For the August manga episode, Shea and Derek go topless...at least that's a common condition that they sense in the two titles that they discuss this month. They begin with Hiroya Oku's Inuyashiki, the fourth English-language volume of which was released in June by Kodansha Comics. It's the story of an older Sad Sack of a salaryman, Ichiro Inuyashiki, whose slowly crumbling life is turned around after contact with an alien life form. As a result of this encounter, his body is replaced with a weapon-grade robotic shell, and over the course the first four volumes, Inuyashiki learns to use his new condition to positively change the lives of others. However, complications arise when another man similarly changed by the same alien encounter decides to use his powers for more nihilist purposes. Shea and Derek spend much time discussing Oku's art -- a clean yet static style -- the borderline melodrama of the storytelling, and the fact that Inuyashiki goes around without a shirt much of the time. After that, the guys turn to their second title of the month, Kenji Tsuruta's Wandering Island (Dark Horse Manga). This is a quest narrative centered on the discovery of a mythical island in the Pacific that is free floating. The protagonist of this series, Mikura Amelia, owns a small delivery service and pilots a bi-floatplane along the Izu Islands. When she discovers the writings of her dead grandfather about the elusive Electric Island, Mikura sets off with her cat Endeavor to prove its existence. The guys appreciate the protagonist as a fully formed, complex adventuring character, but they disagree slightly about the ways in which Tsuruta represents her. Shea feels that the frequently bikinied Mikura is too often posed specifically for the male gaze, and while Derek agrees with his cohost, to a point, he's not entirely convinced that Mikura is sexualized for that purpose. Regardless, Wandering Island rests upon a fascinating premise that will have both of the guys coming back to the title for volume two...whenever that publication might be.