Even if rakugo was a dying art form, manga surely isn’t! The anime adaptation of Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu was critically acclaimed among anime connoisseurs in the west, so the Manga Mavericks take a look at the original manga, licensed and renamed Descending Stories by Kodansha USA. Can a manga capture the essence of rakugo as an auditory performance art in a soundless medium? Or is this another case of an anime adaptation transcending the limitations of its source material to transform a good story into a masterpiece?

But first, news! Colton’s back from buying cigarettes at Anime St. Louis, and rejoins Sid in discussing the latest happenings in the world of manga. We feign enthusiasm for the return of Hunter X Hunter, speculate on the potential of a Hollywood-produced Saint Seiya live-action film, and salivate over Seven Seas’s latest tidal wave of manga licenses, including the likes of Devilman and Captian Harlock! So sit down and get comfy as we deliver a podcast as entertaining as listening to a rakugo performance itself!

Podcast Breakdown:

00:22 - Intro & Future Plans

-News-

03:55 - Hiroya Oku to End Inuyashiki in Volume 10
05:45 - Fairy Tail Will Definitely End in Less Than 10 Chapters
06:45 - 7Seeds Ends
07:40 - Hunter X Hunter Resumes Serialization on June 26th
09:55 - City Hunter Gets Spinoff Manga About Fan Reborn Into Manga's World
11:00 - Revolutionary Girl Utena Gets New Manga Chapter in July
11:55 - Hiromu Arakawa’s Plans for the Rest of Silver Spoon and After
15:45 - Yen Press Licenses Re:Zero EX Spinoff Novels
16:50 - Kodansha USA’s Latest Licenses
21:55 - Seven Seas’s Latest Tidal Wave of Licenses!
29:20 - Shonen Jump’s Print Circulation Drops Below 2 Million
33:10 - Anime Expo Hosts Yuto Tsukuda & Fujino Omori
36:05 - Saint Seiya Gets Hollywood Live-Action Film
41:00 - Kickstarter to allow projects directly from Japan
41:55 - Space Brothers Launches Serika Fund to Support ALS Research
43:30 - World’s Largest Manga Library planned at former Grade School

47:55 - Descending Stories: Show Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu Volume 1 Discussion

1:20:20 - Q&A: Can You Be Published in Shonen Jump Even if You Don’t Live in Japan?
1:24:15 - Wrap-Up

Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @manga_mavericks, on tumblr at mangamavericks.tumblr.com, and now on Youtube! You can also follow the hosts at @sniperking323 and @lumranmayasha. The next Manga Fight will differ from the usual format, instead tackling a genre instead of a specific series. Said genre will be MONSTER GIRL manga!! If you guys want to send questions and topic suggestions for that episode, you may do so on twitter, the Manga Mavericks thread on the Animation Revelation forums, or e-mail us at mangamaverics@gmail.com. Don’t forget to also like and subscribe to us on Youtube and iTunes and leave us reviews to help us curate the show and create better content! If there are any topics, series or mangaka you would like to see us talk about on the show, drop us a line in the comments below, or e-mail us! Thanks for listening!

LINKS:

Read the first chapter of Descending Stories FOR FREE! - http://kodanshacomics.com/chapter/descending-stories-chapter-1/