This week we take a look at Taiyo Matsumoto’s Tekkon Kinkreet! We talk about Matsumoto’s French comic influenced art style and his story about two orphans living in the streets of the fantastical Treasure Town!!! Remember to send us emails! mangamachinations@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter! @mangamacpodcast Check out our tumblr! http://mangamachinations.tumblr.com Join our Discord server and come talk to us! http://discord.me/mangamac Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro Song: “New Stranger” by sora tob sakana from Hi Score Girl, Opening, Introductions, WWE vs Game of Thrones, Social Media, Our new RSS feed, Upcoming Retrospective on Tokyo Tarareba Girls 00:05:16 - Listener Questions: What are some series(manga, anime, etc.) you have dropped and why? 00:016:57 - Whatchu Been Reading: Transition Song: Dragon Ball Z OST “Prologue”, dakazu decides not to spoil Naoki Urasawa’s Asadora! 00:18:34 - Darfox wants dakazu’s thoughts on Mujirushi 00:19:17 - dakazu finished and really loved Kaori Ozaki’s Kin no Hitsuji 00:20:00 - Kurozuka ended up having an abrupt ending along with designs lifted right from Final Fantasy VII 00:25:45 - dakazu loved Sakumo Okada’s Mazarian and it’s gimmick of anomalies that mix people together with other objects 00:31:06 - Darfox and dakazu share their thoughts on Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru which is written by Masashi Kishimoto 00:34:50 - News: Square Enix will be putting out English releases of Hi Score Girl and other works through Penguin Random House Publisher Services 00:40:43 - Next Episode Preview and Rundown: Manga in Motion for Tekkonkinkreet, we’ll be reviewing the 2006 anime movie by director Michael Arias 00:41:08 - Main Segment One Shot: Tekkon Kinkreet, Transition Song: “A Town In Blue” by Asian Kung-Fu Generation from Tekkonkinkreet, we review the series that launched Taiyo Matsumoto’s career 00:43:05 - Darfox and Seamus can’t remember when we reviewed Matsumoto’s No. 5 for one of our first Triple Dip episodes 00:44:44 - dakazu explains the origin of the strange title 00:45:36 - Darfox was impressed with how the super detailed art wasn’t confusing to follow 00:46:55 - dakazu and Darfox debate over how yakuza lieutenant Kimura’s story arc was handled 00:49:25 - The story was predictable but dakazu was surprised that Suzuki “The Rat” didn’t end up being the antagonist of the series 00:50:24 - Seamus points out that the story was filled with different animals and the city is a stand-in for change 00:53:16 - dakazu thinks the design of the assassin leader snake is inspired by Iyami from Osomatsu-kun  00:54:08 - Seamus notices how Matsumoto mixes aspects of French comics and Japanese manga to create a genre of visual storytelling 00:56:26 - We discuss how White’s character is very much akin to an idiot savant you find in Stephen King novels 00:57:31 - The other hosts help dakazu make sense of the events during the dream-like finale 00:59:16 - We dispute if White’s character ever changed throughout the story 01:01:05 - We explore how Black’s manic decent into violence is juxtaposed with White further disassociating himself from reality 01:03:46 - Seamus explains how we’re able to project so many ideas on this book because it stays true to it’s own internal fiction while drawing from the real world outside it 01:05:17 - dakazu praises Taiyo Matsumoto’s use of perspective and loves the chapter on Suzuki’s demise 01:07:38 - dakazu talks about the parallels between the arcs of Black & White and Kimura & Suzuki 01:09:06 - We compare the theme of change to Japan’s history of struggles between modernization/westernization and traditional values 01:13:24 - We deliberate over the fate of White and Black at the ending 01:16:49 - We give our final thoughts 01:19:12 - Next Week’s Topic: Tekkonkinkreet, Social Media Rundown, Sign Off Song: “wish men” by sunbrain from Beet the Vandel Buster