Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into RuriDragon by Masaoki Shindo, a slice of life manga running in Shonen Jump that proves you don't need a single fight scene to be one of the most captivating series in the magazine. Ruri Aoki wakes up one morning with horns growing out of her head. Her mom's response? "Oh yeah, your dad's a dragon." And Ruri, in the most relatable move possible, just goes to school anyway. What follows is essentially dragon puberty, an introverted teenager nav...
May 24, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Tenkaichi - The Greatest Warrior Under the Rising Sun , written by Yosuke Nakamaru and illustrated by Kyotaro Azuma, an alternate history martial arts manga that asks one question: what if Oda Nobunaga unified Japan, found out he was dying, and decided the most entertaining way to choose his successor was a sixteen fighter death tournament featuring the greatest warriors in Japanese history? Miyamoto Musashi at sixteen years old. Honda Tadaka...
May 10, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You , written by Rikito Nakamura and illustrated by Yukiko Nozawa, and yes you did just read that title correctly. Rentarou Aijou is a hopeless romantic who confessed his love to 100 different girls before high school and got rejected every single time. After praying at a shrine, the God of Love appears and tells him he's destined to meet 100 soulmates. Great news, right? Exc...
May 03, 2026•2 min
Strap in. The anime world did not come to play this week. Let’s talk about it. Bigtime updates on The Ribbon Hero, My Hero Academia's epilogue, Glasses with a Chance of Delinquent, Copycat, and Sydney Sweeney's live-action Gundam film (please god be good). If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only acce...
Apr 27, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manhwa Monday ! This week we're diving into Unholy Blood by Lina Im, the number one supernatural webtoon on the platform and a vampire story that throws out every post-Twilight cliche in the book. Ten years ago, vampires infiltrated South Korea, and violent crime has skyrocketed ever since. Hayan Park is a college student who just wants a normal, quiet life, but she's hiding a dangerous secret: she's a pureblood vampire, the rarest and most powerful kind. When the vampires she's been ...
Apr 27, 2026•2 min
Strap in. The anime world did not come to play this week. Let’s talk about it. Bigtime updates on Witch and Mercenary, the Japanese government targeting massive growth via global anime domination, Ascendence of a Bookworm AI controversy, and MAPPA x Honkai: Star Rail. If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorit...
Apr 22, 2026•1 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into The Summer You Were There by Yuama, a yuri manga that ran in Comic Yuri Hime and will absolutely destroy you in the most beautiful way possible. Shizuku Hoshikawa is a shy, isolated high schooler carrying deep guilt from her past as a bully. She writes stories as an escape but never plans to show anyone. Then Kaori Asaka, the bright, popular girl in her class, gets her hands on Shizuku's manuscript, praises it like it's the greatest thing she...
Apr 20, 2026•2 min
Your weekly anime news fix is HERE and it did not come to play… Big updates on One Piece, ISHOWSPEED, Date A Live, Dandadan, and Yaebuki Kikan. If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.) Stay up to date with Brendan on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter Join our D...
Apr 14, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Shikabane Kaigo , also known as Cadaver Nursing, a horror manga adapted from Harumi Miura's Kadokawa Horror Bunko novel with art by Ayuko. Akane Kuritani is a young caregiver looking for a fresh start who takes a live-in job at a secluded mansion deep in the mountains. Her patient is the wealthy, bedridden owner Hiwako Miyazono. Except when Akane opens that bedroom door for the first time, what's lying in bed doesn't look like a patient. It l...
Apr 13, 2026•1 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity by Saka Mikami, a romance manga running on Magazine Pocket that is basically Romeo and Juliet if Romeo worked in a cake shop and Juliet was really, really hungry. Chidori Public High School and Kikyo Girls' Academy sit right next to each other but couldn't be more different. Chidori is full of so-called delinquent boys with terrible grades, Kikyo is a prestigious academy for wealthy young ladies, and th...
Apr 05, 2026•2 min
The anime headlines you NEED to know about. This week’s In Bloom is stacked with big updates on Frieren, Sentenced To Be A Hero, You And I Are Polar Opposites, Eminence in Shadow, Solo Leveling, and Rascal Does Not Dream. If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.) Sta...
Apr 05, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Kagurabachi , Takeru Hokazono's sword fighting revenge epic running in Weekly Shonen Jump that memed its way into the conversation and then backed it up with one of the best action manga in years. Chihiro Rokuhira grew up training under his father Kunishige, a legendary swordsmith whose six Enchanted Blades single-handedly ended a war. The goofy dad and the serious kid lived a quiet life together until a group of criminal sorcerers called the...
Mar 29, 2026•1 min
Your weekly anime news fix is HERE and it did not come to play… Big updates on The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, Crunchyroll getting hacked, Jack-of-All-Trades, Party of None, Steel Ball Run, and The Anime Trending Awards. If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algori...
Mar 25, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manhwa Monday ! This week we're diving into The Greatest Estate Developer , written by BK_Moon and illustrated by Kim Hyunsoo, a fantasy isekai on Webtoon that takes the "reincarnated into a novel" premise and turns it into something genuinely hilarious. Civil engineering student Suho Kim falls asleep reading a fantasy novel and wakes up as Lloyd Frontera, a lazy, drunk nobleman whose family is drowning in debt. But Suho's read the book, he knows what's coming, and he's got something ...
Mar 24, 2026•1 min
Your weekly anime news fix is HERE and it did not come to play, with massive announcements surrounding Tank Chair, The Dangers in My Heart, The Forsaken Saintess and Her Foodie Roadtrip, Sekiro: No Defeat and From Far Away! If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.) S...
Mar 22, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All by Sumiko Arai, affectionately known by fans as "Green Yuri," and the winner of the Next Manga Award 2023. Aya is a fashionable gyaru high schooler who's obsessed with rock music but can't find anyone who shares her taste, until she starts visiting a small CD shop and falls hard for the cool, mysterious clerk dressed in all black with a hoodie and face mask. The problem? That clerk is actually...
Mar 16, 2026•1 min
POV: you let me summarize all the massive anime news from around internet so you don’t have to 😉 BIGTIME updates on Samurai Champloo, J2M, Aoashi, KPop Demon Hunters, In Old Records and Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo. If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.) Stay up to date...
Mar 14, 2026•2 min
Fins, Fangs, and Family Problems What happens when a clumsy middle schooler nearly drowns on summer vacation, only to be saved by a mermaid — and now has to marry her or they both die? My Bride is a Mermaid plunges headfirst into chaotic rom-com waters, where yakuza mermaids, unhinged overprotective fathers, and increasingly unhinged rivals turn every single school day into a survival situation. Join us as we dive into this gloriously absurd love story between Nagasumi and Sun, a girl caught bet...
Mar 12, 2026•1 hr 28 min•Season 4Ep. 52
One Piece just became the best-selling comic series in history at 600 million copies — dethroning Superman in 60 fewer years — and Oda celebrated by writing down what the One Piece is and throwing it in the ocean. Genuinely unhinged. Berserk crosses 70 million worldwide sales with volume 43 on the way, Naruto and Boruto get an official YouTube channel, and Rumiko Takahashi's MAO is getting a two-cour anime from Sunrise this April. Akame ga Kill! creator Tetsuya Tashiro returns with a new series,...
Mar 12, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Centuria , Tohru Kuramori's brutal dark fantasy running on Shonen Jump+ and the solo debut from a former Chainsaw Man assistant. Julian is a boy sold into slavery by his own mother who stows away on a slave ship, where for the first time in his life he's shown real kindness by the other slaves, especially a pregnant woman named Mira. When the captain slaughters all one hundred slaves on board, an eldritch sea god strikes a deal: Julian inheri...
Mar 08, 2026•1 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Shinobi Undercover , written by Ippon Takegushi and illustrated by Santa Mitarashi, a modern ninja action comedy running in Weekly Shonen Jump that asks one beautiful question: what happens when the most lethal shinobi of his generation has crippling social anxiety? In this world, ninja still operate in the shadows of modern Japan, trained and deployed by the Ninja Public Safety Force as spies, bodyguards, and counterterrorists. Yodaka, is th...
Mar 05, 2026•1 min
Big anime news headlines. Bigger reactions. A new Evangelion series with Yoko Taro writing. Two shoujo romance-fantasy adaptations. Witch Hat Atelier finally has a premiere date. The Raildex universe keeps expanding. And ufotable just loaded up their entire pipeline with announcements. This week’s news had no right going this hard. Let’s get into it! If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love...
Feb 25, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into WITCHRIV , Hakuri's devastating new fantasy series running on Shonen Jump+ about a world where being born a mage is a crime punishable by death. Nona Ewin lives a quiet life hiding in plain sight with her mother, keeping their secret locked tight. She's got one real friend, Lovi, and when Nona uses magic to fix her broken glasses, that one small act of kindness brings the Bureau of Magic Surveillance crashing down on everyone she loves. The B...
Feb 23, 2026•1 min
The votes are in, the results are locked, and it's time to crown the best of the best in anime, as chosen entirely by YOU. That's right, The Hennies are BACK, and this year did NOT disappoint. From the studios that went absolutely crazy with their output to the openings we refused to skip, the villains we love to hate, and the romances that had us clutching our chests, 2025 was a year for the books. We're talking about shows like Gachiakuta, The Apothecary Diaries, My Hero Academia, and To Be He...
Feb 19, 2026•9 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into After God , Sumi Eno's wild horror-comedy masterpiece about a Japan that's been invaded by gods, and not the kind, merciful type. These are massive, incomprehensible beings called Idolatry Prohibited Organisms that turned entire cities into uninhabitable Danger Zones. Lock eyes with one? You turn to stone. They breathe on you? Your body dissolves into water. For thirty years, humanity has had one question: how do you kill a god? At the center...
Feb 16, 2026•1 min
Bigtime anime announcements. Bigger reactions. Aniplex acquires EGG FIRM, chainsmoking catgirls hit the scene, love potions and rental girlfriends return, and Fullmetal Alchemist’s creator is BACK, buckle up for this week’s anime news! If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so ...
Feb 11, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into 86 , Asato Asato and Shirabi's devastating military sci-fi masterpiece about the Republic of San Magnolia, a nation that claims it fights its war with "zero casualties" using unmanned mechs. The lie? Those mechs are piloted by the 86, people stripped of their humanity and sent to die in machines while the privileged sit safe behind walls. At the center is Shinei Nouzen, the "Undertaker" squadron leader who's seen too many comrades fall, and V...
Feb 09, 2026•1 min
Big anime announcements. Bigger reactions. This week’s episode of In Bloom is STACKED with anime news and updates on Ghost in the Shell, Sparks of Tomorrow, Netflix x TOHO, $38b in piracy, Sakamoto Days and Takopi’s Original Sin. If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you kn...
Feb 03, 2026•2 min
Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Yotaka Futatabi (Nighthawk Returns), Fuyuki Izumida's gritty action-comedy about Aoi Yotaka—a legendary assassin who took out 40 people in one night, then ghosted the underworld for eight years. Now she's 33, broke, alcoholic, chain-smoking, and blowing her last yen on gacha games. Peak NEET energy. But when eviction looms and an old colleague offers one more job, the Nighthawk has to ask herself: can washed-up killers make comebacks? It's re...
Feb 02, 2026•1 min
The Spotlight Demands Blood Joining Brendan in the studio is upcoming VTuber Oni . What happens when a rural doctor is reborn as the secret child of Japan's brightest idol—only to watch her murdered at his doorstep? Oshi no Ko delivers a devastating blend of showbiz thriller and revenge tragedy, where the glittering world of entertainment hides exploitation, obsession, and deadly secrets. Join us as we unpack this genre-defying story of reincarnation, twin siblings navigating the industry that d...
Jan 31, 2026•1 hr 33 min•Season 4Ep. 51
