My Taste is Better Than Yours

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

51 - Best Ongoing Underappreciated Manga

With the start of a new year we thought it best to highlight some of our favourite ongoing manga that deserve more love. We’ve put together a list of ten series we think are worth checking out in hopes that they can blow up, which perfectly summarise our tastes. Timecodes: 0:00 Introduction - shouting out manga we love that deserve more love 2:04 Kemutai Hanashi by Fumiya Hanashi 5:47 Starting Today We Are Childhood Friends by Midori Obiya 10:19 My Oh My, Atami-kun by Asa Tanuma 17:32 They Are Still Being Shaken This Morning by Eiji Masuda 24:42 Here And There And Us (And Then And After) by Thanat 29:32 Go With the Clouds North by Northwest by Aki Irie 37:44 Dig It by Yoshidamaru 44:01 The Great Villain Boy by Koume Fujichika 52:36 Fool Night by Kasumi Yasuda 1:01:05 Touge Oni: Primal Gods in Ancient Times by Kenji Tsurubuchi 1:10:37 Extra mention: Double by Ayako Noda 1:11:09 Overview of our picks

50 - The Next Big Thing 2.0

What better way to kick off the year than by revisiting our favourite topic: What’s the next big thing in anime/manga? In this episode we revisit our picks from 2024 and go through our new ones for 2026. Timecodes: 0:00 Revisiting the topic: The Next Big Thing 3:25 Enzo’s #2 pick: Phantom Busters by Neoshoco 11:01 Samu’s #2 pick: Gokurakugai by Uto Sano 19:07 Checking in our preview picks for The Next Big Thing  19:21 Sakamoto Days and Gachiakuta - both had anime, neither became mega hits 24:45 Tokyo Aliens and Kindergarten Wars - neither have had anime yet 29:16 Spy X Family vs Chainsaw Man - which won in the long run and which do we prefer? 36:33 Apothecary Diaries vs Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End tight race as the current top hits 38:46 Refresher on the Enzo’s “Kaijuu” term 39:59 The Kaijuu Wall 55:04 Samu’s #1 pick: Kagurabachi by Takeru Hokazono 59:18 Enzo’s #1 pick: Ichi the Witch by Osamu Nishi, Shiro Usazaki 1:09:20 The Next (Next) Big Thing predictions for further in the future

49 - Best Manga of 2025

Just like last year, we’re ending 2025 with a ‘best of’ episode, going through various categories to shout-out as many titles that we think deserve recognition and added to your recommendations if you aren’t already familiar. Happy new year! Timecodes: 0:00 - Introduction to rules, carrying on from last year 1:14 Best new manga published in 2025 5:13 Best manga that finished in 2025 10:19 Best ongoing manga of 2025 13:53 Best manga we discovered in 2025 18:08 Best one-shots of the year 20:04 Up-and-comer manga to keep and eye on 23:10 Underappreciated gem of 2025 27:30 A newcomer mangaka to look out for 30:42 Best character of 2025 37:27 Best artwork of 2025 42:07 Biggest trend for manga in 2025 47:53 Which manga got the best adaptation in 2025 50:15 Our most anticipated manga to anime adaptation for 2026 53:58 Predictions for likely anime adaptations announced in 2026 57:10 The manga we think our counterpart should read 1:16:19 Wrap-up and reflecting on starting the podcast this year

48 - Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu

We’re covering Dandadan by Yukinobu Tatsu this week - a series both of us have followed since the manga’s debut. Our opinions might go against the mass opinion right now, as the series has reached new audience with its impressive anime adaptation. Check it out to see what we really think of the series, its origins, and its many characters. Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction - the kitchen sink action series we’ve read since the beginning 4:04 Tatsuki Fujimoto and his many successful assistants 11:19 Manga vs anime adaptation 17:34 Momo’s character and her objectified depiction 21:10 Golden Kamuy Effect - side characters that feel like main characters + our favourites 31:35 Spoiler discussion begins 31:44 Our problems with the manga’s repetitiveness and the current amnesia arc 40:20 How long do we think the series will go on for? 42:38 Enzo’s Recommendation: Bug Ego by ONE and Shitara Kiyoto 45:24 Samu’s Recommendation: Fire Punch by Tatsuki Fujimoto 49:48 Overview and final scores