeeflex - Sunriseyoutu.be/-GurRvqxg3I
Additional Music:
Phat Phrog Studio - Echo Nexus
Ovani Sound - Chiptune - Marshmallow
Phat Phrog Studio - Resistance