My Taste is Better Than Yours

56 - Understanding the Shonen Manga Magazines

We’ve talked about plenty of shonen manga throughout our episodes, so we felt it made sense to finally breakdown the many magazines in which they come from: their histories, identities, and our favourites from each publication. Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction - understanding the full picture of shonen manga 1:59 Breaking down the magazine publication system 6:26 Weekly Shonen Jump - the biggest name in the manga industry 19:01 Weekly Shonen Magazine - the alpha male that used to be the top dog  27:06 Weekly Shonen Sunday - veterans, baseball, and fantasies 39:06 Weekly Shonen Champion - the rising star/dark horse that doesn’t conform 46:15 Jump SQ. and Saikyo Jump 48:57 Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, Monthly Shonen Magazine, Monthly Shonen Sirius 52:15 Gessan, Shonen Sunday S 54:25 Square Enix: Monthly Shonen Gangan, GFantasy, Gangan Joker 1:00:25 Web publication - print vs digital transparency

55 - Bleach (Arrancar - Part II) by Tite Kubo

In this second part of the Arrancar arc discussion we get into the Turn Back the Pendulum and Fake Karakura Town sections of the story, filled with: more backstory and more fights than ever before. Find out where this stacks up compared to Soul Society in our estimations. Timecodes: 0:00 Re-introduction - second half of the Arrancar arc 0:32 Turn Back the Pendulum sub-arc - a flashback to break up the action 5:05 Aizen vs Urahara as the central conflict of the Arrancar arc (and the series) 8:02 The morality of Soul Society, The Maggot’s Nest, and Mayuri’s ‘crimes’ 11:83 Death as a core theme of the series and an unforgiving afterlife 13:21 Kubo at his most details with backstories and character connections 16:00 Turn Back the Pendulum ratings 17:24 Fake Karakura Town arc - a Bleach fan’s dream, a Bleach hater’s nightmare 23:03 The fights are conversations 28:40 Standout fights worth shouting out 39:00 Ichigo vs Ulquiorra - comparing Ichigo to Kenshin 42:13 Gin and Rangiku’s history and Gin’s betrayal of Aizen 46:35 Kubo doesn’t seem like a writer who regrets his choices 48:58 Ichigo vs Aizen final fight, Urahara’s involvement, hint of the Soul King 57:31 The resolution of Ichigo losing his powers - could the series have ended here? 1:00:15 Explaining Toshiro Hitsugaya’s massive popularity 1:03:56 Fake Karakura Town ratings 1:05:18 Samu’s recommendation: Rurouni Kenshin (Kyoto arc) byNobuhiro Watsuki 1:06:22 Enzo’s recommendation: Yu Yu Hakusho by Togashi Yoshihiro 1:10:21 Final overview + rating

54 - Bleach (Arrancar - Part I) by Tite Kubo

Enzo’s journey with Bleach continues, this time finally stepping into possibly the longest arc in shonen manga (or manga in general?). We’ve split this giant arc into two episodes, this first one covering everything including the Arrancar Invasion up to the end of Hueco Mundo. Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction - first of two episodes on the massive Arrancar arc 1:25 Is this the longest arc in all of manga? 2:57 Arrancar Invasion sub-arc - introducing the Arrancars and the Vizards 6:44 An even-paced arc with intention - is Kubo still an architect? 10:17 Early hints: Shinji in chapter 1, arrancars in the first arc 11:23 Kubos’ use of other languages, other cultures, and stylistic aesthetic 13:50 Grand Fisher and the reveal with Isshin Kurosaki 16:48 The Vizards - an eclectic group, our favourites? 23:03 Ichigo’s training, his hollow identity (White) - self-acceptance as a key theme in Bleach 29:19 Orihime’s importance in this arc, another damsel in distress, her relationship and powers 39:50 Arrancar Invasion ratings 41:53 Hueco Mundo sub-arc begins - a featureless white desert! 43:42 Bleach and Kubo’s minimalism, a series with no “fluff” 49:43 Bleach’s lack of an omniscient narrator 50:53 What popular kaijuu series is the most opposite of Bleach in style? 52:48 Is Hueco Mundo a lazy copy of Soul Society or an intentional reimagining? 56:15 The Espada - standout characters, the aspects of death 1:05:05 Rukia vs Aaroniero as a standout fight in Hueco Mundo 1:06:26 Mayuri vs Szayel - his speech on perfection, Kubo’s freedom with him 1:10:30 Enzo’s highlights: Nel’s reveal, Cirucci’s poem 1:13:10 Hueco Mundo ratings - end of Part 1 of this discussion

53 - Rurouni Kenshin (Jinchu) by Nobuhiro Watsuki

We come to the end of the main Rurouni Kenshin series, the yet-to-be-properly-animated: Jinchu. Is this a case of the best arc saved for last? Does it serve as a fitting conclusion for the series? Will Enzo throw in another Kaijuu wall? Stay tuned to find out. Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction - the final arc of the main series that never got its anime adaptation 3:05 Jinchu being an opposite arc to Kyoto by comparison 8:03 Watsuki’s self-depricating author comments 11:49 Rurouni Kenshin as a archetypical battle shonen and the WSJ family tree 22:02 The series feeling off the time it’s set 25:29 Enishi as a villain and the remembrances flashback 31:31 Historical context for the era of the end of the swordsman + Yahiko’s arc 39:18 Characters returning and side stories - disappointment in Sannosuke’s 42:47 Enishi as a villain and the reflection on Watsuki 51:21 Kaoru’s “death” - does the fakeout ruin this emotional moment? 57:30 Final battle with Kenshin vs Enishi - does this live up to the fight with Shishio? 1:04:47 The epilogue - the true ending, is it satisfying? 1:07:32 Enzo’s Recommendation: Peace Maker Kurogane by Nanae Chrono 1:10:03 Samu’s Recommendation: Firefly Wedding by Oreco Tachibana 1:11:29 Overview and final scores 1:15:12 Bonus: The Kaijuu Wall

52 - Snow White with the Red Hair by Akizuki Sorata

It’s the first series review of 2026 and it’s one Samu and Enzo had a similar introduction to with an excellent anime adaptation and decided to venture into the manga post-anime. A shoujo romance fantasy that takes unexpected turns the longer it goes on, but how much of it do we agree on? Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction - our first experiences with Snow White with the Red Hair 9:44 Shirayuki and Zen’s relationship 13:31 Other significant side characters in the series: Obi, Ryu, Izana, Mitsuhide, Raji, Hisame, Garack 22:32 Spoiler discussion begins 22:38 Too many characters and too many side quests where the main cast is split up 25:37 Did Akizuki Sorata learn to like Shirayuki/Obi more than Shirayuki/Zen? 28:08 Is the anime the definitive version of the series? 29:23 Comparison to Hunter x Hunter with splitting up the cast and pairing them up 31:16 It’s actually a slice of life series 33:58 Later side-quest arcs: Lilias arc, Bergatt arc, Shinsu arc 37:45 Zen needing a narrative shift to allowed to be more proactive 39:49 Kiki and Hisame 43:43 Samu’s Recommendation: The Apothecary Diaries by Natsu Hyuuga (manga by Erika Ikeda) 47:11 Enzo’s Recommendation: The World is Still Beautiful by Dai Shina 52:33 Overview and final scores