243 - One Shot 20 - Tekkon Kinkreet

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! [email protected]

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